Devastating, unforgettable story
Mentioned in ~1 in 3 positive reviews
“The story of this game hit like a sledgehammer to my ribs.”
Steam review · 32.9 h played ↗
LISA: The Painful
Worth buying? What 300 Steam reviews say.Worth buying? Here’s what 300 Steam reviews actually say.
Overwhelmingly PositiveOverwhelmingly Positive · 96%Dingaling Productions2014Psychological Horror · Party-Based RPG · RPG
$19.99
Open on Steam ↗US Steam price, checked 5 h ago
The verdict
A brutal, darkly funny post-apocalyptic RPG with a standout story and soundtrack, but punishing, tedious design. Skip it if you hate cliffs, grinding or heavy abuse themes.
Great for
Players who want a dark, funny, emotional story-driven RPG and can handle punishing design and heavy themes
Main risk
Tedious, punishing gameplay (cliff deaths, far saves, grind, random losses) can overshadow the story
What players love
Dark humor mixed with tragedy
Mentioned in ~1 in 5 positive reviews
“An unbelievable balance of tone this game has. It would have me actually laughing and in a matter of literal seconds later, make my heart drop.”
Steam review · 24.8 h played ↗
Great, unique soundtrack
Mentioned in ~1 in 8 positive reviews
“You could argue it's worth playing for the music alone, which is equal parts fantastic and unique.”
Steam review · 38.2 h played ↗
Memorable characters and party
Mentioned in ~1 in 8 positive reviews
“there isn't a single one without a unique personality or a memorable line.”
Steam review · 16.8 h played ↗
Unique, strategic combat with permadeath stakes
Mentioned in ~1 in 11 positive reviews
“The way LISA has you gamble with the lives of your party and resources, which can have PERMANANT repercussions on your playthrough, keeps the stakes high.”
Steam review · 14.8 h played ↗
What players complain about
Definitive Edition: censorship, bugs, price hike
Mentioned in ~1 in 4 negative reviews
“It's completely unpolished, totally rushed and just sad when compared to the original”
Steam review · 0.2 h played ↗
Tedious, repetitive gameplay and combat
Mentioned in ~1 in 4 negative reviews
“You can tolerate it for awhile, but soon you'll be sighing when you have to back track through a lengthy area”
Steam review · 8.6 h played ↗
Tonal whiplash and shallow or manipulative writing
Mentioned in ~1 in 6 negative reviews
“One second I'm laughing and it's funny, the next it's so disgusting I can't even smile.”
Steam review · 6.3 h played ↗
Random losses, RNG and grinding
Mentioned in ~1 in 8 negative reviews
“The thing that killed this game for me is the random stuff that can happen when you sleep, namely your party members getting kidnapped.”
Steam review · 12.4 h played ↗
Punishing design: cliff deaths and far saves
Mentioned in ~1 in 9 negative reviews
“you can only save the game at certain preexisting locations that feel very random sometimes and you will quickly loose 30 minutes of progress several times in a playthrough”
Steam review · 4.1 h played ↗
Poor controls, display and controller support
Mentioned in ~1 in 12 negative reviews
“Still unplayable on controller even after remastering the game and selling it for $20”
Steam review · 0.2 h played ↗
System requirements
From the Steam store page
Steam Deck: Playable800 MB
Minimum
OSMicrosoft® Windows® XP / Vista / 7 (32-bit/64-bit)
ProcessorIntel® Pentium® 4 2.0 GHz equivalent or faster processor
Memory512 MB RAM
Graphics1024 x 768 pixels or higher desktop resolution
Storage800 MB available space
OSMicrosoft® Windows® XP / Vista / 7 (32-bit/64-bit)
ProcessorIntel® Pentium® 4 2.0 GHz equivalent or faster processor
Memory512 MB RAM
Graphics1024 x 768 pixels or higher desktop resolution
Storage800 MB available space
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