How is Resident Evil 7 version 18+ different from the censored version?

Japan has always been very strict about game censorship.

In Japan, games always have to go through a very strict violent censorship process, and the country’s games are no exception.

In the country of Cherry Blossom, games before being sold on the market must go through the censorship process of CERO (Computer Entertainment Rating Organization).

CERO has 5 main levels: A, B, C, D and Z. Games rated “A” will be suitable for all ages, “B” is 12 years old and up, “C” is 15 and “D” “is 17.

The final level – “Z” – will be for 18+ titles, which have adult elements such as violence or sex. Selling Z-rated games to people under the age of 18 is subject to criminal prosecution.

Resident Evil 7: Biohazard is sold in Japan in two versions, Biohazard 7 (CERO D) and Biohazard 7 – Grotesque Version (CERO Z). Both versions default to less gore than the global version, but D and Z also have significant differences to come.

One of the notable points to mention in RE7 is the minigame 21. In this minigame, players will control the character Jarvis to play cards with a captured hostage named Hoffman. At the end of each game, the loser will have a finger cut off.

However, in the CERO D version, in order to limit the bloodshed as much as possible, the finger cutter was replaced with a finger cracker. Readers can compare with the 2 images below.

Of course, breaking the finger backwards will be very painful, but at least the chance of this injury being reversible is still higher than having the finger completely amputated.

Also through this case, it can be seen that the game developers at CAPCOM have been very creative in finding ways to circumvent the law.

Besides RE7, RE 2 Remake and RE3 Remake also have 2 different versions, but that will be the topic for another article.

On May 7th, RE 8 will be released, let’s wait and see what tricks the developers will have to overcome the CERO censorship barrier.