Dragon Quest Creator Chimes In On Characters Showing Less Skin In Upcoming HD-2D Remake

Image: Nintendo Life / Square Enix

Ahead of the release of Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake this November, series' creator Yuji Horii has addressed the changes to the female characters in the game, who are now showing less skin than the original version of the game.

Speaking during an interview at the Tokyo Game Show (and translated by Valuate News), Horii admits he's just as confused by the changes to the late Akira Toriyama's artwork, but goes on to explain how if there's "too much exposure, the age rating goes up" and it means the game can't be sold to "all-ages".

Later in the conversation he also acknowledges some other changes to the series, like how players "used to be able to choose between a male and female main character". Now, though, he explains how the team "have to label them as Type 1 and Type 2".

Yuji Horii: I really wonder, who's even complaining about this?

The former Shonen Jump Editor-in-Chief Kazuhiko Torishima, who was part of the same interview, chimes in on the whole censorship debate - seemingly pointing the finger at Western markets and "especially America" rather than Japan's rating system. Here's exactly what he had to say (thanks, Time Extension):

Kazuhiko Torishima: It's like an absolute god. An evil disguised as good. There's no such thing as content which that doesn't make everyone uncomfortable. Because beauty and ugliness, good and evil, are different for everyone...

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 categorised by age groups. 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 also gets negatively influenced.

Square Enix's changes to Akira Toriyama's artwork follow the Dragon Ball creator's passing earlier this year in March. You can see this full segment of the same interview in the video below: