Things that make you cringe?

[CeruleanArc]

freedom of speech and all that.

I'm guessing you're from the United States. So, first, this game was developed in Japan.

Article 21 of Japan’s constitution prohibits censorship and protects freedom of “speech, press and all other forms of expression,” as well as the “secrecy of any means of communication.” In general, individuals and the media can exercise this in practice, though social and legal constraints exist.

For example,

the Customs Act prohibits the importation of books that are “detrimental to public security or corrupt public morals.” However, this concerns freedom of speech as the right to receive information from foreign books in Japan. Moreover, in local ordinances, there are statutes that regulate “harmful books”—books that are obscene, cruel, or promote crime (ordinances regarding “the Healthy Development of Youths”)—and the sale and means of sale.

Second, even in the United States, the so-called bastion of free speech (for the bigoted, specifically),

free speech is not absolute – US law does recognize a number of important restrictions to free speech. These include obscenity, fraud, child pornography, harassment, incitement to illegal conduct and imminent lawless action, true threats, and commercial speech such as advertising, copyright or patent rights.