From bathing suit to Punky Brewster cosplay in one cross-Atlantic trip. Some of the changes made to Japan’s Shin Megami Tensei X Fire Emblem to make it North America’s Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE are quite odd.
Having been busy not caring too much about worrying over things like fanservice, I’ve managed to avoid discussions of the changes made during the localisation of Shin Megami Tensei X Fire Emblem, with the exception of the still hilarious “vagina bones” meme. Blissfully unaware of any massive changes, I’ve been enjoying myself immensely over the past week, playing one of my favourite role-playing games of the generation. Check out our early impressions for mildly different but overall positive feelings about the game.
But when I got to the third major dungeon, which involves a photographer obsessed with his idol models, the whole thing just felt a little off. The walls of the dungeon were covered with tasteful photographs of young women modelling the sort of clothing you might find in a JCPenny catalogue.
Censored Gaming‘s look at all of the changes made to the game between regional releases confirmed my suspicions — after years of playing Japanese imports that many of my contemporaries think are disgusting, I’ve developed some sort of bikini sense. Nintendo and/or Atlus has some weird and inconsistent ideas about clothing and culture.
Check out the video below, but be mindful of spoilers and a couple bits that might be NSFW, depending.
Hightlights include:
- Just about everyone has been aged up a year, from 16, 17 and 18 to 17, 18 and 19.
- Several hundred lines of dialogue were re-recorded to reflect both the age changes and other tweaks to the story.
- Skirted costumes that would have shown underwear during acrobatic moves have been obscured via black void.
- The third dungeon, mentioned above, was all about sexy modelling. It’s now all about feeling good about yourself while wearing stupid clothing.
- Apparently this outfit wasn’t White enough, so they added more white.
Seriously, watch the video. Some of these changes are so nonsensical. A boss has her breasts obscured in an animated cutscene but not in the game proper. Mythical creatures are given shorts and tank tops.
I know some people are upset about the localisation changes, just as I know there are people who are upset about the meager amount of fanservice that managed to remain in the game. The only thing I’m upset about is how easily people get upset these days.
Had the changes affected gameplay I might be a little miffed, but they don’t, so I’m not. Some 12 hours in Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE is still on course to being one of my favourite role-playing games ever, Punky Brewster costumes and all.
Comments
13 responses to “All The Racy Stuff Changed For Tokyo Mirage Sessions’ Western Release”
I sometimes get the impression that Japanese developers/publishers view Western ratings boards as far more puritanical than they actually are. Would it have actually been a problem in Europe or the US to show a 16-year old girl in a bikini? Some stuff that doesn’t bother people in Japan is definitely pretty questionable to Western sensibilities , but in this example the original content seems incredibly tame.
Sexualising minors? I could see that being an issue. That said, apearnce-wise, there’s not muhc of a difference in this game (Unlike some where there’s a bloody 12 year old that they’ll pass off as 18. (Looking at you, Nowi from Fire emblem: Awakening)
Change their ages to 18, make sure they don’t look underage and bam, all that needs to be changed.
The kidnapping plotline aside (that’s definitely not going to read how it’s intended to in the West..) it didn’t seem like they were being sexualised at all to me. Does the ratings board actually equate “modelling in a bikini” to sexualisation? Because if so, clothing catalogues are some sick shit… The video included some clips of real-life models who were obviously sexualised but it didn’t seem like anything like that was actually happening in the game.
Aside from things where characters are much more actively sexualised than they seem to be in this game I’ve never heard of a Western ratings board actually having a problem with this kind of material. That said I don’t play many Japanese games so I don’t follow this stuff super closely. It just seemed weird to me, based on that video, that there was a problem in this case.
Maybe the ratings boards are more puritanical than I thought.
Even the portion talking about them being whatever the japanese term was for acting in a method to arouse the viewer? They were saying she had that kob previously, hence why she (and then later the other two) were posing for photos in bikinis. Sure, the characters were empowered, but they were certainly sexualised as well.
Not sure why I’m arguing anyway, since my argument was that having minors pose for photos in bikinis would be a fairly big thing.
FYI Nowi is actually about 1000 years old, thank you very much. 😛
Obviously the 20’s are coming back with a vengence! Remember when a girl showed her knees in the 1920s? GASP! – the SCANDAL!
You’ve got quite the joke setup there. It must have taken a giganto effort to resist.
Knees together, hands above the chest, elbows bent, head tilted, smile with your eyes shut.
Template cuteness.
Add some provocative attire, is it still cuteness? When does it start to become immodest?
The removal of the gravure stuff kinda pisses me off. It’s changing the history of a character. It’s changing who the character actually is. The DLC thing is also bad. I assume they’re still charging the regular price for it even with a majority of the content removed. Don’t even get me started on the art book.
“Apparently this outfit wasn’t White enough, so they added more white”
needs more white, maybe a ballroom mask or something.
sigh, because I like having other people tell me what I can and can’t do/play/watch (/sarcasm)
Leave the game alone, give it a mature rating and they’d probably sell the same amount, how many people 12/teen actually know what SMT or Fire Emblem is anyway. Probably targeting the audience of WiiU which according to Nintendo is probably 12/teen.
this is why (oh and the fact the wii U is dying fast) that I will not buy NEW games that nintendo has helped “localize”. They are very consistent-ish with what goes and what doesn’t(hint. suggestive or sexual content/material) , and I won’t support it, I may rent,or buy used but I will make damn sure nintendo won’t see a cent of my money. why is this game even T rated FFS ?!
I think with all the stuff removed you should be able to get an E10+ easy, was it kept T to trick people into thinking they weren’t F’ing with everything and that it was “fully intact”. It just smells, the whole thing. I won’t ever trust nintendo,they need to earn my trust not “trick” me into thinking they can be cool.
Damn, its so ironic that the Japanese version is more racy compared to the american
I mean its a country where porn is censored vs a country where celebrities are praised/are famous for sexuality/being naked in a magazine/sex tapes/etc