Why Resident Evil Requiem bleeds less in Japan
In the opening sequence of Resident Evil Requiem, the newest entry in the long-running action- and survival-horror franchise (known as Biohazard in Japan), a police officer-turned-zombie is stabbed through the eye with a fireplace poker — a gruesome act shown in grisly detail, complete with a close-up.
Throughout the rest of the game, however, something peculiar happens: Gunshots to a zombie’s head leave flat, black patches; a disemboweled corpse with ribs splayed open shows only a matte, grayish texture inside instead of a glistening mess of visceral gore; when a boss grabs the player to deliver a final crushing blow, the camera pans down to avoid showing the resultant explosion of blood and brains.
Since Resident Evil Requiem’s release on Feb. 27, players in Japan have lamented that their version of the game has bowdlerized many instances of gore left uncensored in overseas markets. The peculiar way Capcom has implemented gore-reducing fixes — specifically replacing it with flat, black textures (a common hallmark of games that would be considered still in the development process) — is the only head-scratching element of the entire Resident Evil Requiem experience.
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