Rumors have recently swirled around the Internet that Bandai Namco’s upcoming RPG Tales of Arise would be censored for its PS4 and PS5 release across all territories. The rumors originated from an anonymous poster on 4chan’s /v/ board, and many gamers found the post to be credible given Sony’s recent censorship of Japanese third party games on PlayStation.

Here are the specific changes made to Tales of Arise on PlayStation platforms, according to the anonymous poster:

1. Multiple female character costumes have been made less risqué.
2. A hot springs scene has been removed from the game on Sony platforms. It is not plot significant, but it is still removed. The hot springs area still exists, but the one scene is gone.
3. Bath towel costumes earned earned by completing the above hot springs scene have been removed.
4. Gender symbols (written in the in-game language) on the hot spring’s doors have been removed.
5. An optional scene where the female characters make sexual remarks towards each other has been removed.
6. A scene where a male character walks in on one of the female characters, and it is implied that he sees her naked, though no nudity is shown in any version. In the PlayStation versions however, the dialogue has been altered to remove any sexual implications.
7. A weapon carried by one of the NPCs has been redesigned.
8. A scene where an enemy punches a female character has been changed so that she dodges out of the way but still falls down.

However, Bandai Namco reportedly confirmed to YouTube commentator Jay RPG that Tales of Arise will arrive on western shores “without any form of censorship”. According to Jay RPG, Bandai Namco responded to his inquiry by stating that “All versions will have the same story and features, without any form of censorship.”

Sounds good. What a relief! But-

-Bandai Namco also has a history of lying releasing misleading statements when it comes to game censorship, having promised to not censor the Western versions of Tales of Beseria in 2017, but censoring the final game, anyway. Fool me once, Bandai Namco…

Given Sony’s censorious tendencies and Bandai Namco’s past broken promises regarding censorship of the Tales series, it’s safe to say that those concerned about the issue would be wise to hold off on pre-ordering Tales of Arise and instead wait for post-release coverage of the game to confirm whether it was in fact censored.

Tales of Arise is scheduled to release on 10 September on PS4, PS5, Xbox One, SeXbox and PC. (Just get it on PC if you can, that way you can mod it as you see fit, am I right?)

Who do you believe? Let us know in the comments!

Source: Bounding Into Comics

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