Blade & Soul started about a month ago, but what has become of the censorship allegations? Has anything really changed?
The initial excitement around Blade & Soul has slowly subsided. The western launch was successfully completed, numerous bots have been kept in check, and the servers are handling the load of players significantly better than in the first two days. However, even during the closed beta phase, there was rising criticism of the localization of the title. In this article, we dealt with the censorship allegations of Blade & Soul back then.
2p has now taken another look at the matter and comes to the somewhat sobering conclusion: Not much has really changed since the beta. The accusations remain.
The Alteration of the Story
Fans have been particularly affected by massive alterations to the story. Already during the beta, it became apparent that the multifaceted and complex characters of Blade & Soul would be somewhat trimmed. Although NCsoft stated at that time that they would “not make changes to the story,” this statement had to be revised soon by completed facts.
Most players will not notice these circumlocutions at all. However, those who know both versions, that is the original and our western one, will have noticed that the characters here are significantly “flatter” and more clichéd than in the original. The players, as heroes of the story, embody the “good,” whereas Jinsoyun, the sexy antagonist with a strong personality (who even got her own musical), becomes a flat comic villain.
Less Naked Facts, More Fabric
In other places, one can no longer speak of “artistic freedom,” but only of open (or rather “veiling”) censorship. Numerous outfits in the game have been adjusted, exposed skin in many clothes has been covered up.
But not only the outfits of the player characters are affected, even NPCs are obviously not trusted to endure winter in the West without being covered up a bit. Even cut scenes have not been spared, and go even further – the camera angles in some scenes have been adjusted so that possibly “naughty” scenes are no longer present. For many players, it is incomprehensible why characters are first covered up and then the angle is also changed – double is better known.
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- So ist das nackte Original…
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- … und so die zensierte Version.
Mein-MMO thinks: Not much has changed in our original article on censorship in Blade & Soul. The localization, aside from minor cosmetic corrections, is still the same as during the beta, and the criticism of some fans has simply been swept under the rug. At least: The big shitstorm that was feared has largely not happened.
However, it must also be mentioned that Blade & Soul has developed very well despite these serious allegations. More than 2 million players are now playing in the western version of the game, and these accusations have apparently not hindered its success.
What do you think about these changes? Do you not care because you do not know the “original” anyway? Or do you find an adjustment of the aspects under the aegis of “westernization” massively disturbing?
You can find more news about the game and the latest patches on our Blade and Soul topic page.
