Elon Musk shared his thoughts on Dragon Quest creator Yuji Horii accusing American regulations of forcing the removal of the option to choose between male and female characters in Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake.
A screenshot from Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake, (2024), Square Enix
It was reported at the beginning of this month that developer Square Enix was removing the option for players to choose between male and female characters and were instead labeling the character options as A and B.
This was reported by Ryokutya2089, who noted that the game has “no distinction between male and female heroes.”
Ryokutya also noted that the characters are labeled A and B with the A version appearing like a male hero while the B version is a female hero. Ryokutya even notes that the A version is voiced by male actor Hiyama Nobuyuki while the B version is voiced by Minaguchi Yuko.
On top of the main character having their sex removed from the character select, Ryokutya also reported that “jobs will also no longer be distinguished by gender in name.”
A screenshot from Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake, (2024), Square Enix
These changes were confirmed in a preview for the game in the Weekly Shonen Jump magazine. X user Scratch_Point_Z shared, “This preview in the latest issue of Japanese magazine Weekly Shonen Jump confirms Dragon Quest III HD-2D is using Type A & Type B in place of male & female.
This preview in the latest issue of Japanese magazine Weekly Shonen Jump confirms Dragon Quest III HD-2D is using Type A & Type B in place of male & female. pic.twitter.com/9UHilfFW2w
— Scratch Point (@Scratch_Point_Z) July 9, 2024
Following this confirmation the game was added to the Sweet Baby Inc. detected Steam curator list as well as Kabrutus Rambo’s DEI Detected website. On top of the removal of the option to choose between male and female characters, Kabrutus cites that the game also censored the trolls in the game by removing their lips.
He wrote, “On a much more personal and nerdier level, and this one really pisses me off, I must say, is the censorship of the Troll’s lips.”
A comparison of various depictions of trolls from different versions of Dragon Quest III
Not only has the game been added to the Sweet Baby Inc. detected Steam curator list as well as DEIDetected.com, but numerous gamers have expressed on the game’s Steam forums that they do not plan to purchase the game due to the changes Square Enix has made.
McRav posted, “no man/woman? DEI cenorship? you don’t get my money. no man/woman? DEI cenorship? you don’t get my money.”
McRav on Steam
In an interview at Tokyo Game Show alongside former Weekly Shonen Jump Editor-in-Chief Kazuhiko Torishima, Horii was asked about the changes made to the character designs and specifically why more clothing was added to Jenna Sharpe, the female hero in the game, which has also been criticized.
東京ゲームショーで、DQ3の衣装変更に関して。
The reason why the exposure of costumes in DQ3 needs to be reduced, as explained in an interview at TGS.#DQ3HD2D #ドラゴンクエスト3 #DragonQuest#TGS2024 pic.twitter.com/wzMoCnVYjN— Valute News (@saou0345) September 29, 2024
As translated by Valute News, Horii responded, “Yeah, there were various regulations in place. Apparently, it’s not allowed to show too much skin.”
He added, “Hmm, I really don’t understand that either. … If there’s too much exposure, the age rating goes up. It means we won’t be able to sell it as an all-ages product.”
A screenshot from Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake, (2024), Square Enix
When asked about complying with various country’s regulations Torishima chimed in, “Under the name of compliance… It’s like an absolute god… An evil disguised as good. There’s not such thing as content that doesn’t make everyone uncomfortable because beauty and ugliness, good and evil, are different for everyone.”
“There are a few things that absolutely must not be done. As long as you follow those, you’re free to do the rest,” he added.
Next, he stated, “There’s a religious concept from the West, especially in America, that influences their approach to sex education, right? Their approach to compliance is really narrow-minded. When selling manga in America, everything had to be categorized by age groups. For Shonen Jump manga, they couldn’t be sold unless they were rated for ages 13 and up because there’s a risk of lawsuits, the company also has to get insurance. Doing business with such a ridiculous country is really frustrating. Because of that, Japan gets negatively influenced.”
A screenshot from Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake, (2024), Square Enix
READ: Square Enix Renames The Town Of Isis To Ibis In ‘Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake’
Horii then addressed the removal of the choice to choose between male and female, “In Dragon Quest, you used to be able to choose between a male and female main character. But now, you can’t choose between a man and a woman anymore.”
“We have to label them as Type 1 and Type 2,” he added. “I really wonder, who’s even complaining about this?”
A screenshot from Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake, (2024), Square Enix
Musk reacted to this writing on X, “This is insane.”
This is insane https://t.co/cMQ1ZNLoOF
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) September 30, 2024
What do you make of Musk’s reactions to these accusations from Horii?
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