Killer7 Version Differences - Japanese Playstation 2 Censorship

Channel:

AdrianVG

Subscribers:

1,250

Published on March 14, 2023 8:49:45 PM ● Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cNoHj5ZPuGg

Game:

Killer7 (2005)

Category:

Let's Play

Duration: 13:05

1,010 views

47

Killer7 Version Differences Guide: https://www.speedrun.com/Killer7/guide/vrviv
Killer7 Version Differences Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLWiGDBCbRlC0BwIxZgmWSbDU3qGSPhMai

Of the seven versions of Killer7, there is only one with censorship: the Japanese Playstation 2 version. Despite Killer7 being rife with many intense scenes, only a select few are altered; many scenes you'd think would be censored are untouched, and the gameplay itself remains the same. Because this video contains Killer7's most disturbing material, viewer discretion is advised.

All clips were recorded on actual hardware (Wii, PS2 Slim), albeit using homebrew to boot both versions into 480p. Due to the PS2 and GCN versions releasing simultaneously in each region, I used the JP Gamecube version as the basis for comparison. As it would have looked messy to write "all versions besides JP PS2" on-screen, I just used "JP GCN" as the identifier, but to be absolutely clear: *only* JP PS2 is censored, and every single other version (NA/PAL/JP GCN, NA/PAL PS2, PC) is untouched in this regard. It is not possible to access the JP PS2 cutscenes in any other version.

While there obviously a number of incidental differences to be seen, I want to point out one in particular: cutscenes on PS2 (all regions) are FMVs. As a result, they're a little blurrier, but otherwise mostly look the same as the GCN cutscenes as opposed to the *massive* drop in visual fidelity on PS2 outside of cutscenes.

Angel:
Scene 1: 0:17
Direct comparison: 0:40
Body parts aren't visible in the explosion.
Scene 2: 0:50
Direct comparison: 2:20
The camera angle is changed to obscure the woman's back injuries (though she is still visible in the room afterward).
Scene 3: 2:30
Direct comparison: 3:39
In an interesting twist, the cutscene itself is unaltered. However, they actually removed the woman's character model in the room afterward. I still included a direct comparison of the cutscene anyway, to show how it *hasn't* been changed. At best, you could maybe say the flash from the explosion is different, but that might be a side effect of the FMV conversion rather than a deliberate change.

Cloudman Samantha: 3:55
This is the most unintentionally hilarious case. They cut out most of Samantha's lines, her moaning is removed, and rave music is played over the scene. It's a disturbing scene, but the censorship is so laughably obvious and inelegant that it wraps around into black humor.

Cloudman Susie: 5:10
While I was aware of the alterations to every other scene before playing JP PS2, I only discovered that this Susie scene was censored while playing it myself. They shortened it, removing all of the lines with the bleeped curses.

Curtis/Pedro: 8:30
Direct comparison: 12:27
I included the full cutscene for both versions, but only the end is different. The cutscene is changed to obscure the decapitated head through some adjustments of the camera angles.

I've looked over every cutscene multiple times, and as far as I can tell, I managed to find all of the censored ones. However, since there are so many Remnant Psyche scenes, I wasn't quite as thorough in that aspect. Since most of them are just exposition, I think that it's safe to say that the Cloudman Susie scene is the only one censored. That said, if I missed anything, please let me know.

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