I’ve been playing video games in a more serious capacity since I was seventeen years old. At the time, I was in the closet, and would’ve rather died than have someone out me to the world. I found solace in identifying with female characters in Japanese RPGs. The soft, demure nature of protagonists like Yuna from Final Fantasy X painted portraits of who I felt like was on the inside, and I fell in love with the male protagonists through their eyes. Back then, I couldn’t have dreamed of playing a queer male hero in a JRPG, but Fire Emblem Engage finally made my dreams come true.
Fire Emblem Engage is by no means the first JRPG to have male/male romance options. Though some fans will be quick to point out that previous entries featured this option, Engage is the first time that the queer male player has quite a few options — over six of them actually! This made playing Engage the best queer male experience I’ve had in a JRPG.
I renamed the male protagonist Alear to Serenity, which has been my chosen character name for years. Usually I have to prepare myself to experience a game that leans towards the heteronormative perspective and features a character who is masculine and boasts his love of women.
From the start Serenity felt like a character I could relate to. He’s quite sensitive and expresses his feelings openly. For instance, at the beginning of the story, when his mother dies, he weeps openly and tells his allies that he’s terrified of the Corrupted, Engage’s evil creatures. Unlike the typical JRPG hero, his main goal isn’t to get stronger but to keep the promise to his mom and help save the land of Elyos.
Engage has been criticized for its cliché story. After a 1,000-year slumber Serenity wakes up, and it’s revealed that the Fell Dragon Lord Sombron is awakening. The Corrupt, Lord Sombron’s minions, are terrorizing the people of Elyos. After the death of his mother, Serenity must gain the power of the twelve Emblem Rings in order to fight against these dark forces. The story doesn’t do anything different from many JRPG narratives, but I didn’t want or need it to. This time, experiencing the story as a queer male JRPG hero who was going to save the world and have his happy ending was groundbreaking in its own right.
Much like its predecessor Fire Emblem Three Houses, Engage features characters’ interactions that flesh out their backstories and contains fun banter. What was surprising to me was how flirtatious many of the male characters are. Prince Alfred, who’s known Serenity since childhood, constantly compliments him and wants to do things that please him. In one conversation with Diamant, the Crown Prince of Brodia, Serenity runs away from the Corrupted and begs Diamant for help.
After successfully vanquishing the Corrupted, Diamant asks Serenity how such a creature could overpower and frighten someone known as the Divine One? Serenity replies that he’s just “not good with them.” “I’m an easy target for them outside of battle.” What’s beautiful about this conversation is that Serenity almost comes off as a damsel in distress and instead of invalidating his fears, he embraces them. The conversation leads to Diamant revealing his own fears and insecurities.
Engage features an equal balance of male and female characters, and gives players the ability to build whatever army they choose. It gave me the first experience of ever creating a reverse harem — a harem focused on men over women.
My goal in the game was to create a powerful group of male characters, all of whom adored Serenity on various levels. Through combat and interactions back at the home base of Somniel, Serenity would eventually become closer to one of them and at the end of the story, he’d make a commitment to one man, and they’d live happily ever after.
After Lord Sombron was defeated, I chose Mauvier. As one of the Four Hounds, he was initially on the side of evil but realized late in the game that his actions were hurting the person he was trying to protect. From then on, his narrative becomes one of redemption. He feels worthless, only to find new meaning in his life by following the Divine One. After giving him the Pact Ring, he decides to quietly stay by Serenity’s side and truly embrace his new role.
As I heard the ending theme “Fiery Bonds” by Katharine Eames, I was squeeing and texting my friend a long series of dramatic and excited messages. I couldn’t believe how validated I felt. In the twenty plus years I’ve been playing JRPGs, playing Engage for the first time was pivotal and important. Gone are the days in which I never thought that a Japanese video game could give me the beautifully cliché fairytale ending of a prince marrying his prince and ruling over a kingdom forever more.
