In a series first, Fire Emblem Fates will have same-sex marriages

Nintendo has confirmed that its upcoming 3DS RPG sequel Fire Emblem Fates will have same-sex marriages.

This feature was revealed to Polygon by Nintendo, adding that it believes its "gameplay experiences should reflect the diversity of the communities in which we operate."

This will be a first for the series, which had marriage options in its last title, Fire Emblem: Awakening, but only between a man and a woman.

If you were able to take a relationship to an S ranking in Awakening then the option to have children became available.

According to Kotaku, a married man and woman in Fire Emblem Fates will still be able to have babies. Whereas a reaching an A+ ranking with a same-sex married couple will unlock special combat ratings.

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Nintendo also explained that Fire Emblem Fates will come in two different versions in the west, just as it will in Japan. These will be called the Conquest and Birthright editions.

Each edition provides a different story that follows a character with a different gender.

And so, if you want to have a male-to-male relationship you'll need to buy the Conquest edition. Whereas for a female-to-female relationship you'll need the Birthright edition.

However, a third story line will be available as a digital download to those who bought either one of these editions of the game after the game's launch.

In this third story line, both the male and female character will be encountered. This means it'll be possible to have a same-sex relationship (and marriage) with either men or women in that third edition.

Fire Emblem Fates will be out for 3DS in the west in 2016. It comes out in Japan on June 25th 2015 (tomorrow).