The game is an expansion/final chapter of The Painful. As such, spoilers of the main-game will be included because you need to play the Painful first.

If you want to know my thoughts on The Painful, you can read them here: The Painful


The Joyful takes place immediately at the end of The Painful. It is then that you are introduced to the game's new protagonist, Buddy.

Your quest is simply to rise to the top of Olathe by murdering all its leaders as well as finding answers about Buddy herself. I think the game being devoid of humor, for the most part, is more of a perspective into Buddy's perception of the world compared to Brad.

I think the change of story from The Painful to The Joyful is simple yet effective. Both in tone and the type of story for an apocaylpse: From a tale of redemption to a power-trip in a deadland.

Buddy shows the most development. She is capable of handling herself and the change isn't riddiculous because throughout the Painful she was able to escape when she realized she was in danger. Her actions are based on her being a damsel in The Painful, now the heroine.

My problem is with the plot is that there is no clear reason why she acts this way. At least not to the extent she will create genocide for everyone.

It's implied that she wants to rise to the top to stop being sought after by other men. This makes sense based on how many times people have (and will continue) to mislead her in their own selfish goals. She has also mentally/physically been scarred. Her dilemma is also shown in gameplay when you take off the mask; the men around you will attack you for their own gains. So I understand part of her character.

The harder to accept aspect is when she harms everyone because of her actions. And you must murder all the targets on the list; there is no choice.

So Buddy will kill pacifists, people in charge of delivering goods, and other people maintaining some order amongst the rowdy gangs and Joy mutants. It is very hard to be sympathetic with her compared to Brad whose motives near the end could be questioned by the player.

I almost want to say that Buddy's motive isn't to rule. Maybe she wants to destroy the world. Or maybe she doesn't know what she wants but knows how to act. An early memory with Brad explains her attitude of showing no mercy. Maybe Buddy thinks only the strongest will survive, and that has to be her.

The main thing is Buddy's goals leaves a lot unresolved. And that happens a lot with the plot.

How did the apocalypse come about? The Flash! What's the Flash?

Who is Buddy's real father? Several answers, none made clear.

Who is Buzzo & Yugo? Kind of explained, though I think I have to play LISA: The First to understand what does LISA have to do with most of the stuff in The Painful and the Joyful.

And the ending, like The Painful, ends on an ambigous note, but I think it's more clear on the significiance of your final choice and it's enough to make you think of what will happen afterwards. I like them.


The shortcomings of The Joyful really don't show up in the story. It's the gameplay, and especially the extent of your choices, that feel short of The Painful.

For starters, you are only given one party-member for the majority of the DLC. You do have a companion for the first hour or so to ease you into Buddy's gameplay with Brad's gameplay. I liked this because Buddy's gameplay does take a while to get used to, and when you're all alone the game almost requires you to master her attacks.

Brad was focused on free-styling combos with finisher special moves. Buddy, however, is more of a Paper Mario/Mario&Luigi attack system where you have to hit a button to an on-screen prompt to get the most out of your attacks. This is a simple change, but one where I feel the technical limitations of RPG Maker make it almost unplayable.

RPG Maker has the unfortunate problem of making screen-flickering/framerate-stuttering. For the Painful, it wasn't a gameplay issue because the combo system was not based on time; for the Joyful, it's the bane of the game. Sometimes you can use the stuttering to your advantage, but more often you will hate the screen stopping after you develop a muscle-memory of the timed-attacks.

And you will have to deal-out the most damage in order to beat most (if not all) enemies. It wouldn't be as much of an issue if you still had companions... And you will only get one for the first hour. So how do you deal out a ton of damage?

Joy. Lots and lots of Joy. It's almost mandatory to use Joy before battle because you can either prolong battles far longer than needed or use Joy to deal out 4,000 - 6,000 attacks. And it doesn't matter this time around if you use Joy or not because the ending isn't affected by the choice, unlike the first game.

Choices are another thing this game seems to almost forget. You won't choose party-members living or dying (for the most part). You won't make a lot of choices that influence your gameplay down the line, and you will have only one or two choices of real significance, but still just as emotionally difficult as The Painful. And the rewards are still the same: Post-credit dialogue.

The post-credits' dialogue is influenced by a few secrets to find in the overworld (which is still done well in this game), and getting one or two combined will give you different dialogue endings. But, once again, these extra bits of dialogue almost have no context to the events leading up to them. They all feel out of place and feel out of context unless you have played The First, The Painful and The Joyful to completion.


The game is not all that bad/more tedious compared to its predecessors.

Moments that use the RPG mechanics in battle to tug at your heart-strings, like Marty's battle in the Painful, are really effective at making you cry and regret playing the game. That's the only thing about The Joyful that gets it right, and maybe even better than The Painful when those moments happen.

The game also doesn't devalue any of the choices you make in The Painful, which I appreciate, but I think how the game gives you a lot of the post-credits from The Painful inThe Joyful will take away from playing Pain Mode other than bragging rights. The DLC is definitely not a cut-out ending.

Although the value of choices is more diminished, the difficulty feels right for an expansion to The Painful. It taught me the value of using Joy in battle and rationing out my resources. I personally liked the playstyle of Buddy as I like Paper Mario and Mario & Luigi games, and it was interesting to go from an SP (Special Power/Magic) character to a TP (Testosterone Power/Adrenaline) character for each game.

I don't know how the game compares to its vanilla release (which had less abilities for Buddy) but I don't feel OP as with Brad for using the ability to trip everyone on-screen. But, if the game is still too difficult for you, you can pay 300 mags for Easy Mode. And mags are scarced this time and the option isn't available until midway into the game, so I'm fine with the inclusion of an easier difficulty; I just wish it had more punishment like the way you could cheat The Painful with saves.

The Overworld still provides lots of secrets and worthwhile finds for story/gameplay purposes. And the sprinting/leaping ability makes traversing the world a lot more fun than a grown-man on a girl's bike. Some secrets are more worthwhile than others, and others are a middle-finger to the player (you know what I mean).


The Joyful adds a few worthy hours to a classic, and together they make for a painfully heartwrenching experience.

The game is an expansion/final chapter of The Painful. As such, spoilers of the main-game will be included because you need to play the Painful first. If you want to know my thoughts on The Painful, you can read them here: [url=http://steamcommunity.com/id/Brian_Colfxire/recommended/335670/]The Painful[/url] [h1]Answering Questions with More Questions[/h1] The Joyful takes place immediately at the end of The Painful. It is then that you are introduced to the game's new protagonist, Buddy. Your quest is simply to rise to the top of Olathe by murdering all its leaders as well as finding answers about Buddy herself. I think the game being devoid of humor, for the most part, is more of a perspective into Buddy's perception of the world compared to Brad. I think the change of story from The Painful to The Joyful is simple yet effective. Both in tone and the type of story for an apocaylpse: From a tale of redemption to a power-trip in a deadland. Buddy shows the most development. She is capable of handling herself and the change isn't riddiculous because throughout the Painful she was able to escape when she realized she was in danger. Her actions are based on her being a damsel in The Painful, now the heroine. My problem is with the plot is that there is no clear reason why she acts this way. At least not to the extent she will create genocide for everyone. It's implied that she wants to rise to the top to stop being sought after by other men. This makes sense based on how many times people have (and will continue) to mislead her in their own selfish goals. She has also mentally/physically been scarred. Her dilemma is also shown in gameplay when you take off the mask; the men around you will attack you for their own gains. So I understand part of her character. The harder to accept aspect is when she harms everyone because of her actions. And you must murder all the targets on the list; there is no choice. So Buddy will kill pacifists, people in charge of delivering goods, and other people maintaining some order amongst the rowdy gangs and Joy mutants. It is very hard to be sympathetic with her compared to Brad whose motives near the end could be questioned by the player. I almost want to say that Buddy's motive isn't to rule. Maybe she wants to destroy the world. Or maybe she doesn't know what she wants but knows how to act. An early memory with Brad explains her attitude of showing no mercy. Maybe Buddy thinks only the strongest will survive, and that has to be her. The main thing is Buddy's goals leaves a lot unresolved. And that happens a lot with the plot. How did the apocalypse come about? The Flash! What's the Flash? Who is Buddy's real father? Several answers, none made clear. Who is Buzzo & Yugo? Kind of explained, though I think I have to play LISA: The First to understand what does LISA have to do with most of the stuff in The Painful and the Joyful. And the ending, like The Painful, ends on an ambigous note, but I think it's more clear on the significiance of your final choice and it's enough to make you think of what will happen afterwards. I like them. [h1]Missing the Mark[/h1] The shortcomings of The Joyful really don't show up in the story. It's the gameplay, and especially the extent of your choices, that feel short of The Painful. For starters, you are only given one party-member for the majority of the DLC. You do have a companion for the first hour or so to ease you into Buddy's gameplay with Brad's gameplay. I liked this because Buddy's gameplay does take a while to get used to, and when you're all alone the game almost requires you to master her attacks. Brad was focused on free-styling combos with finisher special moves. Buddy, however, is more of a Paper Mario/Mario&Luigi attack system where you have to hit a button to an on-screen prompt to get the most out of your attacks. This is a simple change, but one where I feel the technical limitations of RPG Maker make it almost unplayable. RPG Maker has the unfortunate problem of making screen-flickering/framerate-stuttering. For the Painful, it wasn't a gameplay issue because the combo system was not based on time; for the Joyful, it's the bane of the game. Sometimes you can use the stuttering to your advantage, but more often you will hate the screen stopping after you develop a muscle-memory of the timed-attacks. And you will have to deal-out the most damage in order to beat most (if not all) enemies. It wouldn't be as much of an issue if you still had companions... And you will only get one for the first hour. So how do you deal out a ton of damage? Joy. Lots and lots of Joy. It's almost mandatory to use Joy before battle because you can either prolong battles far longer than needed or use Joy to deal out 4,000 - 6,000 attacks. And it doesn't matter this time around if you use Joy or not because the ending isn't affected by the choice, unlike the first game. Choices are another thing this game seems to almost forget. You won't choose party-members living or dying (for the most part). You won't make a lot of choices that influence your gameplay down the line, and you will have only one or two choices of real significance, but still just as emotionally difficult as The Painful. And the rewards are still the same: Post-credit dialogue. The post-credits' dialogue is influenced by a few secrets to find in the overworld (which is still done well in this game), and getting one or two combined will give you different dialogue endings. But, once again, these extra bits of dialogue almost have no context to the events leading up to them. They all feel out of place and feel out of context unless you have played The First, The Painful and The Joyful to completion. [h1]You Get More Pain; Isn't That What We All Wanted?[/h1] The game is not all that bad/more tedious compared to its predecessors. Moments that use the RPG mechanics in battle to tug at your heart-strings, like Marty's battle in the Painful, are really effective at making you cry and regret playing the game. That's the only thing about The Joyful that gets it right, and maybe even better than The Painful when those moments happen. The game also doesn't devalue any of the choices you make in The Painful, which I appreciate, but I think how the game gives you a lot of the post-credits from The Painful inThe Joyful will take away from playing Pain Mode other than bragging rights. The DLC is definitely not a cut-out ending. Although the value of choices is more diminished, the difficulty feels right for an expansion to The Painful. It taught me the value of using Joy in battle and rationing out my resources. I personally liked the playstyle of Buddy as I like Paper Mario and Mario & Luigi games, and it was interesting to go from an SP (Special Power/Magic) character to a TP (Testosterone Power/Adrenaline) character for each game. I don't know how the game compares to its vanilla release (which had less abilities for Buddy) but I don't feel OP as with Brad for using the ability to trip everyone on-screen. But, if the game is still too difficult for you, you can pay 300 mags for Easy Mode. And mags are scarced this time and the option isn't available until midway into the game, so I'm fine with the inclusion of an easier difficulty; I just wish it had more punishment like the way you could cheat The Painful with saves. The Overworld still provides lots of secrets and worthwhile finds for story/gameplay purposes. And the sprinting/leaping ability makes traversing the world a lot more fun than a grown-man on a girl's bike. Some secrets are more worthwhile than others, and others are a middle-finger to the player (you know what I mean). [h1]The End[/h1] The Joyful adds a few worthy hours to a classic, and together they make for a painfully heartwrenching experience.