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Code Vein 2 has been Censored and uses translation for "Modern Audiences"

See guys, the war is far from over. It was way too early to celebrate.


These days I question everything from social media, especially when I have to hunt down the trailers myself. Let's ask ChatGPT!

The part you're asking about is:

君はきっと正義が狂器に変わる前に止めることができる人だと思うから。

Word-by-word:
正義 (seigi) – justice
が – (subject marker)
狂器 (kyōki) – literally "madness," "insanity," or "fanaticism*"
に変わる前に (ni kawaru mae ni) – before it turns into
止めることができる人 (tomeru koto ga dekiru hito) – someone who can stop it
だと思うから – because I think so

A literal translation is:

"Because I believe you're someone who can stop justice before it turns into madness."

So why did the official English use "bigotry" instead of "madness"?

狂器 (kyōki) is metaphorical here

In Japanese media, 正義が狂気に変わる is a common phrase meaning:

justice becoming fanaticism
righteousness turning zealous
moral conviction becoming dangerous/extremist


It often implies intolerance, judgment, or self-righteous cruelty, more than literal mental insanity. In other words, "madness" is literal, but the intended meaning is closer to:

zealotry
extremism
ideological intolerance
persecuting others in the name of justice


Which overlaps strongly with the English concept of bigotry. English localization aims for theme, not strict literalness

The English script chooses words that:

fit the character's personality
fit the setting
sound natural in English dramatic dialogue
deliver the intended narrative theme


If the character is warning about "justice turning into persecution," "bigotry" conveys that moral corruption better than "madness," which sounds like mental breakdown.

"Madness" carries different connotations in English

In English, "madness" tends to sound like:

losing sanity
chaotic behavior
mental instability


Japanese "狂気 (kyōki)" in moral contexts is closer to:

fanatical extremism
losing sight of true justice
becoming cruel while thinking you're righteous


So the localization team likely selected "bigotry" to express:

justice that becomes intolerance or oppression.

Which matches the narrative tone.

Well, that makes all rather good sense, doesn't it? I mean, we can all agree that literal translations between languages can often sound confusing, especially something like Japanese, and especially without cultural connotation. But naturally, nuance is dead these days, so let's get those outrage YouTube videos going from the regular crowd!

The panty stuff is dumb though, agreed on that.
All those words just to prove that
a) AI would have done a finer, more accurate job than the human deliberately using their translation to fuel culture wars, and
b) there were more appropriate English words to translate the concept of that phrase, and someone went out of their way to use the one closer to their own worldview because of reasons.


No one in the western world would slap bigotry on there without trying to make a point.
Precisely.


There is a fine line between justice and kyoki*

translator's note: kyoki means madness, insanity or fanaticism
Meme Lol GIF by ALL SEEING EYES
 
I agree. If your enjoyment falls apart because you can't zoom in on a female character's pants then that says more about you than the game. Go watch porn. I understand the censorship concerns but this is not it
It's a minor thing in the grand scheme of things, but exactly because it is… why even do it? Someone expects a few million preteens to buy this game and become fascist patriarchists who objectify women because of it?

Also, the irony of going out of your way to translate with "bigotry" something that is more appropriately translated otherwise, and then go out of your way to censor a panty shot, is so off the charts it's entering Jupiter's orbit right now.

This is wrong because it's intentional, it's completely unnecessary*, and it adds nothing - rather, it detracts.


*unless you think you're on the "right side of history" and that your brainwashed views are the only ones that should be allowed in the world. Which is, by the way, a form of colonialism, and so much for your precious "diversity".
 
re. the last image: I can't remember what game it was, but I remember playing one of these games with Type A and Type B that for reasons had decided to make both of the defaults look androgynous, and I had to go back and forth a couple of times to figure out which was which lol.

Also Froggo Froggo every time I see your avatar it makes me smile a bit. It's so cute :] . Just wanted to say.
 
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zealotry
extremism
ideological intolerance
persecuting others in the name of justice


Which overlaps strongly with the English concept of bigotry. English localization aims for theme, not strict literalness

Persecuting others in the name of "social justice" is exactly what leftists love doing, and one of the ways they do it is by calling everyone who disagrees with them "bigot"
The translators knew exactly what they were doing here, and it wasn't translating the game correctly.
 
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Persecuting others in the name of "social justice" is exactly what leftists love doing, and one of the ways they do it is by calling everyone who disagrees with them "bigot"
The translators knew exactly what they were doing here, and it wasn't translating the game correctly.


It's funny that at this point we have to explain the basics but here we are lol
 
I really hate it when companies, bend there knees to this blue haired twisted woke, twisted dei, leftist and antifa, instead of pleasing majority of fans and have common sense. I hope, especially in USA, they will pass a law, or at least Pres Trump will release executive order in stopping force and push for twisted gender ideology and pride agenda agenda on entertainment industry.
 
I really hate it when companies, bend there knees to this blue haired twisted woke, twisted dei, leftist and antifa, instead of pleasing majority of fans and have common sense. I hope, especially in USA, they will pass a law, or at least Pres Trump will release executive order in stopping force and push for twisted gender ideology and pride agenda agenda on entertainment industry.
…Are you trying to fill a buzzword quota or is this a copypasta of some kind?
 
re. the last image: I can't remember what game it was, but I remember playing one of these games with Type A and Type B that for reasons had decided to make both of the defaults look androgynous, and I had to go back and forth a couple of times to figure out which was which lol.

Also Froggo Froggo every time I see your avatar it makes me smile a bit. It's so cute :] . Just wanted to say.
Thanks it's a picture of my dog
 
Persecuting others in the name of "social justice" is exactly what leftists love doing, and one of the ways they do it is by calling everyone who disagrees with them "bigot"
The translators knew exactly what they were doing here, and it wasn't translating the game correctly.
You don't even know the context of the line. The character, Valentin Voda, is actively fighting against discrimination based on Revenant ancestry. He literally says earlier (in Japanese) "The world of vampires has long been obsessed with birth and bloodlines, clinging to outdated traditions. I wish to change that." The English translation is "Our obsession with bloodline and ancestry is an antiquated practice. A trivial custom I hope to change."

Woah, I better not hope he uses the word bigotry. Because that would be so out of character for somebody like that.
 
You don't even know the context of the line. The character, Valentin Voda, is actively fighting against discrimination based on Revenant ancestry. He literally says earlier (in Japanese) "The world of vampires has long been obsessed with birth and bloodlines, clinging to outdated traditions. I wish to change that." The English translation is "Our obsession with bloodline and ancestry is an antiquated practice. A trivial custom I hope to change."

Woah, I better not hope he uses the word bigotry. Because that would be so out of character for somebody like that.


Do you understand that these translators are the same people who wrote the word bigotry in that trailer? Is that hard for you to connect the dots? Lol
 
I just realised something.
Fucking weebs loved the slavery shit in Metaphor, they might like this shit as well.
 

Do you understand that these translators are the same people who wrote the word bigotry in that trailer? Is that hard for you to connect the dots? Lol
I mean, your point is what exactly? The word is perfect serviceable in the context of the Japanese word and the statement of the character. Nothing in that line is being censored, or even altered. Did the translators change the character from somebody fighting against "madness" into one fighting against discrimination based on ancestry? No, because that is the same motivation he has in the Japanese game.

I've already said the clothing changes are stupid.
 
I mean, your point is what exactly? The word is perfect serviceable in the context of the Japanese word and the statement of the character. Nothing in that line is being censored, or even altered. Did the translators change the character from somebody fighting against "madness" into one fighting against discrimination based on ancestry? No, because that is the same motivation he has in the Japanese game.

I've already said the clothing changes are stupid.

Madness and bigotry are not similar words friend. I can't believe that we are having this conversation because ChatGpt told you that word could fit in that context. Do you understand that ChatGpt is designed to be agreeable with you? It's whole purpose is to please you and tell you what you want to hear

I didn't want to get into a discussion about this subject but man your posts are exhausting lol
 
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LOLcalizations are a real problem and they need to disappear into the void, they are so irritatingly frustating even if you are only slightly familiar with Japanese.

I'm sorry for the few localizers who perform their job properly (yes, they exist), but I can't wait for AI to take over in this field.
 
Madness and bigotry are not similar words friend. I can't believe that we are having this conversation because ChatGpt told you that word could fit in that context. Do you understand that ChatGpt is designed to be agreeable with you? It's whole purpose is to please you and tell you what you want to hear

I didn't want to get into a discussion about this subject but man your posts are exhausting lol
Damn, you must not really be familiar with Japanese if you think everything translates one to one. Because famously, old translating software like Google Translate never, ever had any issues with confusion because it was so razor focused on literal translation. Most famously, "The moon is beautiful, isn't it?"

And ChatGPT is readily able to produce sources. Kōjien (the most authoritative dictionary in Japan) has the definition of kyōki right here:

A state of having lost reason; also, an extremely biased way of thinking.
According to Kotobank's dictionary entries for 狂気, it means a mental state that has departed from the norm, or loss of reason - https://kotobank.jp/word/狂気-52533?
The Japanese Wikipedia article notes that 狂気 is a label applied to behavior judged deviant by a speaker - https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/狂気?
Dictionary consolidated sites also show usages involving unrestrained excitement, not just literal insanity - https://www.tanoshiijapanese.com/dictionary/entry_details.cfm?entry_id=22569

Now, the literal meaning of the word is madness. That is not in dispute. The context and meaning of the statement could be different of course, this happens all the time in English, and as anybody who speaks multiple languages know it occurs a lot when trying to do a literal one to one translation. The phrase 君はきっと正義が狂器に変わる前に止めることができる人だと思うから。especially in combination with the previous lines:

生まれや血統にこだわる…吸血鬼の世界。私はこれを変えていきたい
- A vampire world obsessed with birth and bloodlines… I want to change that.

Now what about the counterpoint to the madness (kyōki)? Seigi (正義), well that, especially in the context of Japanese culture, means things like moral correctness, ideology, doctrine. So when combined kyōki the correct interpretation would be "righteousness becoming unhinged" and not "somebody going mad". That doesn't mean "bigotry" is the only valid English word (zealotry probably would have been better), but it communicates the idea and intent of moral corruption, not just mere insanity far better.
 
once again, woke stuff is the least of my problems with this game. & i, too, enjoyed the original...
Woke stuff is likely related to all problems of this game. If you have to redesign characters and quests because some woketard has a problem with it, you are not doing something useful you could be doing. Instead of your game being designed around productive constraints like budget, talent, audience, it's now also designed around ideological constraints that limit what can be made, which adds an additional layer of complications and slows down development.
 
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You guys mad because you can look at a YOUNG polygon girl"s panties? 🤢

I personally don't care about this specific case, I dont need to see a woman half naked when playing a game. What I do care about is censorship in gaming in general. Video games are a form of art, and art shouldn't be censored just because it makes people uncomfortable. The only time censorship is justified is in extreme cases, like pedofilia or other clearly illegal and exploitative content. Outside of that, creative freedom should be respected
 
You guys mad because you can look at a YOUNG polygon girl"s panties? 🤢
Game dev makes game with attractive girls with visible panties.
Fans love it.
Game dev release a sequel with none of that.
Fans hate it and those changes don't bring new fans at all because why would they? Sales disappoint and the IP dies.


It's not that hard to understand. Why devs shot themselves in the foot with this kind of stuff is bonkers to me.

edit: also worth mentioning that Bandai Namco has been deep into DEI at least since 2024. Sad to see, hope they realize that's not the way to go if they want happy customers.
 
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This weird panty shadow censorship has been in every Japanese game in the last few years. I wonder what is behind it. Publisher? Financing? These games are already niche and do not sell well. Steam reviews tend to be mixed. Dark times.
This is actually CERO's doing (the Japanese ESRB). They've gotten stricter over the past decade or so and don't always allow what they used to. One of those things is upskirt shots, which I'm guessing can't be used in a T-rated game like Code Vein 2. The original was M-rated so this may have been a business decision to attempt to reach a larger audience. And ironically it's pushing the original audience away.
 
Bamco's localization team has been "educating" Japanese devs on these issues. I have been boycotting them for years now. lol.

This is from 2 years ago.

bW5oKe4XlMK31XxD.png



WTF!?!

I don't see what the MeToo movement has got to do with fictional anime characters showing cleavage or wearing short skirts.

These fuckers have literally become the religious puritans.
 
WTF!?!

I don't see what the MeToo movement has got to do with fictional anime characters showing cleavage or wearing short skirts.

These fuckers have literally become the religious puritans.

These are the same people that will insult you and wish you to die if you dare to criticize or shame a woman with onlyfans lol
 
I agree. If your enjoyment falls apart because you can't zoom in on a female character's pants then that says more about you than the game. Go watch porn. I understand the censorship concerns but this is not it
I don't personally care about waifu or pantsu shit, but this is being disingenuous.

Give an inch, they take a mile. We have a plethora of examples to show the mile in the corporate and entertainment worlds for well over a decade.

*unless you think you're on the "right side of history" and that your brainwashed views are the only ones that should be allowed in the world. Which is, by the way, a form of colonialism, and so much for your precious "diversity".
boom smile GIF


This is literally a form of colonialism they screech about. Altering the works of other homogenized nations and bastardizing their translations. "Holier than thou."
 
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This is actually CERO's doing (the Japanese ESRB). They've gotten stricter over the past decade or so and don't always allow what they used to. One of those things is upskirt shots, which I'm guessing can't be used in a T-rated game like Code Vein 2. The original was M-rated so this may have been a business decision to attempt to reach a larger audience. And ironically it's pushing the original audience away.
Thanks. I didn't notice the drop in rating. To be honest I rarely notice the rating on games these days. I had to go back to Steam to look for it. Some games like Dispatch do not seem to show it. Less noticeable in the age of digital downloads. I used to notice the rating on the box "back in the day". So dumb that they went "PG-13" with the sequel.
 
If the changes are insignificant, you need to ask why there are changes in the first place.
1) Because some people are smart enough to get paid to made these dumb changes.
2) Because some companies are stupid enough to pay people to make these changes.
3) Because consumers are dumb enough to care about these insignificant changes, talking about them, and thus, validating that people from 1) are worth paying for.

Everything is completely dumb and pointless about censorship. Making the changes. Paying for them. Pretending to be offended and not buying a game while the person was never going to buy the game anyway.

I think censorship altered a game to the point of "changing meaningfully" the experience only once out of all the games I have played, and it was in Tokyo Mirage, where the second dungeon which was about "the fear of revealing one's body in photographs" (basically) was replaced with the characters being fully clothed. But it was so fucking nonsensical that it ended being hilarious. Otherwise, I don't think I could even list one case of censorship where it changed anything to the experience. Which further tells how pointless it is.
 
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Know what game does have panties though?
Ze6e32yjM3POMVvr.jpg

The game with the number 1 most GOTY awards, Expedition 33.
Maybe it's not such a bad thing to do.
 
I don't personally care about waifu or pantsu shit, but this is being disingenuous.

Give an inch, they take a mile. We have a plethora of examples to show the mile in the corporate and entertainment worlds for well over a decade.
I was only talking about that tweet and that edit. The translation and the rest is bullshit that's for sure.
 
Really, who gives a f8ck

Only perverts would make a big deal over not seeing knickers


Only a true degenerate would go to the extent of covering some pixels in a virtual character.

And, by the way, censorship is ALWAYS about power. Nothing more.

I'm quite fed up that some of you guys can't see or pretend to not see the core problem. These woke localizers have no business in telling devs how to make their games. End of the story.
 
Only a true degenerate would go to the extent of covering some pixels in a virtual character.

And, by the way, censorship is ALWAYS about power. Nothing more.

I'm quite fed up that some of you guys can't see or pretend to not see the core problem. These woke localizers have no business in telling devs how to make their games. End of the story.
I couldn't give a toss that the tits were taken out of Lunar 2 Vine boss for the Sega CD version or how Sikes Of Arcadia had to cover up tits (again) . I care more about whether a game is good to play
that seeing a bit of fluff
 
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