Censorship of Xenosaga III
The topic of censorship of this third game has really been bugging me lately.
I don't think it's too much of a spoiler, but just to be on the safe side. (Minor spoilers and nothing major like the ending of the game)
Recently Thomas got to a part in the game that I was eagerly anticipating since it was a very memorable scene from the time I've played it in the Japanese version. The scenes that were noticeably altered were the blood in the death scene of Febronia and Shion's parents.
FYI, I am someone who is probably the most squeemish person that you can ever meet. I can't stand gore, blood, and violence even if I know is fake and tomato juice-like.
The amazing thing is that the censorship of the third game even makes someone like me angry that they took out the blood from these important scenes. The horror of these two scenes has such an emotional impact on depth of the story as well as the characters. I don't like to see Febronia all bloody while she's eaten or Shion's mom stabbed multiple times, but I think it's ridiculous for them to take out the blood. When you see Virgil carry her lifeless body away from the attacking realians, the fact that she is not bleeding at all is just plain stupid and too dumbed down. The original scene didn't contain too much gore at all. It's not anything close to a Resident Evil game. I haven't seen the scene with Shion's parents yet, but I can kind of already guess that I won't like the censorship there. I can just imagine the lack of blood and tension in that crucial scene. The lack of blood may even lead people to believe that Shion's mom is not human or something.... >_< I can just picture the message board being flooded with "Dooooode, Shion's mom is not human because she doesn't bleed!"
I've been already educated with most of the censored areas (since it's been totally bothering me) and everywhere else is just making my brain ache in disbelief. I won't mention the others since it's probably bigger of a spoiler
I know, I know. Yes, it's all about getting a Teen Rating or whatever to get more sales... but I can't see a young kid wanting or being able to play Xenosaga anyway. Albedo's infamous head removal is so much worse than blood, I think. Speaking of which, was the first game rated for Teens? o_O
I don't think it's too much of a spoiler, but just to be on the safe side. (Minor spoilers and nothing major like the ending of the game)
Recently Thomas got to a part in the game that I was eagerly anticipating since it was a very memorable scene from the time I've played it in the Japanese version. The scenes that were noticeably altered were the blood in the death scene of Febronia and Shion's parents.
FYI, I am someone who is probably the most squeemish person that you can ever meet. I can't stand gore, blood, and violence even if I know is fake and tomato juice-like.
The amazing thing is that the censorship of the third game even makes someone like me angry that they took out the blood from these important scenes. The horror of these two scenes has such an emotional impact on depth of the story as well as the characters. I don't like to see Febronia all bloody while she's eaten or Shion's mom stabbed multiple times, but I think it's ridiculous for them to take out the blood. When you see Virgil carry her lifeless body away from the attacking realians, the fact that she is not bleeding at all is just plain stupid and too dumbed down. The original scene didn't contain too much gore at all. It's not anything close to a Resident Evil game. I haven't seen the scene with Shion's parents yet, but I can kind of already guess that I won't like the censorship there. I can just imagine the lack of blood and tension in that crucial scene. The lack of blood may even lead people to believe that Shion's mom is not human or something.... >_< I can just picture the message board being flooded with "Dooooode, Shion's mom is not human because she doesn't bleed!"
I've been already educated with most of the censored areas (since it's been totally bothering me) and everywhere else is just making my brain ache in disbelief. I won't mention the others since it's probably bigger of a spoiler
I know, I know. Yes, it's all about getting a Teen Rating or whatever to get more sales... but I can't see a young kid wanting or being able to play Xenosaga anyway. Albedo's infamous head removal is so much worse than blood, I think. Speaking of which, was the first game rated for Teens? o_O