[UPDATE]

We’ve gotten a clarification regarding the game’s slight censorship, via a representative from Atlus:

I want to stress again that the changes to the images are just minor edits. A lot of people are quick to assume that it’s nudity-related, when even the Japanese version had no full-nudity images. As a company, we looked at all the game’s content and identified the images that we assumed would be the most difficult to get by ratings boards. Through consultations, we were made aware of what images would have pushed the game to an AO rating, a classification that would prevent the game from being releasable in the US, period.

So what did we do? We tried to do right by our fans: we took the feedback about the images and worked with the developer to keep the images in question as close to the original as possible, but reduce their objectionable nature. We do not plan on releasing the unedited images, but the changes are so minor, we are confident that it’s as close to the Japanese release as possibly allowed.

It’s worth mentioning that we did ask if Atlus could share the un-edited images with us, but considering the nature of the scenario, we’ll only be getting a look at the altered ones at release.

[ORIGINAL STORY]

Atlus has confirmed to Niche Gamer that slight edits had to be made to the western version of Dungeon Travelers 2: The Royal Library & the Monster Seal.

The game is having four in-game images slightly censored to adjust the Japanese original’s “overt graphics.” This change was made to bring the game within the acceptable range of the ESRB’s Mature rating.

Read the full press release, via Atlus, below:

Dungeon Travelers 2: The Royal Library & the Monster Seal presented some challenges during the localization process — specifically, adapting some of the fan service content to western sensibilities. Localization by nature requires some changes to be made for content to be understood en masse, which is why Atlus worked closely with developer Aquaplus to preserve the game’s themes and content to its fullest.

In order to comply with restrictions set forth by rating boards, Atlus made concessions on just four in-game images. On these images, some minor edits were made (and approved by the developer) to adjust the overt graphics to within acceptable ranges for the game’s M-rating.

Atlus is committed to being one of the leading publishers of niche JRPGs, and are very aware of what impact censorship can have on import titles; we are confident that the changes we made to the images in Dungeon Travelers 2 were the least invasive possible to still be eligible for a release in the west.

Thematically, the game remains as true as possible to the original Japanese version, including the preservation of the original Japanese audio.

We’ve reached out to Atlus for a further clarification on this, so we’ll keep you guys posted.