A recent rumor suggests the western release of Xenoblade Chronicles X may feature some censored material.
Some images, first posted on Neogaf, reveal a comparison between a costume for the character Lin. The images showcase Lin in two different costumes, one that is semi-clothed in the EU release of the game, and one that is in a full bikini in the Japanese release of the game.
https://twitter.com/_teikage/status/660050698080514052https://twitter.com/_teikage/status/660051660039979009
It should be noted that character of Lin is aged thirteen in the Japanese release of Xenoblade Chronicles X. There is a rumor circulating that her age was changed to fifteen for the European and North American releases, however John Ricciardi of localization company 8-4 has stated that the age of the character is still the same.
According the Neogaf post, none of the other characters are affected by these costume changes, although that has not been confirmed at this time.
This is not the first time Nintendo has been involved with censoring games for their system. Other role-playing games, such as Bravely Default by Silicon Studio and Square Enix, also had censored costumes for their characters to make them look less risque. Other Nintendo products, such as Fire Emblem: Awakening, also received censored images of the playable cast through DLC titled The Summer Scramble Pack.
According to the twitter user @_teikage, the images are the same costume name, and will likely have the same statistics in-game. This means that the censorship found in Xenoblade Chronicles X is purely cosmetic.
The game itself is a Wii U exclusive, and will be released in North America on December 4th.
Techraptor has reached out to Nintendo for a comment, but have not received any details at this time. We will update this story if we get a response.
Quick Take
If you ask me, this is a good idea. For one, it's a bit weird to personally see a young teen walking around in a bikini while piloting a giant mech and fighting aliens. The point of the costume is obviously for titillation only, which is another issue altogether. Frankly, the new versions of the said costume actually fit the bill better; it makes the character of Lin look sexual without being overly pandering.
This is probably the best, practical move in the end. Nintendo likely doesn't want to have a problem with people complaining, so censoring something that is purely cosmetic is a fair trade in this case. It is doubtful the loss of these costumes will really effect Xenoblade Chronicles X at all. But what do you think about this? Make sure to leave your comments below.
