I have a lot of conflicting feelings towards Lisa. On one hand, I found the mechanics and gameplay to be pretty fun. Brad's attacking style is visceral and satisfying (when he's not going through withdrawal), and I found the wealth of different party members fun to experiment with. My personal favorite was Harvey, the lawyer fish. I loved the way danger seemed to lurk in every corner of this game. At any moment, it seemed like Brad could get jumped and suffer some game-altering affliction. I love the Joy mechanic, and how it fundamentally shapes the battle system. I saw no way through the game without taking full advantage of Joy, which added a layer of tragedy behind Brad as a character. I consciously made the choice that trying to be better was too hard, and indulged myself in Joy to the fullest extent.

Unfortunately, Lisa sort of failed to meet my expectations as a narrative. Olathe is a world of abject misery, one which is certainly doomed to die a slow and painful death. Lisa revels in its own depression, to a point where it began to affect my interest in the overall plot. I'd be hard-pressed to tell you a theme that Lisa explores. It heavily portrays a story of generational abuse, and how the ways Brad's father traumatized him in turn traumatize Buddy. Lisa fails to make any kind of statement about this situation. It's too obsessed with its own darkness, too busy going, "What if Brad beat the shit out of Buddy while she tried to protect Marty, would that be fucked up or what?" I was disgusted throughout the entire ending of the game, but there was no thematic payoff to this disgust. It's sort of the feeling that I get when I drive past roadkill- in the moment, it's awful, but once it's out of view it fails to leave any kind of lasting impact.