====================Linda³ Again======================

V 0.95 - Initial Release
------------------------------------------------------------

Japanese Title: リンダキューブアゲイン
(Linda Cubed Again)

Genre: Monster-hunting RPG

Source language: Japanese
Patch language: English

Original Platform: Playstation
Original developer: Alfa System
Original publisher: SCEI
Original Release Date in Japan: September 25, 1997

======================================================
Folder Contents
======================================================

Patch file

Readme

======================================================
Table of Contents
======================================================
-01. About Linda³ Again

-02. Content Warnings

-03. Original Game Credits

-04. Sing-along Lyrics

-05. Patching Instructions

-06. Patch Notes/Warnings

-07. Translation Project Credits

======================================================
01. About Linda³ Again
======================================================

Project History:

Esper and I started some years ago, maybe 2014?
A lot of projects came in-between, but I hope
that stands more as a testament to how wild
the insides of this game are on a technical level.
Please give Esper a huge round of applause for
making such a gargantuan effort really sing.


Our Request:

There are many relief efforts going on at the moment.
For one, Doctors Without Borders is currently working
to send relief to countries hit hardest by global
warming, apartheid and more.

For the endangered species in the world, consider donating
to animal conservation efforts like WCS. 

For the planet we call home, Earthjustice is matching all
monthly donation subs made through January 31st, 2024 for
the entire year!

A recent game jam just ended for a Palestine Relief Bundle
expected to come out soon, so let’s keep an eye on it.

Because this is a Japanese RPG, let’s remember the devastating
Noto earthquake. Check local consulate websites or charity
platforms you trust to help those who lost their homes and
livelihoods earlier this month.

Consider volunteering to help the displaced in your community.
Look up local church, shelter and charity efforts. Be a Ken or
a Linda. If you stand to benefit at all from this patch release
via journalism or streams, etc., use that platform to help others.


Game Summary (from official website):
It all started in the summer of AMD 1991. Previously, it had
been discovered that a massive meteorite, dubbed "the Grim
Reaper", was fast-approaching the planet of Neo Kenya. Its
collision date was set to the summer of AMD 1999, which meant
only eight years remained for all life to evacuate. 

As the Federation scrambled to execute a migration plan for
the human populace, a life boat from outer space, the Astro
Ark, descended. The Federation wasted no time approving the
absurd, untested and all-around unsafe Project Astro Ark,
where one young man and one young woman would each be selected
to pilot the Astro Ark as human representatives. Their mission?
To capture one male and one female from each animal species on
the planet to join them! And so, their greatest challenge yet
begins...


"Linda Cubed Again" is a hunting RPG set on the planet of Neo
Kenya. The player character, Ken, is tasked to explore the
landscape and hunt down as many animals for capture within
the time limit as possible.


Along the journey, three unique storylines (Scenarios A, B
and C) weave together to paint a bigger picture of Neo Kenya
and all it has to offer. Each scenario adds new excitements
to the table while giving characters to show all sides of
themselves, making Linda Cubed Again a true-blue psychological
thriller. Don't believe us? Play the game and see these
stories unfold with your own eyes!


The most straight-forward way to capture animals is to battle
them first. In battle, you simply attack animals until they
stop resisting. However, if you overdo it, the animal will
either run away or explode! Battlefields surround the player
on all sides, so it's near-impossible to run away if all your
exits are blocked off. 


Thankfully, there are other ways to capture animals outside of
battle. You can even buy them in shops, bid for them in auctions,
commission proxy hunters to search for them and even set traps.
Use every tool at your disposal to save all of Neo Kenya's
wildlife!


("You're a public servant, not a 'hero'." -- Shoji Masuda)


Once you've captured your animals, you have to register
them on the Astro Ark! When you register animals onto the
ark, not only will Ken and Linda's stats improve, but they'll
also learn abilities from said animals that will help them
in battle and on the field later!


Character Profiles (from official website):

A. Ken Challenger
Voice Actor: Kazuki Yao
Birthdate: December 25, 1975
Birthplace: Hospico Cell, Neo Kenya
Height: 171cm
Weight: 64.5kg
B/W/H: 92cm, 78cm, 98.5cm
Blood Type: 0
Foot Size: 25.5cm

B. Linda
Voice Actor: Minami Takayama
Birthdate: December 25, 1976
Birthplace: Hospico Cell, Neo Kenya
Height: 170cm
Weight: 52kg
B/W/H: 86cm, 55cm, 84cm
Blood Type: B
Foot Size: 25.5cm

C. Nek Green
Voice Actor: Kazuki Yao
Birthdate: December 25, 1975
Birthplace: Hospico Cell, Neo Kenya
Height: 171cm
Weight: 64.5kg
B/W/H: 92cm, 78cm, 98.5cm
Blood Type: 0
Foot Size: 25.5cm

D. Sachiko
Voice Actor: Rei Sakuma
Birthdate: December 25, 1976
Birthplace: Camp 372, β Goba
Height: 158cm
Weight: 43.5kg
B/W/H: 82cm, 53cm, 83cm
Blood Type: B
Foot Size: 22.5cm

E. Meme Challenger
Voice Actor: Kazuyo Aoki
Birthdate: November 13, 1950
Birthplace: Paraside Cell, Neo Kenya
Height: 160cm
Weight: 59.5kg
B/W/H: 88cm, 69.5cm, 91cm
Blood Type: O
Foot Size: 23.5cm

F. Ben MacDonald
Voice Actor: Kenji Utsumi
Birthdate: January 1, 1951
Birthplace: HospiCo Cell, Neo Kenya
Height: 166cm
Weight: 85.5kg
B/W/H: 90cm, 107.5cm, 87.5cm
Blood Type: O
Foot Size: 26cm

G. Hume Burning
Voice Actor: Issei Futamata
Birthdate: March 16, 1952
Birthplace: Side T, Nguna Base
Height: 184.5cm
Weight: 101kg
B/W/H: 117cm, 90cm, 114cm
Blood Type: O
Foot Size: 29cm


H. Ann Aurea
Voice Actor: Hiroko Emori
Birthdate: June 20, 1954
Birthplace: Minago Cell, Neo Kenya
Height: 166cm
Weight: 48kg
B/W/H: 84.5cm, 60cm, 84cm
Blood Type: B
Foot Size: 24cm

I. Yataro Emori
Voice Actor: Takeshi Aono
Birthdate: May 5, 1940
Birthplace: New Kiyoto, Monto Monto
Height: 168cm
Weight: 51kg
B/W/H: 82cm, 78cm, 78.5cm
Blood Type: A
Foot Size: 25.5cm

J. Elizabeth Green
Voice Actor: Takumi Kurebayashi
Birthdate: N/A
Birthplace: Daryl City, Land HD
Height: 168cm
Weight: 52kg
B/W/H: 92cm, 61cm, 88cm
Blood Type: A
Foot Size: 23.5cm

K. Mica Panheim
Voice Actor: Shinpachi Tsuji
Birthdate: February 2, 1929
Birthplace: Daryl Special Economic Zone, Land HD
Height: 160cm
Weight: 46.5kg
B/W/H: 74cm, 67cm, 74cm
Blood Type: B
Foot Size: 24cm

L. Gene Challenger
Voice Actor: Koji Ishii
Birthdate: March 16, 1952
Birthplace: Side S, Nguna Base
Height: 178cm
Weight: 81kg
B/W/H: 98cm, 86.5cm, 102cm
Blood Type: O
Foot Size: 27cm

M. Beastian Elder
Voice Actor: Shinpachi Tsuji
Birthdate: Unknown
Birthplace: Neo Kenya
Height: Unknown
Weight: Unknown
B/W/H: Unknown
Blood Type: Unknown
Foot Size: Unknown

N. Gomez Litra
Voice Actor: Koji Ishii
Birthdate: September 15, 1953
Birthplace: Paraside Cell, Neo Kenya
Height: 191.5cm
Weight: 107kg
B/W/H: 112cm, 94cm, 108cm
Blood Type: A
Foot Size: 30cm

O. Jorge Camar
Voice Actor: Yoh Kitazawa
Birthdate: July 28, 1951
Birthplace: Mages City, Euro III
Height: 174cm
Weight: 59.5kg
B/W/H: 78cm, 76cm, 76.5cm
Blood Type: A
Foot Size: 26cm

P. Ponkotsu Smilly
Voice Actor: Kazuya Ichijo
Birthdate: October 1, 1947
Birthplace: Unknown
Height: Unknown
Weight: Unknown
B/W/H: Unknown
Blood Type: O
Foot Size: 27cm

Official Linda Cubed Home page: http://www.alfasystem.net/game/linda/

Linda Cubed release history:

a. Linda³, released for PC Engine SUPER CD-ROM on October 13, 1995
for players 18 and over.
Developed by Alfa Systems and published by NEC Home Electronics.

b. Linda³ Again, a remake of the PC Engine original, now with added
features and story enhancements, released for PlayStation on 
September 25, 1997. This version was later ported to the Japanese
PlayStation store as a classic title in 2007.

c. Linda³ Complete ("Linda³ Kanzenban") released for Sega Saturn
on June 18, 1998, with slight tweaks based on Linda³ Again.

For those curious, the largest story changes and censors do
take place with the release of Again. Some story elements,
character names, presentations and even animal designs are
changed or removed entirely. Despite popular belief
on the English side of the fandom, the differences between
Again and Complete are minimal in comparison. For a more
differing experience, we invite you to play the original
Linda³ from 1995.

======================================================
02. Content Warnings
======================================================

I. Audio-visual warnings: 
There is possibly a slight photosensitivity warning
for the ending anime cutscenes in all three scenarios.
There is a heavy and rapid flashing light segment to
be careful about.

II. Animal violence:
By nature of the game, animals die a LOT in Linda Cubed.
You can fight them in battle, or you'll read dialogue
about them dying, and it's often morbid.

There is also a dog trainer who makes comments during
her training segments that border on sadistic abuse.
There is a generic whimpering dog audio in these segments
to match this.

You can also volunteer to participate in a dog fighting
arena. This is entirely optional, but you will be
forced to run into and interact with characters who
totally normalize dog fighting as a sport.

If you don't like hearing about descriptive bodily harm
against dogs, giraffes etc, particularly harm done by
enthused humans in narrative detail, this isn't the
game for you.

III. Sexually Suggestive dialogue:
There is heavy human vs. human violence and body horror.
There is also a small deal of sexually suggestive dialogue,
and sometimes off-color comments that people make
about their own family members. 

At least one NPC recounts statutory rape as a positive
memory. Battle narration and other hunting discussions
are written with a deliberately sexual undertone.

Ken and Linda have implied/fade-to-black sex scenes
throughout the three scenarios when you use the Camp
feature. Tissues disappear from your inventory after
you see these scenes to confirm that implication.
The player characters start the game at ages 15 and
16, and while it's tricky to access these camping
scenes in the first three years of any of the routes
in Scenarios A and B, it's still possible. They're
somewhat rare scenes, but whether you see this as
a bad thing or not, it doesn't hurt to be aware of
them before you're like, "Oh, lol."

Perhaps the raunchiest, depending on interpretation,
is actually in the Saturn version. In a scene of the
Playstation version where Linda outright asks
if you'd be down to "fuck around", in the Saturn
version, Linda invites Ken into the same room to
flirtatiously recount how they used to play doctor.
No clothes actually come off in this scene and the
scene doesn't have an explicit bone in its body,
but it's probably the most deliberate change.

IV. Sexual Visuals:
There are no hyper-revealing fanservice segments for
the story heroines.

But there are adult female nude sprites in the game,
and other female corpse sprites that NPCs
make frequent comments on in the hospital.

There is a poster in Ben's room in the Ranger HQ that you
can click to see the various girls in the story wearing
swimsuits.


V. Domestic violence:
Domestic violence is heavily featured in visuals and in
audio throughout Scenario A. The dialogue is probably
stark enough, but the audio can be enough to mess with
someone. More specifically, and not optionally, you can
overhear semi-realistic audio of a woman being beaten and
begging the attacker to stop. I highly suggest avoiding
Scenario A until you feel you are in a safe position
to view that kind of content and it's on your own terms.


VI. Political Themes:
The game has a lot of left-leaning dialogue in it, at
least from a western definition. Linda Cubed is a game
about how the world is ending, so a lot of subjects like
political conspiracy, social welfare, classism,
immigration, globalization, cultural appropriation,
etc. are brought up casually and frequently.

The story takes place on a planet called "Neo Kenya",
and Linda is half indigenous on her mother's side.
You'll be introduced to Linda's dad and the conversations
her parents have prove to have driven much of Linda's
backstory.

Whether you're happily enthusiastic or morbidly curious
to see how a video game from the '90s would tackle
globalized attitudes in a dieselpunk iteration of Kenya,
the game has a lot to offer, and I hope that this guide
helps those who need specifics before welcoming older
games of such outlier natures into their spaces.

======================================================
03. Original Game Credits
======================================================

DIRECTOR / SCENARIO / GAME DESIGN
Shoji Masuda

PRODUCER
Tetsuya Sasaki

MUSIC DIRECTOR
Ryoko Kihara

CHARACTER DESIGN
CANNABIS

PLANNER
Shoji Masuda
Hiromasa Iwasaki
Hiroshi Hasegawa

VOICE CAST
Linda - Minami Takayama
Ken & Nek - Kazuki Yao
Sachiko - Rei Sakuma
Hume - Issei Futamata
Ann - Hiroko Emori
Dr. Emori - Takeshi Aono
Ben - Kenji Utsumi
Meme - Kazuyo Aoki
Gomez & Gene - Koji Ishii
Panheim & Beastian Elder - Shinpachi Tsuji
Elizabeth - Takumi Kurebayashi
Smilly - Kazuya Ichijo
Camar - Yoh Kitazawa

MAIN PROGRAMMER
Hasegawa Hiroshi

SUB PROGRAMMER
Koji Yamamoto
Kazuhiro Okada

BATTLE DESIGN
Kira Katsuya

GRAPHICS
Masaaki Kokobu
Tatsuya Nagata
Kyosuke Ogami
Yohei Ariyoshi
Tsukino Makoto
Naoya Yamada
Rika Kawamoto
Kazumi Fujikawa
Miku Sonoda

GRAPHICS SUPPORT
Koji Hisatomi
Takeshi Maeda
Kazutaka Katoku
Toshinari Miyauchi
Takeharu Shima
Tomoya Ohara
Koga Kenichi

SOUND COMPOSITION
Takuya Yasuda

SFX DIRECTOR
Takeshi Yoshida

VOICE EDITOR
Yoichi Shimamura
Yuji Iwata

PRODUCTION MANAGER
Yuri Shibamura
Susumu Chou

COORDINATOR
Momonga Sobota

ANIMATION STAFF

PRODUCER
Masayoshi Ozaki

ASSISTANT PRODUCER
Noriko Nishinomiya

PLANNER
Shigeru Yamasaki

STORYBOARD ARTIST
CANNABIS

DIRECTOR
Miyuki Shimabukuro

MANAGER
Takayuki Ohtani

KEY ANIMATOR
Akihiro Kanayama
Masaaki Hosoyama
Moriyasu Taniguchi
Tatsuya Urano
Yuichi Nakazawa
Koichi Takai

VIDEO PROOFER
Keiko Hagimori

ANIMATOR
Saori Tomita
Junko Nakada
Tatsuya Uetsu
Yoshitake Iwakami
Kazuki Miura

COLOR CORRECTION SPECIALIST
Kumiko Oka

COLORIST
Natsuko Takio
Kazumi Yamazaki
Aki Watanabe
Kazumi Hasegawa
Yukiko Toida
Hiroko Saito
Noriko Kawada
Kanae Hara

SPECIAL EFFECTS SPECIALIST
Takashi Maekawa

ART DIRECTOR
Mitsuki Nakamura

DESIGNER
Eiji Takahashi
Takashi Honda
Megumi Ohkochi
Seiji Miyamoto
Kazuhiro Arai

CINEMATOGRAPHER
Akio Kanazawa

PHOTOGRAPHER
Kazuhi Torigoe
Yasuhisa Endo
Hiroki Sekido
Saori Kibe
Yasuyuki Kuroki

FILM EDITOR
Falcon

SOUND PRODUCER
Noriyoshi Matsuura

SOUND STUDIO
Gen

ANIMATION STUDIO
Studio SIGN

MUSIC STAFF

MUSIC PRODUCER
Ryoko Kihara

ARRANGEMENT
Kazuhiko Toyama

ENGINEER
Kiyoshi Okabe
(Recording & Mixing)

ASSISTANT ENGINEER
Yasuyuki Fukushima

MANUAL STAFF
Takashi Shiraishi (Iz)

SCEI Staff

EXECUTIVE PRODUCER
Akira Satoh

SUPERVISOR
Toshiyuki Miyata
Yukio Nagasaki

A&R
Takahiro Kaneko
Kazunori Tsukatani

JACKET COORDINATOR
Hironori Komiya
Shinpo Tamami (SMC)

MUSIC PRODUCER
Akihiko Shimizu

PROMOTERS
Masashi Saeki
Miroshi Matsuda

TEST PLAYERS
Akira Koike
Masayuki Mizuno
Imai Hirokazu
Sayuki Koike
Kei Shimo
Yuji Watanabe
Mika Endo
Ichiaki Tojima

SUPPORT STAFF (Patio)

KWB
Masaaki Sugino
Taicho
matsu
Daiju
Celistia
Piccolosuke
KusaKoukan ZETA
Furucchi
Akage
MenoshitaNoKuma
XEL
Yuetsu Kodama
Ari-chan
Tamu Ogiwara Hiroshi
Funamushi
Takamura Matsuda
Toshiaki Kogane
Yuu Takato
KEY
Chutaro
Toshio Hashizume

PC ENGINE SUPPORT STAFF

Kenichiro Watanabe
TOUTETU
Yasushi Hashimoto
Fuyuto Igarashi
Naoki Kujiwara
Yuji Sakimura
Naoko Mamoda
Shoichi Baba
Mitsumame
Shizuka Kimura
Yuko Nishida
Noriko Tamura
Hirofumi Okada
Kaguhiro Kawamoto
Kazunori Maruta
NAKA
Ma Akitomo
Sogetsu
Maki Oki
Double Tiger Atsushi
Kappashiru
Yutaka Suzuki
Yuusuke Ukai
Momotaro Sakura
Kaman Project
Yoshitoshi Tsuda

COLLABORATORS
NEC Home Electronics, Ltd. 
Media Works, Ltd.
Iands, Ltd.

======================================================
04. Sing-along Lyrics
======================================================
A few songs make an appearance in the storyline and credits,
so while we didn’t want to take over the songs impact in
the game, in segments where we thought it appropriate, we
included live subtitles with sing-along English versions
of the tracks.

While this doesn’t include all of the vocal songs in the game,
we hope you’ll enjoy the sing-along versions of two songs
included here:

“Lullaby Eperformed by Minami Takayama and Ryoko Kihara

Don't cry, Darling
Rowdy, baby Darling Mine
Let Mother carry you home
Who knows where those
Treasures in your pocket fell
Out in the world on their own

Someday you will cry for them
As will I
When I bake a cake for you
One last time

Once you're older,
Brave and loving Darling Mine,
Who then will you carry home?

Sleep now, Darling
Pure and wild Darling Mine
Think of the dreams you will see
Who knows how you'll
Change the world we're living in
Oh, what a world that will be

Hold on to your teddy bear
Close and tight
Someday 'til it's time to go,
Head held high

Look down, Father
See my precious Darling mine
O Father, carry them home

Hold on to your teddy bear
Close and tight
Someday 'til it's time to go,
Head held high

Look down, Father
See my precious Darling mine
O Father, carry them home

“Linda Eperformed by Minami Takayama

Time, time and again
Trying and failing
Tears run down your cheek
And they're beautiful
Linda

Come over to me
Lean on my shoulder for a while
Come what-ever may,
Know that you're everything I need

Nowhere to turn, I
Wandered and wondered
Longing to belong
That's when you found me
Linda

Two lost from the start
Searching the corners of the world
As long you're here
This is the only place I'll be

Ever and always
Believe me when I say
I'm ready to
Have and hold you
Til the day that I die

Through all the good times
Through all of the painful and the sad
You gave me something
More than I'd ever had
Aa, Linda

You've made it so far
Out on your lonesome
That's all in the past
I'll give you everything, oh

Next time that you feel that
You have nowhere to turn
Take my hand in yours
And together we'll break free

Ever and always
Believe me when I say
I'm ready to
Have and hold you
Til the day that I die

Through all the good times
Through all of the painful and the sad
You gave me something
More than I'd ever had
Aa, Linda

Now and forever
You and I can be all we wanna be
Go where we want to
See what we wanna see

After the heartache
After all of the trials we overcame
I'm not afraid, no
Now that you've shown me love
Aa, Linda

======================================================
05. Patching Instructions
======================================================
 
Notes from Esper: Just drag and drop the ISO (bin) file onto "Drag and drop ISO on me.bat". This will automatically patch the game for you.

======================================================
06. Patch Notes/Warnings
======================================================
1. For one, the game doesn’t work well on older emulators,
but works well on Duckstation and BizHawk, et cetera.
If you have issues with one emulator, try updating
your setup.

2. There may be a slight audio lag in one room.
Meeting the conditions to find this room are a bit
slim, and audio does play normally once started.
The lag was introduced when incorporating subtitles
and heavily modifying the vram to accomodate them.
Most players probably WILL notice the lag. What's
more,  if you open your menu during song playback 
in this room, it's possible the menu will appear
corrupted.  Simply close the menu and open it again.
This also will have the chance of clobbering the
song subtitles in this room due to limited graphical
space. That all said, it's one of the things on
Esper's hit list to tinker with at a later date.

3. Some formatting issues in the menu, namely Gold,
might garble or wiggle around on the screen.

4. There are several naming sequences in the game. For
example, players can name their hunting companions.
From jump street, the data affected by this is stored
in the memory card data itself. Many people know that
“save states Ewon’t work between patch updates for
translation patches of this nature, but even proper saves
to the memory card can be affected in Linda Cubed Again’s
case.

For example, if a dog is named ココ in your progress from
playing the Japanese version of the game, the English
version of the game will probably distort and not read
the same name as “KOKO E Instead, it may remain ココ or the
font will simply garble where KOKO should be. We actually
went through several playthroughs wondering why translations
for certain things weren’t updating, and it was because
the game simply would not write in the new data unless we
started a new game and made a fresh save. That means scenarios
had to be playtested from start several times per update.

In the event that something is wrong with that data and needs
to be fixed in a patch update, it may affect said names and how
they appear on screen. The game should still work, but if you
jump between patch updates during a single playthrough and run
into issues around anything that you specifically named in the
game, you’ll have to make due or start the game over from scratch.

Nothing else so far. If you happen to find any, do screencap
and let us know!

======================================================
07. Translation Patch Project Credits
======================================================

Cargodin: translation + localization, graphics
Esperknight: head romhacker, graphics

Blame: font help
Mr. Nobody: video editing (unused), but appreciated
Mono: proofreading
Gwendolyn, MatatabiMitsu, Radicaldreamerr: Playtesting

Special Thanks: Aria, Hilltop, Yuvi
======================================================

This patch is entirely fan-made and unofficial.
Please do NOT redistribute this patch in bad faith-
whether by pre-installed illegal roms or physical discs.
Do not sell or buy this patch under any circumstances.

This was a labor of love, and those bad faith actions
not only insult us, but also endangers fan translation
as a whole.

Thank you for understanding.

======================================================

Compiled by Cargodin, January 2024.
