Lisa: The Painful
The player controls Brad Armstrong, a middle-aged man searching for his adoptive daughter Buddy in the wasteland of Olathe.[1]
Quick Facts
- Developer
- Dingaling Productions
- Artist
- Austin Jorgensen
- Genre
- Role-playing
- Modes
- Single-player
Facts from the source article.
Making and release
The game was funded through Kickstarter with a $7,000 goal, launched on November 14, 2013, raising $16,492 from 847 people.[2] The game switches perspective to Lisa's brother Brad, an accomplished martial artist.[3] Brad finds a baby girl left on the desert floor and decides to raise her as his own daughter.[3] Austin Jorgensen was responsible for the game's writing, design, and musical composition; it became available for Windows, OS X, and Linux platforms on December 15, 2014.[4]
According to Jorgensen, the manga Fist of the North Star and the video game EarthBound served as creative influences for his work.[2] Within the Lisa trilogy, The Painful occupies the second position, with Lisa: The First coming out in 2012 before it and Lisa: The Joyful following in 2015.[4] On June 6, 2023, an announcement was made regarding enhanced editions of both Lisa: The Painful and Lisa: The Joyful, which were combined into a single package called Lisa: Definitive Edition.[5]
What the cited sources add
The Hardcore Gaming 101 account notes that the game's combat is turn-based with classic stats, and Brad can combo moves together for extra damage.[3] Many major enemies have perma-kill moves that permanently remove party members from the roster.[3] The joy mechanic gives a massive power boost but causes withdrawal issues that hurt stats at random times.[3] The journey of Painful is ultimately meaningless for the greater narrative, and Brad commits horrific acts the player must perform.[3]
GameRant states that Lisa: The Painful pushes the RPG Maker engine to its limits with a lot of creativity.[6] The sheer amount of love in the game explains its fanbase, with dark comedy juxtaposed against a bleak world.[6]
References
- Wikipedia, "Lisa: The Painful" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Cripe, "LISA: Definitive Edition Launches in July with Tons of New Sidescrolling RPG Content", The Escapist, June 6, 2023; "Serenity Forge", serenityforge.com (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Lisa: The Painful" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "A World Without Women Is One Of Survival, Sacrifice And Perverts In LISA - Indie Statik", indiestatik.com; Smith, "Tearing You Apart, Again: Lisa – The Painful RPG", Rock Paper Shotgun, October 24, 2014; Smith, "Tearing You Apart, Again: Lisa – The Painful RPG", Rock Paper Shotgun, October 24, 2014; Nizam, "Exploring The Motherlike: Or, The Genre That Never Was", November 8, 2016; O'Connor, "O Misery! Lisa: The Joyful Expansion Coming This Month", Rock, Paper, Shotgun, 2015-08-10; Smith, "The Sacrificial Limb: Lisa – The Painful RPG" en.wikipedia.org
- Kaharl, "Lisa The Painful", Hardcore Gaming 101, September 19, 2017. facts only, no text reused. hardcoregaming101.net
- Wikipedia, "Lisa: The Painful" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "LISA on Steam", Steam, December 15, 2014; "8 Best Indie Video Game Franchises, Ranked", Game Rant, 2025-01-18 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Lisa: The Painful" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Cripe, "LISA: Definitive Edition Launches in July with Tons of New Sidescrolling RPG Content", The Escapist, June 6, 2023; Life, "Cult "Life-Ruining RPG" Lisa: The Painful Gets Definitive Edition On Switch", Nintendo Life, 2023-06-07; "Lisa: Definitive Edition", IGN (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- "Best Horror RPG Maker Games", GameRant, 2021-10-02. facts only, no text reused. gamerant.com
Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Lisa: The Painful (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.
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