Agarest: Generations of War 2 is Censored on Steam

Published: March 2, 2015 12:37 AM /

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agarest 2

The extremely popular sequel to the Agarest series Agarest: Generations of War 2 has finally made its way to Steam with full mouse and keyboard functionality, but some fans will be disappointed to hear that the sequel has been censored by its publisher Ghostlight apparently in accordance with some countries laws. However, this was never mentioned on the Steam page, only on Ghostlight's blog dated January 15th linked above.

The story based Japanese RPG which was previously released on the PS3, was uncensored in both the North American and Japanese regions but was only available as the censored version in the EU. The censorship surrounds the character Fiona, who is often depicted as a 12 year old girl. 4 images and a Mini-game featuring the younger version of Fiona, for example at a bath house, have been removed from the Steam release and makes this version equal to the EU game.

Below we have shown some examples of which images are allowed and which have been censored. Images of other characters at the bathhouse and other images of Fiona are allowed like these:

agarest 2 character
Aina, 3rd massage

 

fiona agarest 2
Fiona "Sealed"

 

But images like the one below have been banned:

fiona bathhouse agarest 2
Censored Fiona image

 

On the topic of censorship Ghostlight had this to say about the decision:

"In other news I know many of you have been asking us whether the PC version will be based on the EU or North American version of Agarest 2. I can now report that the PC version of Agarest 2 will be based on the European version of this title.  This does mean that the game will not include a small number of CG images and minigames that feature the first generation version of Fiona.  I realise that many of you will be disappointed by this news but it is the version of the game that is compliant with local laws in many of the countries we deal with.  Put simply, while this was not a decision that we’ve taken lightly, the alternative to Ghostlight releasing the EU version of this title was to not release the game on Steam at all."
Opinion is split on forums about the decision. While many are disappointed that they will not be receiving the full version of the game, others claim their experience will not be diminished too greatly by the removal of such a small amount of content. In the mini-game in question you massage the girls, including the breasts, to gain "ecstasy time." As Fiona is explicitly described as a child PEGI, Pan European Game Information, stated that the publishers should remove the inclusion of the labeling of Fiona as a child to avoid links to pedophilia.  However, Ghostlight decided to remove the child character from the mini-game completely instead.

agarest 2 fiona
Fiona, Character profile image

 

Inclusion of images of undressed young boys and girls are common place in many Japanese mangas and animes, particularly self published titles and are often a lot more controversial than the images banned here. While Japan passed a bill to ban child pornography last year, drawn images are still very much legal. While Agarest: Generations of War 2 does not show the young Fiona in a sexualised manner it does suggest this in the story. It is a cultural difference between Japan and the West with regards to attitudes towards the depiction of naked children, particularly in images of places like bath houses where children and adults often bathe communally in Japanese society.

TechRaptor has reached out to Ghostlight Publishing but has not received a response at this time.

What do you think of the censorship of this title?

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| Former Staff Writer

Georgina is a former writer for TechRaptor, you can find her on Twitter!