Well CS2 might help in that regard anyway given that it's structured a bit differently than the first (and the rest of the games for that matter).

Plus I get the feeling I'll end up doing both Trails in the Skies back to back anyway before 3rd comes out.

So people have found some more 'censorship' to 'politely' debate over.

IMO, of all the forms of censorship to get worked up over this seems doesn't seem as bad, the overall context of the scene doesn't change, the end result is still the same its just the effects used to illustrate it are different.

Honestly I think its even more brutal than the original one. (Btw, the following animated scene is still the same in both versions, the bloodied Laphi).

And Namco has already stated that this is literally the only thing thats been altered to meet PEGI ratings, things like Velvets outfit is staying as it is.



My only real gripe with it is the inconsistency in where Laphi falls in the re-done version (looks very much like he drops down the very middle, rather than near the edge of the pit) with Velvet still grabbing him at the edge.

<-- Link to Namco/TalesStudio's response in regards to people in an uproar over it.

The censorship is unnecessary and unless if it's going to get a R rating for some contrived reason then it shouldn't matter. But, I'm not going to bother buying it. There are plenty of other good games coming out that aren't censored.

It was apparently one countries laws specifically making this change but rather than Namco doing a separate version for them which costs money they've just done the same version for everyone in the west, to obviously save money.

But they are apparently open to the suggestions of releasing a free dlc lock for other countries so they can have the unaltered version. (But I seriously doubt this wall happen)

Even then this whole thing will be a moot point for the PC version, if they can bring back the vocal opening to Zestiria they can more than likely restore this scene.

I'm not gonna let this small scene alteration kill my enjoyment of the rest of the game however. Laphi still dies, he's not being sent to the shadow realm, there is still visible blood in the following animated scene, thats the whole point of the scene and why Velvet snaps to begin with.

But whatever, my opinion is in the minority of the minority, censorship is the fucking devil isn't it?, I'm clearly a "scummy person" for supporting these practices. I'm the one with the apparently stupid and moronic opinion for still wanting to enjoy a game regardless. (I'm well aware no one has said this, but given a lot of your guys posting history on here its clearly obvious were the mindset lies.)

I don't bloody care any more, I'm done...

Actually, this is the first time where I find the alteration to be downright moronic. Japanese games will get tweaked when going through the localization process, whether it be through dialogue or other content, but thankfully not to a degree where it undermines the intended tone of the original. Atlus have managed this with Persona and MegaTen, Steins;Gate have managed it, even Zero Escaope (where there are also depictions of child death).

The PEGI ratings are definitely different between each EU country but  when dealing with a game with mature content it hasn't stopped other developers before from giving it a rating meant to reflect its sensitive subjects. The only exceptions are when they've resorted to outright ban it. Rockstar weren't gonna alter the heavy violence of Manhunt to please some suit-wearing executives in Germany just so they can reel in extra cash from kids below the appropriate age rating.

And honestly, who are they kidding. Nobody but fans of this franchise is going to buy this game anyway so what's the big whoop?
But on reflection, the Tales of games haven't been good since Vesperia so in the end it won't affect me as much as others who were probably looking forward to this game's darker tone and a female protagonist (for once). It still uses the same outdated ugly engine from Graces (so they can port it to PS3 instead of actually putting some effort into the game). The idea of a patch is promising though on Steam, we'll see.

This one's free and has massive approval numbers. Anyone played it?

It is pretty awesome

I'm pretty excited about Xeno Chronicles 2 myself

Yeah apparently the game is shockingly good. I'm planning on getting round to it at some point.