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Fire Emblem Fates' localization doesn't have the petting minigame

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Ridley327

Member
Yeah, but then they censored Fatal Frame even though that game was rated mature.

That was a different situation because of protection of minor laws in Europe that affected the sale of other titles before, like DOA Dimensions. I still don't know they didn't just age the one minor up a year, but it is what it is.
 

-Horizon-

Member
I'm not sure if anyone is even opposed to that?
Haven't seen that suggestion at all from anyone who was opposed to the mode being in in the first place, only seen it from people who wanted some kind of compromise.

I haven't followed the game super closely but like...isn't the rubbing the whole point of the mode? Like, what are you supposed to do if there's no rubbing? If it's at all like that Pokemon amie
I've heard that there are dialogue options in the game. They can rework it around that.
 
BdpcxX7.gif


You can tell this is something normal people do by the look on her face
 
Nintendo was the one who suggested that Platinum to make the Nintendo costumes skimpier in the first place. And that's not even getting into leaving Devil's Third alone, outside of the Japanese version having edits to the level of violence on display.

The Japanese Nintendo branch is obviously dramatically different from the western Nintendo branch. The western one is the issue.
 
Haven't seen that suggestion at all from anyone who was opposed to the mode being in in the first place, only seen it from people who wanted some kind of compromise.

Opposition to what's there doesn't mean one is unwilling to compromise. I get it. I think some people are going over the line and I've cautioned against doing so in regards to certain sensibilities that appeal to the Japanese market. I can understand some defensiveness. But the solution isn't then to just automatically assume that everyone against what's there is being completely unreasonable and to surmise that they must have an irrational vendetta against anime.
 

Ridley327

Member
The Japanese Nintendo branch is obviously dramatically different from the western Nintendo branch. The western one is the issue.

Don't get me wrong, I'm all for more unity between the branches so that situations like this can be avoided in the first place, and to possibly minimize the amount of time needing to spent on localizations in general. It's a tough spot for any of them to be in because of that gap that isn't being filled in a way that can satisfy the entire audience. I would much prefer these kinds of matters to be nipped in the bud much earlier on in the development, and I think most people would want that, too.
 

Schädelkeks

Neo Member
That was a different situation because of protection of minor laws in Europe that affected the sale of other titles before, like DOA Dimensions. I still don't know they didn't just age the one minor up a year, but it is what it is.

DOA Dimensions is ages 12+ in Germany. There never was a problem with it as far as i know.
 

Lunar15

Member
I feel like people who are cheering for this move isn't a fan of anime in general and just wants to see it gone.

Because, hear me out now I've got a crazy idea, what if they had only removed the rubbing mechanic and changed the more suggestive dialogue but pretty much kept the mode intact? *gasp*

Crazy I know.

But at the same time, I have not seen this suggestion at all from anyone who is all "YES! Good riddance!"
It's like anime wronged them in the past and that it's now making them feel insecure about a GAME. So much so that they can't even think of alternatives to something being removed.

Because you gotta kidding me if there is anything 'creepy' about the option once the rubbing and dialogue is gone and changed.

Actually, I suggested this extremely early on.
 

Ridley327

Member
Schädelkeks;193463534 said:
DOA Dimensions is ages 12+ in Germany. There never was a problem with it as far as i know.

The sale was banned in the Nordic countries, due to a few of the characters being underage.
 

-Horizon-

Member
Opposition to what's there doesn't mean one is unwilling to compromise. I get it. I think some people are going over the line and I've cautioned against doing so in regards to certain sensibilities that appeal to the Japanese market. I can understand some defensiveness. But the solution isn't then to just automatically assume that everyone against what's there is being completely unreasonable and to surmise that they must have an irrational vendetta against anime.
I feel like a lot of people in this thread are getting too hung up over with what is censorship vs localization, what is creepy, and just trying to one up each other to get any good discussion going on beyond that :/

Actually, I suggested this extremely early on.
Then you are one of the few.
 

Javier

Member
Opposition to what's there doesn't mean one is unwilling to compromise. I get it. I think some people are going over the line and I've cautioned against doing so in regards to certain sensibilities that appeal to the Japanese market. I can understand some defensiveness. But the solution isn't then to just automatically assume that everyone against what's there is being completely unreasonable and to surmise that they must have an irrational vendetta against anime.
I suggested early in the thread that they can replace the face rubbing with some other action that makes the feature work instead of having the whole thing taken out.

So I now ask: If they replace the use of touchscreen with a simple "Press "A" to Talk/Converse/Interact" and tone down the dialogue to remove the more "lewd" lines so that we still get all the Gameplay/Support bonuses from this feature, would you be okay with that?

Bear in mind that I don't support removing the feature as it originally was, but if it absolutely HAS to go, I think there needs to be some kind of "make up" feature.
 
Don't get me wrong, I'm all for more unity between the branches so that situations like this can be avoided in the first place, and to possibly minimize the amount of time needing to spent on localizations in general. It's a tough spot for any of them to be in because of that gap that isn't being filled in a way that can satisfy the entire audience. I would much prefer these kinds of matters to be nipped in the bud much earlier on in the development, and I think most people would want that, too.

I think it depends on what you mean ? I've seen people use "settled earlier in development" to just mean "I wish it was cut before anyone knew about because then I can't be accused of supporting censorship" which is clever but not exactly convincing to me. If something that wasn't the most risk averse thing possible came out of the process then sure.
 
I suggested early in the thread that they can replace the face rubbing with some other action that makes the feature work instead of having the whole thing taken out.

So I now ask: If they replace the use of touchscreen with a simple "Press "A" to Talk/Converse/Interact" and tone down the dialogue to remove the more "lewd" lines so that we still get all the Gameplay/Support bonuses from this feature, would you be okay with that?

Bear in mind that I don't support removing the feature as it originally was, but if it absolutely HAS to go, I think there needs to be some kind of "make up" feature.

In theory I have no issue with it. In practice I'm not sure how these interactions will play out in English even without the rubbing, but I understand that it's something.
 
Yup. Which I still find weird because their age of consent is lower than any of the characters' ages. Can't be helped, I guess.

Think it had to do with the international child pornography laws. They define minors as those under 18 (rather than those under the age of consent. It can lead to some odd things in countries that have ages of consent under 18.

Or it might have been that Kasumi was 15 at the time DOAD starts ? It's actually a kind of retrospective / clip game that starts before the original DoA .

Can't remember the exact details now.
 

Firemind

Member
I feel like people who are cheering for this move isn't a fan of anime in general and just wants to see it gone.

Because, hear me out now I've got a crazy idea, what if they had only removed the rubbing mechanic and changed the more suggestive dialogue but pretty much kept the mode intact? *gasp*

Crazy I know.

But at the same time, I have not seen this suggestion at all from anyone who is all "YES! Good riddance!"
It's like anime wronged them in the past and that it's now making them feel insecure about a GAME. So much so that they can't even think of alternatives to something being removed.

Because you gotta kidding me if there is anything 'creepy' about the option once the rubbing and dialogue is gone and changed.
I want the whole game to be gone tbh
 

Prax

Member
In theory I have no issue with it. In practice I'm not sure how these interactions will play out in English even without the rubbing, but I understand that it's something.

I think it should be just as suggested: press A to talk (maybe even with a few options, like a - compliment, y - say hi, r - wait for them to say something). The the responses would be slotted into whatever category fits so you get a random one each time.
Then maybe you can change the camera angles a bit using the stylus to get more of the live 2d assets shown off. That's just a viewing angle deal and their eyes can follow you.

But it does require a rewrite so it's in character and also not stupid/suggestive of being touched in some private tent/casting couch situation. lol Like that.. requires more work, but.. I think they are up for it! XD
 

KoopaTheCasual

Junior Member
No forced wit or clever sarcasm there. Just mutual incomprehension.. I admit that I've been sarcastic before in this thread but I wasn't there. I don't generally try and force wit in any case, I'm terrible at pretty much everything but puns when I make an active effort to be funny. My awkward wording and sentence fragments probably have more to do with it being nearly 3 AM. But sure:

I'm not sure why it's so hard to grasp that some people would be generally opposed to censorship as an abstract principle. It has historically been used to oppress the very people that it's now being used in defense of (and also the entire left side of the political spectrum). And those instances of oppression had moral justifications that were as valid to the people making them as yours are to you. It seems like a remarkably short sighted position historically .
Thanks for actually humoring me and not getting mad with my request.

I understand your position, I just don't equate self-censorship with the truly historically dangerous notion of censorship. If these localization decisions were "orders" from the country of release of the product, or any other external entity outside of the publisher/developer handling the product, that would set a terrifying precedent.

But since that doesn't appear to be the case, I personally don't see the problem is. This type of self-censorship, so to speak, has been happening since the beginning of exportation of creative goods. The only difference is that now with the spread of communication through the internet, we're aware of it.

I don't see it as things becoming increasingly policed. I think we just see it more.
 

Palculator

Unconfirmed Member
Or it might have been that Kasumi was 15 at the time DOAD starts ? It's actually a kind of retrospective / clip game that starts before the original DoA .

Can't remember the exact details now.
Maybe, but their age of consent is 15 so it's more likely due to the other things you mentioned.
 
I care about the value of the public perception of the Fire Emblem brand and the effect it can have on the success of the series going forward both in terms of sales growth and mindshare.

Public perception of the Fire Emblem brand is "isn't that the series with a lot of incest and naked little girl dragons?"

The mini-game would have very little effect on that, and removing it wouldn't erase the above perception, because well, that's still in Fates.
 

Wiz

Member
Haven't been following the reactions to this much...

But damn. Everything surrounding this game has been a mess.
 

Pancake Mix

Copied someone else's pancake recipe
That's because the trophy may have netted a T rating for the game. It in no way shows that Nintendo is uncomfortable with the direction FE is taking. If they were, they wouldn't have amped up the relationship stuff in FEF.

Nonsense, there's no evidence of that. It was removed worldwide, including the early Japanese release, so if there was ever a problem with ratings boards it's new standards for the CERO A rating in Japan. Might have affected a couple costumes in DQVIII on 3DS too.

NCL would not have had that changed worldwide just for North America.
 

Guess Who

Banned
Public perception of the Fire Emblem brand is "isn't that the series with a lot of incest and naked little girl dragons?"

As someone who only really observes FE from the outside, this has not traditionally been my perception of it at all, though lately it certainly feels like the fanbase is trying to change my mind on that.
 
I feel like people who are cheering for this move isn't a fan of anime in general and just wants to see it gone.

Because, hear me out now I've got a crazy idea, what if they had only removed the rubbing mechanic and changed the more suggestive dialogue but pretty much kept the mode intact? *gasp*

Crazy I know.

Remove the dialogue is only half the problem. The face rubbing stupidity is just as big a problem.
 

kamineko

Does his best thinking in the flying car
I'm just frustrated with how this game has turned out.

I like Fire Emblem. I've wanted a new Fire Emblem game. I didn't really want a face-rubbing Fire Emblem game. It doesn't offend me, but it's just not the experience I've been seeking? Ditto the whole "drug somebody to convert somebody/that's not what it means at all" dichotomy/debate/whatever. I don't want to weigh in on how to parse that (since I have heard so many conflicting accounts. "conversion" is a vile concept), but it's alienating to me either way. Like, as a fan, I don't feel like I should have to do a lot of research just to figure out how stupid it is/is not.

Just feels like a lot of off beats. I guess I'm more frustrated that these conversations are necessary, that script and design decisions have dragged us to this point. Cutting the content doesn't hide or ameliorate potentially dumb decisions, because it's easy to know what is in the Japanese version.

Nintendo is a global brand. Fire Emblem is a global brand, as well. I wish they'd consider these issues as a business, and make sensible global decisions, instead of leaving it up to us to shit on each-other on the Internet about it.
 

Mik317

Member
I'm just frustrated with how this game has turned out.

I like Fire Emblem. I've wanted a new Fire Emblem game. I didn't really want a face-rubbing Fire Emblem game. It doesn't offend me, but it's just not the experience I've been seeking? Ditto the whole "drug somebody to convert somebody/that's not what it means at all" dichotomy/debate/whatever. I don't want to weigh in on how to parse that (since I have heard so many conflicting accounts. "conversion" is a vile concept), but it's alienating to me either way. Like, as a fan, I don't feel like I should have to do a lot of research just to figure out how stupid it is/is not.

Just feels like a lot of off beats. I guess I'm more frustrated that these conversations are necessary, that script and design decisions have dragged us to this point. Cutting the content doesn't hide or ameliorate potentially dumb decisions, because it's easy to know what is in the Japanese version.

Nintendo is a global brand. Fire Emblem is a global brand, as well. I wish they'd consider these issues as a business, and make sensible global decisions, instead of leaving it up to us to shit on each-other on the Internet about it.


well more than likely this getting changed probably makes it so it isn't in the next game. The people speaking out against it have "won" and were listened to...so I think the next FE will be very different.
 
As someone who only really observes FE from the outside, this has not traditionally been my perception of it at all, though lately it certainly feels like the fanbase is trying to change my mind on that.

I mean ignoring everything I know as a video gamer , it's that anime looking game I saw an ad for in a magazine about a decade ago Was an ad I saw for Sacred Stones in Dragon Magazine.
 
Public perception of the Fire Emblem brand is "isn't that the series with a lot of incest and naked little girl dragons?"

The mini-game would have very little effect on that, and removing it wouldn't erase the above perception, because well, that's still in Fates.

I'm pretty sure public perception of fire emblemn is a bunch of anime sword fighters in smash bros
 

redcrayon

Member
Public perception of the Fire Emblem brand is "isn't that the series with a lot of incest and naked little girl dragons?"
.
Public perception of Fire Emblem is more likely to move along a spectrum of

A) what the hell is Fire Emblem
B) some kind of JRPG?
C) it's that Nintendo strategy RPG game

Depending on how often someone unfamiliar with it encounters it.

The only people I ever see bang on about implied incest in Fire Emblem are those familiar with the older games in the series, which is hardly the general public.

Gaf seems to have picked up on little dragon girls recently due to the abomination that is Nowi, but again, that's hardly the general public. Even on Gaf I think it's just that more people played Awakening (or are aware of it due to Nintendo cross-promoting it to raise its profile) than previous games.
 
Let me answer you with my post from the other thread:

"Because the fact of the matter is, it IS just localization. However, in this case this instance of localization further infringes upon a historically oppressed minority.

So, even if this is just normal localization, it has now forced itself into a civil rights issue."

This minority has only very recently been able to see advancements in equality. So this is not a "censorship" issue. It's a localization and civil rights issue. The "petting" is only a localization issue. I don't understand why this is so hard to grasp for people.

It's not remotely the same thing and I'm glad the rumor turned out to be false, but I do still think this removal has unintentional LGBT aspects as well. Quoting Tyeforce again I guess:

This is extremely disappointing. =/ I understand the complaints about the feature (but, like...just ignore it if you don't like it?), but I think a lot of people fail to realize that for gay individuals like myself, this feature was really nice because, as far as I understood, you could use this "petting" feature on any character, including characters of the same sex as your avatar. This was the only way to have any sort of intimacy with same-sex characters outside of the single male and female characters that you can marry with a same-sex avatar. While it's great that the same-sex marriage is still there, and it's certainly a big step up from Awakening that featured none of it, it's still extremely disappointing that there was even more that we could have had, but of course they cut that out of the localization. =/
 
I posted this early on but since the topic has slowed down somewhat I think this is something thats worth mentioning...

Okay first off I want to start by bringing up something I couldn't really find in this topic, what exactly this feature did (if anything) from http://serenesforest.net/forums/inde...howtopic=54895

- With "Skinship", you can touch your comrades' faces (regardless of gender) and improve the bond between you and them. These improved bonds affect units stats when engaged in battle within "Attack Stance" and "Guard Stance". This can also allow your bonded unit to receive a "Surge" in stats, which is a temporary stat boost for the next battle. Be warned, that skinship isn't as easy as it may seem, since certain characters prefer to be touched in certain ways or places. Just as you can be successful, you can also fail in building a bond with skinship.

So lets take away the actual act of the skinship mini game for a moment and what we have is Nintendo removing a feature that provided a support and battle bonus to characters that is optional but useful, take that as you will (either positive or negative or just indifferent).

Now lets talk about the actual skinship events, I watched a few before I posted this and while I thought it was weird (I can certainly see some people saying creepy, I guess) its not as if you are touching these peoples private parts or really even in a sexual way (although it sounds like the S ranked conversations during this can be much more lewd) and sounds like it was completely harmless... weird, but harmless.

The actual problem I have with this however is that after Awakening was such a big hit in the west Nintendo knew they would be bringing Fates to the west (correct me if I'm wrong but wasn't the first announcement of the game also a confirmation it would be coming to the west?) and most people would tell you with one look at the skinship system from the original announcement that there was no way it would come over to the west as it was...

So why was it still in the game as it is? Why instead of just a simple face touching mini game wasn't it changed to be more of an interactive support mechanic where instead of touching peoples faces you converse with and 'touch' (not the same thing, keep reading!) the other character. Say one of the characters is feeling down about their performance in battle, you could raise their spirits by patting them on the back and telling them they were fine/can do better/you believe in them, ect or if they did really well you can high-five or fist bump or something, if you are romancing someone can hold hands, or hug, you get the idea. Touching itself is a powerful thing with people you care about and I think it could actually be a good mechanic. Keep the idea of 'skinship' but making it less creepy for general audiences and perhaps actually have more character development in such segments, because as it stands we now don't have this feature and any voiced lines along with it that could have provided more character interaction which is the reason I like the FE series so much is the character interaction, even if the feature was weird.

So that's my question or rather suggestion to Nintendo going forward, if you actually going to have to remove features from a game in one region or another why aren't you talking to the developers to design features to be appropriate for all? I think the alternative I listed in the last paragraph is better all around then face touching and you would generally see less backlash then every time you remove something from a game because of localization. I don't want things removed from my game so either give people the option or stop designing things that you end up having to to remove in western releases.

To some, this is a non-issue and I get that, its a small thing but I like my games to be complete and the idea that I'm paying a high premium for the game already (its 80$ for this game, don't say its not because we all know it is!) and it has less content (even if that content I freely admit is weird and I would mostly laugh at) just doesn't sit well with me.
 
Don't get me wrong, I'm all for more unity between the branches so that situations like this can be avoided in the first place, and to possibly minimize the amount of time needing to spent on localizations in general. It's a tough spot for any of them to be in because of that gap that isn't being filled in a way that can satisfy the entire audience. I would much prefer these kinds of matters to be nipped in the bud much earlier on in the development, and I think most people would want that, too.

Well, Nintendo of Japan runs the show as far as their games go. So they aren't going to budge on including this content in the initial release. They aren't going to care about what western audiences think of the game. Particularly when the series was basically on its deathbed before it came back in a big way once Nintendo started including content that some western audiences aren't fans of. So the changes are all going to come down to the western division. At this point the western division has put themselves in a position where this type of content has to be removed always because they've already set a precedent for it.
 
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