History VideoGame / Lisa

* AbsurdlyHighLevelCap: Both ''Painful RPG'' and ''Joyful'' have a hard level cap of 99 but every character learns their final skill at level 25 and by the time you reach that level, the game is almost done. The amount of grinding needed to get to 99 in ''Painful'' will take forever due to {{AntiGrinding}} and its completely unfeasible in ''Joyful'' due to lacking random encounters and something like the EWC.

[[folder:LISA: The Painful RPG]]

Released on September 10th, 2012, the original ''LISA'' (later re-named "LISA: The First" to avoid confusion with the sequels) is an AdventureGame created using UsefulNotes/RPGMaker 2003 that explores the [[WorldOfSymbolism non-specific but not exactly vague]] ways that the unfortunate circumstances of the titular young girl Lisa Armstrong's life have affected her. She not only tries to escape from them, but she also tries to escape from the man at the center of it all as well, her abusive father Marty Armstrong. You can download it [[http://rpgmaker.net/games/4412/ here.]]

On November 21st, 2013, Austin released a demo for his next game, "LISA: The Painful RPG", as a reward for one of its Kickstarter goals being reached. You can download it [[http://www13.zippyshare.com/v/76691336/file.html here]]. Then, on December 15th, 2014, Austin finally released the full game. Unlike "LISA: The First", the second installment is an ''[[Videogame/EarthBound1994 Earthbound]]''-style RPG sidescroller taking place in a [[{{Gendercide}} world without any women]], who were wiped out by The Flash. The protagonist is a bald, aging and troubled martial artist named Brad Armstrong, the now-grown brother of Lisa. He and his friends make a living in the harsh desert land when, one day, a baby girl is left outside Brad's home. Seeing as she is the (supposedly) last female on Earth, Brad adopts her and names her Buddy.

A DLC epilogue, ''Lisa: The Joyful'' was released on August 24th, 2015. Taking place after the events of ''Lisa: The Painful RPG'', it focuses on Buddy, who is tired of being controlled by men, trying to take down the various warlords and conquer Olathe so that she may never be hurt again, while uncovering the mysteries of her world and her past.

** [[spoiler: Dustin/Rando, Brad's adoptive son, was extremely meek and cowardly, which he made an attempt at addressing by training in martial arts under Brad; This wouldn't protect him from his horrific facial disfigurement at the hand of Bernard/Buzzo, and still affects him throughout ''The Painful RPG'' and ''The Joyful'', with the little control he had of his own army, and begrudgingly working with Buddy in betraying his attempts at peacekeeping in Olathe by killing the other warlords. He does grow more of a spine by the end, thankfully.]]

** ''The First'': While we don't see much of the world in the game, characters like Marty get away with being abusive and [[KarmaHoudini face no legal repercussions]], as ''The Painful RPG'' implies.
** ''The Painful RPG'': The world is post-apocalyptic, after society had collapsed following the White Flash. While there's still pockets of safety, there are bands of warlords vying for power, many characters that are just plain out for blood, and a frighteningly commonplace drug that turns people into mutants with repeated use.

** Random background characters will kill themselves; sometimes, you meet them and a bit later you'll find them dead, such as the rave dancer in the second game. One fight in ''the Painful RPG'' is against a man that will [[ZeroEffortBoss blow his brains out on the first turn]].

* CliffHanger: The story ends with [[spoiler:a Joy mutated Brad crawling towards a sleeping Buddy. ''The Joyful'' picks up immediately after ''the Painful'' cuts to black.]]

** The game is unique in that the NintendoHard difficulty actually compliments the story. The sheer punishing difficulty- tough enemies and bosses, limited opportunities to level up, limited mags to buy things, {{Permadeath}}, instantly dying if you go off a cliff, and many other things- serves to make the player truly ''feel'' how much of a DeathWorld Olathe is. If the game had the standard RPG difficulty instead, it wouldn't feel as authentic in its portrayal of a post-apocalyptic hellhole. It's not called ''The Painful RPG'' for nothing.

* RecurringRiff: A sequence of notes that first appeared in ''Lisa The First''[='=]s tracks "The Sireen's Call" and "The Royal's Call", appropriately, all tracks based around this riff in ''The Painful RPG''[='=]s OST are referred to as "[something]'s Call".

* BossBonanza: Much like ''The Painful RPG'', the final bosses are this. Consisting of [[spoiler: [[TheDragon Sweetheart]], [[GreaterScopeVillain Dr. Yado]]/[[BodyHorror the Rando hallucination]], [[TearJerker the Brad hallucination]], and finally [[BodyHorror Joy Mutant!Buzzo]].]]

** In ''The Painful RPG'', there's an NPC that wears a helmet, dances to music, and later commits suicide. There's a secret area in this game where several people are honoring him; what makes it further heartwarming is that they're among the few people that Buddy leaves alone.

* GameplayAndStoryIntegration: Unlike ''the Painful'', using Joy doesn't affect the end game because [[spoiler: Buddy is canonically suffering from Joy withdrawal.]] Additionally, with the scarcity of healing items in the difficult late game, it's pretty much impossible to go through the game joyless.

* ImmediateSequel: The sequel picks up immediately after where ''the Painful'' left off, with [[spoiler:Buddy being attacked by the mutated Brad. She has to spend a few rounds of combat attempting to defend herself against him before help shows up.]]

* TookALevelInJerkass: While Buddy acted cold toward Brad, she was never nearly this hostile in ''the Painful''. [[spoiler: This is possibly due to the Joy she's been taking and she seems to mellow out toward the end.]]

** A new Joy Mutant can be fought in Bojo's Dojo if you gave the Matt and Pat expies TNT, which destroys the area, and will drop the Dismal Island map if you didn't buy it before.

* AntiFrustrationFeatures: The Definitive Edition actually adds covert [=EXP=] sharing for gang members not currently in your party, so you're not stuck with a bunch of terribly underleveled party members who can't do anything to help you at the point of the game you're at if you go through a particularly bad stream of bad luck like in the Legacy Edition.

** After you get the TNT from the construction site, two guys (Matt and Pat) will appear in the far right of the area 2 and, if you interact with them, will offer a fair amount of mags in exchange for some of your TNT. If you accept the offer, they will blow up Bob's Dojo with everybody around inside. It can prevent you from recruiting Tiger Man, Jack and Yazan, and from buying the map to Dismal Island.

* AntiFrustrationFeatures: The Definitive Edition actually adds covert [=EXP=] sharing, so you're not stuck with a bunch of terribly underleveled party members who can't do anything to help you at the point of the game you're at if you go through a particularly bad stream of bad luck like in the Legacy Edition.

* GuideDangIt: The achievement, "...". [[spoiler:After defeating Rando, instead of continuing to meet Buddy and trigger the ending sequence, you have to go back and find the man that would be revealed to be Yado]], which is something nobody would think of.

* PermanentlyMissableContent: The shopkeepers will start a fight with Buddy if she walks in without a mask and can ultimately be killed, locking her off from their shops. [[spoiler:Even then, Chester turns into Joy Mutants toward the second hald, meaning the bartender in Village One is the only shopkeeper for the rest of the game.]]

* MoneyForNothing: In the second half of the game, the [[spoiler: shopkeepers start turning into Joy Mutants]] and the game keeps pushing you toward using Joy, so the only real use for Mags is if you want to try out easy mode.

* PermanentlyMissableContent: The shopkeepers will start a fight with Buddy if she walks in without a mask and can ultimately be killed, locking her off from their shops. [[spoiler:Even if you don't kill them, they eventually turn into Joy Mutants toward the end of the game.]]

** The Definitive Edition adds a new superboss in the form of [[spoiler: the spirits of the nine warlords at the same time. They can only be fought just before the end sequence.]]

* CampfireCharacterExploration: The Definitive Edition adds new character-specific {{Random Event}}s when resting at a campfire that add a little bit of characterization to each of your party members.

** The Definitive Edition adds a new ending and an epilogue [[spoiler: that can only be obtained if you didn't use Joy throughout the game and obtaining the Flowering Skull. Another addition is, before the final battle, Buddy gives Buzzo a serious [[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech tongue lashing]] for all of his actions, attempting to shift blame away from him, and that he doesn't know true pain, which causes the latter to break down and go insane before turning into a joy mutant.]]

** The Definitive Edition adds a new ending and an epilogue [[spoiler: that can only be obtained if you didn't use Joy throughout the game and obtaining the Flowering Skull. Another addition is, before the final battle, Buddy gives Buzzo a serious [[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech tongue lashing]] for all of his actions, attempting to place the blame on the deceased Lisa, and that he doesn't know true pain, which causes the latter to break down and go insane before turning into a joy mutant.]]

* {{Superboss}}: Harry, a hidden Joy Mutant. He has 99,000 HP, higher than even Satan or [[spoiler:Sweetheart]] but beating him gives Buddy an upgraded weapon and lets you find [[spoiler:Salvation Green's home and the Joy Mask, the latter of which is required for the alternate epilogues.]]

* FatBastard: Marty, a surly drunk that controls every aspect of his daughter Lisa's life while also [[RapeAsDrama sexually abusing her]].

* ButThouMust: Averted: the game assumes you're taking Joy[[labelnote:*]](Buddy did consume Joy sometime before meeting Marty so she already starts the game addicted to the stuff)[[/labelnote]], but you never actually have to. That said, you will be unnecessarily handicapping yourself if you ''don't'' take Joy, both from the withdrawal, the lack of bonus damage Joy provides, and the lack of healing as ''Joyful'' is balanced around the assumption you will be taking it. And unlike ''Painful'', there's no bonus for not taking it.

*** Flowering Ending: [[spoiler: It takes place in the same valley as the "Free" ending, but instead of a grown-up Buddy with a baby and a mutated Brad, its Buddy, still a child, being cradle by a giant, grey-haired woman surrounded by flowers. Brad is completely absent but the graves for Rando and Buzzo can be seen, and Buddy is back wearing her pink poncho.]] This leads to the epilogue (which overwrites all others): [[spoiler: Brad and Buddy have a long conversation after the former caught the latter steal the old flower from him. In it, Buddy insists on knowing why the flower is so important to him, and Brad reveals that its because its a reminder of his sister Lisa, who used to do gardening before her death, and is a symbol of his guilt for failing to save her. In the end, Brad decides to punish Buddy by intesifying her training, which Buddy believes will help her grow into a big flower.]]

** The Definitive Edition adds a new ending and an epilogue [[spoiler: that can only be obtained if you didn't use Joy throughout the game and obtaining the Flowering Skull. Another addition is, before the final battle, Buddy gives Buzzo a serious [[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech tongue lashing]] for all of his actions, attempting to place the blame on the deceased Lisa, and that he doesn't know true pain, which causes the latter to break down and go insane for turning into a joy mutant.]]

** The Definitive Edition keeps the original example, but also adds another, devastatingly harder encounter: [[spoiler:right before sailing to the final stretch of the game, returning all the way back to the game's first campfire and taking a rest causes Brad to have a NightmareSequence that ends with a huge raid against a monstrous Marty. It has 10,000 HP (actually displayed on a LifeMeter unlike any other encounter in the game) but doesn't recover when you escape, and it frequently uses a OneHitKill attack, requiring the player to repeatedly leave the battle to swap in new party members (though the boss' minions at least drop spider sacs that boost the levels of any underused allies). Any character that dies to Marty also dies in reality, with the ground around the campfire becoming splatted with blood.]]

* ButThouMust: Averted: the game assumes you're taking Joy[[labelnote:*]](Buddy did consume Joy sometime before meeting Marty so she already starts the game addicted to the stuff)[[/labelnote]], but you never actually have to.

* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: The strange image of [[spoiler: Sticky]] in Brad's Joy-induced fight with him. [[spoiler: This symbolic Sticky has a very phallic shape, asks Brad not to be angry with him for having sex with/most likely raping Buddy, and when he is killed, has some kind of clear outer layer surrounding himself, with a protrusion emerging from the top of it.]]

* FaceHeelTurn: [[spoiler: For varying degrees of Heel, but near the end when Brad is asked to let Rando keep Buddy for her own good, and he refuses, your party turns on you, forcing you to kill them before facing Rando's army alone.]]
** AntiVillain: [[spoiler: Some of them, like Terry and Harvey, join against Brad because they genuinely believe that he's in the wrong. These characters will sometimes gain the crying ailment or waste turns regretting it.]]
** FalseFriend: [[spoiler: Subverted. While Rage says he was only in it for Buddy, he will waste turns crying or stalling.]]
** BitchInSheepsClothing: [[spoiler: Some characters, like RT or Crisp, admit that they've hated Brad the whole time and can't wait to pummel his face in, and they're not exactly wrong. Justified in Crisp's case however, considering that the only reason he's even in your party is because you took his boyfriend hostage.]]

** During the flashback to Brad's childhood in the intro, if you wander all the way to the farthest right edge of the neighborhood you'll stumble upon and weird looking man with a suit, sunglasses, and a large looking nose. If you interact with him all he'll say is "Olathe... It's perfect." After beating the game and seeing the ending and cutting to black we hear a conversation between two men about Joy, Dr. Yado and Buzzo. As the conversation goes on, it suddenly dawns on you who that person was and what he was talking about, [[spoiler: Dr. Yado was talking about causing the Flash and how Olathe was going to be the perfect testing ground for Joy.]]
** If you talk to the Salvation Rangers after they retreat into their cave, Blue will tell you that he's been feeling strangely violent lately. [[spoiler: He's been taking Joy, and later mutates into a Joy monster that kills all of the other Salvation Rangers.]]
** If you played the first game, you probably noticed that [[spoiler: Sticky and "Tricky Rick"]] have a similar appearance. This is not a coincidence.

** The clearest way to explain the presence of the [[HumanoidAbomination grotesque mutated men]] throughout Olathe is through [[spoiler: their item drops- Joy pills, which are known to mutate people into monsters]].
** Every human enemy has a name and unique appearance, and the attacks and move they use reflect their personalities and their current status. Sugar Mountain doesn't take you seriously and will occasionally check his hair instead of paying attention. Trips Breezer refuses to fight you, and will only block your attacks, stall for time, and cry. This is everywhere throughout the game, but the most prominent example is the Rando Army, who grows gradually more terrified of Brad as the battle goes on and will waste turns shaking in fear. And their lieutenant [[TheDragon Clint Moss]], rather than getting scared of Brad, will get ''enraged'' and stand his ground – demonstrating his unyielding loyalty towards his boss despite their hopeless situation. Even Rando's moveset is relevant to his character. [[spoiler: He can use the Buster Punches -- a move unique to Brad's custom martial arts style -- hinting towards his own connection to Brad.]]

** In the final area, [[spoiler: after Buddy rejects Brad]], his class changes from "Nobody" to [[spoiler:"Failure"]], reflecting his mental state. Many of his physical moves will be replaced with fire-themed equivalents as well, reflecting the strength of his inner, raw emotion.

* GoneHorriblyRight: [[spoiler: Joy was designed as a drug meant to turn men into super soldiers. In a roundabout way, it succeeded. Joy grants users incredible power and a release from their pain, but it also has some unintended side effects -- as in, it turns you into a ''frickn' mutant'']].
* GroinAttack: Brad's fight with [[spoiler: Sticky]] after being force-fed Joy seems to be this.
** Played for laughs with a short sidequest wherein Brad and co. get jumped by a weirdo who kicks Brad in the crotch and then runs away. You can catch back up to him and initiate combat, [[spoiler: followed by Brad kicking]] ''[[spoiler: him]]'' [[spoiler: in the crotch and instantly winning.]]
* GuideDangIt: The achievement, "...". [[spoiler: After defeating Rando, instead of continuing to meet Buddy and trigger the ending sequence, you have to go back and find the man that would be revealed to be Yado]], which is something nobody would think of.

* HopelessBossFight: Whenever Buzzo gives you a SadisticChoice, there is also [[TakeAThirdOption the option to fight Buzzo instead]]. However, Buzzo is massively overpowered and takes out even maximum level characters in a single hit. It is still possible to defeat him if you get lucky. If you do that, Buzzo says you shouldn't have done that, and you get a game over anyway.
** Demon X, the villain? of the Salvation Rangers also accuses you [[NoFairCheating of cheating]] if you beat him and gives a gameover.

* WhamLine: From the Pain Mode exclusive ending scene:

* SchmuckBait: When you go to the Bees's place, you can talk to a guy looking into a pool of water who tells you that he thinks he sees the fish people in there. [[spoiler: He doesn't, but the fish people ARE at a 1 tile-wide hole a little further away from the brothel.]]

** Ollie Nickles is found by traveling to Garbage Island, locating him, and paying off his [[SarcasmMode "huge"]] loan of [[spoiler: 2 mags.]] While that sounds relatively simple, Garbage Island is an entirely optional area that most people won't know even exists due to the obtuse way of finding the map to it, [[spoiler: hidden in the Fishman Village]].

** The Definitive Edition keeps the original example, but also adds another, devastatingly harder encounter: [[spoiler:right before sailing to the final stretch of the game, returning all the way back to the game's first campfire and taking a rest causes Brad to have a NightmareSequence that ends with a huge raid against a monstrous Marty. It has 10,000 HP but doesn't recover when you escape, and it frequently uses a OneHitKill attack, requiring the player to frequently leave the battle to swap in new party members (though the boss' minions at least drop spider sacs that boost the levels of any underused allies). Any character that dies to Marty also dies in reality, with the ground around the campfire becoming splatted with blood.]]

** In particular, Rooster and Crisp only join Brad's gang because their loved ones are being held hostage (Rooster's chicken Goldie and Crisp's boyfriend Toby), but Fly just ''really'' hates Brad due to being dethroned as the cart racing champion of Garbage Island.

* AdaptationalVillainy: A few prominent kickstarter backers fall into this. [[WebVideo/TwoBestFriendsPlay Matt and Pat]] will blow up a town if they get their hands on dynamite, and Mike LetsPlay/{{Nnemonic}} is [[spoiler: Satan, a bonus boss]]. Averted in the case of [[Webvideo/{{Jimquisition}} "Slave Lord" Jim]], which fits Jim Sterling's online persona.

* BonusBoss: A few, mostly consisting of mutants that dot the landscape, blocking passage to amazing items. [[spoiler:One of the most powerful mutants, Beady, guards the item that lets you fight Satan, the evil trucker]].

* TheCameo: As one of the Kickstarter rewards is to be made into a character in the game, there are characters who are based on recognizable figures. For example, you can come across [[Webvideo/{{Jimquisition}} Jim Sterling]] as well as [[Webvideo/TwoBestFriendsPlay Matt and Pat]]. [[spoiler: Satan is Mike Nnemonic, with his in-game identity as a trucker mirroring Mike's previous real-life job as such.]]

** In the intro, Brad stumbles onto Buddy as an infant. He tries to calm her down, and even manages to toss her into the air a few times...but at one point he fails to catch her. [[spoiler: It's a subtle hint as to how Brad might not really be the best person to be a parent to Buddy.]]
** The Native American tribesmen defending the blood tree all utter cryptic, ominous phrases after Brad defeats them in battle. [[spoiler: They're referring to Yado, and they're discretely describing his fathership of Buddy, his ability to control the joy mutants, and his plan for world domination that manifests over the course of Joyful.]]

** When you [[spoiler: inspect Rando's body after his defeat, it says that "he's done" instead of "he's dead," which foreshadows that he's not really dead, leading to his appearances in ''the Joyful''.]]
** Nern’s campfire chat in the remake has him talk about his friend from childhood, who apparently believed in an urban legend known as the Polka-Dotted Man, a guy in a suit with a polka-dotted tie, and thought he would bring an end to the world. Now, [[spoiler: who exactly in this game is associated with polka dots and can be seen with a suit matching that description in the intro, again]]?
* FreezeFrameBonus: During the end credits, strange bits of text appear interspersed between the actual credits, and you may not notice them at first. They contain phrases such as "Special Thanks: Martin Armstrong," "Lisa Lisa Lisa Lisa Love," and "Wake up Buddy Buddy Buddy." [[spoiler: In the end it's revealed that these were Brad's dying thoughts before he mutated.]]
* FromNobodyToNightmare: The man who [[spoiler:cuts Buddy's face]] effectively [[InvokedTrope declares he's doing]] this: after having such a shitty life, he's "making his mark on history!"

** Also [[spoiler: Terry, if the player chooses to give him to Columbo's gang early on. He returns as "Terry the Terrible," an enemy capable of insta-killing party members.]]

* ItRunsInTheFamily: The Hernandez siblings (Fardy, Shardy, and Tardy) all deal with transportation services. Fardy joins Brad as a party member and gives him the ability to fast travel with his truck and uses said truck for attacks, Shardy gives boat rides to the [[spoiler: secret islands]], and Tardy also runs a boat service [[spoiler: but you have to help him build a new one in order to look for Buddy.]]
** [[spoiler: Continues in ''The Joyful'': after killing Lardy, Rando says that he transported supplies all around Olathe.]]

** Birdie is a drunkard who initially seems useless due to being, well, a drunkard, that requires being drunk to actually be effective. His basic move isn't even an attack- it's the ability to make himself drunk. If leveled up, Birdie becomes a fairly strong support/tank hybrid with a move that has a guaranteed chance to Oil (and a lower chance to blind) opponents, causing fire damage to be multiplied by 250%. He also has a good full party heal, and decent single-target attacks. Considering that both Brad and Mad Dog, two of the most powerful characters in the game, have fire moves, Birdie suddenly becomes freakishly useful and borderline necessary for Satan, the BonusBoss.

* MeaningfulBackgroundEvent: In some areas, a trumpet remix of one of the background themes plays. It's being played by [[spoiler: Doctor Yado]]. Going up to him [[LeftTheBackgroundMusicOn makes him stop playing]].

* RedemptionEqualsDeath: [[spoiler: Marty has ceased his abusive and neglectful tendencies, and is clearly angry if Brad kicks Buddy out of the way in order to attack him. Regardless of your choice of whether or not to kill him, Brad kills him without hesitation.]]
* ReplacementGoldfish: [[spoiler:Dusty]] and Buddy replaced Lisa for Brad. However, where Brad begins to legitimately care about Buddy, however misguided that care may be, [[spoiler: he does not acknowledge his adopted son Dusty, and in ''the Joyful'', he plainly tells Buddy that he never had a son at all.]]

* TheStinger: [[spoiler: After seeing the dying thoughts of Brad (including content such as "Taste her, It's your fault" and "Kill her, Brad Armstrong"), we are treated to the sight of Brad, fully mutated. The mutant Brad drags his body over to Buddy where she sleeps, and calls her Lisa, crawling up to Buddy right before we fade to black. If you've taken the Joyless ending, you're treated to a conversation between Buzzo and Yado.]]

* TakeAThirdOption: Subverted; whenever Buzzo gives you a SadisticChoice, there's usually an option to fight him. Doing so is a very bad idea; at best, he'll just beat the hell out of you and then offer you the choice again; at worst, he'll beat the hell out of you and then do both the options.
** You may also end up with the ''fourth'' option with you fighting him and ''winning.'' The result: Buzzo [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt ends the world]] in retaliation.

* VideoGameCrueltyPunishment: An early SadisticChoice gives you the opportunity to give up Terry to keep your things. Given that Terry is [[MagikarpPower initially]] [[JokeCharacter useless]], a player would be fairly tempted to trade him away. [[spoiler: Terry will later return as a BonusBoss at his [[OhCrap full potential]].]]

* BonusBoss: Harry, a hidden Joy Mutant. He has 99,000 HP, higher than even Satan or [[spoiler:Sweetheart]] but beating him gives Buddy an upgraded weapon and lets you find [[spoiler:Salvation Green's home and the Joy Mask, the latter of which is required for the alternate epilogues.]]