8 Strangest Examples Of Censorship In Video Games

Fire Emblem Fates, or "Fire Emblem If" as it's known in Japan, is the twelfth entry in the Fire Emblem series and was released in the West in 2016. The game was left mostly unedited for it's international release, but one scene present in the Japanese release of the game was entirely removed.

The scene in question involved one of the party members, Soleil, asking the protagonist how she can be more "cool" around women she's attracted to. To remedy the situation, the protagonist has her drink spiked with a "magic powder". The powder in question results in Soleil seeing all men as women, and all women as men. This leads her to fall in love with the protagonist, even when the effects of the powder has worn off.

Now whilst there's definitely something lost in translation here (especially when you consider that Fates was the first Fire Emblem entry to feature gay marriage), many took this to be some kind of magical gay conversation therapy and, understandably, took offence.

When Nintendo localised the game for the West, they released a statement noting that "there is no expression which might be considered as gay conversion or drugging" that would be present in the European or Western release.