By Questions were raised when Nintendo announced that Fire Emblem: Awakening would bring marriages back as part of the game. Given that many Japanese games with dating elements tend to feature characters that look overly cute or underage, one couldn’t have been blamed for wondering if developer, Intelligent Systems, would know where to draw the line in Fire Emblem.
Thankfully, Intelligent Systems have demonstrated an informed awareness with regard to this issue, and even use it as the butt of a joke. One of the characters Fire Emblem: Awakening allows you to marry is a youngish-looking dragon-lady named Nono (above). The explanation for her young looks is that her race, the Manakete, tend to age slower than humans in appearance.
At some point after marriage, Nono can have kids. This is a translated conversation between one of her older kids, Soso, and a friend of his, reported by portable games blog TinyCartridge:
Soso: “But really, what did dad see in mom? She’s so childish, and yet he saw her as a woman… don’t tell me he’s one of those who can only feel attracted to little girls?”
Character: “Gah! Soso… how can you talk like that about your own father…! Oh, God…”
Well done, Intelligent Systems. It’s nice to see a Japanese developer take a jab at a widely-recognized issue. Now to see how Nintendo choose to translate this conversation in the game’s official English release…
