Hey all, usually I don't make posts like this to promote a game I played recently, but Lisa needs to be known.

It first caught my attention in the Steam upcoming section, and after a couple early positive Steam reviews, I decided to take a chance. I am super glad I did, Lisa is perhaps one of the most original games of the year, it's just a shame it came out so late so it'll be largely forgotten.

In short, it basically amounts to an MA-rated Earthbound, complete with strange OST, strange status effects, and strange attacks in combat, and a wealth of varied characters to interact with outside of it. There are some 30 odd party members to collect (apparently), all being very different from each other, making the choice of who is going to be in your 4 man group a tough one. Some great dark humour on occasion.

It also does very interesting things when it comes to decision making, with certain choices leaving Brad (the MC) without limbs. This actually affects his stats as well as the skills he has access to in combat.

There are some things that could be a bit better, including a better difficult curve (seriously, this game gets hard very quickly at times), along with a better balancing of the in-game economy, as well some better screen/resolution options, but overall, I really recommend this title, especially considering the lack of attention it has received.

Yikes ... the graphics looks terrible , I dunno duder , Im pretty leniant but thats just plain up ugly to look at

How long is it? I think I might be up for an Earthbound inspired game, though I'd prefer if it was on the shorter side.

Added to my steam wishlist.

While it doesn't sound original like you claim (if it's like Earthbound then it can't be because Earthbound exists) it sounds pretty interesting.

I'm not sure how good it is as when I look at the pictures I already see a Power Rangers reference (I'm getting kind of tired of developers using old references to try and make up for uninteresting writing), but it's cheap so whenever I get around to it I don't see why I couldn't check it out anyway. It could be pretty interesting and I'm always ready to play weird stuff.

It certainly has charm, and the music is definitely Earthbound like. It's really good, goofy and fits the aesthetic. I think comparing it to Earthbound is a bit of a leap, but there are certainly similarities. Its humor, weird characters/situations and writing certainly have similar aspects to Earthbound. You're right though that more people should check this out. It's worth the laughs at the very least.

People talking about LISA that aren't me? Blasphemous!

I've been all over this game since it came out this Monday, I think it's actually the best game that came out this year and it's a shame more people haven't checked this out.

I think Earthbound is obviously the go-to reference when people first look at it, I think it actually has more similarities to stuff like Space Funeral, OFF and even a bit of Yume Nikki.

There's a lot of stuff this game does well. I could sit here rattle off every single thing I like about this game but I'd be here forever, I should probably write a review for it at some point...

@zornack: My first run clocked in at about 12 hours, but I trued to do as much as possible while doing it. I'm playing through it again and it looks like I'm about to finish it in 6 hours.

@cornbredx: There's a good amount of references in this game, most of them are wrestling related but since I don't know a thing about wrestling it doesn't really bother me that much. I actually think the writing is pretty good all around!

There are also some cameos by Jim Sterling and 2 Best Friends Play, if you're against that sort of thing, but I actually didn't even notice them until my second playthrough even though I knew they were in the game.

Sounds interesting hopefully giant bomb will do some sort of quick look video for it. Making the claim as a mature rated earthbound is a pretty big claim considering how much that series is revered over here in the states.

Hmm doing a google image search brings up another Lisa, made in RPG maker using some gnarly edited earthbound sprites. Those look to be from 2012. Im guessing this is an evolution of that from the same people/person? Interesting for sure. The bit with the dude climbing a mustache for sure reminded me of a goofy thing from Mother 3. Though beneath the acid trip underpinnings Earthbound/ Mother games have like some hearthrenching stuff going on at the core that culminates at the end, wonder if that's here too.

a video......

@bargainben: Yep! That Lisa game and this one are totally related, saying how is a bit spoilery though! I suggest you try that one out first if you plan on playing this at some point.

Does the character Bo Wyatt constantly drop references to Irwin R. Schyster?

Rock, Paper, Shotgun took a look at the game and it sounds like it's kind of a mess.

I’ve heard lots of good things about LISA, but you can’t release a game in this state. I’m going to persist, watch this godforsaken sodding intro yet again, and see if I can discern some method of saving – I’m not convinced there’s a manual save, since I’ve found no such option after hitting every key on the keyboard. (Guess what! F12 resets the game back to the main menu without warning!)

John Walker in the linked article

@bbalpert:

There are two reasons why he found that intro annoying.
-The game is still made in RPG Maker, despite being a side scroller. Because of this, walking is 'interval based', and some areas feature transitions between scenes as you approach the edge rather than scroll. There is a ledge VERY early in the game that pops up out of nowhere, and many walk right over it and die.
-No save point between start of game and that point where a lot of people died.

Fortunately the developer seems to be keeping his ear pretty close to the community, and on day one of release he already patched the game to include a save point early that should alleviate frustration.

I really do think that the positives out weigh the negatives in this game. I've read that article too. I think that for the most part it's trash.

Will check out. My only question is whether it touches on themes as mature and as maturely as the Mother series did, because the combination of serious shit and its whimsical tone made those games so special, not just the silliness.

@ghostiet: Child abuse and substance abuse are themes that are fairly important to the story, I'd say it's handled pretty well but what the hell do I know I'm just some dude on the internet?

Just thinking about the concept of a MA-rated Earthbound game. Would you say South Park: The Stick of Truth is such a game?

I feel like this trailer best represents what's going on with it...

I remember it's Kickstarter. Apart from the bizarre tone, there's some interesting stuff mechanically. Sacrificing limbs (half of your attacks) for the life of a party member. Drug addiction that effects your health. This write-up covers a lot, also.

Colored me interested then. The limb sacrificing mechanic is cool, too.