A PS3 exclusive game, an RPG from 2011, is returning with a new remaster that will take the PS3 game multi-platform. However, some gamers are protesting the release over what they view is censorship of the original product. While the PS3 was Sony’s worst-selling PlayStation console to date — not including handhelds or VR headsets — it actually has one of the more impressive libraries. And it also had true exclusives, unlike the PS5, which has become more and more a console exclusive machine, with Sony favoring releasing its games on PC and now even Xbox.
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The PS3 game in question is not a PlayStation game though, but a Bandai Namco game, and it is Tales of Xillia. After rumors and leaks, Bandai Namco finally announced a remaster of the 13-year-old RPG for Nintendo Switch, PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X. As you would expect, the initial reaction was nothing but excitement from fans of the long-running RPG series. However, now the conversation is dominated by some changes the remaster is making to the original in the name of modernization.
“Nope, You Censored It”
Alongside the announcement, Bandai Namco relayed word that “some expressions were changed from the original work in consideration of ethics.” Perhaps knowing the reaction that was coming, Bandai Nanco did not detail what these changes are despite going into great detail about everything else new with the remaster. That said, keeping the changes to itself has not stopped the negative reactions from pouring in. To this end, the latest promotional post about the game from the Bandai Namco X account is littered with unhappy fans.
“Nope, you censored it,” reads the top comment on the promotional post for the new remaster. “Not even a chance that I buy this over emulating the original.”
Another popular comment adds: “I can emulate the original for free and enjoy the actual experience instead of a watered down censored ‘remaster’.”
Not the First Time This Happened
if you have deja vu, it is because this is becoming an increasingly common trend. While Bandai Namco is only now being introduced to this strong opposition to censorship, others have seen this exact backlash already. For example, earlier this year Capcom was slammed for censoring its own remaster of a PS2 classic.
How much the blowback impacts sales, we do not know. This is near impossible to track even if we had transparent information about game performance and sales, which we never do. In the coming years, when publishers and developers have had enough time to react to current trends and consumer receptions, we may know, but for now it is hard to determine whether or not this is going to be legitimate concern for Bandai Namco or not. So far, it has not said a word about the matter. If this changes, we will update the story accordingly. In the meantime, feel free to leave a comment letting us know what you think.
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