discussion What’s the point of playing censored games?

[br1ghtkn1gth]

A genuine question for those who prefer or stick with censored AVNs: what’s the actual appeal once the primary visual incentive is taken off the table?

Since nothing explicit is shown, what keeps you hooked, is it strictly about well-written storylines, slow-burn romantic tension,
and attachment to the characters, or are there other mechanics and elements that make these versions worth playing?

I'm genuinely curious to understand the phenomenon and what drives the community here.

 

[TabooDad50]

A genuine question for those who prefer or stick with censored AVNs: what’s the actual appeal once the primary visual incentive is taken off the table?

Since nothing explicit is shown, what keeps you hooked, is it strictly about well-written storylines, slow-burn romantic tension,
and attachment to the characters, or are there other mechanics and elements that make these versions worth playing?

I'm genuinely curious to understand the phenomenon and what drives the community here.

I have tryed countless games of diverse art styles and quality, but when censored appears even in games like the Sims I either had to find a decensor or just uninstalled it.
I know this doesnt help answer your question and honestly Im damn curious to know myself.
It's a total disconnect for me that its part of my search paramaters for years now. I Include tags like Animated, Vaginal sex and few others but Exclude Censored, Futa and few others.
To each there own but its a real shame when ya see a beautifuly rendered game then blur it all out.
Add Censored to Mindless Badly made sandbox grind = A giant kick to the nuts IMO.

 

[Don Tebjos]

I prefer to have stuff uncensored ofc, but if the game has qualities, censorship won't stop me from playing it

It's like japanese porn, yes many times things are censored, but the overall context/ performance of actors is still worth the show

 

[SilentHunter]

There is some pretty good erotic literature, which is always superior in quality to ordinary pornography. The same goes for VN — the key word here is “novel,” so the text must be worthy. I never download Japanese games (just like porn) — I’m allergic to their graphics.

 

[funnyname1962]

I just use my imagination I have become so skilled that I can now demosaic anyone anonymised on the news using my imagination nobody is safe

but fr though it just doesn't bother me im mainly there for the experience rather than visuals, if i wanted to just see some pussy i can use the web i want it to mean something yknow. plus in a way it has its own kinda charm makes it feel more ah idk lewd in a way that uncensored doesnt give. I suppose censorship is an acquired tolerance. that being said this only applies to like bar and mosaic full censorship is a nope from me

 

[SashaAka]

Well, most games from japan are censored, and they have some insanely amazing games and ideas so not trying them would be a waste. But at most i can accept mosaics or thin bars, full censorship by making it fully black/white is a big no no for me.
But yea there is more to games than just uncensored genitals, if i wanted that i could just read uncensored mangas. For me it is interesting gameplay and mechanics.

 

[UnflavSardines]

Usually i play uncensored if i can. But not for nekopara 4! The previous games sex scene were just too long!

 

[Lewqd]

Porn may be the biggest factor in playing an AVN, but it's not the only one, otherwise it's just easier to watch it online.
If a game can balance the censorship with other qualities, then it's worth it.
It also got me thinking, are there any chinese censored AVN out there?

 

[br1ghtkn1gth]

Ever wondered why these games are even made?

At first, I thought developers just made two versions (a free one and a paid uncensored one). But it’s got to be about something more, because there are just way too many games out there that stick with censorship.

 

[funnyname1962]

Ever wondered why these games are even made?

At first, I thought developers just made two versions (a free one and a paid uncensored one). But it’s got to be about something more, because there are just way too many games out there that stick with censorship.

in Japan R18 stuff is required by law to be censored (Yes, it's stupid), so the vast majority of games u see with "censored" tag will come with "Japanese game" as well, while western games are almost never censored since western audiences are used to things being uncensored. As a side note western publishers such as kagura games are able to get access to the uncensored assets, so official westrrn releases of Japanese games such as those on steam will most often be uncensored, but fan translations are usually still censored, though there are rare cases of fanmade decensor patches. I also think there was some law change back in 2020 that prevents western publishers from accessing uncensored CGs for VNs which is why releases after that date are still censored even when they get picked up by a western publisher, though this doesn't seem to happen with Indie games, I'm not sure about the details and I can't be bothered to learn more tbh, but long story short the vast majority of censored games are censored because they have to be, if there was never any law then pretty much everything would be uncensored, but it is what it is I suppose

 

[i_patchy]

Second a notion about graphic smut not being a centerpiece. There are great examples of censored games, text games without graphics and AI emergent writing games, all of which rely on player imagination connecting dots. To each their own.

 

[Jimbob9000]

There are many genres that don't get uncensored releases or at least don't get many. If you are interested in one of those genres then once you've seen all the uncensored stuff all that is left is the censored.

 

[Lewqd]

in Japan R18 stuff is required by law to be censored (Yes, it's stupid), so the vast majority of games u see with "censored" tag will come with "Japanese game" as well, while western games are almost never censored since western audiences are used to things being uncensored. As a side note western publishers such as kagura games are able to get access to the uncensored assets, so official westrrn releases of Japanese games such as those on steam will most often be uncensored, but fan translations are usually still censored, though there are rare cases of fanmade decensor patches. I also think there was some law change back in 2020 that prevents western publishers from accessing uncensored CGs for VNs which is why releases after that date are still censored even when they get picked up by a western publisher, though this doesn't seem to happen with Indie games, I'm not sure about the details and I can't be bothered to learn more tbh, but long story short the vast majority of censored games are censored because they have to be, if there was never any law then pretty much everything would be uncensored, but it is what it is I suppose

As a guy completely unfamiliar with the subject, how hard is it to make a decensor patch?

 

[highlrecommend]

exactly, if you can get off on this
you don't need porn, you just need any random newspaper page from 1993 that you found in a puddle & kept in your pocket all these years.

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[funnyname1962]

As a guy completely unfamiliar with the subject, how hard is it to make a decensor patch?

It depends on the game. The short answer is its hard if you have no idea what you're doing. I'll also only be talking about 2D images since 3d isn't something I know much about (though unity games can be decensored using something like UniversalUnityDemosaics, though it is hit or miss)

The main thing about decensoring is that because you don't have the original file, you pretty much have to perform digital surgery and redraw the assets themselves if the engine renderer isnt responsible for the censor and its baked into the actual image (There is also the ever evolving option of AI but that's a different beast with its own issues, so I'm just talking about manual decensoring). You don't need to redraw the full thing though just the censored bits, but it's hard if you have no skill in drawing or photoshop. The difficulty also depends on what kind of censorship is being used and the amount of it, like for symbols or bars its somewhat simple since you can photoshop them out and redraw the damage , mosaic can be somewhat harder depending on how harsh it is but you do have a basic guide to go off of with the colors in the mosaic and the general structure, and full censorship would require you to make an educated guess based on the art style. From there once you've done that it's as simple as Indiana jonesing your new clean image with the old one, though that can be easier said than done depending on the engine, but for RPGM games it shouldnt be too hard, idk about other engines tho.

I do have a few old videos I downloaded a while back I can't remember who made em but they go into more detail and provide an example if ur interested

Spoiler: Bar censor

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Spoiler: Mosaic

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There is also a third one on full censorship but it's too big to upload and is like 34 minutes even with the footage being sped up


There are also people out there you can pay to decensor things for you, though it can be pricey depending on how much you want done

 

[kodik]

In some games, it's better to let your imagination run wild than to look at the undrawn parts. I've removed censorship from many games myself.

 

[bulliedhealer]

primary visual incentive

Because this is subjective.

That said, I've been playing censored stuff for a long time. I am used to it, and I've seen enough uncensored stuff to know what it looks like.

I do prefer uncensored usually, but I can deal with censored content.

I do also like how the censored content has to be creative and focus on other aspects of the characters, the positioning, the mood, the lighting, and etc. to bring out the sexiness and arousal.

 

[br1ghtkn1gth]

Second a notion about graphic smut not being a centerpiece. There are great examples of censored games, text games without graphics and AI emergent writing games, all of which rely on player imagination connecting dots. To each their own.

Do you have any specific titles in mind?

 

[i_patchy]

Do you have any specific titles in mind?

- for text heavy games/games reliant mostly on text most obvious example is Corruption of the Champions. My personal recommendations extend to Lilith Throne, Princess Trap, Blue Swallow and Devious World. Obviously players discretion is advised, especially in case with Devious World that has a lot of weird gay sex. For censored games list can go on and on, Japan produced a lot of games trough the years, way more notable in my opinion than western crowdfunded DAZ abandonfest that had risen in the last decade. As for what i call "emergent writing", i personally use Perchance. It is free, doesnt require registration, has no censorship in its text generation, so you can create/steer your own story in any direction you want within obvious limitations of current LLM model.

 

[br1ghtkn1gth]

- for text heavy games/games reliant mostly on text most obvious example is Corruption of the Champions. My personal recommendations extend to Lilith Throne, Princess Trap, Blue Swallow and Devious World. Obviously players discretion is advised, especially in case with Devious World that has a lot of weird gay sex. For censored games list can go on and on, Japan produced a lot of games trough the years, way more notable in my opinion than western crowdfunded DAZ abandonfest that had risen in the last decade. As for what i call "emergent writing", i personally use Perchance. It is free, doesnt require registration, has no censorship in its text generation, so you can create/steer your own story in any direction you want within obvious limitations of current LLM model.

"Thanks a lot for listing these out! This is an awesome response. I've heard a bit about Corruption of Champions, but the other titles are new to me, so I'll definitely give them a look.

The Perchance recommendation for AI text generation is a fantastic tip as well, I'll absolutely give it a try.

Thanks again for the great recommendations and a really solid reply!"