Stellar Blade: I Just Cannot With This "Censorship" Controversy

Fine let's talk about Stellar Blade and whether or not it was "censored" (it was not).

[@LzyCube]

If you're going to censor a game, don't advertise it as uncensored.

[@legi0naire]

Four weeks later hes more but hurt then ever.

[@Tucent]

The game was specifically marketed as not being censored. Advertised that way up until release. There should be no censorship, or it never should have been marketed that way in the first place.

[@MrBEARBLAST]

Well it did come out uncensored as promised just patched immediately right after 😂😂😂

[@sol5916]

People who care about games surprisingly care about games. The problem is this gradually increasing trend of people who DON’T care about games coming into the space and changing things for the sake of pushing their own ethical agendas. With Stellar Blade, I have no clue what happened. But it doesn’t matter if it’s 4% or 100%, you shouldn’t be so quick to embrace people who have no respect for the medium coming into that space and altering things with impunity. I’m not saying that’s what happened with Stellar Blade, but it’s not always about an individual incident.

[@underscore_5450]

Please go outside.

[@eliaspanayi3465]

It's just really funny how if they just left us alone, nobody would have heard of this and still zero people would be hurt. They have a unstoppable urge to get involved and posture about how moral they are despite praising the bear fucking scene from BG3. Funny how its only some people who get pushback for this kind of thing.

[@ApostleOfZeus199]

​@@underscore_5450She-Hulk shows writer had zero clue about comics or She-Hulk, guess how that turned out. Gamers have the final say if a product fails, not corpo rats, gamers.

[@NeverGoLucky]

This is a strawman. There were no "outside" people coming in and changing anything. How can you say you don't know what happened and then sneak in that accusation with no proof? Literally no one but gamers actually care about this. Even in your thinly veiled attempt at moving the goalpost on this issue you're fucking wrong.

[@SolstafirAquilaria]

​@@eliaspanayi3465 who is "they"? Sony changed the product they published. go outside and work to ditch your self-victimizing conspiracy theory tin-foil hat tomfoolery.

[@mediocregamer2484]

The worst part about not following this closely is: I don't know what the hell the game is even about.

[@michaelmontalvo7441]

it’s about a baddie killing aliens and trying to take back earth, you’re welcome

[@plus__James]

its basically "we have nier automata at home"

[@skeletor8951]

It's about ass, if the discourse is anything to go by

[@dominikjachimczuk8397]

@@plus__Jameswould you say it’s Near Automata?

[@Safe-Place]

I seen a dude on live, climbing a ladder with some alien chick- bro I fr am wondering what this game is about

[@burtmacklinfbi58]

if it wasn't a big deal to someone, it wouldn't have been changed in the first place

[@underscore_5450]

Step outside and take a breath of fresh air, please.

[@eliaspanayi3465]

​​@@underscore_5450 my friend, you are the one brigading this comment section for people who want products to be as the creator wanted. Please touch grass.

[@eliaspanayi3465]

As always it's a big deal when they want it changed but when we the fans want it to stay as it was, it's not a big deal.

[@Jolis_Parsec]

@@eliaspanayi3465Says the coomer seething about his waifu being just a tad bit more modest. 😂😂😂

[@h.serafin1489]

All I keep seeing from people like you who bring this rhetoric is baseless accusations. Once again, I ask; who is this "someone"???? Who is this evil corp master that hated the original designs and is forcing the CREATORS of the game to not tell the truth?? The creators already said that the outfit shown in the patch is the version they wanted everyone to see. But somehow, the goal post STILL kept moving. now it's "they're lying" or "sony told them to say that". Give me and show me proof. Stop being in your own heads thinking everything is some weird plot to take control away from gamers. The creators at the last second just said "Eh, I think we should change this." And that's the end of the story. If anything, just get mad about that. Jesus Christ.

[@lofipiggy7718]

You don't get it, heavy censorship is already damaging gaming industry. Stellar blade was supposed to be the only game that did the opposite. The whole point is that they should just stick to their guns and use the original concept of the outfits.

[@Noisemaze1]

If it's such a "nothing burger," then why change it to begin with? Yes, Shift Up makes sexy character all the time in Nikke, but you know what the difference between Nikke & Steller Blade is? One is on a Sony controlled platform & the other isn't.

[@SilentAndy]

This exactly! Idk wtf dude doesn't understand. It's really not even about "oh, we just wanna pop our rocks to sexy outfits." It's the fact that players were lied to and recieved a different game than they paid for. If they were gonna censor it, they shouldn't have paraded it around saying "it won't be censored." I find that very disingenuous and insulting to gamers. Most of us aren't THAT stupid.

[@curtiswillet6431]

I'm so sick of being called a Coomer just because I'm sick of censorship being applied specifically to female video game characters, and that is always fabric and clothing covering up the breasts.

[@terribleplayer2526]

vote with your wallet, sony has been woke for a while now and people let it slide for whatever reason

[@techedbirb6663]

I agree it's really disingenuous, and hypocritical as well at times.. what do they call the women that also hate the censorship?

[@venomlayton1394]

We will get the uncensored version of the game, shift up will give it to us and gamers are winning

[@mumblingmarvic8969]

its is indeed censored in the patched western version of the game but the Japanese version still has all the outfits unaltered and even has a few outfits that are only on the japanese version along with some other features

[@FlashesSoccer011]

I usually am with you, Paul. Not on this. Your entire discourse on this subject has been disingenuous and misleading. You have missed the entire point of the backlash to censorship.

[@pindrop.]

I'm pretty sure people like Paul are missing the point on purpose.

[@kmanalpha453]

I wasn't aware Paul was so pro-censorship and simping for Sony /s

[@Dude357]

He's a beta male.

[@pindrop.]

Why the /s?

[@devnull-dz3gj]

@@pindrop. /s for sarcasm ...

[@pindrop.]

@@devnull-dz3gj but it was necessary 🤔

[@devnull-dz3gj]

@@pindrop. What was necessary? The /s? You could have left you short rant without it and watch what would have happened ;). I guess a mix of guys supporting you while others being the complete opposite. Guess sarcasm shouldn't be explicitly marked as such, its much more fun watching people understand it ... or not :).

[@aronhill6353]

"I'm gonna regret this aren't I" as if you don't know exactly what you're doing Mr Tassi :D

[@NicholasMisiak618]

Why was my comment deleted?? i brought up great points!

[@pindrop.]

Gaslighting. They want to present the most illogical arguments against their position. To make their position appear more reasonable.

[@RazefonnRazefonn]

democracy 🤣🤣

[@NicholasMisiak618]

@@RazefonnRazefonn Exactly 💯😆

[@marschiee]

I think the issue here is that censorship exists and we are sick and tired of it. Even if it's just a small thing the remove it's still frustrating that some people out there are compromising the intended art direction/style. People are so entitled these days. I personally won't buy the game because I know it's not (anymore) how the creators/developers intended it to be. It has been tainted and ruined, fake and not true to itself. It's sad. And I don't do sad.

[@Kudryavka_Noumi]

I think developers qnd publishers are purposely pushing controversy to get more eyes on their games

[@ohmnesia]

These type of controversies hit almost every game that comes out now. And depending on how much you like the game, you will either think it's ridiculous or actively take part in it. That's what gaming is nowadays.

[@thelordakira]

that is gaming under ESG coercion.

[@Gav_Noctem]

People have a reason to be mad about the censorship, I hope they add the original outfits back as alternatives

[@jeronbracy2601]

Outlast trials is by far the most graphic game I’ve ever played.

[@Dude357]

But Outlast trials is Woke so it's okay. Lol

[@teralogin1]

I bet they have censored many more. These two suits were just the last ones not censored in time. That also explains why the dev said what was said, it becomes not a lie but a partial truth

[@echosartplanet2210]

Just put in a toggle to turn it on or off, plain and simple.

[@gave312]

I wouldn’t mind this

[@25xxfrostxx]

They don't want you to toggle it, they want you to be disallowed from seeing it completely. Giving you agency over your content is the exact opposite of them having control.

[@EKLyons]

Exactly!

[@JOHN18042]

​@25xxfrostxx, who's they tinfoil

[@kev95]

Best solution to be honest.

[@franklinmckenzie8856]

The thing that stands out to me is how obvious they were with the changes. Its almost like they wanted people to notice. That does make it seem like it was a change they didn't want to make. Or maybe it was so obvious bc they were hoping for controversy. What's that saying? "There's no such thing as bad publicity." How many more sales will they make due to all of this free advertising?

[@Dryvlyne]

I'm about to go to the Desert area for the first time. Sure, the protagonist is made visually attractive but I wouldn't be playing the game if it weren't good from a gameplay perspective. Also, the enemy designs are really varied and cool. People need to chill. If they have an issue then it's a THEM problem.

[@techedbirb6663]

Ok, as someone who's probably gonna be using the sweater outfit for most of the game, I disagree with this take due to lacking options, the bunny suit and others were literally designs of *real* outfits, that are supposed to have an erotic taste to it, what does adding a weird black lace and covering hip bones do for creative purpose? Either the director is shit at designs or it was most definitely censorship

[@IndependentWood]

What is the controversy? They are censoring their own game. Censorship is only a problem when you’re trying to censor “others” speech, artistic expression, etc.

[@Gav_Noctem]

They said they won’t censor the game then censored the game with the day one patch. Also everyone knows Sony made them censor it, that’s a problem in itself. If it’s not censorship (it undoubtedly is) then it’s false advertisement at least.

[@terribleplayer2526]

People are speculating that Sony stepped in last second to censor the game and then proceed to bring up that there is an unfair standard by listing independent studios like larian and CDPR having uncensored games, actual dimwits. Shiftup CHOSE to be bought by sony and if sony wants to censor/wokeify the game then thats on Shiftup, the game has high sales and really high ratings so these people are not actually voting with their wallets but by crying on twitter.

[@thelordakira]

@@Gav_Noctem False advertisement, fraud. Sorry reviewed my thought , it is a scam, trying to take money from people with lies.

[@NeverGoLucky]

Censorship ≠ Artists vision.

[@ilaygx]

So why would they change it last minute ? Seems weird for an artist vision. Sony is known for censoring stuff so what makes more sense the devs changing it last minute or Sony pushing it because of reviews and company scores…

[@h.serafin1489]

@@ilaygx I'm an artist. I post to instagram regularly. Many, many times I post something, look at it for too long, realize there's something I want to change and go back into Photoshop to edit it, then repost. Happens all the time to artist of many different medias. It's not as uncommon as you think.

[@NeverGoLucky]

@@ilaygx So all you have is a baseless accusation based on feelings, and I have the word of the game director of Stellar Blade. And, there are skimpier outfits in the game which received no changes. So your narrative doesn't even make sense from a "censorship" standpoint.

[@hououinkyouma3864]

@@NeverGoLucky Bro, if you morons actually did play the demo, or have put the effort in for a few seconds of google search, you would see how much the gore was censored. You guys are so freaking hilarious, you accuse everyone of not understanding things, while doing nothing to understand the issue

[@Chinmoy-n7k]

@@NeverGoLucky the uncensored bunny outfit was my favourite now it looks shit.

[@ellispham4700]

To be fair, seeing Paul say these things but won’t address other stupid backlash that the opposing crowd cries about is the reason why I won’t condemn #freestellarblade

[@karloaseo811]

This is very misleading, totally missed the point.

[@korinthian7313]

And yet you made an entire video. I can see how 'above it all' you are.

[@Al0neStillAlive]

Braindead people love it when things they don't like get censored.

[@elmerfudd8680]

Thank you for being an advocate for reason & sanity regarding this “censorship” issue!👍

[@bobbiestar72]

Agreed. Grifters gonna grift though.

[@zenith8569]

I see no reason why they should have made any of the changes to a Mature rated game. I think it is ridiculous to be upset about the changes having been made, but I also think it was ridiculous to make those changes in the first place. If it's not a big deal to cover up cleavage in a Mature game, then why do it? I think it's a fair question. It doesn't bother me either way. The game feels similar enough to Bayonetta that I can get into it, and I've enjoyed my sessions playing the game. It does bother me however that, for some reason, those voting with their wallets and petitioning for what they want changed back are apparently getting bounty threats levied at them for it. That's weird to me, that people who want their uncensored game as they had expected it to be are getting so much heated pushback. Why's that? If it doesn't matter that they covered her up a little bit, why are people threatening those trying to restore it as it were? If a couple inches of cloth wasn't a big deal to put on her, why's it such a big deal to remove it again? Just weird to me.

[@themortreport]

I cannot fathom people letting something like this bother them. It's so dumb and unimportant, and 99.9% are only mad because a few people insinuated they should be.

[@BlindedBraille]

I know, right? I honestly think people don't have anything better to do. They can't even log off and go play Stellar Blade.

[@TheRoleplayer40k]

Whats dumb and unimportant is literally every issue you care about mate

[@ThePackman627]

Eh, they changed it on day 1 and it didn't need to be. It is censorship 101. Why couldn't they keep the outfits like they were?

[@ArynBacklogDragon]

so dumb and unimportant... that the people are sending Mike Kern death Threats and even putting a hit on him over it.

[@hououinkyouma3864]

How are you guys so fucking basic? I got this game because I wanted to play a game which game that feeling Bloodborne could. Soaking in blood as kill my enemies. But they censored the gore A LOT before the release, and they LITERALLY advertised the game as being uncensored. That was LITERALLY A HOOK in point. I still enjoy the game, but I'm very upset about how much it was censored

[@KYPspikes]

This is the problem when it comes to pandering (I don't even think they were) to people who like the game cause of the looks of characters and their sexualization. They will defend your game to hell and back to protect it when the media comes after it, but once you ever so slightly sway even the tiniest bit away from their fantasies, those defenders will become your biggest haters. At the end of the day, I'm sure 90% of gamers hate these crazy people who are negative to developers who want to sexualize their characters and those who don't want to do it.

[@eliaspanayi3465]

What are you on about? Changes were made from the original vision by an outside force, and that shoulddnt slide. Art is not by committee.

[@KYPspikes]

@@eliaspanayi3465 In case you don't know, that happens to a lot of games, especially those that have mature ratings. The developer shouldn't have said that it wouldn't be censored or changed when it's releasing worldwide, because games get changed based on the country they're in for the smallest of reasons. Do I think it should happen? No. Am I surprised it happened? No, and people shouldn't be either. Are the reactions toward Stellar Blade overblown and stupid. Yes, for the countries/companies that want to censor/change games cause of cultural reasons and the gooners who cry when they can't see a pixel of animated titties. Last but not least this wasn't some "outside force". It was the developer themselves.

[@Epistolary8]

How do you know the changes were made by outside forces? According to the devs, it was a purely internal decision. They wanted her bikini to have just a tiiiiny bit more class, that’s all. Nothing more to it.

[@meateaw]

​@@eliaspanayi3465games are made literally by committee. Unless it's a solo indie title. If games are art, then art can be made by committee. What a stupid argument.

[@ER-ie1yr]

@@eliaspanayi3465I don’t understand this whole controversy. You say they’re censoring the game but some of Eve’s outfits are still very skimpy and show a lot. I have nearly got every suit in the game and nearly platinumed it and I can guarantee to you they barely covered anything up.

[@michaelmonstar4276]

Meanwhile, nobody bats an eye at the camera-in-crotch/crack game called "Bayonetta".

[@Shoku429]

This actually reminds me of senray kagura like if yall know u know

[@shawnadams1965]

I don't care about censorship unless the company in charge promises that it won't happen. Gearbox did the same thing with borderlands 2. "WE PROMISE THAT THE GAME WILL NOT BE CENSORED!" And on release it was.

[@nicholasevans5518]

Ok so from what I’ve learned that’s the problem the creator did say it wasn’t going to be censored and went around in tweets and interviews touting it wasn’t going to be censored before release. But when it came out it was censored.

[@HollowReaper17]

There's no evidence of censorship. The gore is a graphics setting issue, and the devs said they updated the outfit because they wanted to. Now hand over your lunch money, dork

[@nicholasevans5518]

@@HollowReaper17 them saying they changed it because they wanted to is such a cover for Sony it’s not even funny. Imagine if baldurs gate 3s’ creators were touting about not having mts’ and then had them when the game came out and said “we added them because we wanted to” people would still be giving them shit.

[@ApostleOfZeus199]

Well guess what, that's exactly what was said. Hence the refunds for false advertising

[@h.serafin1489]

@@nicholasevans5518 Show me. Give me proof that this is a cover for Sony. Because before their official statement; when people like you were mad about the outfit change and people like me were saying "Eh idk guys i think it was a creative change" y'all demanded proof. Proof is here, but now the goal post has changed. So now i ask the same. Show me proof that the official statement from Shift Up was a cover up for Sony.

[@kylecronin3379]

Thing is man lots of people bought the game because it was ignoting the sjw complaints not because they are horny people but because no artist should havr to change their work because people that are t even going to play it complain about. I get what your saying but any censorship was a problem because of that

[@Killahertz893]

If its truly not a big deal, then just give the uncensored outfits back. Unless it actually is a big deal, and telling everyone who doesn't like censorship of a game they already purchased that they are crazy morons is a better business strategy.

[@BrianFrichette]

The way you're just oozing exasperation throughout this video perfectly reflects how I feel about this. It's a new level of absurdity.

[@Belrf]

If it's "nothing burger" then stop censoring.

[@MetalDragon5745]

They said the game would not be censored 7 days before release to incentivize people to preorder i did then they censored the digital version on release that's false advertisement and a blatant bait and switch. You want to simp for Kotaku and IGN go ahead but maybe get your facts straight.

[@Pyraxian1]

The whole outfit outcry absurdity screams "please just be normal".

[@Angel_11_legnA]

I like playing video games but I don't care much for online interaction with gamers opinions. Online mobs are the stupidest thing ever. Cancel culture is intertwined with this. Paul, you have a sensible outlook on most things. Thanks for being a respectable adult.

[@andrewbaltes]

(disclosure, i don't intend to play the game because i just dont have an interest in playing it, but i do have an interest in when practices are normalized in the industry) 7:46 why? Because sex sells, and even if you dont like sex you can't argue that it doesn't sell. In fact, in some places using sex appeal to market a thing is itself illegal. So taking and changing it just after or before release without time for advertising to reflect that can be used as an argument that they intended to only keep those outfits in until release because they knew the sex appeal of that strategy would drive sales. I also dont think its unfair for people to cry censorship when the art of the game (which art in itself is supposed to be treated as an expression of free speech) is seemingly modesty patched after being heavily advertised. What confuses me is why they havent had a more "look, we made this change a while ago and just didnt get it into the demo" or somethinf like that. Saying "this was our final vision" or something to that effect when your game is not a "live service" is something that should riase red flags for everybody regardless of the subject that caused it.

[@andrewbaltes]

And to only do it for a few outfits is just such a weird move, like "why did you step on that pile of crap? You know how some of these people online are!"

[@h.serafin1489]

The fact that all they did was change some details on a few outfits proves that it isn't censorship to me. If they went in and changed all outfits; reduced the amount of blood spewing from enemies, and etc. then THAT would be censorship. It's clearly just s design decision that they decided to make at the last second. There are other outfits in the game FAR more revealing than the 1.0 outfits that were touched up.

[@thephoenix8892]

This whole situation has been so absurd to me ever since I learned about it. I honestly don’t understand the fixation censorship as if there aren’t so many other outfits that are way more revealing. Like this is such a non issue and yet it’s getting amplified by channels like asmongold of all people, making this situation even more annoying

[@eliaspanayi3465]

"Aktually its a good thing, accept that the product is different from the creators intention" No. Media should not be changed from the creators intention. In any way. If it sucks it sucks, but it should flop being true to the vision, not be changed into something it was never supposed to be.

[@SolstafirAquilaria]

I am sure that Sony, the for-profit corporate entity, will take your wise thoughts into careful consideration before the next time they make profit-driven changes to the product that they are putting out in a foreign market.

[@degolocsta18DegoLocc]

​@SolstafirAquilaria You took the time to sling shit at every comment you disagreed with. What a self own. Get a life. You're worse then the ppl you're targeting.

[@jorgebellidolavado6382]

3 outfits, 2 of them ended up as generic suits. It feels like an downgrade

[@pindrop.]

What a ridiculous take. Of course a legacy media employee feels the need to protect Sony. Yes, it is a small change. No, it doesn't matter. What matters is: why? Why does Sony feel the need to force such petty changes? And, yes, it absolutely was Sony. It's silly to pretend it was anybody else. Sony has allowed sex and full nudity in other titles, so why censor a bit of cleavage and hip? The lack of reasoning is maddening, and that is why people are upset. They feel they are being targeted for what they like, and for their sexuality. If it were any other sexuality than heterosexual, people like Paul would see the problem straight away. That being said, people are acting really weird on both sides. I mean for heaven's sake can the pro-censorship people just go outside and visit a beach. It's a shame people like Paul can only see half the problem. I suppose in Paul's case he has a finacial reason to remain ignorant.

[@mikewillis7261]

Well if it’s such a minor change that didn’t make a difference then why even do it?

[@SolstafirAquilaria]

Purely to make incels like yourself whine about it. You've figured out the conspiracy!

[@KougaMyazawa]

Honestly? I think they did it on purpose to spark controversy and get more eyes on their game. Like considering this was apparently the decision of the devs themselves, I feel like it just HAD to be on purpose. Like if their intent is to get controversy started and get everyone talking about it, then it sure as hell worked

[@mikewillis7261]

@@SolstafirAquilaria I’m sorry you’re so triggered by a conversation. You should probably seek mental health counseling

[@meateaw]

​@@mikewillis7261he hit a nerve pointing out you're triggered?

[@ilaygx]

@@SolstafirAquilariait’s crazy that you are nowadays called a incel so basically a women hater because you like strong badass women that are also sexy and feminine back in the tomb raider days it was completely normal

[@grundged]

Having a lot of fun with the game. The parries are super easy and I like that. Outfits dont bother me but I think censorship is wrong. Even if it's small it shouldn't be done.

[@SadotTheGamer]

"Life and Grifters will always find a way" - Thanos

[@Dude357]

Paul Tassi is a fig!

[@JG091980]

If im Shift Up, im selling this outfit as DLC just to see how many rubes would buy it

[@Jolis_Parsec]

Based!

[@TheSkaOreo]

It worked for the DoA games. Seriously I don’t think I’ve ever seen a video game shamelessly fleece its base the way the last couple of Dead or Alive games did.

[@Maestro-K1121]

My biggest issue is just the parry and dodge system. I'm loving the game, but I don't know how I'm going to make it with the weird timing for parrying and dodging.

[@Lightstation_]

Censorship should never be controversial. It's never a good thing especially in games. Especially when the game in question was advertised as uncensored. Too many people on twitter are missing the entire point

[@25xxfrostxx]

No, they get the point. Baldur's Gate 3, Hades 2 and Cyberpunk all have full nudity and some contain graphic intercourse scenes. None of the "journalists" complained about them. They cheered. The difference is political ideology, not content itself.

[@Lightstation_]

@@25xxfrostxx Hypocrisy at its finest

[@underscore_5450]

You're talking about this like some socialist leader released a game and it was completely censored last minute. Censorship is always something to be pushed back against but you should also pick and choose your battles to avoid looking like how you do right now. Its cleavage on a swimsuit. It's really not that deep. Go watch some porn, jerk your stuff, and I guarantee you won't feel all that enraged by this afterwards lmao

[@benfawefwaeffwaefawfdekk2080]

But its not censored though. Something being different or changing isnt censorship, things change in a creative process. Maybe the gore particles were too distracting, or the creator though the new outfit looked better. What, are they censoring themselves? lol

[@Lightstation_]

@@benfawefwaeffwaefawfdekk2080 read through your comment again and make sure it makes sense. The outfits were changed to be slightly less revealing. The game was advertised as uncensored across all regions. Then it gets censored. It's not a hard concept to grasp here

[@sirvalentine8883]

Pssst. They won though. They got what they wanted.

[@cokelogic]

A little bit of censorship is still censorship. Shouldn't shake that off like it was small enough to not matter, it happened.

[@RaspyCh]

Look up and research senran kagura and Sonys involvement with censoring the series. Sony lead the series’ into development hell/death, even making the series lead leave and joining a different company. This is why people don’t like censorship especially when it comes from Sony and mainly Japanese, but all Asian, games. Do your research as a journalist Paul on not just why people hate stellar blades censorship, but why people hate censorship overall, specifically from Sony and their double standards in this case, as a whole in video games that come from the east. Or just continue being oblivious to the bigger problem and continue just calling people who hate censorship weirdos and saying it’s not a big deal

[@ProjectImperix]

Thank you for bringing this up also the reason of why people hate censorship is the point the everyone pass over.

[@SolstafirAquilaria]

it's not a big deal and you're a weirdo for getting so invested in video game boobs. go outside and distance yourself from your incel anime communities.

[@RaspyCh]

@@ProjectImperixif any of these journalists did a single second of their job researching the reasons WHY people hate Sony and their censorship, they would find out why. But they refuse to even do their job. Paul refused to research ANYTHING beyond the complaints on twitter and actually go beyond to find out the reasons. And the thing is THE REASONS ARE RIGHT THERE. All they have to do is search up “senran kagura sony censorship” AND BOOM. You’ll find out everything I said in my main comment. But NOPE these journalists refused to research and I can only guess because their bosses don’t want Sony to get mad at them. And the people say what I just said journalists will go and say “no my opinion is my own I am not controlled” OK IF YOUR NOT CONTROLLED WHY HAVENT YOU DONE YOUR JOB!? This is why people hate GAMING journalists. SPECIFICALLY journalists. They’re the bottom of the barrel right below political journalists

[@MetalDragon5745]

One more thing Paul no one asked for your opinion, and we don't care what you think about Stellar Blade it's not a game for you just move along or maybe you are just a simp for DEI.

[@Aquahutch702]

I'll take a stance that is a mixture of Paul's and the protesters: buy the game. It's a win. Enjoy it. Support Shift Up. And when you get a few minutes, support the push to uncensor it by cancelling your PSN subscription (if only temporarily), emailing their support, and send a letter to Shift Up in Korea. After that, go back to the game and let the chips fall where they may, and don't think about it anymore. There's nothing that says you have to be emotional about it, just go through the motions and move on.

[@kirillshvedov3283]

I will not support Sony in any possible way, period.

[@underscore_5450]

Or you could go outside and clean up some trash in your neighborhood. Maybe clean up the local park. Clean out your garage and have a garage sale to get rid of things you don't need or clean out your closet and donate the clothing you don't wear anymore. Any of those things are more productive for yourself and society than caring about whether or not a collection of pixels is showing enough cleavage.

[@Aquahutch702]

@@underscore_5450 Absolutely! The whole Sony/Shift Up thing is only like 5 percent of the day, so yeah....do all that, too.

[@Budetto]

@@underscore_5450bro you’re literally spending your entire day arguing with KZbin comments 😂

[@Regular_Jo]

You brought the weirdos out, Paul!

[@walkinghazards7528]

These comments are exactly what I expected. Gamer moment.

[@TheRealJohnux]

Go back to D2 Paul.

[@609younglion]

Change it back and we are good

[@Untiliamgone]

Ah okay Paul Tassi, great takes, GREAT takes! Now, can you please riddle me this if you may: How come Baldur's Gate 3 sex scenes and TLOU2 sex scene being graphically depicted is okay but showing a little cleavage on 2 outfits and a little more ass on another 2 is such a no-no that needed to be "edited"?? (didn't use the "censored" verb as according to you that's not censorship!) Also if it was Shift-up's decision to "self-censor" their game (your words not mine) themselves and Sony had no say what's so ever, how come that wasn't included in the final disk?? In case you think we don't know, it takes at least 8 to 10 weeks (sometimes more) before a developer prints the disk prior to launch yet SOMEHOW, the "edited" versions of the outfits were ALWAYS the intended version which they didn't have time to implement?? 8 to 10 weeks ago was not enough time for the "always intented edited versions" to be implemented... But what happens roughly on the last 2 to 3 weeks prior to release? Oh yes! The Publisher performs their quality check of the game and if there's any serious bugs or no-no situations going on they "politely ask" the developer to rectify them with day 1 patches ... Who's publishing the game again??? I would love your wisdom on these questions as it seems you have a lot of that to impart! And while you are answering th (obviously you won't bother) find the time to also tell me when you are planning to develop some integrity as games reviewer / journalist and actually report the truth without slurping Sony's ass for whatever benefit that might bring you.

[@h.serafin1489]

Answer this question for me: The dozens of more revealing outfits within the game; why weren't those censored as well? It's almost as if....the devs have *creative choice* with the designs *that they made* and can decide how they want them to look...and in a patch that *not only fixed the parry-timing problem, as well as other small bug fixes, they also edited 2 outfits, because they can and are allowed to.* Brother, you're making a mountain out of a mole hill. It's not like the patch they released literally only edited the 2 outfits. Sometimes, it really is as simple as "Eh, even though it's last minute, we wanna change this." Regardless if the *intent* was that they wanted that specific outfit to be a bit more modest; it's their right. They're allowed to do so. They made the damn game for fuck's sake. Creative decision does *not* equate to censorship.

[@themetalpig7613]

Saying you need a microscope to notice the differences is disingenuous. The changes to the costume are obvious. If ppl want to play the modded version then let them and stop framing it like they are being silly for wanting to. Just play the version you want to.

[@SilentAndy]

I agree with this. It's blatantly obvious the changes they did. I noticed a difference immediately before even bothering to look it up. He's also disingenuous by saying it was only 2 outfits censored. Last I heard, it was "17". That may be a stretch, sure, but it's certainly more than 2 that were censored. Also, gore and blood were censored, so idk wtf this guy is on, but I feel bad for even engaging with this video. "ANY attention (good or bad) is still attention," as they say...

[@h.serafin1489]

@@SilentAndy Do you understand how game development works?

[@techedbirb6663]

​​@@h.serafin1489 DO YOU?? the fucking patch happened after the review copies came out along with the new game plus, that's totally on fucking purpose

[@tylerharvey1707]

You can thank asmongold for bringing the incels into the spotlight.

[@hectorlara11]

SHIFT UP themselves aren't even saying they've been censored, and that the updated outfits are the true vision of the developers. The outrage over this is absolutely unwarranted. People just want to be angry over a supposed "woke" agenda.

[@KougaMyazawa]

Do you know where I can read up more on the devs saying this? I'm not saying I don't believe you, but I want to look more into it and I just don't know how to start. Google hasn't been very reliable as of late tbh

[@bunnerkins]

I'm glad this "controversy" happened. I can use it as a litmus test to sort between my normal gamer friends and the ones that I should absolutely never under any circumstances show my face to or disclose my real name, or the country I live in, or any true details about me at all.

[@pindrop.]

Try going outside. What you wrote makes it seem like you could use some fresh air and time away from the computer.

[@bunnerkins]

@@pindrop. Says the guy that left 9 comments on this video. Eeek.

[@pindrop.]

@@bunnerkins why not? it doesn't take long to write a comment and there's a discussion to be had here. The basic point is: if the changes are so silly and trivial, why do some people find them to be so hard to justify and they instead resort to ad hominems? In your original comment you made out that it's other people being irrational. But to me your position seems extreme. Cutting people out of your life because they like virtual boobies, OK.

[@Chinmoy-n7k]

I will also be glad to never meet people like you

[@dannypaniagua2937]

Still mad game journo?

[@bluedragon843]

please keep in mind these are prob the same people who complained that Alloy from horizon zero was too ugly, and bullied devs to changing black widows face in the avengers game lol. smh

[@jasonjacoby8560]

Dude I know. Everything you're saying is exactly what I feel about this whole non-story. So many of the other outfits are revealing almost to the point of absurdity but those three square inches of fabric somehow resulted in a petition with thousands of signatures. Why would Sony let Shift Up tout "uncensored" all this time if they knew they were going to censor it? If Sony saw the game beforehand and felt the need, why not have Shift Up change the outfit BEFORE release and make it a non-issue? This has been such a wild deal, geez.

[@eliaspanayi3465]

If its a non issue why not support the people who don't like changes to things they buy based on BS regions.

[@superscatman4236]

@@eliaspanayi3465 Because they are the whiniest people around. I hope they add more clothes just to spite people posting 7 paragraph responses about "principals" and the devs "artistic vision" when they literally only really care about cranking it to video game characters. The devs deciding to undo the changes that they made themselves because of you guys complaining would be very unprincipled and would be actual censorship.

[@JOHN18042]

​@@eliaspanayi3465 bet you're the type to complain about OF models and degeneracy but want softcore CORN in video games

[@misberave]

The issue is not how many things they censored. It is the fact that they did it at all. And if they did it with those two, they could do it with other things as well. Also they reduce the gore and blood too.

[@misberave]

@@superscatman4236 this is such a stupid garbage argument you are bringing. I for example never even jerk off to chars and i still am gahdamn annoyed by the changes for the simple principle of it. Stop being so narrow minded holy fuq. The bunnysuit looks much worse now with the unreasonable layers around the hips it just looks stupid

[@Gyuribacsik]

I dont think sensorship 2 suits about 34. Changed. Every modern game getting patches every month. Is hole petitions is doing more damage. The investors sponsoring every games,. And publiserh.

[@Mark___Zuckerberg]

The game promised to release uncensored, then it was censored. I don’t get why you’re so confused as to why people are pissed off about it, they’re justified to.

[@h.serafin1489]

A creative choice to add or remove to a design from the creator's themselves is not censoring. It's an intentional creative decision.

[@Mark___Zuckerberg]

@@h.serafin1489 that’s called self-censorship and is still a censor, this game was advertised as being uncensored, and now there is censorship.

[@h.serafin1489]

@@Mark___Zuckerberg *sigh* no, that's just called changing a design, man. Whether you like the change or not, that's up to you. But the fact that there are other outfits within the game that show A LOT more than the outfits affected in the patch; and that those weren't messed with whatsoever; shows that they are not actively trying to censor their own game.

[@Mark___Zuckerberg]

@@h.serafin1489 it doesn’t matter if there are other more scantily clad designs the focus of the topic at hand is: 1. Outfits were revealed in one way then after the demo and a massive amount of preorders, they are changed in a way that the people who paid for it don’t like. All at the whims of some designer thinking he should change it to look arbitrarily “better”, that’s a rug pull, no matter how small. 2. The developers revealed that there is to be no censorship to worry about in the game, while self-censoring certain outfits by their arbitrary standards. Broken promises, no matter how small, will affect their reputation. You pointing to different outfits doesn’t address the point of what we’re angry about, and it’s the whole issue being misconstrued (mostly by content creators and by the games “journalists”) in a way that bigger companies take advantage of to not change their own shitty practices.

[@h.serafin1489]

@@Mark___Zuckerberg It's their design, he/she could do whatever the fuck they want with it lmao, you don't control it just because you purchased their product, are you mad? You seem to be on an extreeeemely high horse where just because you purchased someone's product, said person are now under your whims until the end of time or something. You are the absolute *worst* type of customer, my God. This small insight to the type of person you are almost ruined my day lmao, you'll be talking to yourself form now on, ew.

[@edsflowrider6872]

Sony emailed me today saying I broke their code of conduct for the one stellar blade video I uploaded. The censorship stuff was kind of whatever for me but this was not cool

[@SkywardKing]

Folks just have to look past personal feelings on this one. The game was advertised a specific way, pre-orders were made with this in mind and odd censorship choices were made in a game that's main selling points were over the top combat and sexuality! It's ridiculous. bump all the "touch grass" BS, this is about a blatant bait and switch. Which is completely wrong and people should stand up about it, unless they want to enable more of it in the future. "Give em an inch..." is a saying for a reason.

[@Mark___Zuckerberg]

You’re right!

[@h.serafin1489]

The developers themselves have already said that the changes that came with the patch is what they wanted to show the public. There's no censoring involved, it was a creative change. If it was censoring; other outfits that show off WAY more would have been affected as well. Hell A LOT more in the game would have been affected if they were under pressure to censor shit. There's no evil boogey-man to fight here. It was an intentional creative decision. They didn't bait and switch. More so just back tracked on a design THEY made. It's funny because it's gamers like you who are the definition of "Give em an inch..." right now. One little creative change and somehow now there's an evil top Sony puppet-master executive to defeat. Calm down and just play the game, damn.

[@Mark___Zuckerberg]

@@h.serafin1489 nice semantics, we just call it what it is; self-censorship.

[@h.serafin1489]

​@@Mark___Zuckerberg I can call a butterfly a turtle, doesn't mean that's what it is. I came with facts....you though, are giving rebuttals based on your....feelings.

[@Mark___Zuckerberg]

@@h.serafin1489 the fact being that you missed the point, we wouldn’t have issues if these outfits were added as alts to the original outfits (if they had the space to do it ofc), we do have issues because these outfits are replacing outfits that were advertised, for an arbitrary reason, that fans didn’t like. Unfortunately, Gaming is so full of this type of censorship/rugpull that people like you have grown to be apathetic to it and for some reason tell the consumers who are pissed off at it to ignore the issue that these companies have of altering products after people have purchased them.

[@AlPacino2502]

Great video, reasonable opinion

[@ProffessorWaffle]

Man this "controversy" is so stupid. Just another day on the internet I guess

[@ed61730]

The issue with this is that the company actually advertised on their twitter that there would be no censorship in all regions the game is released. That's false marketing.

[@ed61730]

I don't actually think it's censorship and I agree with you. The issue is once you pander to a certain audience and looks like you are then going the opposite way you are gonna get backlash.

[@Helldive713]

The game wasn’t censored there is an outfit were she is in a bikini and there is a ton of blood in the game

[@ed61730]

@@Helldive713 Exactly

[@benfawefwaeffwaefawfdekk2080]

@@ed61730 did you just reply to yourself? lol

[@oddkikisdragon1833]

Sexiness and gore will always get censored on different countries and versions, reasons most of the time so they pass distribution restrictions so the game reaches the most of their audience. AND I trust tech junkies that will find a way to override or mod the censorship

[@xLaniakea_]

Didnt know about the game until last week and didnt hear about this until yesterday, everything about stellar blade is cringe. Also people on the internet really pick and choose to argue and create non-issues out of the most bizzare things.

[@anthobee]

Boys we can all come together again when this game comes to pc. Mods mods mods

[@TheCommentaification]

This honestly would not blow up as it did, if they just simply released the game on PS5 and PC simultaneously. Instead it's stuck on a platform that is famous for censorship.

[@underscore_5450]

I can already tell that the people that seriously care about this are absolutely insufferable.

[@eliaspanayi3465]

Yeah it's kinda creepy how hard people are pushing back over what amounts to some pixels on a screen being too sexy. Seriously it's genuinely worrying how they can't just leave it be, zero people are getting hurt by it.

[@thelordakira]

@@eliaspanayi3465 yes it is just a drip, dont worry about all the other ones.

[@thelordakira]

Just another fraud

[@dony2852]

You can believe it isn't censored all you want. Fact is that Shift Up has a PR problem and the best way for them to address it is to patch the uncensored versions back in. If Sony really isn't at fault then there should be nothing stopping Shift Up from doing so.

[@h.serafin1489]

Why would they do that? They already said that the outfit in the patched version of the game is what they wanted the public to see. Who's the secret boogey man you guys speak of that's censoring these games? It's not Sony; the original disc wouldn't even be out with the 1.0 outfits if that was the case. It's not Shift Up; they have acknowledged and said the changes were intentional. Why is it so hard to believe that they just wanted to make a few changes and call it a day?

[@dony2852]

@@h.serafin1489 It doesn't matter that you think it was not censored. It doesn't matter that the Shift Up director said the changes were intended as the final design. Sony has censored a lot of eastern games many times in the past. The best way to prove Stellar Blade is not going to be one of them is for Shift up to patch back in the v1.000. It should be very simple for them to add them back in. Shift Up knows the demand is there. Why are you mad about people wanting the game to have more costumes anyway?

[@h.serafin1489]

@@dony2852 Once you started off your response with "It doesn't matter" I knew reading the rest would result in me actively losing brain cells. The facts and proof are in front of your face and somehow what trumps overall is your desire to...lemme check..."See more boobies." Have a good day, or rather; the day you deserve.

[@ThePackman627]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/rqTYYpWaiNmJl9E Yes Paul, you seem to not like that this game is getting such good reviews. Why? Cause the game is going against certain groups of people that don't want attractive women as lead characters? Hmmm ok bud

[@justAncorisfine]

This whole “controversy” has been quite the ride. It’s not everyday you get to see dudes in their 40s complaint about a swimsuit 🩱 not been ‘revealing enough’ … in a video game.

[@TheSkaOreo]

I mean this feels like a throwback to the 2010s when those same people were outraged over the game censoring suits for the 10,000 year old child vampire model

[@justAncorisfine]

@@TheSkaOreo wot? Lol which one was that? Like I remember when games like Bayonetta, Lollipop Chainsaw and Catherine came out, but don’t recall something like this happening

[@ApostleOfZeus199]

Swimsuit bad! Bear s*x good! That is the hypocrisy levels we are at and no it's not hyperbolic.

[@droppedmycap1594]

Its not about the fkn outfit. Over the years tons of different devs have been shoving their agendas down our throats, forcing us to accept ideas like LGBTQ , nonsenical pronouns, and projecting their insecurities on us gamers by ugly-fying female characters. Dont like it, dont buy it. Cool. Some of us now, found a dev team with an artstyle that appeals to us, and now someone at Sony is censoring it because they don't like it. Let the devs express what they wanna express! 🤷‍♂️ when it comes to LGBTQ sex scenes however, no matter how disturbing it may have been to most of the playerbase. Its ok. But when i wanna see BOOBA And the GYATT Dayum BOOTY, its "Fck you! I dont like it, so im censoring it." You only see what i want you to see.

[@Chinmoy-n7k]

ok boomer whatever you say.

[@kev95]

If you think it's not that much of a big deal then why make a video on it?

[@pindrop.]

And that is the meat of this debacle. If it is so silly, then why did Sony feel the need to do it? Of course, we'll never get an answer. If you ask that question all you will receive is ad hominem.

[@XIIIPinguis]

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOoo

[@MapleYum]

Bad actors on both sides are blowing minority opinions out of proportion. Nobody cares about the character model, they care about the gameplay. If people are hyper focused (positively or negatively) on a character model, they have an axe to grind. Personally i don’t love the overly sexualized models, but i also don’t lose sleep about it.

[@RunnyElephant44]

It's hypothetical that sony allows games like last of us 2 and balders gate have full scenes but costumes being a bit risqué noooo. They only do it to Asian games too only American games they allow it in its not just about censorship but is a legitimate concern about racism and double standards within the industry since this has also been an issue with other companies too

[@Linkman8912]

Jesus, you have like 1/3 dislikes!

[@patrickarraes4422]

I saw the posts on Twitter, and I see that you elaboraded way better here in the video. Thank you, at first you were mocking it then here you explain it well and logically. Here is my like and my engament comment

[@Muppet-kz2nc]

I love how liberalism used to be associated with embracing sexuality and now we've gone full circle to where sexualizing anything is a no-no, which has traditionally been a very conservative point of view. people just dont know what they believe in anymore. stellar blade is figurehead for the absurd sociological reconstruction thats been present in the games industry for the past several years.

[@SolstafirAquilaria]

please go outside.

[@underscore_5450]

You should give your mother a call and ask her how her weekend was.

[@degolocsta18DegoLocc]

Censorship is ok with these ppl if the censored act is deemed too "Heterosexual "

[@hououinkyouma3864]

We literally have evidence of the game being censored. Especially the gore. I don't care much about the sex appeal, but I'm very upset about the gore censorship. And yes, it is real. You can ignore it as much as you want, but it's there. OF COURSE people will be angry about being lied to.

[@JOy-xo4dh]

Gross he's hard to look at

[@persies4397]

The discussion of this game has been so focused on revealing outfits and other nonsense that I still have no clue what the game is actually about. Which gives me zero motivation to play it. What a weird community.

[@Chinmoy-n7k]

Tourist Gatekept, mission accomplished

[@samzilla567]

Censorship is still Censorship, Paul. Regardless of the context. Advertising the game with extreme gore and certain outfits on display, then changing that at release date is a scummy move.

[@SolstafirAquilaria]

yes, Paul, don't you know that a for profit company changing its product to try and maximize profits in an overseas market with differing cultural norms is the exact same as, for example, a government prohibiting spread of accurate scientific or historic information. you silly goose, Paul, how can't you see that the two are the exact same, just like in that funny meme I love so much?

[@benfawefwaeffwaefawfdekk2080]

That's not censorship though? That's, at best, false advertising. Something pretending its more controversial or titilating than it is doesnt mean it was censored. It has to be changed from an outside for to be censored. Things changing in development isnt censorship