Games worth discovering

Lisa: the Painful is the weirdest, most heart wrenching RPG you’ll ever play

4K View2023-07-19

Lisa: the Painful is an unrelenting expression of the world’s unfairness. It stacks all the odds against you from the very start, and no matter what you do, things won’t always go right. Minor bosses can destroy your team with insta-death moves, permanently killing party members. Resting at a campsite heals your party and removes negative status effects, but it also leaves you vulnerable to kidnapping attempts or poisonous bug bites. It’s a game where you can lose everything in an instant through no fault of your own.

That all sounds pretty brutal, but there’s a playful, absurdist tone to Lisa that keeps it from feeling dour. Sure, you might have to watch your teammates turn into hideous mutants after you pump them full of power-boosting drugs, but you can also dish out insane amounts of damage with hot dance moves, jump from hill to hill on a bouncy motorcycle, or challenge your enemies to a good old-fashioned shopping cart race.

Lisa takes place in a post-apocalyptic world where all women were wiped out in a mysterious event known only as “The Flash.” You play as Brad, a miserable middle-aged man that relies on an addictive drug named Joy to numb his constant pain. It seems like Brad is destined to live his life in a drug-addled stupor, but all that changes when he hears an abandoned baby crying in the wasteland.

That baby turns out to be a girl, which means she potentially has the power to save humanity. Brad’s friends plead with him to turn the baby in, but he decides to raise her on his own. He names her “Buddy,” builds her an underground bedroom, and does his best to kick his drug habit so that he can be the father she deserves. When Brad comes home one day to find that Buddy has been kidnapped, he vows to do everything he can to bring her back safely.

Lisa: the Painful is essentially a rescue mission, but it’s also a tale of redemption. Over the course of his journey, Brad is repeatedly asked to make impossible choices with game-changing consequences. Will he give up everything he has to save the life of a random stranger? Should he load up on Joy so that he can tear through enemies, or should he try to stay clean for Buddy’s sake?

There’s plenty of dark content in Lisa, but the game doesn’t feel nihilistic, and that’s what makes it so effective. It can be incredibly silly—at one point, you’re approached by a deer-riding warlord that greets you with the phrase “Howdy, mother fucker”— but it treats its themes with seriousness and care. Lisa has a lot to say about masculinity, fatherhood, and how we’re all shaped by our pasts, for better or worse.

If absurdist brutality with a smidge of hope sounds like it’s up your alley, now is the perfect time to check the game out. Lisa: Definitive Edition has just come out for PC and console, and it’s jam-packed with new content. The pixelated visuals have received an HD upgrade, brand-new story quests have been added, and there are plenty of new secrets to discover. This edition also includes Lisa: The Joyful, a story DLC that wraps up the main narrative.

Lisa: The Painful isn’t for everyone, but it’s an amazing experience if you’re willing to meet it halfway. The graphics aren’t the prettiest, and the game can be pretty sadistic, but beneath that rough surface, you’ll find complex characters, awesome turn-based battles, and a fascinating story. Like the name says, it can be pretty painful, but it’s the kind of pain that’s worth experiencing.