Lollipop Chainsaw remake will not update story or aesthetics, producer says
"We do not wish to change Juliet's design, and the assumption that we want to is baseless."
The upcoming remake of cult classic Lollipop Chainsaw will not make broad changes to the story or design of the original game, its producer has said.
This includes the potential of any changes to the look of its main character, the cheerleader Juliet Starling, who spends the game slashing through hordes of zombies in a skimpy outfit.
A new statement on the remake was posted to Twitter last night by producer Yoshimi Yasuda, in a bid to clear up fan confusion over several lines from the project's original announcement.
In particular, mention of a "more realistic look" had suggested to some fans that the game's graphical style would be altered. This is not the case, Yasuda wrote.
"The mention of how the game will have a more realistic look in the previous announcement was meant to refer to how we will make use of the advanced rendering technology available in current game consoles," Yasuda said.
Other fans had suggested this meant Juliet Starling's character model could also be changed - something else Yasuda addressed.
"We do not wish to change Juliet's design, and the assumption that we want to is baseless," he wrote. "We were the ones who created Juliet's model data after great trial and error 10 years ago, and feel attached to her more than anyone else.
"We learned after the announcement of Lollipop Chainsaw remake that many fans are worried about censorship in the game," Yasuda continued.
"We have not yet discussed the issue with the platform holders yet, and thus cannot say anything about the topic, but what we can say is that we intend to negotiate with the platform holders to make it so that the game can be as close to the original version as possible."
The only major aspect which will be altered, as previously announced, is the game's licensed music soundtrack.
The Lollipop Chainsaw remake is set to be released in 2023, and is designed as a way for the game to remain accessible. It's currently one of few games absent from Microsoft's Xbox backwards compatibility programme - likely due to those music licensing issues.
Last year, a new version of Resident Evil 4 designed for Meta Quest VR headsets made several changes to the Capcom classic. Dialogue lines were cut, and in one case a whole scene was removed. "It's the year 2022 and some of this stuff doesn't age well," developer Armature told Eurogamer in a subsequent interview.