‘Bayonetta’ creator says Nintendo never asked to censor the franchise

Kamiya made the comment on Twitter when Bayonetta 3 was given a release date last week, with it also being announced at the time that the sequel will include a “Naive Angel Mode” that covers up the titular character’s nudity and outfits, to prevent potential embarrassment, according to the studio.

The tweet, (translated by Nintendo Everything) read: “I see a lot of people bring up Nintendo when discussing the nudity in Bayonetta, but during our time with the Bayonetta 1 port, Bayonetta 2 and Bayonetta 3, the only suggestion we received was regarding the Link costume in Bayonetta 1 and 2, and how it should have been a little bit more revealing.”

“No bias influenced that aspect of the game, and I think players can enjoy the game without worrying that it may have been”, Kamiya continues. “As Iwacchi [believed to refer to the late Nintendo president Satoru Iwata] mentioned, Nintendo isn’t just a giant company with red tape around every corner, and after working with them for such a long time, I get the impression that although there are times where we may butt heads, they’re surprisingly open to direct discussions around development and sales.”

任天堂と言えば、いわっちにも言ったんだけど、デカいから四角四面でめんどくせえ会社じゃねえかなと思ってたら、それなりに長らく一緒にやってみて、まぁめんどくせえところもあるけど、開発に関しても販売に関しても、意外に対面でちゃんと話し合ってくれるなという印象…https://t.co/Q76u6yhoHT

— 神谷英樹 Hideki Kamiya (@PG_kamiya) July 19, 2022

The suggestion here is that Bayonetta 3’s “Naive Angel Mode” was not included at the request of Nintendo in an effort to tone down the game, but that PlatinumGames itself wanted to include the in-game choice for players.

What this mode does is make sure Bayonetta is either keeping her clothes on instead of being naked, or being covered up more in some other scenarios.

Bayonetta 3 launches exclusively on Nintendo Switch on October 28.

In other news, Papers, Please is coming to a number of mobile devices next month, with some minor changes to help it work on the platform.