Lin Lee, full name , is a fictional character from
Monolith Soft
trading as Monolith Soft, is a Japanese video game development studio originally owned by Namco (later Bandai Namco) until being bought out by Nintendo in 2007. The company was founded in 1999 by Tetsuya Takahashi with the support and coopera ...
's 2015
role-playing video game
A role-playing video game (commonly referred to as simply a role-playing game or RPG, as well as a computer role-playing game or CRPG) is a video game genre where the player controls the actions of a character (or several party members) immers ...
''
Xenoblade Chronicles X
''Xenoblade Chronicles X'' is a 2015 action role-playing game developed by Monolith Soft and published by Nintendo for the Wii U console. ''Xenoblade Chronicles X'' forms part of the '' Xeno'' metaseries, being a spiritual successor to ''Xenoblad ...
'', part of their overarching ''
Xeno'' series of video games.
The character herself was generally well received by critics, though
Nintendo
is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational video game company headquartered in Kyoto, Japan. It develops video games and video game consoles.
Nintendo was founded in 1889 as by craftsman Fusajiro Yamauchi and originally produce ...
's alteration of some of her more revealing outfits between the original Japanese and her Western release in North America and Europe received more of a mixed response, eliciting much discussion about
censorship
Censorship is the suppression of speech, public communication, or other information. This may be done on the basis that such material is considered objectionable, harmful, sensitive, or "inconvenient". Censorship can be conducted by governments ...
and differences between cultures from journalists.
Character design
Conception
Lin Lee is from ''
Xenoblade Chronicles X
''Xenoblade Chronicles X'' is a 2015 action role-playing game developed by Monolith Soft and published by Nintendo for the Wii U console. ''Xenoblade Chronicles X'' forms part of the '' Xeno'' metaseries, being a spiritual successor to ''Xenoblad ...
's'' fictional planet of Mira, a largely undeveloped alien world that the remnants of humanity has crash landed on in efforts to escape the destruction of Earth. She is a thirteen-year-old female
child prodigy
A child prodigy is defined in psychology research literature as a person under the age of ten who produces meaningful output in some domain at the level of an adult expert. The term is also applied more broadly to young people who are extraor ...
in the realm of
mechanics
Mechanics (from Ancient Greek: μηχανική, ''mēkhanikḗ'', "of machines") is the area of mathematics and physics concerned with the relationships between force, matter, and motion among physical objects. Forces applied to objects r ...
. She is a part of BLADE, a group working towards colonizing and developing humanity's new planet, specifically working as an Outfitter, the game's equivalent of an
engineer
Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the l ...
for mechanical devices. She specializes in "Skells" - large
humanoid
A humanoid (; from English ''human'' and ''-oid'' "resembling") is a non-human entity with human form or characteristics. The earliest recorded use of the term, in 1870, referred to indigenous peoples in areas colonized by Europeans. By the 20t ...
mecha
In science fiction, or mechs are giant robots or machines controlled by people, typically depicted as humanoid walking vehicles. The term was first used in Japanese (language), Japanese after shortening the English loanword or , but the mean ...
piloted by people housed inside them, something she is enthusiastic about to the point of reading Skell
fan fiction
Fan fiction or fanfiction (also abbreviated to fan fic, fanfic, fic or FF) is fictional writing written in an amateur capacity by fans, unauthorized by, but based on an existing work of fiction. The author uses copyrighted characters, settin ...
.
Despite the relatively serious setting and career choice, her character is still known for cracking jokes, specifically recurring allusions to cooking and eating team member Tatsu, an in-game creature of small stature called a "Nopon" that resembles an animal.
As a throwback to the series's prior entry, ''
Xenoblade Chronicles
is a series of action role-playing games developed by Monolith Soft and published by Nintendo. It is a part of the '' Xeno'' metaseries created by Tetsuya Takahashi, but was formed after Nintendo's acquisition of Monolith Soft in 2007. The se ...
'', developers designed her
hair clip
A barrette (American English), also known as a hair slide (British English), or a hair clip, is a fastener, clasp for holding hair in place. They are often made from metal or plastic and sometimes feature decorative fabric. In one type of barret ...
s to be small replicas of the "Monado Sword", the weapon of the prior game protagonist
Shulk
is a fictional character and protagonist of Monolith Soft's 2010 role-playing video game ''Xenoblade Chronicles'', part of the ''Xenoblade Chronicles'' series of video games. Shulk gained an increase in attention and popularity upon his inclusio ...
.
Lin Lee's Japanese voice actress was
Mariya Ise
Mariya is a variation of the feminine given name Maria.
People
* Mariya Abakumova (born 1986), Russian Olympic javelin thrower
* Mariya Agapova (born 1997), Kazakhstani mixed martial arts fighter
* Mariya Alyokhina (born 1988), Russian politica ...
.
Localization
Initial reports claimed that in the western releases of the game, it was made so that the player could not dress her in more of the revealing costumes in the game, such as
bikini
A bikini is a two-piece swimsuit primarily worn by women that features two triangles of fabric on top that cover the breasts, and two triangles of fabric on the bottom: the front covering the pelvis but exposing the navel, and the back coveri ...
s, risque shirts, or very
short shorts
"Short Shorts" is a song written and performed by Tom Austin, Bill Crandell, Bill Dalton, Russ Viers, and Bob Gaudio, members of The Royal Teens. It reached #2 on the U.S. R&B chart and #3 on the U.S. pop chart in 1958. The group originally rele ...
,
and some sources have also claimed that Lin's default outfit was radically changed from something more revealing.
While the aforementioned outfits were indeed altered for the character, Lin's default outfit remains unaltered from the Japanese version. Some reports also showed her age as being revised up to 15 years old
which was dismissed as erroneous by the founder of
8-4
is a Japanese game localization, video game localization company based in Shibuya, Tokyo, Shibuya, Tokyo. The company was founded in 2005 by Hiroko Minamoto and former ''Electronic Gaming Monthly'' (''EGM'') editor John Ricciardi. They were joine ...
, the company contracted to localize ''Xenoblade Chronicles X''.
Lin's English
voice acting
Voice acting is the art of performing voice-overs to present a character or provide information to an audience. Performers are called voice actors/actresses, voice artists, dubbing artists, voice talent, voice-over artists, or voice-over talent ...
was done by
Cassandra Lee Morris
Cassandra Lee Morris (born April 19, 1982) is an American voice actress. After starting her career as a teenage program host for an educational video series called ''Real World Science'', she worked as a journalist in New York City and Los Ang ...
.
She auditioned and won the role despite the only direction she was originally given was that the video game involved "
space travel".
Morris sought to preserve Lin's characteristics as strong female figure in her portrayal, describing her as "super smart and very self-reliant... She can cook dinner and also kick your ass."
Morris's take on the character did however include using a deeper, older sounding voice for Lin, because it was believed that Western audiences would find the high-pitched Japanese version "grating".
She voiced between 1,600 and 1,800 lines of dialogue for Lin - above average for a video game.
Reception
Lin's overall character was generally well received by critics.
Numerous journalists noted Lin as one of the few standout characters in the game that received notable character development, and praised the humor she introduced into the game,
notably the jokes about cooking and eating the character Tatsu.
''
IB Times
The ''International Business Times'' is an American online news publication that publishes five national editions in four languages. The publication, sometimes called ''IBTimes'' or ''IBT'', offers news, opinion and editorial commentary on busi ...
'' referred to her as "funny, impulsive, and actually rather enjoyable to watch...She's got a lot of fun dialogue, though it's a bit hard to believe that she's 13."
Lin's revision in costume design and age from her original portrayal in ''Xenoblade X's'' Japanese release to her portrayal in Western releases in North America and Europe elicited much discussion from journalists in regards to
censorship
Censorship is the suppression of speech, public communication, or other information. This may be done on the basis that such material is considered objectionable, harmful, sensitive, or "inconvenient". Censorship can be conducted by governments ...
and differing
cultural values.
While her original costume was interpreted as shocking or inappropriate by Western audiences, it was seen much more as normal and mundane in Japan.
Western websites had mixed reactions to the changes. Websites like
IGN
''IGN'' (formerly ''Imagine Games Network'') is an American video game and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa distri ...
and
VG247
''VG247'' is a video game blog published in the United Kingdom, founded in February 2008 by industry veteran Patrick Garratt. In 2009, CNET ranked it as the third best gaming blog in the world.
History
Founded in collaboration on 1 February 2 ...
decried the changes as censorship.
Others were more supportive of the changes. Kyle Nofuente of ''Tech Times'' found the changes to be "reasonable enough to tone down Lin's sexuality to a level more appropriate for her age" but conceded that Nintendo's fanbase may not be as understanding, considering the negative reaction similar changes to ''
Fatal Frame: Maiden of Black Water''.
Tatiana Morris of GameZone expressed similar sentiments, stating that, while she was initially surprised at how much of Lin's design had been changed, and would usually be against it, but ultimately felt that the combination of the revealing outfits and Lin
being under 18 was enough to warrant the changes in her eyes. Siliconera also felt that her age made the changes "understandable". Tom Phillips of ''
Eurogamer
''Eurogamer'' is a British video game journalism website launched in 1999 and owned by alongside formed company Gamer Network. Its editor-in-chief is Martin Robinson.
Since 2008, it is known for the formerly eponymous games trade fair EGX ...
'' found Lin's revealing costume choices questionable regardless of her age, referring to it as an "eye-opening choice of outfit for an adventurer readying for battle."
Journalists noted that many fans had negative reactions to the changes as well, complaining they constituted unnecessary
censorship
Censorship is the suppression of speech, public communication, or other information. This may be done on the basis that such material is considered objectionable, harmful, sensitive, or "inconvenient". Censorship can be conducted by governments ...
.
The debate even inspired a response from
Cassandra Morris
Cassandra Lee Morris (born April 19, 1982) is an American voice actress. After starting her career as a teenage program host for an educational video series called ''Real World Science'', she worked as a journalist in New York City and Los Ang ...
, Lin's English
voice actress
Voice acting is the art of performing voice-overs to present a character or provide information to an audience. Performers are called voice actors/actresses, voice artists, dubbing artists, voice talent, voice-over artists, or voice-over talent ...
, who defended Nintendo's changes to the character, stating:
"People are calling it censorship. I really see it as localisation. There are a lot of cultural differences between Japan and the US and Europe. I, personally, don't mind that Lin's outfits were changed for the US version. My hope is that players will be able to concentrate on Lin's abilities and what she can bring to your game and what she can do for the other members of her party and not just how she looks. I also think that covering Lin up a little bit will make parents more comfortable with kids playing the game, so it also opens the game up for a wider audience."
Alexandria Burlacu of ''Tech Times'' agreed with the notion, theorizing that some may feel the changes made her more believable and realistic character for Western audiences.
References
External links
{{Xeno series
Female characters in video games
Fictional child soldiers
Fictional female engineers
Nintendo characters
Orphan characters in video games
Teenage characters in video games
Role-playing video game characters
Video game characters introduced in 2015
Xenoblade Chronicles