=============Planet Laika================= V 1.0 - Initial Release ------------------------------------------------------------ Japanese Title: プラネットライカ Genre: Action Adventure Source language: Japanese Patch language: English Original Platform: Playstation Original developer: Zeque, Quintet Original publisher: ENIX Original Release Date in Japan: ? October 21, 1999 ====================================================== Folder Contents ====================================================== Patch file Readme ====================================================== About Planet Laika ====================================================== Project History: Project started in summer 2021, I think? I'd been peeking at scripts for this and Kowloon's Gate for fun, since Planet Laika is a so-called 'ghost game' to Kowloon's Gate. There are several character names, scenes and concepts that overlap between the two games, so I tried to keep the lexicon in Planet Laika as faithful as possible to that of Kowloon's Gate. Comparisons: Think of this as a twist on that Magnetic Rose anime, but add in a slew of real-world literary references, ranging from science fiction novels to evangelism and more. Soviet pop culture and retro-futurism were two of many direct inspirations for the game. Esper compares it a lot to the novel Solaris. Also, mono and I were laughing at how terrifying lifted certain parts of 2021's Malignant's plot summary were to Planet Laika. They don't have the same plot or anything, but once you play Laika, go give the wikipedia summary of Malignant a peek, and you'll see what we mean. If you narratives like DeltaRune or Okage: Shadow King, you may enjoy this game as well! Game Length + Difficulty: I'd reckon this game is a good 15-20 hours per play. There is one primary ending, and the storyline is linear. There are a couple different ways to get game overs in this game, but this is more a relaxing visual novel in survival horror's clothing than anything too blood-pumping. Replay value would be in swapping around party members as you explore Mars and talk to different people within the colony. There are a few mini events that can only be seen when you have certain Mind Scope levels at certain places at certain times. Content Warnings: There is one definite jump scare in the game. It comes a couple hours in at the Elder's Cottage. I don't think there are other photo-sensitive parts of the game, but just be careful or play with/after a friend who knows what to look for. There aren't any Porygon Episode segments, but please be careful all the same. This game was released on Playstation, so you're not walking into anything explicitly/visually violent or sexual. However, the meat of the game is in its suspenseful and often crude text. Therein, and without going into direct spoilers, one of the major themes of the game is PTSD from domestic abuse. It comes in varying forms and is peered at to varying lengths. There are flashbacks involving physical abuse, verbal abuse, sexual abuse, medical abuse (mentions of forced abortions, forced procedures), et cetera. This includes both towards adults and towards children. There are no voice overs for these segments, but they're still designed to be striking. The game anchors its lore very heavily on dissociative identity disorder (DID). The main character is a system with DID or OSDD, depending on interpretation, and there are other characters who are also systems in the game. Because of the setting and the fact that the game came out in 1999, Planet Laika does an interesting amount of research into the topic for a game of its scope, but can also be insensitive when discussing mental illnesses and the people who have them. UPDATE 1/2: There is an unfortunate use of a slur in the main dialogue as a gameplay term, and I didn't realize that the order of events in the story do actually drop that slur without the needed context. I'd like to personally apologize to players and viewers who were hit by my mistake here, as that is entirely on me. The word in question is "Psycho", which is used in the phrase "Psycho type". In older writings of the game from the early 2000s, people accused Spacer of being a "Psycho killer" thanks to the use in Japanese, but that's not the case at all. "Psycho types" are the perceptive characters in the game, but as some characters drop the word "type", they will walk on screen and call someone a capitalized "Psycho". Please be aware of this going into the game. I don't shoot to -add- any hard slurs or the like in the script. In the whole wide world of translations, I'm sure there are instances where a direct slur is the proper and/or best translation for certain narratives, but I don't think Planet Laika is that sort of work, nor does it claim to be. That's my stance for this and any of our projects, so if you believe I've slipped up (especially when talking with/about neuroatypical characters), please say so. While I don't see us poking and prodding at Planet Laika's text for the next eight years, I'll use that feedback as I go forward with other projects. UPDATE 2/2: There are some racial depictions of Native American aesthetics appropriated in the game for aesthetic. The group in question that does is is also noted as being "delusional", so that language and imagery has caught some players offguard in the past. I want to apologize for this slip-up as well. It's something I was mindful of when working on the script, but failed to mention in the readme before. I'll be more attentive to adding these things in future project documentation as well. I want as many people to enjoy the game as possible, but if you're not looking for a game that goes into this kind of stuff off-the-cuff, and you don't want to be caught unawares by it, it might be safer to wait until there is more public discussion about the game, so you can read about it and make your decision then. ====================================================== Patching Instructions ====================================================== Notes from Esper: Just drag and drop the ISO (bin) file onto the Drag and drop ISO on me.bat and it automagically patch the game for you. ====================================================== Patch Notes/Warnings ====================================================== We joked a little about this game being an emulator killer, in that quite a few tried-and-true emulators just don't work. However, I cleared it on ePSXe, and others testing it cleared it on duckstation and Mednafen. If you're having a gameplay issue or a freeze, feel free to post about it, but also see if swapping emulators works for you. Known emulators to break are pcsx and No$psx. Nothing else so far. If you happen to find anything, do let us know! ====================================================== Translation Patch Project Credits ====================================================== Cargodin: Translation Esperknight: Head romhacker Mr. Nobody: Image/Video editing Dialogue VWF: https://www.romhacking.net/fonts/124/ Special Thanks: SnowyAria Floppy Gwendolyn Mono TurnipTheBeet Katya G. C Nguyen The Opponent Hilltop CJ Iwakura Little Cabbage ====================================================== 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, February 2022.