In February 2000, Capcom USA officially announced that an English version of the game would be made available in North America. This version would contain a number of differences from the Japanese release, including the censorship of four different scenes that take place during the game that involved Fou-Lu decapitating Emperor Soniel, Ryu spying on Nina and Ursula bathing in a pond, Ryu accidentally grabbing Ursula's breast, and Ursula dropping her pants on a dare. Scias would additionally have all references to his alcoholism removed from the English release, presenting his stuttering word pattern as a speech impediment rather than a drunken slur. One of Scias's abilities, "Shikibetsu" (しきべつ, literally, "Identify"), which allowed him to view the statistics of an enemy during battle, as well as a short description of their abilities, was also completely removed.