Japanese players are delighted with censorship in their version of Baldur’s Gate 3
Spike Chunsoft released the Japanese version of Baldur’s Gate 3 from Larian Studios December 21 for PS5. Japanese players, who have already managed to get a copy, seem to be especially amused by a creative choice associated with the censorship of the most valuable parts of the body of the characters, and this is somehow associated with a certain Japanese meme, in which fig leaves and crotch appear.
Translation of the message: I tried to make a strong erolf guy at Baldur’s Gate 3, but the sheet above his crotch is so funny that I am losing my head.
Even before the release, it was announced that the Japanese PS5 version of the Baldur’s Gate 3 will contain some changes compared to the global version, namely, that frank content, such as a demonstration of worshiped blood and genitals, will be censored. While the standard version of the game allows you to choose whether you want to see or hide nudity in scenes, etc.D., These options were removed from the Japanese version, making it censored by default. However, the censorship of the genitals of the characters with the help of a single neat fig leaf seemed to have more a comedic effect than anything else, and even contributed to the fact that people were completely different against such a censorship.
To clarify the situation, it should be said that in the collective memory of Japanese users, one strange song and clip is very alive, and the action with the leaves in Baldur’s Gate 3 seems to have awakened her. "Yatta!" – This is a parody song of 2001 by a fictional Japanese boy-band called "Green Leaves". As expected, in the video the group members dance and play with biceps in some underpants, and their crotch is covered with branded fig leaves. At one time, the song took first place in the charts and continues to live as an immortal Internet meme.
In Baldur’s Gate 3, there are various points when the characters appear completely naked, for example, when you undress them while configuring appearance or in intimate scenes with other characters. But if you do not want to see the genitals in the game (or play the Japanese version with censorship), strategically located leaves will appear on the screen, which elegantly hide the intimate parts of the body of the characters. This caused a wave of enthusiastic responses of Japanese users, as well as references to the aforementioned meme "Green Leaves". Comments that "The leaves are actually even more erotic", as well as jokes addressed to the size of the leaves.
Why was the Japanese version subjected to censorship? Games ported to the consoles in Japan are required to censor the image of genitals in order to comply with the recommendations of Cero. Fortunately, there are no rules on how exactly the intimate parts of the body should be hidden, therefore, many different approaches have been used so far. An example is the version of Super Real Mahjong PV for Nintendo Switch, where mysterious white light came from the characters from the chest and perineum.