Persona series

I'll believe it when I see it and if it is changed, then the fact that they're only doing so after the backlash is incredibly shitty. They should have picked up on that crap the first time around.

Edited by LordVatek on Feb 17th 2020 at 11:33:01 AM

My main issue with this is that while axing those scenes is good it doesn't really fix the homophobia of the original product and its creators, it just makes western buyers less guilty about buying the game. Atlus USA seems pretty on the ball, but Atlus japan has always been the main issue and they obviously don't care.

Censoring it in the West but leaving it alone in it's original language just proves it's a PR move. The actual story tellers and Atlus employees et al in Japan don't give a fuck about how they portray these characters.

You're being obtuse; the fact that they even acknowledged there was a backlash was more than I expected.

Exactly.

Maybe this'll be a sign that next time they won't even put in something like that in either version.

That may be expecting too much, but as Yakuzu said, them even recognizing a backlash is a big thing, even if they are only doing so belatedly.

and That is my glass half-full view as well.

Some Japanese companies don't give a shit about their Western fanbases even as we give them tons of money. Atlus acknowledging us and our concerns is progress and makes me happy.

It might be slow progress but it's better than nothing, IMO.

Edited by Nikkolas on Feb 17th 2020 at 8:45:38 AM

Most companies just kind of sweep this stuff under the rug, or give a half assed apology.

Not that there isn't plenty to criticize mind you, but its...something at least.

Atlus West acknowledging it means less than nothing in terms of it affecting later games. It's their job to make the games more palatable for a western audience.

It will only be when Atlus Japan starts changing things that any of this will actually matter.

Edited by LordVatek on Feb 17th 2020 at 11:47:48 AM

Maybe the backlash will teach Atlus in general not to write scenes like this?

considering i was expecting absolutely nothing, that's a plus in my book.

Consider this; if Atlus USA are aware, then wouldn't be easier to assume that it's been notified to Atlus Japan.

Edited by BlackYakuzu94 on Feb 17th 2020 at 11:57:45 AM

any amount of progress is progress

I think they've been notified. I just don't think they care.

Why would they bother. The game was a massive success world wide. They have no incentive to improve their portrayals of gays and other minority groups whatsoever, we're probably just going to have similar characters pre-censored in the localized product going forward.

Edited by Hashil on Feb 17th 2020 at 10:01:43 AM

I dunno, following this logic, they didn't had any incentive to censor them in the west either. "if it ain't broke", after all.

Bad publicity is not good for any game. This isn't a Pokemon situation where the complaint is a minor issue either, and even then the issue got so bad that the developers had to speak on it.

I'm not saying skepticism isn't justified, but I don't get what's the issue with noting the fact that it's been acknowledged in favor of just staying angry.

At the end of the day, nobody liked those scenes. LGBT people and their allies hate the homophobia while homophobes hate that there are gay people at all.

Because the actual creative minds behind these games still hold these views and will continue to for the foreseeable future. Sanitizing the localized version doesn't change that all. If anything it just makes it even easier for more content like it to continue to appear in the series or other Atlus games, since on our end nothing appears to be out of place.

It's not progress. It's PR.

Edited by Hashil on Feb 17th 2020 at 10:12:02 AM

You literally have no way of knowing that for sure and only basing that on conjecture. This isn't the first time this issue has come up and its been acknowledged before as well. Atlus Japan at the very least I'm sure are aware.

But if you're just gonna stay cynical and angry, then I'm not gonna stop you.

As a Bi man, I didn't care either way, but good on Atlus US, I guess.

Almost every game Hashino has directed has prominent homophobic and/or transphobic content. It's not just blind conjecture. And if complaints about it reached him personally, I doubt the Japanese release would of gone unaltered if he'd suddenly had a change of heart on the subject.

Edited by Hashil on Feb 17th 2020 at 10:25:31 AM

Assuming the west will roll with it because nothing seems odd sounds like vastly underestimating the internet's capability to pick up on the smallest change of localization and complain about it. People who are actively angry at Altus for this scenes will keep doing so because they have the means to stay informed of what the original script looks like.

Also, hashino no longer work on persona so using that reasoning to say later games will keep doing that doesn't hold either.

Edited by Yumil on Feb 17th 2020 at 6:27:09 PM

I'm just happy that the version of the game I can buy doesn't have gaybashing in it.

Like how the version of Fire Emblem Fates I bought didn't let me roofie a gay girl or pet people's faces.

Hashino isn't at Atlus anymore unless you know something that I don't.

I thought he was making a new game for them.