LISA the Painful

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JaySevenZero
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LISA the Painful

Post by JaySevenZero »

Here's where you can contribute your thoughts and opinions for Dingaling Productions' LISA the Painful RPG for potential inclusion in the forthcoming podcast.

A friendly reminder that where the feedback for the podcast is concerned, we love it - but keeping it brief is appreciated. We do want to include a breadth of opinions where appropriate, but no-one wants a discussion podcast that’s mostly reading out essays. Better to save yourself time and cut to the chase if you can.
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DaMonth
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Re: 498 - LISA the Painful RPG

Post by DaMonth »

I don't really have too much to say because I only got three hours in. As much as I wanna love this, the graphics, particularly the battle UI, put me off too much to care. It's not horrible, just the font choices and such were too boring to look at.
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Alex79
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Re: 498 - LISA the Painful RPG

Post by Alex79 »

That's a shame, I've not played it yet but I quite like the art style. Reminds me a lot of some of the Team 17 games like The Escapists etc. Seems to have a bit of a side-on Earthbound look to it, too.
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LudoFM
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Re: 498 - LISA the Painful RPG

Post by LudoFM »

I played Lisa the Painful on a whim, glancing at the art style and not thinking much of it. I was so incredibly wrong when judging this game by its aesthetic. Lisa is one of the darkest, most twisted game narratives I've ever slogged through. I have a massive respect and reverence for aspects of this game, but I'd be lying if I said it was all sunshine and rainbows throughout. I'll never forget the unwinnable choices like losing limbs, succumbing to Joy addiction, and that grim, hopeless finale.

Honorable mention goes to the rave dancer who tragically lost his life by hanging. I cannot articulate how traumatic that encounter was, however passive and brief. That EDM tune is burned into my brain.
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T-BirD
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Re: 498 - LISA the Painful RPG

Post by T-BirD »

A few years ago I bought LISA based on good reviews and the promise of something "different", but then never installed it. This was at least in part due to the off-putting "grotesque Earthbound" art style.

When I saw it on the playlist, I decided to finally give it a chance, and while I appreciate the premise (as far as I understand it), the boldness to undermine so many game design rules and to infuse every last aspect of the game with its bleak premise, as well as some of the bits of (often dark) humor in the writing...

...we just don't get along.

It's not really a mechanical issue with the game - the RPG system is "fine" - and I enjoy being able to manually do combos or select them from a menu. No, I'm mostly annoyed at two things - I've spent probably two of my 13 hours of playtime lost, wandering back and forth, trying to find out where I'm supposed to go and what I'm supposed to do. Sometimes, I'm not even sure if I've been somewhere before. I'll give the designers the benefit of the doubt and assume that a post apocalyptic wasteland is going to be pretty samey, but it's not very fun to navigate with so few landmarks.
My other issue is the random events which can often cripple a character, your party, or outright remove/kill a member. I've resorted to save-scumming because this aspect is so incredibly irritating. I'm only halfway through, but I wonder if the game is even completable if you let the random events run their course.

I'm not sure if I will ever finish LISA. Even though I appreciate what it is going for, it's not a good sign when I have to force myself to return to a game, even if a few - very rare - events do provide a nice payoff.
Spoiler: show
The vehicle bit with the music at sunset, Bone Thugs 'n Harmony reference.
--------------------------------------------------------

3 word review: Needs more joy.
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MauricioMM
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Re: LISA the Painful RPG

Post by MauricioMM »

I played LISA: The Painful (plus both LISA: The Joyful, its sequel, and LISA: The First, its prequel of sorts) a couple of years ago and, well... that was definitely an interesting experience!

I mean, I knew the type of dark game it was before going into it but what I was not expecting at all was how depressing and borderline nihilistic its writing was in lots of places. Granted, the comedy helped me carry through the experience (and boy, it is a funny game in parts!) but the overall plot made me kinda not really care enough about its world and its characters, apart from
Spoiler: show
Buddy and, slightly so, Rando and Brad. Lisa too, although she’s more of a presence than a character per se.
I guess that “numbness” I felt about the game was the point of its story and writing but, still, that wasn’t quite what I was looking for here :?

The gameplay was alright, though, and the music was quite quirky and memorable. Loot and combat required a bit of thought and planning behind them and the dozens of varied companions added some some interesting party dynamics in combat.

Despite some of my harsh opinions about it I still recommend it but only for people into existentially dreadful stories.
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Tleprie
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Re: LISA the Painful RPG

Post by Tleprie »

Loved the discussion in this issue. I may try to write up something more of my feelings on what this game represents for me later, but the team absolutely knocked it out of the park. Props to each for finishing the game, I was only able to get a couple hours in before giving up back in the day.
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Jobobonobo
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Re: LISA the Painful

Post by Jobobonobo »

Just listened to this and this was probably the most interesting episode from Vol. 10 that I have heard so far. LISA was a game I was always curious about and heard had pretty dark themes but....Yeah, did not expect that level of intensity. Definitely will give this one a miss, this was pretty hard to listen to at times so I can only imagine how I would feel playing it. Lots of great discussion here, this is sort of game that Cane and Rinse is made for.
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