Serial Experiments Lain has always been one of those pieces of media that's trapped in this weird limbo of simultaneously being niche but also not niche due to its recognition in certain circles. The Lain anime has taken off significantly in recent years, whether it be due to Lain replanting herself in a lot of memes and what not or general social media influence. Point is, at this point, lots of people have watched Serial Experiments Lain. But significantly less people have played Serial Experiments Lain for the Playstation; let alone even know what it is. Even just looking at this website, there are only 75 reviews of this game on here. Not that backloggd is the be all end all of how well known a game is, but it's still somewhat worth mentioning.

PSX Lain was actually my very first exposure to the series. I remember sitting in my room scrolling on my computer on a school night when I saw a youtube video titled: “Serial Experiments Lain (PSX) FINAL CUTSCENE” I ended up watching it and was met with a video of a girl with brown hair committing suicide on a rainy day. I don't think I have the right words to describe the way I felt after seeing that. All i knew is that i had to know what the fuck Serial Experiments Lain was. I took it to google and ended up finding out about the anime, which I promptly watched all of within the next two days. I was definitely confused after finishing because there was no graphic suicide like the video i had seen, so eventually i did end up finding out that there was a playstation game of the same name, but i never actually took the plunge and played it myself until recently.

PSX Lain is one of the most interesting works of art I have ever experienced. Lain isn't so much of a game as it is an interactive CD ROM. Getting wrapped up in the story of Lain feels more like sneaking around somewhere you shouldn't be than having a story told to you. It feels like you're accessing the traces of what someone left behind, and unraveling this sort of horrific secret as the subject matter of the game gets darker and darker as it goes on. Many say the game actively discourages a linear style of progression, which is somewhat true, but to a certain extent that only heightens this feeling more. Taking the story linearly is completely possible, however. At times playing PSX Lain feels no different than snooping around someone’s computer files that you’ve hacked into. The gameplay (or lack thereof) is certainly a hard sell at first, but once you start to get into it you feel compelled not to stop.

It’s worth noting that the story present in PSX Lain is completely different from the one present in the anime. They touch on similar themes, but the story told here is a much more personal one. Understanding both Lain and her therapist Touko– as well as the relationship between the two– is crucial to understanding the plot of Serial Experiments Lain. PSX Lain is less confusing than the anime, due to its much less abstract (albeit still extremely non-conventional) approach to storytelling. This game has the most thorough depiction of mental illness in ANYTHING I’ve ever seen. It’s sort of incredible how in depth this game goes with it without letting it take over the whole narrative. Lain touches on mental health in lots of depth, it's even arguably the focal point of the story; but that is not all Lain is about. It delves into technological existentialism and the digital age, the relationships between others; be it romantic, platonic, or parental, and abusive workplace culture. PSX Lain talks about all of these things gracefully with extreme tact while still managing to have them be important to the story.

Playing this game is to truly get to the core of what Serial Experiments Lain is as a series. Lain and Touko aren't just simply characters, by the end of the game they feel like real people that you've known at some point in your life. The Lain anime certainly has similar vibes to the game; but PSX Lain feels like the original vision of what Lain is. I’ve already slightly spoiled this game but I absolutely implore you to take the plunge and experience who Lain is. Definitely be warned about the graphic depictions of violence and suicide as well as the heavy subject matter, and most importantly take your time with this one. You don’t want to rush through this one and take all of it in in a short period of time. If you’re a fan of the anime, playing this game will do nothing but increase your enjoyment of Lain as a series and make you appreciate it that much more. There really isn't anything else out like there quite like Serial Experiments Lain for the Playstation.

The execution is questionable, the story is a disorganized mess and not much happens in the narrative -- and that is the point.

When I first finished Serial Experiments Lain for the Playstation, I felt... wrong? uneasy? mainly because the game does have an ending but not scrolling credits after finishing it. For a long time I felt like it was an experience but nothing too crazy.

So, why am I giving it a 5 star?
It has been 3 years since I finished this game and I still haven't forgotten about it. Hell, everytime I see fanart of Lain I get quite afraid because she makes a hypothesis inside the game, but it's proven to be true outside of it and that's what makes it scary. The fact that she owns a place on backloggd, the fact that she receives fanarts decades after her appearence...

this game lets you see Lain's life in a very deep and close way which is partly why everything is so haunting after you're done with it.

If you are interested in this game this website has all of the content you're looking for in a more digestible format:

https://laingame.net/index.php?site=0#l4

Start from the bottom and work your way up.

It's a fascinating alternative timeline to an already fascinating
anime. Unfortunately some of the vibes are lost consuming it in this way and Lain as an IP is heavy on the vibes but it's better to lower the barrier of entry and actually interact with the media than just forever have it on the list of things to get around to. At least for me.

I'm not big brained enough to understand Lain going in raw. I watched the anime in college a long time ago and kind of hated it but luckily the anime and the game both have a very lovely hand holdy fanbase willing to explain it all to a dumb dumb like me. After a re-watch of the anime and a playthrough of the game, I get the hubbub. It's all very neato.

It's almost too familiar. The futile thumbing through articles of psychobabble in some vain attempt to give a somatic labeling to a conflicted psyche. The psychosexual allure of technology and the internet as potential transcendence from corporeal responsibility. The well-intentioned failures of institutional psychiatry and ultimately, the all too human desire to connect with the other in a century that increasingly obscures and polarizes our conception of the self. The very narrative happening in our minds and at our screens through the lenses of those most helpless and affected.

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Note: This review is taken from my Medium page, where I wrote about it as part of a list about my favourite media that I experienced in 2022. It's written for an audience that is unfamiliar with the game, so it's more expository than most of my reviews.

This PS1 game was developed around the same time as its much more well-known anime as part of a multimedia project. It is not an adaptation of the anime, but rather its own story, to the point that it does not share continuity with the anime. For those unfamiliar with Serial Experiments Lain, the anime is a work of sci-fi set in the then-present day. It delves into the emergence of the internet and its effect on the way we perceive reality and identity. It’s held up remarkably well and I would still position it as the best work of art about the internet in general. The game deals with similar themes but takes things in a much more psychological direction. It’s structured as a database where you can listen to audio of therapy sessions, read diary entries, watch short video clips and listen to audio of the therapist’s clinical diagnoses. As you may expect from that description, the game’s premise is about the character Lain undergoing therapy. It reverses the dynamics from the anime — the anime is primarily about the sci-fi concepts relating to the Internet and digital consciosuness, while Lain’s mental illness and alienation are secondary elements. Of course there’s plenty of intersection between the two, but the anime’s conclusion turns her characterisation into a more abstract one. The game’s story is much more grounded and dives deep into the psychological dynamics between Lain and her therapist Touko. Touko is a game-only character written with as much depth as Lain, with her insecurities and changes in persona being impressively realised. Both characters descend into despair in a way that is uncomfortably slow and realistic. I have a high tolerance for upsetting material in art, but this one left me very shaken. I would recommend going into this game knowing that it will pull you into the darkest parts of the characters’ headspace and that it does not offer catharsis at the end.

While I’m calling this a game for convenience, this is one of those works which might not fit into any medium. When I say it isn’t a game, I mean it lacks gameplay, not that it just has limited gameplay. Your only choices in the game are the order in which you access files (and even this is heavily limited, as many files only become accessible as you go through the game) — you have about as much influence over the narrative as you do with a book or film. Because the game is so focused on audio files, it is perhaps closest to the medium of audio drama, but the database structure fragments the narrative completely. The presentation remains incredibly important. The separation of the files conveys one of Lain’s primary themes — that our concept of the self is never stable and constantly being split by circumstance. We see a completely different Touko between her therapy sessions with Lain, her personal diary entries and her clinical diagnosis. The points where these personae intertwine are when Touko is at her least stable, showing her lack of control over her own self. The process of navigating and accessing the files also gives the player space to consider their own role in their consumption of the narrative. I felt a sense of voyeurism due to my role in accessing files of material that should be private, and it’s unlikely I would have felt this guilt if it were presented as a standard audio drama. Finally, the database structure builds the feeling that the game’s narrative has already happened (as opposed to the typical form of games that narratively operate in the present tense) and that you’re traversing through the digital ghosts of these characters. It’s an incredibly haunting experience.

The game’s obscurity comes down to it being a PS1 exclusive that was never released outside of Japan, while the anime got a wide enough release to gain a cult following. Fortunately, it has become much more accessible through a fanmade port of the game for web browsers called lainTSX. This is how I played the game, and I found it worked much better than trying an emulator. Despite video games being a relatively new medium, they tend to be poorly preserved by their distributors. This often leaves dedicated fans as the ones who preserve this work and allow it to continue being experienced. On one hand, I’m moved by how some people are passionate enough about the art they love to do this work, but on the other, I wish that the work's preservation wouldn’t be left to the unpaid labour of fans. Regardless, I have great respect for the lainTSX team for allowing this game to be played by all, and I hope their work leads to a greater appreciation for it. The game is not just a footnote to the Lain anime, but a brilliant work in its own right.

While I think it's an absolutely untraditional game that won't appeal to everyone, those who are willing to explore it and give it a chance will find one of the most mind-bending narratives in a video game...and it's kind of one of my favorite anime games out there (which frankly isn't saying much as I've only touched the Fullmetal Alchemist games on PS2 and this.)

If you liked the anime and wanted more Lain and are willing to put up with some very unconventional game design...I'd say it's worth it. You can play it for free here: https://3d.laingame.net/#/

Mind-blowing experiment of interactive mediality, Serial Experiments Lain detaches itself almost completely from the script of the anime to address the theme of subjectivity in relation to digital information from an entirely new perspective. The game appears as a digital folder from which a range of different audio, visual, and textual files can be accessed in no particular order, through which the narration unfolds as it goes along through more or less explicit clues and information about the events and the evolution in the interactions between the characters. There are many extremely interesting elements such as the focus on realism in the depiction of mental health issues and the therapist-patient relationship with its inherent criticalities and the ability to handle a script that functions perfectly even in a very nonlinear way: a title that may be difficult for many to approach, but one that it is so essential and rewarding to dive into in order to study it in all its parts because of its uniqueness and charm.

Having to be in a world with other people really is a horrifying thing. Sometimes things get so bad I wonder why we even bother trying to communicate with each other. It seems inevitable that we mess something up, say too much or too little, hurt people in ways we could never fathom. No amount of verbal or non-verbal communication could capture the ideas we truly believe in, it could never convey the nuances of our thoughts and perceptions, the principles we carry that guide our every decision. Wouldn't it be better if we all knew exactly what was going on in each other's minds? It sounds like a horrifying idea, but would it really cause more trouble than we already create? A network of people constantly connected, every detail of your life being taken in by anyone willing to join that network. Then you would see every version of yourself that exists in different people's minds. Wouldn't that be a relief? Or maybe it would drive you mad. Either way, why not give it a shot?

This game came out 2 months after the final episode of Serial Experiments Lain. Fans went into this expecting answers and got more than they would ever want to know.