This review contains spoilers
phenomenal, still holds up on all grounds.
its simplitic art style is charming, colourful, and fun. the animations for attacks are great, and its unique character sprites stand out as imposing an interesting. a good example of a game whose sprites inspire your imagination. joy mutants look silly but the dark, thick lines of their twisted skin inspires fear and caution.
the music is goofy and weird, often looping badly or ruining its own songs with unnecessary changes or interruptions. its so perfectly LISA that a song like Summer Love can be as relaxing as it is but have those big drums in them. that a song like the Beehive can be so mysterious and then so beautiful, or a theme like Die Die Die! can be so slimey and then so intense. its tunes are memorable and strange and funny, and totally heartbreaking
its gameplay is fire. exploring the world is fun and punishing, the upgrade from walking to cycling feels so earned and smooth, and the world is clearly expertly designed around that. the humour that comes from traversing to a new screen and falling off a cliff to your death or massive damage is brilliant. the battles too are fantastic, almost every enemy being unique, with quirky names and abilities. SP and TP mirror each other delightful and the characters having button inputs like a fighting game works so well. the vast number of party members allows for a huge amount of replayability, although i'll always use terry
the humour in this game is so dark, so silly! from accidentally pouring gasoline on children to Timmy Carrots and Percy Peas saying goodbye to each other, this game made me laugh out loud constantly. it juxtaposes true silliness with heartrending drama , being able to ramp up your emotions with humour to strike it all with drama. we love to see what olathe has to throw at us next because its always stupid. its stupid, silly little sprites with their dumb soundeffects, dumb music, and bright pink nipples. I dont think there's a joke in this game that didnt land for me
but all of that aside we talk about LISA because we talk about its story and its world. olathe is fucking horrible and so is this game. it covers themes like abuse, rape, suicide, trauma, drug addiction, and complicity. where does all of it start and where does it end? the apocalypse in this game is secondary to the story that is interesting; which is brad's journey to find and capture buddy. brad is neither hero nor villain, he is simply a selfish man doing what he thinks is right... or what he wants to be right. brad proves time and again he is capable of selfless heroism, sacrificing his limbs for his comrades and defeating gangs or bandits. he also proves they are secondary to his own desires, throwing them to the wolves if need be. he is so interesting, one of the best examples of a character whose history is so storied it cannot be fully comprehended by the individual living that life. all of brad's life is wordlessly mushed into his spirit and they make the broken man we see at the end of the game. we love brad, we root for him. we hate brad, we know he is a selfish murderer. we know he must be beaten, but we don't want him to. his companions feel the same.
for a long time, i felt complicated about the fact that his companions betray him to save buddy at the end, but the definitive edition made me like it more, specifically because of the campfire scene with Terry Hintz and Mad Dog. brad is not a stupid man, he is aware that he is in the wrong but he cannot act otherwise. furthermore, his sense of guilt urges him to reach out to Terry for comfort. and Terry does comfort him, reassures him that Brad is a good man for the way he makes him feel! Terry, in his ignorance, does not know brad truly. he says to Brad "Promise me one thing. That you won't become a monster like the rest." It's Mad Dog who recognises what Brad is really, sees the violence for what it is.
"A dog
in a dog
in a dog
in a dog."
When Terry turns on Brad with the gang to defeat him, it's because Brad failed in his promise. He became a monster. he couldn't get away from it
all for nothing
its simplitic art style is charming, colourful, and fun. the animations for attacks are great, and its unique character sprites stand out as imposing an interesting. a good example of a game whose sprites inspire your imagination. joy mutants look silly but the dark, thick lines of their twisted skin inspires fear and caution.
the music is goofy and weird, often looping badly or ruining its own songs with unnecessary changes or interruptions. its so perfectly LISA that a song like Summer Love can be as relaxing as it is but have those big drums in them. that a song like the Beehive can be so mysterious and then so beautiful, or a theme like Die Die Die! can be so slimey and then so intense. its tunes are memorable and strange and funny, and totally heartbreaking
its gameplay is fire. exploring the world is fun and punishing, the upgrade from walking to cycling feels so earned and smooth, and the world is clearly expertly designed around that. the humour that comes from traversing to a new screen and falling off a cliff to your death or massive damage is brilliant. the battles too are fantastic, almost every enemy being unique, with quirky names and abilities. SP and TP mirror each other delightful and the characters having button inputs like a fighting game works so well. the vast number of party members allows for a huge amount of replayability, although i'll always use terry
the humour in this game is so dark, so silly! from accidentally pouring gasoline on children to Timmy Carrots and Percy Peas saying goodbye to each other, this game made me laugh out loud constantly. it juxtaposes true silliness with heartrending drama , being able to ramp up your emotions with humour to strike it all with drama. we love to see what olathe has to throw at us next because its always stupid. its stupid, silly little sprites with their dumb soundeffects, dumb music, and bright pink nipples. I dont think there's a joke in this game that didnt land for me
but all of that aside we talk about LISA because we talk about its story and its world. olathe is fucking horrible and so is this game. it covers themes like abuse, rape, suicide, trauma, drug addiction, and complicity. where does all of it start and where does it end? the apocalypse in this game is secondary to the story that is interesting; which is brad's journey to find and capture buddy. brad is neither hero nor villain, he is simply a selfish man doing what he thinks is right... or what he wants to be right. brad proves time and again he is capable of selfless heroism, sacrificing his limbs for his comrades and defeating gangs or bandits. he also proves they are secondary to his own desires, throwing them to the wolves if need be. he is so interesting, one of the best examples of a character whose history is so storied it cannot be fully comprehended by the individual living that life. all of brad's life is wordlessly mushed into his spirit and they make the broken man we see at the end of the game. we love brad, we root for him. we hate brad, we know he is a selfish murderer. we know he must be beaten, but we don't want him to. his companions feel the same.
for a long time, i felt complicated about the fact that his companions betray him to save buddy at the end, but the definitive edition made me like it more, specifically because of the campfire scene with Terry Hintz and Mad Dog. brad is not a stupid man, he is aware that he is in the wrong but he cannot act otherwise. furthermore, his sense of guilt urges him to reach out to Terry for comfort. and Terry does comfort him, reassures him that Brad is a good man for the way he makes him feel! Terry, in his ignorance, does not know brad truly. he says to Brad "Promise me one thing. That you won't become a monster like the rest." It's Mad Dog who recognises what Brad is really, sees the violence for what it is.
"A dog
in a dog
in a dog
in a dog."
When Terry turns on Brad with the gang to defeat him, it's because Brad failed in his promise. He became a monster. he couldn't get away from it
all for nothing