During the Tokyo Game Show 2024, Yoji Horiicreator of Dragon Questy Kazuhiko Torishimaformer editor-in-chief of Shonen Jump, talked about the issue of censorship in Japanese games when they were brought to the West. Dragon Quest 3 HD-D Remake It is the most recent Square Enix game to be affected by this, as one of the designs of the late Akira Toriyama (the warrior) wears a new garment under her truly revealing armor.
Translated by Valute News via Twitterin the talk Horii admits his confusion about the changes implemented, adding that «If there is a lot of exposure, the age classification goes up. “It means we couldn’t sell it as an all-ages product.” Not exactly a new topic for Japanese games in America.
Torishima then commented on the rule being added to compliances implemented by Westerners to adapt the material. Specifically speaking of the case in America, exactly the United States.
He is like an absolute god. An evil disguised as good. There is no such thing as content that doesn’t make everyone uncomfortable. Because beauty and ugliness, good and evil, are different for everyone…
There is a religious concept in the West, especially in the United States, that influences your approach to sex education, isn’t there? Their approach to regulatory compliance is very narrow. When selling ‘manga’ in the United States, everything had to be classified by age group. Since there is a risk of lawsuits, the company also has to take out insurance.
Doing business with such a ridiculous country is really frustrating. Therefore, Japan is also negatively influenced.”
Horii adds that the character selection screen has changed from male and female to ‘Type 1’ and ‘Type 2’, before saying, “I really wonder who is complaining about this?”
Of course it is a reference to the inclusion of genres in video game development. The original game of Dragon Quest 3 It was launched 36 years ago and the ‘remake’ in HD-2D is its way of presenting it to new generations. Times have definitely changed, but it is still an affront to important figures behind products with such a reputation inside and outside of Japan. Unfortunately we will no longer be able to know Toriyama’s opinion, but it is possible that he would have given his approval to these redesigns, since without them there would basically be no game.
