When I went to last month’s preview event for Persona 5 Royal, I spoke with senior localization manager Yu Namba about some of the changes Atlus West made to the new version of the game. In our conversation, he mentioned that two gay characters, who were portrayed as predatory in the original version, had their lines of dialogue tweaked. Namba and company recognized the issue, saying, “the community had a very strong response,” and mentioned the process the team went through to change these scenes.
Well, now that we have the localized version of P5R, I’ve been playing it and have about 60 hours clocked in at this point (you can get my thoughts so far in the video below). This also means we can see how these scenes have actually changed in the localization process.
The following is one of those scenes from the original scene from Persona 5. It’s the first time you encounter the two gay characters that approach Ryuji in Shinjuku:
Uncanny Voice: Oooh, a real huuuge catch, you say? I’m getting pumped too!
Scruffy Romantic: What a cutie! And so muscular too. I give you an 85 out of 100!
Ryuji: Gah! Wh-Who are you!?
Beefy Trendsetter: Gwahahaha! I’m the naughty troll of Shinjuku! I’m gonna eat you up!
Ryuji: H-Hey, wait… Lemme go!
Ryuji: Dude, help! You can hear me, can’t you!?
Ryuji: You just gonna leave me here like this!? C’mon, your best friend’s in trouble here!
Beefy Trendsetter: Hehehe, what an energetic studmuffin, I’ll give you all the freebies you could ever desire!
Scruffy Romantic: The night is young, and so are you! Let’s party it up!
The following is how that same dialogue sequence plays out in Persona 5 Royal:
Deep Voice: Ooh, you’re right! He really WOULD be a natural! But, a graphic tee with plaid pants? Ugh, kill me now.
Ryuji: Whoa, who the hell are they!?
???: Oh, hell has nothing to do with it, honey. I’m Angel–straight out of heaven!
???: And I’m Julian. Julie, if you’re feeling saucy!
Angel: What a cutie! You’d never guess he was into the drag scene… I say we show him the ropes!
Julian/Julie: You can’t deny it! We saw you peeking into Crossroads! Well, sweetie, if you’re curious, we’ll help you look DIVINE!
Ryuji: Wait, hey, it’s not like that–
Ryuji: Dude, help! Tell them we were just investigatin’, or something!
Ryuji: You just gonna leave me here like this!? C’mon, your best friend’s in trouble here!
Julian: Oh, honey, you’ve got the chutzpah. And those cheekbones–I LOVE it! That’s what it takes to be a star!
Angel: Just follow my lead, stud! We’re gonna put your name in lights! And I know just the dress for you…
One thing to note is that this whole scene is presented much differently when it starts. In P5R, the two characters here noticed Ryuji peeking into Crossroads, which is a crossdresser bar ran by the character Lala-chan and where you just met with confidant Ichiko Ohya to progress the story. This prompts the couple to approach Ryuji about getting him to do drag. In the original game, they simply approach Ryuji after overhearing his conversation with Joker about their investigation and Ryuji being pumped about it.
Another thing to note is that the two characters now have actual names–Angel and Julian/Julie–instead of odd descriptors for names. And there’s no longer an implication that one of them put their hands on Ryuji as he no longer says, “lemme go!”
Is the change in P5R a better portrayal of these characters than what’s in the original? Yes, by miles. Is it a decent portrayal of these characters on its own? I’m not so sure. I’ll be updating this article with a look at how the beach scene with the same two characters later in the game was changed as well.
For more on the game, be sure to read my early review impressions of Persona 5 Royal and see how a lot of the new content affects the experience. You can also read the full interview with Yu Namba on how Persona has evolved over the years in the West.
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