A few days ago, reports began circulating online about how Nintendo had removed the “petting mini-game” from the version of Fire Emblem Fates meant for western audiences. The thought caused a division among fans, some seeing this as a good removal for an unnecessary part of the gameplay while others saw it as the company taking excessive steps toward self-censorship.
Everyone can just calm down now, however—it’s not as bad as it seems, one way or the other, in fact. Players can still invite other characters back to their room to talk with them and build relationships, but the “skinship” aspect—a mini-game sequence where the player rubs the character with their stylus and the character moans in an, ahem, suggestive way—is what has been removed.
As a result, there is no impact to the gameplay, because the result is the same. It’s the method of achieving the goal that’s been narrowed down, and a video form Polygon that we’ll post below shows how this works.
