Gameplay images of Brave Neptunia have been shared around after the game released on PS4 in Japan on December 20th, 2018. The Japanese version on PS4 reveals more cloud and light effects to censor the cleavage of the females, while for all intents and purposes the Nintendo Switch version remains uncensored… for now.

The news popped up over on the PS4 sub-reddit, where it was promptly downvoted by the anti-loli enforcers. They feel as if the censorship happening to these games on PS4 is necessary and do not want people to be made aware of it.

In the thread, however, there’s a link to a livestream over on the NepGear YouTube channel. The stream features nearly six hours of the final part of Brave Neptunia. At the 5:29:14 mark there’s a CG image that reveals that the entire hot springs bath scene has been strongly censored on the PS4 with additional steam and light to cover up the girls’ naughty bits.

Users over on GameFaqs captured and uploaded the images from the pre-order bonus featuring the CG poster of the hot springs and the in-game CG image from the actual PS4 version of Brave Neptunia, which revealed that the PS4 version has more steam and light covering up the girls.

Now keep in mind that the uncensored CG images are from the general promotional images, and not from the actual in-game screens of the Switch version since it isn’t out yet. But we do know that the PS4 version has now deviated from the standard promotional images and has been heavily censored compared to what was promoted.

As you can see, the cleavage area has been censored more with steam, along with more light that hides the shininess and plumpness of the boobs. There’s also added censorship for the girls’ midriff, with their navels barely being visible in the scene, mostly masked by the white steamy light around their mid-sections.

In two separate comparison shots we also see in the full CG image that the entire butt crack of the character is visible within the screen. There’s also the clear visibility of boobs in the background with no light or steam. The image is obviously not safe for work.

Now compare that to the same scene featured in the PlayStation 4 version in Japan. As you can see, the butt crack is cropped out and hidden by the dialogue box, and the cleavage for all of the characters is hidden by the mysterious white steamy light.

[Update:] Apparently more scenes have been censored on the PS4 version of Brave Neptunia as well, including a scene involving Vert playing games on the floor. As you can see in the video below from NepGear at the 2:29:00 mark, you can see that the image is cropped just above her crotch so you can’t see her panties.

In the original sample CG art that was released for the game, you could see the character’s panties while she was on the floor. A NSFW sub-reddit called GameIndustriR18Island posted up the uncensored version of the image. You can compare the two below, with the PS4 version at the top and the original uncensored CG art at the bottom.

The PS4 censorship is similar to what happened with the initial censorship of Nora to Oujo to Noraneko Heart, which also had the mysterious bright lights, but later they switched it and censored it properly on PS4. The Switch version of Nora to Ouja to Noraneko Heart has remained uncensored, however.

Another game also received the lights and steam censorship, which was Yuragi-sou no Yunna-san: Hot Spring Labyrinth, where the girls had their cleavage, mid-riff and thighs censored by steamy bright lights on the PS4 version of the game.

The PS4 version of Haruoto Alice Gram: Snow Drop also got delayed so that the developers could censor the CG images.

You can see some of the comparisons below to what was changed for the PS4 versions of Haruoto Alice Gram: Snow Drop and Nora to Oujo to Noraneko Heart, and how they appear on the other platforms.

Now on the upside, the one image that everyone thought would be censored on the PS4 actually isn’t censored on the PS4. Yes, the main character in Brave Neptunia standing with the stick where you can clearly see her panties, is still uncensored in the PS4 version.

So I’m not sure how that image managed to escape Sony’s censorship policies, but it did. Unfortunately the hot spring scene did not escape Sony’s wrath and was quite heavily censored from what it was originally intended to be, so this is yet another game joining the Sony PS4 censorship policy master list.

Now it’s also possible that the Switch version could always get hit with a post-launch censorship update when it does release, similar to what happened with Super Smash Bros. Ultimate and Mr. Game and Watch; but so far Nintendo hasn’t been messing with any third-party games released on the Switch and most of the titles that have been censored on the PS4 have not been censored on the Switch. In fact, some games have gone in the complete opposite direction, like Dead or Alive Xtreme 3: Scarlet on the Switch getting the 4D Jiggle Physics option while the PS4 version got censored.

Brave Neptunia is set to release in the West as Super Neptunia RPG from Compile Heart and Idea Factory International for the PS4 and Nintendo Switch in 2019. Expect the censorship from the PS4’s Japanese version to carry over into the PS4 Western release as well. If Compile Heart doesn’t censor the Switch version then Nintendo Switch owners will basically receive the definitive version of the game.

I did reach out to Compile Heart, Idea Factory International, and Artisan Studios to confirm if the Nintendo Switch version will receive the same kind of censorship as the PlayStation 4 version. If any of them decide to respond the article will be updated with their response.

(Thanks for the news tip View To A Kill)