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Lollipop Chainsaw RePOP dev calls out “fake news” around censorship

Lollipop Chainsaw RePOP developer Dragami Games is addressing launch issues like bugs, regional pricing, and apparent talk of censorship.

Lollipop Chainsaw fake news: a cheerleader with blonde pigtails, holding a chainsaw

The president of Lollipop Chainsaw RePOP developer Dragami Games has responded to the reception of the remaster’s launch. Players are reporting graphical and gameplay bugs, regional pricing problems, and changes to the core gameplay experience. This, coupled with the removal of almost all licensed songs from the original game, has left many Lollipop Chainsaw players wanting more. In response, Dragami president Yoshimi Yasuda promises that fixes are on the way, while simultaneously calling out apparent “fake news” surrounding the launch.

Lollipop Chainsaw RePOP is finally here. The remaster of the cult classic zombie game has been highly anticipated by die-hard fans for some time, but it doesn’t appear to be exactly what many were hoping for. Between glitches, differences in the gameplay, and a lack of options on PC, many feel that something is missing. Yasuda is aware of this, and outlines what Dragami has planned for the game going forward.

Firstly, Yasuda addresses the price differences across each region. At present there’s no regional pricing structure for the remaster, making it even more difficult for some prospective players to justify purchasing the game. Yasuda’s comments have been machine-translated, with some edited for clarity. “We agree with the points raised by game users,” Yasuda explains, “and we will promptly adjust the prices.”

Yasuda goes on to address the current state of Lollipop Chainsaw RePOP’s gameplay, as many bug reports have come in. Players say voice lines are cutting out, audio can sound muffled, stuttering and framerate drops are frequent, and there are some crashes too. “We will not only fix bugs, but also consider setting options and optimizing them,” Yasuda assures.

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Many players are also reporting that the main character Juliet feels much more sluggish to control than she did in the 2012 original, making the remaster difficult at times. According to Yasuda ahead of launch, gameplay mechanics like “attack power, movement speed, camera movement range, combo input acceptance time, and initial combo skills” have changed in RePOP. This has likely happened as a result of the remaster making the jump from Unreal Engine 3 to 5, with Yasuda explaining how Dragami is looking into the problem.

“Regarding the physics engine, we plugged in Kawaii Physics for RePOP because the physics engine used in the original version is not compatible with UE5,” Yasuda explains. “The behavior of the physics engine is caused by misconfigured parameters, and we will promptly correct it.”

Kawaii Physics is an Unreal Engine plug-in some developers use to add physics to rigged clothing, alongside specific character physics. It appears as though Dragami Games used the plug-in to help get the gameplay working in Unreal Engine 5, but this created some problems for players. There also aren’t any graphics options on PC yet, and players claim that a lot of the licensed music from the original has been replaced as well.

Lastly, Yasuda addresses what he calls “fake news” from media coverage. “It is unfortunate that some influencers and journalists are spreading fake news such as that I proposed RePOP mode as a censored mode and negotiated to make Original mode non-censored,” Yasuda says.

“The fact is that we received ESRB approval for the game specifications that you are currently playing, applied to platforms, and received release approval from all platforms without receiving any modification instructions.”

At present, Lollipop Chainsaw RePOP comes with two modes. Original mode is the game as it was released in 2012 (albeit with the UE5 engine changes), while RePOP mode replaces gore with a pop art style. Just like the original game, RePOP is rated Mature by the ESRB, for blood and gore, drug references, and intense violence.

We’ve got a full Lollipop Chainsaw RePOP guide to answer all your questions about the remaster, alongside some of the best single-player games you need to try today.

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