Atelier Ryza: Ever Darkness & the Secret Hideout was a great hit for publisher Koei Tecmo and developer Gust, selling more than 500,000 units as of this past August. Even its eponymous protagonist Ryza has seen terrific popularity, perhaps in part because gamers are just so thirsty for her. As such, there is greater anticipation for sequel Atelier Ryza 2: Lost Legends & the Secret Fairy, which was recently shown off at Tokyo Game Show. However, some divergences between different videos shown had led some fans to wonder if Atelier Ryza 2 would be censored for the West.
But nope! Koei Tecmo America Twitter has spoken out specifically to clarify that Atelier Ryza 2 will not be censored when it releases in the West. You won’t have to worry about missing out on any content, whether gruesome or lewd.
Message to fans
Despite the differences in Atelier Ryza 2 promotional videos recently shown at TGS, we want to assure fans that the game itself will not be censored in the West. We hope everyone is looking forward to the upcoming adventure!#AtelierRyza2 #AtelierRyza #KTfamily pic.twitter.com/ZpXWttpGxd
— KOEI TECMO AMERICA (@KoeiTecmoUS) October 7, 2020
The slight wrinkle in this story is that Gust’s recent Fairy Tail RPG apparently did receive an extremely mild case of censorship, adding shadows to panty shots in what was said to be a day-one update. I think that’s an alteration most people can live with though. And in general, censorship in video games seems to be less of an issue these days. The West is becoming less prudish, and the East is arguably starting to make games with a more global audience in mind in the first place.
Atelier Ryza 2: Lost Legends & the Secret Fairy has no set release date for the West yet, but it will launch on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, and PC sometime this winter.
