Back in May, it was introduced Final Fantasy XVI can be banned in Saudi Arabia. Officially, it was as a result of developer Square Enix refused to change scenes within the recreation for the territory, which led to rumors and hypothesis that the sixteenth recreation within the long-running RPG collection would have express homosexual intercourse scenes, which spawned memes and earnest pleasure. Turns out, sure, there’s a same-sex couple (and implied bisexual hero), however whereas one of many two concerned males is certainly one of Final Fantasy XVI’s standout characters, the romance by no means goes as far as the web speculated, and the sport appears hesitant to indicate it in any respect.
Spoilers for Final Fantasy XVI observe.
Dion and Terence’s relationship has promise, however falls by the wayside
Dion Lesage is a whole lot of issues. He’s the prince of the Holy Empire of Sanbreque, beloved by his individuals for his empathy in an in any other case uncaring monarchy. He is Bahamut’s Dominant, capable of name upon the dragon’s energy and rework into him throughout battle (Bahamut is a homosexual icon now, sorry about it). And he’s additionally the lover of Sir Terence, his devoted proper hand.
From what little we see of the connection, Terence is sort of solely characterised by his devotion to his boyfriend. In the grand scheme of issues that looks like a missed alternative, however I gotta admit, I’m captivated by the desperation and unbridled loyalty Terence demonstrates when he stands alongside Dion. It’s a dynamic ripe for fanfiction and gamers filling within the gaps, and if I didn’t write daily for my job, I’d most likely be inclined to affix in. Dion is nothing however caring for Terence when it could have been simple for a royal and his devoted knight to fall into poisonous, abusive tropes. These two adore each other, and whereas Dion’s total household dynamic is harmful fantasy politics made corporeal, this man’s clearly damaged the cycle and put within the self-work to be greater than a prince to Terence.
All this excellent character growth and potential finally makes the locations the place Final Fantasy XVI pulls its punches all of the extra disappointing. Taking inspiration from Game of Thrones, Square places a highlight on bodily intimacy in Final Fantasy XVI. There’s not a whole lot of what you’d take into account overt intercourse scenes, however there’s a whole lot of romance taking place, characters kissing and being bare collectively, and generally, the sport is snug viewing all of it from up shut. However, Dion and Terence are an exception.
When the 2 share a kiss possibly midway via the sport, the digicam strikes away from them and we see it at a distance, when moments earlier than we had been watching a scene of Terence tending to Dion’s wounds at an intimate angle. The two very clearly kiss, however the distance the scene is shot from would make it simple to suppose they hadn’t.
The tragedy of all of it is, Dion and Terence aren’t collectively via a lot of the sport, so there’s not a lot alternative for Final Fantasy XVI to make this proper by increasing additional on this relationship and giving them extra possibilities to precise the clear love they share on display screen. As the risks of Dion’s mission escalate, he sends Terence away to repay a debt he owes, and to maintain his lover out of hurt’s method. It’s an affecting scene and underscores the dire stakes of Final Fantasy XVI’s battle, and it emphasizes the devotion these two have for one another. Terence is keen to do no matter Dion asks of him, and Dion is aware of that and makes use of it to push him out of the road of fireplace. It is an exquisite, tragic, angsty second that might make my coronary heart sing if I hadn’t already been dissatisfied by how little this relationship was foregrounded, and the way scared Final Fantasy XVI appears to sit down with it.
The Final Fantasy collection appears to be getting steadily extra snug with its personal innate queerness, with characters like Andrea Rhodea being an unabashedly queer man in Final Fantasy VII Remake’s Honey Bee Inn sequence. He proclaims that magnificence is all about expressing oneself no matter any notion of gender, and dances the evening away with Cloud with out the digicam as soon as shying away from the flamboyant show. But on the subject of truly portraying the intimate expressions of queer id, akin to a kiss between two males who love one another, Final Fantasy XVI falls wanting its personal unapologetic beliefs, whereas lingering on Dion and Terence’s straight contemporaries.
Video video games almost all the time relegate homosexual males to choices
Sadly, that is par for the course within the online game trade. While there’s a ton of unimaginable work being finished within the indie house, queer males and their relationships are nonetheless largely relegated to an choice in AAA video games, quite than one thing a participant is compelled to reckon with, a lot much less a task they must inhabit. Sure, video games like Mass Effect and Assassin’s Creed could allow you to play as a homosexual man (although the latter collection has twice now undermined that in Odyssey and Valhalla), however male-seeking-male intimacy is sort of by no means on the forefront of AAA video video games except it’s sought out by homosexual gamers.
Plenty of eyes had been rightfully rolled when Ellie from The Last of Us was lifted up because the “first” queer protagonist in a AAA recreation as a result of there have been loads of characters that might be LGBTQIA+ earlier than her, however whenever you truly return and take a look at a checklist of queer characters in video video games, more often than not, these characters are choices for the participant to precise themselves, quite than the only real perspective the sport gives. The selection is welcome, however participating with tales that heart queer characters and expertise by default, the way in which so many tales do with straight characters, is the pure subsequent step that video video games nonetheless have bother taking.
Even if Dion and Terence’s relationship had gotten extra display screen time and the cameraman didn’t instantly dash to the opposite aspect of the room once they kissed, it wouldn’t have solved this drawback. Dion isn’t Final Fantasy XVI’s protagonist, Clive is, and his romance with Jill is given loads of focus, even when it’s one of many least compelling relationships within the recreation. But the truth that Square Enix feels gun-shy in essentially the most intimate moments of the sport’s homosexual relationship is a symptom of a bigger challenge. The online game trade is fast to slap a Pride emblem on its social media posts or promote Pride-branded merchandise, however the greatest franchises are nonetheless terrified to place queer individuals entrance and heart, particularly males who wish to kiss different males.
We shouldn’t be trying to Final Fantasy to avoid wasting us. Broadly, queer individuals shouldn’t be trying to any company or piece of media because the barometer for the place queer liberation stands within the face of conservative actions in search of to strip the rights of queer individuals, particularly the onslaught of assaults being levied in opposition to the trans neighborhood. But in a world the place we’re consistently being barraged by real-world hate and regression, acceptance inside media can generally really feel like the one measurement of acceptance we’ve. So it’s a disgrace to see Final Fantasy XVI clearly wish to categorical that, however fail to commit when it counts. Queer males are nonetheless ready for his or her The Last of Us Part II second, and if the largest video games can’t even stand in proximity of two males kissing except the participant has expressed a need to provoke it, I don’t suppose we’ll get it any time quickly.
