While I appreciate that some of the content may not have been that relevant to 'western' culture... did they really have to actually remove it from the game?
I find it pretty condescending that they say they took out the hostess bars because of cultural differences making it hard to understand.
What's hard to understand?! In Japan women are second rate citizens! And Kazuma treats them as such.
Bitch get crabby? Just shove money in that pussy and make her pour your drink while she says toh toh toh toh toh and you saz mah mah mah mah mah.
They could have translated most of the game and left it in, in Japanese, as a secret unlockable or something... hell I wouldn't have minded that!.
I really like it when companies put
extra effort into localisations.
Even in anime, anime companies rarely ever cut stuff out of a localisation, at the most they may go about creating some context around what is being said in the script somehow, or occasional, place notes on the screen to explain
why what is happening is happening.
To simply come out and say' lolwhite people wouldnt understand it' of course they wouldn't, if you didn't explain it to them. Now do your job as a localiser and localise that shit so they understand it.
Would have leaving the Mah Johng in hurted?
In the end you have a game that is practically in-translatable due to it's format,
but it probably cost more to take it out than it would have to just leave it in untouched for those who appreciate that kind of thing...