Lisa: The Painful RPG

   "Lisa the Painful" (And the sequel and final instalment "Lisa the Joyful") is a quirky side-scrolling RPG created by Dingaling Productions and set in a post apocalyptic wasteland... Beneath this seemingly charming and funny exterior however is a world full of disgust and moral destruction, which you will painfully soon come to realise as you continue playing...

We will be focusing on "Lisa the Painful", but I thought it wouldn't hurt to
show a little preview of the expansion and final instalment to the entire series...

   While the "Lisa" series consists of three instalments, it is only until the second instalment did more people (Including myself) begin to take notice of this series. The first instalment "Lisa: The First",  was instead, a surreal exploration game akin to "Yume Nikki", and while it has its own unique merits (Including a fairly interesting if not disturbing narrative, which unfortunately still makes it seem like a "Yume Nikki" or even an "Earthbound" clone to most), "Lisa: The Painful" was when things truly started to get serious and did many things that astounded its players.

   As a developer, Austin Jorgensen (AKA, The Master of Dingalings, whatever that means) remains quite a mystery as compared to other game developers that I have looked into. Though I suppose it makes sense, considering that his game developing career has only truly kicked off quite recently with "Lisa: The Painful". The only place he seems to remain active on is his Twitter page, which I have of course immediately followed upon discovering. Hopefully more interviews will come about for him as I am absolutely looking reading more about what inspired him to create such a series.

But anyway, back to the game itself.

   While you don't necessarily have to play the very first game to figure out what is going (Trust me, I went back to check out the first game AFTER finishing the last two), "Lisa: The Painful" is still seen as a direct sequel to the first game, seeing as a majority of the story definitely takes place after the ending of the first one. We instead focus on the journey of Brad Armstrong, the brother to Lisa Armstrong (The protagonist of the "Lisa The First") as he attempts to save his adopted daughter, Buddy, the very last female in all of Olathe, which has since become a strange post-apocalyptic world after the first game.

   ... The game is most certainly not something anyone would have expected, while it appears to be downright silly at first glance. I think most of us game enthusiasts should have learnt by now that one should never ever judge a game for its first few minutes of gameplay. Sure, there have been games like "OFF" and perhaps more recently "Undertale" (A game I'm still looking into), but "Lisa: The Painful" has that unique ability to switch between moods in a heartbeat, one minute you find yourself laughing at the sheer ridiculousness of these enemies you are facing, and the next thing you know, you are constantly yelling at the screen, begging the game to stop tearing your heart into tinier and tinier shreds (That's all I can say without spoiling too much for you)...

   "Lisa: The Painful" also the most the varied soundtrack that I have ever come across, which actually suits the the game's overall quirky tone. Much like some of the best TV shows out there, there isn't necessarily a fixed genre for this game, and is instead a unique mixture of all types of conflicting genres such as comedy, horror, western and drama (To name a few). The humour however is one of the things that absolutely stands out to me when it comes to this game's writing, it leaves you laughing but at the same time leaves you feeling somewhat bitter and pained over the somewhat blunt truthfulness of how things tend to be.

   In terms of gameplay, it most certainly plays like a typical RPG... when it comes to its settings at least. There is such a wide range of characters that have such amusingly titled attacks that you will probably find yourself easily getting into it before you know it, patiently taking the time in putting together your group or strange men to form the perfect team that can easily take care of any enemies that come your way, be they men or muta-- oops.

   In the end, I am not going to beat around the bush when it comes to this particular issue, but "Lisa: The Painful", no, all "Lisa" games tend to deal with very toxic if not triggering issues, that are most definitely not meant for the frail hearted. It is an interesting topic really, especially when such a well made game is still not all that popular as compared to so many other titles that are out there right now. 
   
   I suppose it really depends on the creator himself, and whether he really is intent on cashing in or simply following what his heart desires... Well sir, despite the seemingly smaller fanbase this game has as compared to others, rest assured that this game is still hailed by many as an upbeat piece of gaming art, myself included.

   Even for this game alone, there is certainly a lot that can be said about "Lisa the Painful" in just one post, but I will do my best to summarise my overall thoughts without spoiling too much for you. Needless to say, it was one of the best games that I have had the pleasure of checking out during my summer break, I am still absolutely floored that such a beautiful piece of work could come out of RPG Maker VX Ace. This was all done by one very talented indie game developer, and all I can say is that I am all the more inspired now to create one of my own little games (It will most definitely never reach this level of amazingness-ness but who says that your first attempt at something will ever be a masterpiece?) in the future.

   Thank you, Mr Dingaling, I hope you will continue making more games in the future and will continue to inspire others with your amazing designs and storytelling.