Stellar Blade, the PlayStation 5 exclusive title from Shift Up, has been out for nearly two weeks now and has been appreciated by fans for its combat mechanics, in-game environment, and main character Eve, among other things. The game has also achieved great sales so far.
However, like the controversy with the character and outfit design before the release, Stellar Blade also faced some issues post-launch, with players complaining about censorship as some outfits of Eve were changed with the day one patch. The censorship saga of the game has taken a new turn.
Stellar Blade Censorship Saga Continues With the ‘Unique’ Japanese Version
Players accused developer Shift Up and Sony of censoring the game with the day one patch that changed the original outfit designs of the protagonist Eve, and reportedly many also refunded the game because of this. This controversy has seemingly taken a new twist with the Japanese version.
Stellar Blade player and X/Twitter user Lance McDonald purchased the Japanese version of Stellar Blade and reported that the Japanese version contains the same content as the discs of other regions, also adding Japanese voice and text as well as the languages of other regions.
However, it somehow supports loading game saves from other regions as well, which is, as the user says, “unusual.” The player added that they changed their Australian save into Japanese, changing the voiceover to Japanese, and then saved it.
Received my Japanese Stellar Blade disc. Content is exactly the same as all other discs, except it also adds Japanese voice and text. All other languages from other versions also available. Interestingly it can load saves from all other regions, too. That’s extremely unusual. pic.twitter.com/o1BP5GkzB8
— Lance McDonald (@manfightdragon) May 6, 2024
McDonald said that they then loaded the save on the Australian disc, but the voiceover didn’t change to English and remained as per the disc, meaning that it is locked. Players are wondering why the Japanese version of Stellar Blade is more special than any other and have several theories.
Stellar Blade Have Several Questions About the Japanese Version
The different region saves is not common, and fans have several questions about how this is happening as well as the locked Japanese version. One player said that they have a theory, but they would need to test some things before they reached a conclusion.
Another fan said that they “wonder” why the Japanese voiceover is so special and is excluded from other editions. User Lance McDonald replied to this, saying that it is possible the Japanese localization could have been done by a company that is not willing to sell the distribution rights outside Japan.
They added that Sony may also have wanted to save money with the single-region licensing. However, they added that it’s a “guess.” One fan said that it is sad to know that you cannot play the game in Japanese with English subtitles. Another fan alleged that the Asia copy also has a “specific region language.”
Developer Shift Up had already said that the Japanese language will be locked for Japan, but players are wondering why other languages are available globally. They are also not able to figure out the reason behind other region saves, and probably only Shift Up and Sony have these answers.
What are your thoughts about the Japanese version of Stellar Blade loading other region saves? Let us know in the comments below!
