Fire Emblem is no stranger to censoring content for its Western releases, taking out the headpats in Fire Emblem Fates. Fire Emblem Three Houses was no stranger to this treatment as well, having some dialogue changed. Fire Emblem Engage does have some censorship applied, though thankfully it isn’t for a significant part of the game.
The censorship affects some of the conversations during romance. Alear is a 17 year old individual and some of the cast are younger than 18. Going into a romance with underage individuals could potentially be seen as problematic, thus the censorship. Instead of a romantic relationship, a partnership will be pursued in the dialogue.
Signs of the censorship were apparent before the game was released, with Twitter user Mondblut going through a datamine of Fire Emblem Engage’s script. Some changes in the script have been highlighted and compared to the original drafts.
Comparing the scripts in Japanese and English on the game’s final release shows the difference in messaging as well. The censorship doesn’t appear to have been applied to the Japanese voice acting, if you want to get around the changed dialogue in some way. For example, Anna’s romance scene in English reflects a partnership, whereas in Japanese it would reflect an actual romance.
Fortunately, the censorship doesn’t change much about the game itself. You only have a different relationship with some of the younger cast if you choose to romance them. Outfits, weapons, and usefulness in combat all remain the same. No support conversations have been removed and being in a different type of relationship doesn’t affect the romance status.
Apart from the dialogue changes, there are almost no differences between Fire Emblem Engage versions. None of the other content has been affected, such as outfits or gameplay features. The translations are different, but you can still hear the original voice acting in another language. The game will play exactly the same otherwise, and you will still be noted as having romanced the character.
