When Fire Emblem Awakening was released in North America and Europe, many fans were happy to find out that the game was released with dual audio settings, meaning that the game could be played with the original Japanese voice acting and subtitles, or it could be switched to the English dubbed version. This is a popular option for many game “purists” who prefer to experience a game in its most original form, with as little alterations as possible due to localizations.
So, when it was revealed that Fire Emblem Fates would not be getting the same treatment, you can imagine a lot of fans weren’t too happy. The decision to cut this content out of Fates after it was featured in Awakening is being questioned by many, and is being compared to the likes of Xenoblade Chronicles X, which also had its Japanese voice acting cut out, where the original Xenoblade Chronicles had dual audio included.
The choice to cut dual audio was most likely made during the localization process for the more mainstream audiences of North America and Europe, who are going to want to hear the game in English rather than reading subtitles. As popular as hearing the game in its original language is, the audience for this is still considered rather niche, and probably not worth catering to after considering costs.
Hopefully this won’t become a deal breaker for many, as the game is already extremely well-received and it’d be a shame for anyone to miss out on it simply because of the language the voice acting is in. After all, the whole point of localization is to make games more accessible to everyone!
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Written by George Comatas
As a wannabe social media personality and professional in the world of sarcasm, George does his best to always adapt to the changing world around him. He considers himself a maverick: a true-to-heart gamer with the mind of a pop star. Whether this makes him revolutionary or a setback, he's yet to find out. But one thing’s for sure; he's one-of-a-kind.
