Future plans for this site include a section for game recommendations and reviews, a dedicated art page, and "blog" area for me to ramble about things. ie. a massive comment I once made on a video about games being art and if art can be "replaced" by new ports/updates, remasters, or remakes.
I have one review written right now, I will give it it's dedicated page later, and do so with additional reviews/recommendations I write. I'll also actually add some style so this isn't just one plain looking HTML document with some pictures, lol.
LISA: The Painful might be my favorite game I've ever played. It's at least tied with Shin Megami Tensei IV for that title.
LISA: The Painful is a sequal to LISA (now retroactively titled LISA: The First), and it's an RPG that deals with some very heavy themes, such as trauma, addiction, child abuse, and sexual abuse. So be advised if those subjects are upsetting to you.
LISA is a game that I'd argue expertly mixes a sometimes goofy, post-apocalyptic world where all women have mysteriously vanished years ago, with the heavy shit that such a setting would bring. It's incredibly funny, but juxtaposes that with intense and heart-wrenching moments that can have you laughing one minute and speechless the next.
It stars Brad Armstrong, a drug addicted ex-martial artist who stumbles upon a baby that somehow happens to be a girl. He decides to name her "Buddy" and that he and his friends must raise her and protect her from the cruel world that would inevitably want to harm her. One day the house is raided, and Buddy is kidnapped. Brad only has one goal after this. Rescue her, by any means necessary.
In the gameplay department, it's a pretty standard Japanese-styled RPG with a focus on applying status effects. It has 30 different party members that can join you, most of them optional. But has the caveat of possible permanent death, and situations you can be forced into that put their life on the line (anyone who's played can tell you about that section). The way it handles party members is a bit like Fire Emblem, expecting characters to get killed and having plenty of back-up characters to use in their place. The gameplay is nothing amazing, but characters are fun and the story is amazing. Not to mention nearly every enemy is unique, and the areas with random battles are rare.
Shit I can't believe I forgot to mention the music! It's very varied, but consistently good (or at least good at conveying a scene's tone). A decent bit is pretty weird ("Work Harder" comes to mind). But man, when it hits those emotional beats, it hits hard! There is a great deal of variety, and it's practically all great.
To be perfectly honest, I have not played this game since highschool, and I never got around to playing the DLC/sequel LISA: The Joyful, not the Definitive Edition released a year or two ago (I have chronic motivation issues.) But Painful was kinda a defining game for me, so it will always mean something special to me.
LISA was the first game I played to really delve deep into heavy topics, and it resonated with me. I didn't experience abuse as a kid, but I think the fact that I was autistic and have some kind of chronic depression left me with lots of feelings that I couldn't covey well, and I imagine seeing raw expressions of emotions like LISA was cathartic. I can't remember that time that well, but watching by a video on Elfin Lied by the YouTuber Hazel made me think, and I think that's why it resonated with me so much (but I maintain that LISA is fantastic, unlike the perception of said anime, lol).
I'm not sure if I need a disclaimer, but just in case:
I am not sponsored by any of the developers, publishers, or anyone else related to these games. (Not like this site is anywhere close to notable enough to justify sponsoring me, lol.)
