Omega Labyrinth Z banned from release in Australia

Australian Omega Labyrinth Z fans are dismayed as the Australian Classification board refuses classification for the game. This will ban the game from being sold in Australia at all.  Readers beware, this article may be not safe for work.

Omega Labyrinth Z  is the sequel to Omega Labyrinth. It’s a roguelike RPG with a mixture of anime style visual novel and standard top down RPG. It’s got dungeon crawling as well,  as the girls try to find their way to the ‘Holy Grail of Beauty’. This will allow them to wish for…a bigger bust size. They gain larger breasts by also defeating monsters in dungeons and raising their ‘Omega Power’.  Which can apparently only gather in the chest.

That’s right, it’s an anime RPG game about increasing your breast size.  Also, it’s apparently the exact same plot as the first game, just with more characters.

So why the ban? Australia has plenty of this style of game already, and certainly has (finally) the R18+ rating.  It all comes down to one character, Urara Rurikawa.

Yes, somehow the character depicted as a small child in a sexually explicit game did not go over well with the classification board. Shocking that. The Board’s Report provided to Kotaku states that the Omega Labyrinth Z  gameplay “constituted a simulation of sexual stimulation of a child.”

Warning, this report contains mention of underage and non-consenting sexual acts:

“The game features a variety of female characters with their cleavages emphasised by their overtly provocative clothing, which often reveal the sides or underside of their breasts and obscured genital region. Multiple female characters are also depicted fully nude, with genitals obscured by objects and streams of light throughout the game. Although of indeterminate age, most of these characters are adult-like, with voluptuous bosoms and large cleavages that are flaunted with a variety of skimpy outfits.”

“One character, Urara Rurikawa, is clearly depicted as child-like in comparison with the other female characters. She is flat-chested, physically underdeveloped (particularly visible in her hip region) and is significantly shorter than other characters in the game. She also has a child-like voice, wears a school uniform-esque outfit and appears naive in her outlook on life.”

“At one point in the game, Urara Rurikawa and a friend are referred to as “the younger girls” by one of the game’s main characters. In the Boards opinion, the character of Urara Rurikawa is a depiction of a person who is, or appears to be, a child under 18 years.”

“In some gameplay modes, including the “awakening” mode, the player is able to touch the breasts, buttocks, mouths and genital regions of each character, including Urara Rurikawa, while they are in sexualised poses, receiving positive verbal feedback for interactions which are implied to be pleasurable for the characters and negative verbal feedback, including lines of dialogue such as “I-It doesn’t feel good…” and “Hyah? Don’t touch there!,” for interactions which are implied to be unpleasurable, implying a potential lack of consent.”

“The aim of these sections is, implicity, to sexually arouse these characters to the point that a “shame break” is activated, in which some of the characters clothing is removed – with genital regions obscured by light and various objects – and the background changes colour as they implicitly orgasm.”

“In one “awakening” mode scenario, the player interacts with Urara Rurikawa, who is depicted lying down, clutching a teddy bear, with lines of dialogue such as “I’m turning sleepy…”, “I’m so sleepy now…” and “I might wake up…” implying that she is drifting in and out of sleep.”

“The player interacts with this child-like character in the same manner as they interact with adult characters, clicking her breasts, buttocks, mouth and genital regions until the “shame break” mode is activated. During this section of the game, with mis-clicks, dialogue can be triggered, in which Urara Rurikawa says, “Stop tickling…”, “Stop poking…” and “Th-that feels strange…”, implying a lack of consent.”

“In the Board’s opinion, the ability to interact with the character Urara Rurikawa in the manner described above constituted a simulation of sexual stimulation of a child.””

This lead to the game being banned under clauses Games 1(a)&(b):

Table, 1. (a) as computer games that “depict, express or otherwise deal with matters of sex, drug misuse or addiction, crime, cruelty, violence or revolting or abhorrent phenomena in such a way that they offend against the standards of morality, decency and propriety generally accepted by reasonable adults to the extent that they should not be classified”

(b) “describe or depict in a way that is likely to cause offence to a reasonable adult, a person who is, or appears to be, a child under 18 (whether the person is engaged in sexual activity or not).”

So the moral of the story? Don’t put the ability to sexualise and subsequently interact sexually with a minor in your game! Simple, and morally better. It doesn’t look like Australia will be getting that release anytime soon, if ever. No word from the developers or publishers yet.

Omega Labyrinth Z is still being localised for other Western countries.  It is expected to release for PS4  and  Playstation Vita sometime this year in Europe.