Lisa: The First is a Yume-Nikki style exploration game. It was made in RPG Maker 2003 and released on October 9th, 2012. It is the predecessor to Lisa: The Painful. It is an exploration of Lisa Armstrong's mind as she tries to cope with the burden of being abused by her father Marty before committing suicide.
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i dont think the way i normally score games fits this game
maybe ill rate it some other time
(this is not because my feelings are too complex for a simple rating or it is above a simple rating or i hate it or i love it or something like that)
maybe ill rate it some other time
(this is not because my feelings are too complex for a simple rating or it is above a simple rating or i hate it or i love it or something like that)
This is the first game in the Lisa series I've played, and wow. From an atmospheric and narrative perspective, this game tackles extremely serious topics and fills you with a sense of extreme, existential dread as you play. The music, the symbolism, all of it overwhelms you with an extreme sense of dread and sadness, and it does this really well. From a gameplay perspective, the game can be a bit vague at times, and the spider segments are downright infuriating. However, I still would recommend you experience this game in some form, whether it be in a YouTube playthrough (to avoid the spiders), or playing it for yourself. It took me roughly an hour or so to complete (although some of that time was dedicated to me seeing if there was a good strategy to get past the spiders without losing my mind further), but the atmosphere and narrative alone are worth checking this one out for. I'd recommend purely on that aspect, but I can't rate this one higher due to the bad gameplay. Really good, still, though.
I made the right choice...
"The First" as in the first that triggered the whole Lisa series as we know it now.
Definitely a tricky title to talk about and I can't really blame on the developer since it was probably one of his first serious works. The message and the intention is the definitely there, and would ultimately carry a great importance to understand the story as a whole.
It tackles the subject of abuse from the perspective of a little girl called Lisa. It's all presented in an abstract, yet perfectly readable manner. In this kind of stories being subtle is key, as in not treating the players like people that can't understand an indirect approach to story-telling without going to the lengths of being cryptic. Or even worse, not being pretentious is important too. The First walks a thin line between being subtle and blunt, but ultimately all put together with a nice balance between the two striking, a clear contrast between what Lisa wanted to really do in dreams and her constant nightmare.
On the game-y side of things, it doesn't hold as good as The Painful or The Joyful. It's an old RPG Maker 2003 game, they were really popular during Yume Nikki's craze, and games that came soon after as a effective resource to tell stories for amateur game developers, mostly based on their artstic deeds rather than the ones that come from pure raw mechanical ingenuity. The First ain't much different as it just walking and avoiding obstacles on your way to the end, collecting different objects that will unlock new paths to follow. If you're thinking it's just Yume Nikki in disguise, it is inspired by the latter. Some sections, specifically with the Marty spiders are specially evil as it is the only part were it will put your skills to the absolute limits. A huge unnecessary difficulty spike from a gameplay and enjoyment standpoint, that might or not tell us more about Lisa's story in hindsight. Why spiders in particular? They can act fast, are lethal once they put one of their big creepy legs on you leading to a potential poison and leaving a big scar that won't dissapear in a short period of time. And is even worse knowing the spiders have the signature image of Marty's face. In The Painful, we can also envounter this very enemy scattered around in various parts of Olathe but we can be fight him as Brad directly, that very minor detail can give us a small glimpse of what was the overall relationship in the Armstrong family and why Brad isn't here.
Only recommended in case you want to get into the Lisa series and not much as a title of it's own. In The Painful, as soon as we boot it we can see Lisa's outcome out of this neverending nightmare. Watch it on Youtube if the spiders bother you too much, could've rated 1/2 stars higher without them.
Definitely a tricky title to talk about and I can't really blame on the developer since it was probably one of his first serious works. The message and the intention is the definitely there, and would ultimately carry a great importance to understand the story as a whole.
It tackles the subject of abuse from the perspective of a little girl called Lisa. It's all presented in an abstract, yet perfectly readable manner. In this kind of stories being subtle is key, as in not treating the players like people that can't understand an indirect approach to story-telling without going to the lengths of being cryptic. Or even worse, not being pretentious is important too. The First walks a thin line between being subtle and blunt, but ultimately all put together with a nice balance between the two striking, a clear contrast between what Lisa wanted to really do in dreams and her constant nightmare.
On the game-y side of things, it doesn't hold as good as The Painful or The Joyful. It's an old RPG Maker 2003 game, they were really popular during Yume Nikki's craze, and games that came soon after as a effective resource to tell stories for amateur game developers, mostly based on their artstic deeds rather than the ones that come from pure raw mechanical ingenuity. The First ain't much different as it just walking and avoiding obstacles on your way to the end, collecting different objects that will unlock new paths to follow. If you're thinking it's just Yume Nikki in disguise, it is inspired by the latter. Some sections, specifically with the Marty spiders are specially evil as it is the only part were it will put your skills to the absolute limits. A huge unnecessary difficulty spike from a gameplay and enjoyment standpoint, that might or not tell us more about Lisa's story in hindsight. Why spiders in particular? They can act fast, are lethal once they put one of their big creepy legs on you leading to a potential poison and leaving a big scar that won't dissapear in a short period of time. And is even worse knowing the spiders have the signature image of Marty's face. In The Painful, we can also envounter this very enemy scattered around in various parts of Olathe but we can be fight him as Brad directly, that very minor detail can give us a small glimpse of what was the overall relationship in the Armstrong family and why Brad isn't here.
Only recommended in case you want to get into the Lisa series and not much as a title of it's own. In The Painful, as soon as we boot it we can see Lisa's outcome out of this neverending nightmare. Watch it on Youtube if the spiders bother you too much, could've rated 1/2 stars higher without them.
This review contains spoilers
LISA The First is by far the hardest sell of the three LISA games. Even for those who actually played the other two, but especially for those who haven't touched either. "Hey, man- You should definitely try this walking simulator that puts you in the shoes of a father-daughter rape victim trying to escape the trauma of said rape only to realize her mother's face has been overwritten by her dad's. It's really good, dude."
I also suspect that if played first, it would then sour The Painful and The Joyful in a way that those games might not be able to redeem themselves from. The black comedy in The First works a little worse (maybe better?) than in its sequels by feeling more innocuous and coincidental rather than as mild breaks from a downtrodden story. Things like the middle finger tower come off as much more random and pointless than funny here, where near everything else you come across is a nail in a coffin reminder of rape. It's one of the reasons the game is also hard to review- this juxtaposition of quality and intent.
Sure, they could have made the game much better looking- but do you really want a clearer picture of the things depicted here? Sure, the game could be a lot easier and less tedious with it's spider-mazes, but should a telling of trauma be a cake-walk? SURE, the music could do more than FL Studio presets, but would those haunting, midi-ass melodies stick to your mind like the semen on Shinji's hands? I'm not so sure. But LISA certainly SHOULD be praised regardless. Whether it is despite its flaws or because of them, it's an effective and provocative dry-horror prequel to the LISA series.
All that said, if you have experienced SA of any kind probably steer clear of this one.
I also suspect that if played first, it would then sour The Painful and The Joyful in a way that those games might not be able to redeem themselves from. The black comedy in The First works a little worse (maybe better?) than in its sequels by feeling more innocuous and coincidental rather than as mild breaks from a downtrodden story. Things like the middle finger tower come off as much more random and pointless than funny here, where near everything else you come across is a nail in a coffin reminder of rape. It's one of the reasons the game is also hard to review- this juxtaposition of quality and intent.
Sure, they could have made the game much better looking- but do you really want a clearer picture of the things depicted here? Sure, the game could be a lot easier and less tedious with it's spider-mazes, but should a telling of trauma be a cake-walk? SURE, the music could do more than FL Studio presets, but would those haunting, midi-ass melodies stick to your mind like the semen on Shinji's hands? I'm not so sure. But LISA certainly SHOULD be praised regardless. Whether it is despite its flaws or because of them, it's an effective and provocative dry-horror prequel to the LISA series.
All that said, if you have experienced SA of any kind probably steer clear of this one.
um tipo de jogo que não pode ser analisado por suas mecânicas, pôs não se propõe a isso.
a experiência é tensa e desconfortável, algo que pode ser bem explorado pelos jogos de rpgmaker. e também é bem direta ao ponto e não é desinteressante, apesar de muito trágica.
é difícil até considerar como um jogo, não há diversão e gameplay praticamente, a parte das aranhas e e empurrar as pedras dão o mínimo de jogabilidade possível.
entendo o que o jogo quer dizer mas não é um exemplo de coesão entre uma história impactante e boa jogabilidade, mas já que talvez essa seja a intenção, talvez se teria melhores mídias para faze-las, pôs a exploração só não é completamente entediante por causa da curta duração do jogo.
mas apesar de tudo, realmente é uma mídia única e é louvável a sua abordagem, após a conclusão os pensamentos sobre sua história ficam na cabeça, te marcam de alguma forma, e eu acho que essa que é a intenção do jogo.
a experiência é tensa e desconfortável, algo que pode ser bem explorado pelos jogos de rpgmaker. e também é bem direta ao ponto e não é desinteressante, apesar de muito trágica.
é difícil até considerar como um jogo, não há diversão e gameplay praticamente, a parte das aranhas e e empurrar as pedras dão o mínimo de jogabilidade possível.
entendo o que o jogo quer dizer mas não é um exemplo de coesão entre uma história impactante e boa jogabilidade, mas já que talvez essa seja a intenção, talvez se teria melhores mídias para faze-las, pôs a exploração só não é completamente entediante por causa da curta duração do jogo.
mas apesar de tudo, realmente é uma mídia única e é louvável a sua abordagem, após a conclusão os pensamentos sobre sua história ficam na cabeça, te marcam de alguma forma, e eu acho que essa que é a intenção do jogo.