The announcement of the latest Persona game hasn't gone over well with everyone. While some are impressed with the new characters and designs, others see it as a lazy rehash of the original Persona 5 in the form of a mobile-friendly gacha game. And the fact that it's exclusive to China (for now, at least) certainly hasn't helped, especially when you find out some of the demon designs have been altered to suit Chinese sensibilites.

Chinese censors have a strict list of forbidden subjects in any media released in the country, including anything related to sex, religion, politics or graphic violence. Persona 5: The Phantom X has newly drawn illustrations for each of its demons, based on the original designs in Shin Megami Tensei, but a few have been adjusted in light of these rules. For example, here's the Lamia in Perona 5:

And here's the P5X Lamia for comparison:

The artwork is cool, but putting a top on her is a weird choice when her snake nipples are always covered by her hair, anyway. Here's another, the iconic Succubus in Persona 5:

And now for the Chinese Succubus. That'd make a cool band name btw.

Still pretty sexy, but covered up a lot more than she usually is. Now, for the Lilim:

Here's P5X's Lilim:

You've probably noticed a recurring theme by now. The female demons have been made to dress more modestly lest they offend the CCP. They even got Mandrake and she's a gotdamn plant. Look for yourself, here's the Persona 5 Mandrake:

And the China-approved Mandrake:

Ok, this kinda works. But it's not just the female demons getting covered; check what they did to the Incubus. Here he is in Persona 5, with his infamous demon dick:

And now, the Chinese Incubus:

Those skintight leather shorts certainly are demonic, but they took my man's devil dick off. Finally, not all of the changes are sex-related - contrary to popular belief, it isn't considered taboo to depict skeletons in games released in China. However, a lot of companies choose to err on the side of caution and remove skeletons from their games when releasing in China so no one can accuse them of encouraging superstition or whatever, and that has affected a few Persona demons. Here's Hell Biker in Persona 5.

A simple skeleton on a burning motorbike, just one flaming skull away from a Marvel lawsuit. And here's how he looks in China:

The skull has turned into a weird helmet thing that makes him look like a fusion of Shredder and Casey Jones from TMNT. 

These are just a few designs from the current playtest that may be redesigned in the full release, or when/if the game leaves China. For now, it's an interesting look at how far publishers have to go to appease Chinese censors, but sometimes you gotta make a few changes before entering one of the most lucrative markets on earth.

What do you guys think of these design changes? Sound off below!