Fans of Persona will undoubtedly be aware of certain elements that were, at best, horribly offensive to the LGBTQ+ community. The franchise has struggled with homophobic content for a number of years, and Persona 5 was unfortunately no different.
Speaking to IGN, Atlus has confirmed that Portal 5 Royal will see altered and updated versions of the scenes in question. Atlus Communications Manager Ari Advincula said:
“We actually were able to go through some of the lines that players may not have received as well, look at that feedback, and then [update it] for the current generation”.
Ryuji and two effeminate male characters are the subjects of these dubious scenes. The characters are portrayed in a “negative light”. Fans have cited the character’s depictions as offensively stereotypical. Atlus portrayed the “most prominent homosexual characters…as extremely sexually aggressive (toward a minor, no less) “.
A Horrible Depiction That Needs to be Amended
They also portrayed said characters as being “intentionally ridiculous with the intent on making their ‘weirdness’ [homosexual nature] the joke”.
There’s no news yet on how exactly these scenes will be amended. However, Advincula did go on to say more about the whole scenario within Atlus:
“[Handling this injustice is] really important to me, and I think it’s really important to the community as well”.
She added that Atlus’s localisation team also has an “internal content review team”. This team, Advincula noted, were “very on the pulse about what’s right and what to do”.
Again, there is no confirmation on how these scenes differ from the original release of Persona 5. Or even from the Japanese release of Royal. Persona 5 Royal will be released 31st March for PlayStation 4.
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ABG’s Senior Editor (News), YouTube content creator/streamer.