Questions about censor in Steam version

[Harbinger]

What exactly is censored? Is it text or is it images?
If it is text, does it concern both japanese and english version? Can I read the Japanese text and forget about censored stuff?

I now CoZ path is soon coming out, does it uncensor English version only or both?

[a.warringa1]

I read there is quite some text missing, mostly from the gore scenes which will be restored with the CoZ patch. I don't know if the Japanese version is censored though.

[jasiqueiraneto]

Actually this is a problem present in all versions of Chaos Head Noah, all of them suffer chances in some part to change the age rating so they could launch on consoles

[georgankar]

I'd like to ask the same question, since I too would like to read the VN in Japanese

[a.warringa1]

Well it's like jaiqueiraneto said - Japanese version is censored too.

[Harbinger]

A shame then. Will have to wait for the patch and see the differences.

[Blanners]

Origineel geplaatst door Harbinger:

I now CoZ path is soon coming out, does it uncensor English version only or both?

It seems like CoZ is also going to make a patch to restore the censored content in the Japanese version, so if you can read both you'll be able to pick which one to use.

Origineel geplaatst door jasiqueiraneto:

Actually this is a problem present in all versions of Chaos Head Noah, all of them suffer chances in some part to change the age rating so they could launch on consoles

The original Xbox 360 version and the Vita port don't have those issues (which is how we know content was removed in the first place :P ), it was just the PS3 and PSP ports, and now the Switch and PC too.

[Harbinger]

Origineel geplaatst door Blanners:

It seems like CoZ is also going to make a patch to restore the censored content in the Japanese version, so if you can read both you'll be able to pick which one to use.

Great! Thanks for the info!

[Xerain]

From what I've heard every version of the game other than the original release on the 360 is censored in some way. The steam version doesn't haven't any censorship the other western versions don't already have. As for Western specific censorship, there is one costume cut from the DLC in all western versions of the game, which is still present in all other Japanese versions.

[zombie-flesheater]

It would be interesting if someone could finally come out and describe (possibly spoiler free) what exactly was censored in the first place and how much it actually hurts the VN / story.

Haven't played the VN (yet) but I've watched the anime anf tbh I couldn't remember anything "extreme".
The UK rating is 15+, same as Elfen Lied or Higurashi, for example, and Chaos;Head doesn't come anywhere even close to those titles...

[Blanners]

Origineel geplaatst door pizDuke:

Origineel geplaatst door Xerain:

From what I've heard every version of the game other than the original release on the 360 is censored in some way. The steam version doesn't haven't any censorship the other western versions don't already have. As for Western specific censorship, there is one costume cut from the DLC in all western versions of the game, which is still present in all other Japanese versions.

This . I discovered this fandom 2 hours ago so sorry if I say anything dumb, but I think what everyone misses discussing this topic is that there are LAYERS of censorship.
ChäoS;HEAd - windows, og release
Chaos;Head Noah - 360, censored
Chaos;Head Noah - switch/pc, further censored + missing dlc costume (even on gog, why?).

Furthermore, people seem to rely on CoZ patch to fix all this, but they only promised to uncensor it back to the 360 release (and no mentioning of dlc). I'm not aware of how significant each iteration of censorship was. Please let me know If I misundersood anything, I'll edit/delete my message.

Chaos;Head NoAH 360 isn't censored, it's the original NoAH script. It's an expanded version of the PC release.

[Blanners]

Origineel geplaatst door zombie-flesheater:

It would be interesting if someone could finally come out and describe (possibly spoiler free) what exactly was censored in the first place and how much it actually hurts the VN / story.

Haven't played the VN (yet) but I've watched the anime anf tbh I couldn't remember anything "extreme".
The UK rating is 15+, same as Elfen Lied or Higurashi, for example, and Chaos;Head doesn't come anywhere even close to those titles...

The anime is extremely poorly adapted and does not properly represent the story at all. It's probably the most censored version of the story there is. They remove a LOT of the gore and even censor blood in some moments.

[tsukiakari2216]

Origineel geplaatst door Xerain:

Furthermore, people seem to rely on CoZ patch to fix all this, but they only promised to uncensor it back to the 360 release (and no mentioning of dlc). I'm not aware of how significant each iteration of censorship was.

Actually 360 wasn't censored - it's the definitive version to date alongside Vita in terms of content. What censored is the release in other platforms.

2008 PC (which only named CHAOS;HEAD) release is the original, yes. But it is incomplete for it lacking character routes and stuff that would be added later in Noah. The only reason for such a release is that it is meant to be a funding attempt for the Noah version later.

The game is succesful on PC and that brought us to the X360 version in 2009 - which adds stuff like character routes, new CGs and scenes, also extended True End. The release however is rated CERO-Z - which is the highest rating from the Japanese CERO rating, telling that this is suitable for audience 18 years and above. FYI the release is what started the coining of the name Science Adventure series, instead of CHPC which only coins it as "Psychological Science series"

Then comes the PSP release. Due to Sony being Sony, well, contents need to be cut, which is the lines that is considered very gruesome or controversial to the game (things about murder and whatsoever). They however details some cases in the game and therefore is important to the game, and having it gone affects one ending that was meant to tell it. This cut, alongside cuts from other routes accounts to 600+ lines removed. The release got a pass from Sony with a CERO-D rating for the version (17+).

PS3 version is censored and rated on the same style, and this version is what the current Switch ver.

PS Vita version is also interesting - despite being in a Sony platform, they aren't censored in any case and rated CERO-Z as well. This joins X360 as the definitive version.

Switch (Japan release) is based on the censored PS3, but got the rating of CERO-Z as well, maybe due to it being packed together with CHAOS;CHILD. FYI CHAOS;CHILD has no cut in any releases so far. The same build is what got passed into Western releases on Switch and Steam.

Now talking about the lingerie DLC (or what we call it as LCS patch in original PC), that patch was originally a limited time release from Nitro+ (copublishers of the original version) which lasts a year. It has been later either adapted in some console ver, but some ver are not applicable, in different styles. Switch happens to bring it back, with JP release got every heroine's lingerie. Seira's was removed in Western release, but if you know about how Seira's look like in that patch, that is probably understandable (her outfit is already sexy as it is).

[pizDuke]

Origineel geplaatst door tsukiakari2216:

Origineel geplaatst door Xerain:

Furthermore, people seem to rely on CoZ patch to fix all this, but they only promised to uncensor it back to the 360 release (and no mentioning of dlc). I'm not aware of how significant each iteration of censorship was.

Actually 360 wasn't censored - it's the definitive version to date alongside Vita in terms of content. What censored is the release in other platforms.

2008 PC (which only named CHAOS;HEAD) release is the original, yes. But it is incomplete for it lacking character routes and stuff that would be added later in Noah. The only reason for such a release is that it is meant to be a funding attempt for the Noah version later.

The game is succesful on PC and that brought us to the X360 version in 2009 - which adds stuff like character routes, new CGs and scenes, also extended True End. The release however is rated CERO-Z - which is the highest rating from the Japanese CERO rating, telling that this is suitable for audience 18 years and above. FYI the release is what started the coining of the name Science Adventure series, instead of CHPC which only coins it as "Psychological Science series"

Then comes the PSP release. Due to Sony being Sony, well, contents need to be cut, which is the lines that is considered very gruesome or controversial to the game (things about murder and whatsoever). They however details some cases in the game and therefore is important to the game, and having it gone affects one ending that was meant to tell it. This cut, alongside cuts from other routes accounts to 600+ lines removed. The release got a pass from Sony with a CERO-D rating for the version (17+).

PS3 version is censored and rated on the same style, and this version is what the current Switch ver.

PS Vita version is also interesting - despite being in a Sony platform, they aren't censored in any case and rated CERO-Z as well. This joins X360 as the definitive version.

Switch (Japan release) is based on the censored PS3, but got the rating of CERO-Z as well, maybe due to it being packed together with CHAOS;CHILD. FYI CHAOS;CHILD has no cut in any releases so far. The same build is what got passed into Western releases on Switch and Steam.

Now talking about the lingerie DLC (or what we call it as LCS patch in original PC), that patch was originally a limited time release from Nitro+ (copublishers of the original version) which lasts a year. It has been later either adapted in some console ver, but some ver are not applicable, in different styles. Switch happens to bring it back, with JP release got every heroine's lingerie. Seira's was removed in Western release, but if you know about how Seira's look like in that patch, that is probably understandable (her outfit is already sexy as it is).

Thank you for the complete history of changes. I was wrong. Will delete my message not to spread false information.

[HopMolester69]

Origineel geplaatst door Xerain:

From what I've heard every version of the game other than the original release on the 360 is censored in some way. The steam version doesn't haven't any censorship the other western versions don't already have. As for Western specific censorship, there is one costume cut from the DLC in all western versions of the game, which is still present in all other Japanese versions.

This is my understanding as well. I believe the censorship of the 360 version vs. the following versions is that 1 or 2 of the "bad ending" routes had a lot of text cut out and potentially an image or two removed. The DLC costume that was removed is considerably more revealing and fan service-y than all the other ones.

[Blanners]

Origineel geplaatst door HopMolester69:

Origineel geplaatst door Xerain:

From what I've heard every version of the game other than the original release on the 360 is censored in some way. The steam version doesn't haven't any censorship the other western versions don't already have. As for Western specific censorship, there is one costume cut from the DLC in all western versions of the game, which is still present in all other Japanese versions.

This is my understanding as well. I believe the censorship of the 360 version vs. the following versions is that 1 or 2 of the "bad ending" routes had a lot of text cut out and potentially an image or two removed. The DLC costume that was removed is considerably more revealing and fan service-y than all the other ones.

The 360 and Vita versions both have the uncensored script, it's not just the original 360 release
Also, while you can technically call the route that had a lot of text censored the "bad ending" route, for me that term calls to mind those quick and unnecessary types of endings where it's just "yeah you lose" and the game immediately ends. In this case, the route in question is not like that at all. It's a full ending route, which has a bunch of important plot-relevant reveals that are cut out along with all the ~500 removed lines. It's also an ending you are required to get before you can unlock the True Ending.