Dragami Games president Yoshimi Yasuda recently addressed the reception surrounding the recently released Lollipop Chainsaw RePOP, specifically addressing the claims about censorship. Lollipop Chainsaw RePOP was released earlier this September, bringing the 2012 cult classic zombie hack-and-slash game to several modern platforms. Players control cheerleading zombie killer Juliet Starling, battling the undead before they overrun her high school on her birthday. Lollipop Chainsaw was originally penned by Hollywood director James Gunn and directed by Grasshopper Manufacture's Goichi Suda, AKA Suda51, of No More Heroes and Killer7 fame. The remaster, however, doesn't involve either Gunn or Suda, with it being done in-house by Dragami Games.
After a couple of delays, Lollipop Chainsaw RePOP was finally released for Nintendo Switch, PS5, PC, and Xbox Series X/S systems on September 12. PS4 and Xbox One ports of Lollipop Chainsaw RePOP are coming later in November as well. Despite being an anticipated game, there was also a lot of trepidation, due to the lack of involvement from the original creators, as well as the scaling back of the game from a remake to a remaster. While fan reception is generally favorable, the critical reception to RePOP is more mixed, with numerous changes in gameplay, glitches, and lack of options on PC.
Suda51 Thinks Gamers Pay Too Much Attention to Metacritic Scores
Lollipop Chainsaw and No More Heroes creator Goichi Suda thinks fans put too much stock in review scores, which negatively affects the industry.
Yoshimi Yasuda recently addressed several of these issues in an extensive post on Twitter, including some apparent claims of censorship. Yasuda expresses his disappointment over how influencers and journalists have been spreading false news, specifically regarding Lollipop Chainsaw RePOP's new RePOP mode and how he proposed it as a censored mode and negotiated to make the original mode uncensored. He explains that the publisher received the ESRB's approval for the specifications, which means that players are playing a version that is applied to all platforms without any instructions for modifications.
Dragami Games Addresses False Censorship Claims and Feedback about Lollipop Chainsaw RePOP
RePOP Mode is one of Lollipop Chainsaw RePOP's new features, where it replaces the gore with a pop art style. The original mode makes the game as it was released in 2012, though with a number of changes due to the engine change from Unreal Engine 3 to Unreal Engine 5. Like the original game, Lollipop Chainsaw RePOP is rated M for Mature by the ESRB due to the amount of blood, gore, drug references, and intense violence present.
Yasuda also addressed the gameplay changes fans have felt, where Juliet feels slower to control and gameplay mechanics have changed to make the game feel more difficult. Yasuda notes this is a result of Lollipop Chainsaw RePOP changing over to Unreal Engine 5, and how the original physics system didn't work with RePOP and had to be reconfigured using the Kawaii Physics plugin. Other unfavorable changes fans have raised concerns over is the replacement of the original game's licensed music.
- Released
- September 12, 2024
- ESRB
- M For Mature 17+ // Blood and Gore, Drug Reference, Intense Violence, Sexual Themes, Strong Language
- Developer(s)
- Dragami Games
- Publisher(s)
- Dragami Games
WHERE TO PLAY
Throw logic to the wind and embrace your instincts. The legendary zombie hunter Juliet is finally back. The cheerleader Juliet, born into a family of zombie hunters, uses her trusty chainsaw to rip and tear through the undead! But now that RePOP adds speedier chainsaw action and auto-fire for her chainsaw blaster, the action never slows down till the very end.
- Platform(s)
- Nintendo Switch, PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S
- Genre(s)
- Hack and Slash, Zombie
