On Final Fantasy XV's All Male Party

The director of Final Fantasy XV commented on the fact that the game follows an all-male party with this quote:

Speaking honestly, an all-male party feels almost more approachable for players. Even the presence of one female in the group will change their behavior, so that they’ll act differently. So to give the most natural feeling, to make them feel sincere and honest, having them all the same gender made sense in that way.

We have 2 immediate possibilities I can see on how to read this quote: 

 A: The guys all have deep platonic relationships with each other and there is no romantic subplot
B: They're all hella gay 

I know, I'm setting up a dichotomy here. I'll address that later. 

I think a lot of people have latched onto and are applauding scenario A, which is great! Not every game or plot should involve a romantic subplot, and it's kind of ridiculous how many actually do. However, this is also where I'm annoyed with the fact that an all-male cast had to be chosen. Saying there will be no romantic subplot is great, but this concept has absolutely nothing to do with gender. Looking at it this way, there is no reason that you couldn't have entirely platonic relationships between men and women in this party, and the fact that this is cited as a defense to an all-male party in American media and social circles is frankly troubling. It reinforces the idea that men and women cannot interact without sexual or romantic undertones, which is not an idea that needs to be reinforced. 

An all-male party does, however, totally work if the intent is to create budding romance between a party of gay guys or even guys questioning their sexuality. Queer representation is fantastic and I would love to see gay relationships fully explored in more mainstream media. 

But this is where we reach a problem, isn't it? As many have pointed out to me, Japanese culture is quite a lot different from American culture. Frankly, I don't trust Square Enix's writers to create a plot involving four gay guys and have it actually address serious issues in a meaningful way. This isn't necessarily selling their writers short, it's just a result of cultural differences, not to mention what sort of plot sells in the Japanese and American mainstreams. In light of this, going back to my dichotomy, we're left with the uncomfortably gendered scenario A as the more likely of the two scenarios.

But wait, you're thinking, you're the one that set up this dichotomy in the first place! Yes, dear reader, thank you for calling me out on that. If I'm going to look at what this plot is going to be realistically rather than hypothetically, I'm going to predict that the games plot will fall somewhere in the realm between these two scenarios. The story will be written from the standpoint that the four guys are all completely platonic toward each other, with various ambiguous moments that fanfic writers and BL fans can get behind to support their shipping of the party. It's a trope I'm sure we've all seen thousands of times in Japanese media, with the romantic tension reaching points just shy of actual romance to be a tease to people who are looking for it and unobtrusive to people who aren’t. Final Fantasy XV is still a JRPG at heart, and no amount of prerelease PR is going to convince me that they're doing something RADICALLY DIFFERENT from the norm until I see it happen.

So, the ultimate question I've been asking myself: Am I upset that FFXV has no female characters in its main party? Well, no. I think the prospect of an ambiguously gay team of pretty boy men holds just as much appeal to female, male, and non binary gamers alike, and I vastly prefer inclusion of different audiences to a game over inclusion of different token characters within a plot. With this sort of plot, there's something here for everyone to latch onto, whether it be men having romantic tension with each other or entirely platonic relationships involving trust and loyalty to one another. (although a fair critique could be that all the guys’ body types are relatively similar, but that’s an argument for another post)

My one problem with this is the passive acceptance by fans and consumers that the ONLY way a story about platonic relationships can work is with a story about nothing but men. This is not a problem I have with the game, or the writing, it's a problem I have with our attitude as consumers and our refusal to recognize that maybe there is a problem with buying into the idea that a platonic bonds story could not be told with a girl in the party. The all-male approach is okay to take, but let's just be open minded and recognize that it is not the only way this story could be told, and Square Enix does not deserve applause for wanting to tell this story. It’s not a story that’s breaking any new, progressive ground. In the end it’s another JRPG story told through the eyes of men.