My Response

Hello everyone. Recently, I have gotten into yet another controversy regarding the RPG Maker community and the content I create. In short, I included a racist stereotype in my game, Noel and the Tower of Doom, specifically Yellowface. While the intent of using this racist stereotype was to mock and make fun of it, I acknowledge that I should have gone about this depiction in a more tactful manner. It was disrespectful and inappropriate what I did, and for that I apologize. I am not a racist person. I hold great admiration for China, Japan, and other Asian country's culture and general populace. I hope you will all understand all accept this apology. The intent of punchy's design was not to offend or to make a crude joke, but rather to make fun of stereotypes and people's ignorance about east asian culture, which I do admit wasn't conveyed the best within my actual work. For that I am sorry, and will strive to do better.

If you were curious, My purpose in including such a design for the character of Punchy was twofold.

1: The confront and mock racism and racist stereotypes.

and 2: To serve as symbolism.

The second probably needs some explanation, so let me explain what I mean by "symbolism." All the bosses in Noel and the Tower of Doom, the "delusionary beasts", represent fractured aspects of The False One's psyche, the False One being the overarching antagonist of the game.

Punchy: Ignorance and Racism

Bubbles: Lust and Pride

Blake: Gullibility

Angelica: Religious fanaticism and paranoia.

Wild: Wrath and madness

The Child: Innocence and creativity

Magistrate: Manipulation and lies

Infini-III: God complex

These "fragments of the psyche" are called "Tuplas" and can be manifested by someone with a strong enough will. They're basically like Personas or Stands from Jojo, but can act independently of the wielder over long distances. When the False One obtained the Zohar Artifiact, a reality-altering device, they created these Tuplas to serve as the False One's servants, formed from pieces of the false one's own psyche. (minus Infini-III, who was converted into a Tupla instead of being formed as one) What better way to embody "innocent racism" than a racist steriotype? I do admit I went too far in that regard and should have been more subtle. I'm still trying to come to an understanding on proper social and conversational norms, and it is too often than I offend someone or come across as extremely rude and dismissive when I don't mean to.

So, what will I do about this problematic depiction? It's gotten me a lot of heat online. I'm pretty much being cancelled on Discord and other social medias for "racism" when the intent of the character was to mock racism, not endorce it. I thought I made that very clear. I really have only one option going foward: to redesign ALL the bosses in Noel and the Tower of Doom to fit more in line with their "canon/true" appearances instead of an abstract, often exaggerated version/design of those characters. Currently, I have made the new designs for Punchy and Bubbles. Here is the before and after:

As you can see, the new designs, while not necessarily better looking and higher quality, do reflect the characters better and what I am trying to go for with their personalities and designs.

I am sorry for any harm and offense I may have many caused with the previous depiction of Punchy, and I realize that it was not acceptable for me to behave in such a way. The old sprites will be replaced with the new ones upon the next update, which should release by the end of January. The dialogue in Noel and the Tower of Doom will also be updated slightly to reflect these new designs in the new update, especially the dialogue involving Punchy. I hope these new designs will appease you. Until then, Happy gammak!