*Note: LISA the Joyful paid DLC is required to 100% the game.

My Playtime: 32.1h (58/68 achievement, finished the game 2.5 times)
My First Playthrough: 19.8h
Grindy Achievement(s): No.
Optional Achievement(s): Yes (~55 achievements).
Difficult Achievement(s): No.

LISA: The Painful tells of a journey of Brad, a drug addict who is looking for her adopted daughter in the apocalyptic world. It features a lot of party members and numerous events that can give you early game overs or permanently kill your party members.

Pros:
- A lot of party members with different playstyles to recruit
- 3 difficulties

Cons:
- Perma-kill mechanics, especially during boss fights
- A lot of walking through empty spaces to reach an area

Specs
Intel Core i5-9300H 2.40GHz, 8GB RAM, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650

If you enjoy an unconventional RPG where everything can happen, buy this when it's extremely discounted. Seeing that the dev keeps on increasing the base price[steamdb.info] several times over the years, I would recommend buying it when it's bundled for cheaper prices on third-party websites, to be honest.

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LISA: The Painful was done in sidescroller format, showcasing a simpler environment made of jumpable platforms. This makes exploration more straightforward, although the game still manages to hide many secrets beneath it. The simpler design also makes it feel monotonous when walking to new places—it's not rare to find yourself walking through an empty and long area just to reach the next screen. Moreover, the slow walking speed doesn't help either.

The story tells about Bradley Armstrong, Brad for short, who is searching for her daughter in a post-apocalyptic world. While doing so, you'll also face Brad's past memories that haunt him. He's an addict and a man with a lot of problems weighing on his mind. It's a depressing story where you have to see the main character as a failure, trying his best to make things right. Even though the story can be depressing at times, it will still try to make you smile with its absurd moments.

There are a lot of references to LISA: The First (my review). One of Brad's traumas is related to the character in that game, although I don't think playing that game matters to understand the references.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=361447184

Aside from the main story, the game also has some side stories that focus on your party members when you are camping. However, camping can give random outcomes, both good and bad, discouraging its use. I found that some of the side stories are unrelated to the main story and show how varied the party members you are recruiting are, although others are still closely related to it. I especially liked one that was about a heart-to-heart moment with one of the party members.

Gameplay
LISA: The Painful is an RPG, and an unconventional one at that. It features a lot of events that can affect you or your party members. You can accidentally jump off a cliff and get a game over, a boss can perma-kill your party member, a campfire event can make you lose your money—if you play blind and without save scumming, you'll suffer a great loss.

For those who don't want to lose things from a randomized event, save scum is mandatory. There is one section in the game where an RNG will be the factor determining whether your party member dies or not. Moreover, the use of save scumming is also made almost impossible with the Painful mode, a harder difficulty where each save point can only be used once. Yes, the game only has a manual save, and there are only several save points in the game, which won't be enough if you waste them too much. This also means that you'll lose a significant amount of progress if you die midway through this mode.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3534458120

I like the concept of Joy. The game showcases an apocalyptic world where men are trying to escape reality from the drug. Eating it will make your character become invisible—all stats will be increased and all hits will be critical. However, your character and some other party members will suffer from Joy withdrawal as a result, crippling their stats and rendering them almost unusable. This status effect will be removed and applied temporarily over time until you consume Joy again.

During the game, you'll always be presented with a choice. These choices are not related to the endings, but you'll either make or break your party because of it, since the choices will be either to sacrifice a life or something else entirely. However, going for the alternative might also punish you greatly because it will impact either your stats or your money to buy gear. For the latter, it's possible to grind for your lost money, but it will take a long time to do so. Luckily, you don't need to spend that much money in the first place anyway.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3532343850

The game has a lot of party members that you can recruit. Most of them are optional and tied to certain requirements. They all have different skillsets and can be paired with another party member(s) that have the synergy to deal greater damage. However, since there are a lot of them, it makes it hard to find the justification to try out most of them. Sure, the game might have a perma-death mechanic for your party members, but it's better to just save scum to avoid it rather than getting used to new members in your party. At least inactive party members still receive EXP—they will be in a lower level since they don't match your current level when they joined you, but they should still be usable right away.

Enemies and Bosses
The game uses a mix of touch encounters and random encounters. However, some of the touch encounter sections have too many enemies—you might only need to walk several steps before encountering another one. Some of them can also wipe your party if you are underleveled, and you need to grind in the first area to tackle most of the content, unless you are willing to use items so early in the game.

I hate how bosses can permanently kill your party members. Some bosses use it more often than others, breaking your party composition if you don't use the right party combination and combo. This might be one of the ways the game has for you to try out other party members, but it just encourages me to save scum.

Length and Difficulty
I finished the game in 19.8h. I then replayed the game again to get the rest of the achievements. Despite the difficulty options, it isn't hard to finish, even on the harder difficulty. You just need to choose the right party member to deal the biggest damage as quickly as possible. You'll need to use items at the end of the game, but you won't care about them at that point.

LISA: The Painful is a game where anything can happen. It showcases a lot of contrasting beliefs when the world is almost ending, and it might feel like old-school horror RPG Maker games at times, with its surreal world. Couple this with the great story presentation, and you'll find a unique game that has its own charm, even with all those perma-deaths.

However, seeing that the price is very expensive due to the devs increasing the price over the years, I suggest waiting until it's extremely discounted, or buy it on third-party websites when it's bundled for a cheaper price. There is a cheaper one[www.humblebundle.com] sold last July, for example.