Why LISA the Pointless is SO GOOD

[slybacon9001]

I FINALLY FIGURED IT OUT


This game is really, really good and definitely the DLC the original game should have gotten. If we had to choose whether the Pointless or the Joyful existed and we could only have 1, I would choose the Pointless in a heartbeat. It's a flipped version of the Painful in a number of ways. While Brad in the Painful was serious and closed-off, the surrounding world about him was humorous and colorful (and savage as well, but the humor of it balances everything). While Alex in the Pointless is friendly and heroic, his status as the hero in this game is never doubted, the world surrounding him is exaggeratedly depraved and destructive. You SEE the death of every man you kill, whereas in the Painful they vanish from sight until the end of the game, in this game every guy you kill you SEE what that death looks like. That alone adds a much darker perspective to this game than the Painful had. My biggest problem with the Joyful was how it tried to be dark in both respects, with the protagonist and the environment, and failed to make it work. That can work, but the way it came across was Buddy was like Brad but not as sympathetic as him, not as relatable as him, not as... whatever. You can make a lot of comparisons. At the same time, the environment of the Joyful is not as full of lore as that of the Pointless, it's not as gutsy as the Pointless in what it depicts (try imagining the garbage humpers and the cannibalism in the Joyful), and it's not as original and falls back on tired old tropes to create suspense. Not everything about the Joyful is bad, the ending is really well done, but everything else is lackluster imo because it could've juxtaposed the protagonist from the environment more sharply in a way similar to the Pointless. And before anyone says "But Austin didn't have enough time!!!" The dev said the Pointless took one year to make and if Austin started the Joyful right after the Painful came out, that would be about 8 and a half months, so about 3/4 the amount of time. When you factor in also that making the Joyful was Austin's full time job versus how the Pointless is on Gamejolt for free and NO WAY the only thing that Ed was doing, that puts them on more equal playing field in terms of time as well. So I think it is fair to compare them.

What do you guys think? Why did or didn't you guys like the Pointless?

[wcc]

Relating the ending: I have not played The Pointless yet, but from seeing this video from that Nitro guy posted here in the forum I'm afraid the ending is to obvious: a man searching for a better life elsewhere, carrying one bullet with him the whole game ... so I'm afraid, that's the part where Austin's work is better. But of course, that's a bit speculative atm.

[slybacon9001]

Originally posted by wcc:

Relating the ending: I have not played The Pointless yet, but from seeing this video from that Nitro guy posted here in the forum I'm afraid the ending is to obvious: a man searching for a better life elsewhere, carrying one bullet with him the whole game ... so I'm afraid, that's the part where Austin's work is better. But of course, that's a bit speculative atm.

LISA the Pointless is only the first third of storyline the developer is planning, so it is speculation. But you have a point there. I think the first third has a lot of indications that the whole storyline might shape up like The Divine Comedy (Inferno - Purgatorio - Paradiso) in which case, he would end up getting to paradise in the third installment. But the downside to it being based off The Divine Comedy is that first book is really interesting, the second book is kind of interesting, and the last book is boring. So it might not be exactly like that.

[slybacon9001]

Originally posted by GravityUnown:

I love the Pointless in almost every regard; fantastic characters, amazing music, well designed environments, great attention to detail, and a very good story. My only complaint is, from a general viewpoint, this game is brutally difficult if you don't know what to expect. Very little healing items, one-use rest areas that are very sparse, and mandatory one-use save crows.

I actually don't mind the first two points I made as much, but the forced saving/checkpoints are still bothersome, even with the addition of the baby crows, which are portable save points you can use at any point in the game, but are still one use only. As Nitrorad said in his video I can tell that the game is going for a very pain mode vibe, but it can still get unfair if you don't know how and where exactly to manage your items. The game pretty much favors a playthrough where you already know what to do and what enemies will give you a tough time, basically.

I don't have much trouble with the game anymore since I've explored and found all the secrets, side quests, and helpful items. However unlike the others, who feel because they know the game inside and out and ultimately find it easy it should be even harder, I feel the game difficulty still needs better balancing, and adding permanent save crows here and there would be a good first step in the right direction.

But overall this game has an absurd amount of potential, and once again quoting NitroRad, I would love to see this as the official third part of the LISA franchise and have Ed work on this game under the supervision of Austin, while Austin works on his new game.

Yes, the gameplay itself is pretty flawed. Both games have gameplay issues, Joyful is moderately difficult (without Easy Mode) and really boring, Pointless is very difficult and has no easy mode. It's also a matter of finding combos of moves to do with Alex and Joel that helps you crack the game, not just knowing what to expect though.

But yeah, I'm all for Ed continuing the game with the time/financing necessary. There's not only potential for all the reasons we already mentioned, but the fact that the story can be interpreted in so many different ways and how it asks you to dig a little bit deeper. After the part in the white mansion with the books, I looked up the books and read snippets about them on Wikipedia and started putting the pieces together of what that might symbolize. Ed really did some deep allegorical thinking with the Pointless and I give him huge kudos for that.