Fire Emblem Fates is having controversial scenes removed from the Western release

The Western release of Fire Emblem Fates will be removing a scene that caused controversy last year, when some accused it of having a story point about the drugging and forced gay conversion of a lesbian character.

Soleil, a character in Fates, is a lesbian who gets distracted or even faints when she sees pretty ladies. To get her used to working with said pretty ladies, Solei is slipped some magic powder that causes her to see all men as women.

Eventually she falls in love with the male playable protagonist (who she sees as a woman at the time), and when the powder finally wears off she decides she still loves the PC, despite her now knowing he is male.

Some argued that this was purely a practical way to get Soleil to work better with the rest of the team by fixing her fainting  response to seeing women, while others saw it as Soleil being drugged and having her perception affected so that she became attracted to someone under false pretence.

You can make your own mind up on how this scene is played out by reading the translated dialogue on Pastebin, which commenters of previous reports on Fates claim is accurate.

Talking to Nintendo World Report, Nintendo confirmed that this subplot will be removed from the Western release of the game:

In the version of the game that ships in the U.S. and Europe, there is no expression which might be considered as gay conversion or drugging that occurs between characters.

Nintendo didn’t explain how the story will be changed to accommodate the removal, so it will be interesting to see what changes really have been made.

I kind of hope it isn’t glazed over by making Soleil straight just to fit in the player romance, but we shall see what happens when Fire Emblem Fates launches for the 3DS on February 19 in North 3DS. A European release date other than ‘some time in 2016’ hasn’t been confirmed.

Fire Emblem: Fates Removes Controversial Support Conversation in Western Regions [Nintendo World Report]