Well this is was a surprise. Thanks for checking out the game, I really enjoyed the video -- especially the discussion of the themes of the story throughout (extra-especially the conclusion at the end). Nothing makes me happier as a creator than a critical analysis and deconstruction of what I tossed into the world. Thanks so much again for playing and putting out this video, and I hope you get a chance to enjoy the Hopeless when it's done. I'm excited for people to see it. 🙏
It was the least I could do to give some recognition to such a cool game. Hopeful wears its heart on its sleeve in such a wonderful way and I've spoken to many people now who were really touched by the story. Really just excellent work. I will definitely do one for Hopeless when it drops!
Your commentary on how men are inherently toxic and will eagerly do the most disgusting, depraved things when they know they won't be held accountable for their actions, was very well done. They need to do better, they CAN do better, and there's simply no excuse. It's just sad that the people who need to hear that message the most, are the least likely to listen.
@@GabrontheI thought Amy was what was left of Yado's wife, whom he betrayed. She was unnamed and she may have been injected with Joy rather than dispatched by him, so that's likely her. That's how I thought of it, anyway.
connor wtf, are you doing here?? Not gonna lie though, this was a great video. I was going to study for a test but just watched this video instead. It was mesmerizing.
Thank you! I feel like RU-vid is making more space for my kind of content recently, and now that I've got a home here I intend to keep pumping it out. I love your stuff by the way. I was so happy to see some of the bigger creators tackling Fear & Hunger. Miro definitely deserves the acclaim.
theres something so sad about the fact that the only way for anyone to learn anything is for them to never even try to connect with one another - the best ending is the one where one of your friend dies by suicide because no one even offered to be there for him after he was assaulted and traumatised, and the other only learns how selfish and hurtful his goals were after being fatally burned alive. nothing good comes from connecting with these people, liam only lives to the end if he delves further into his worst impulses, clyde only lives to the end if he "does better" while still only attempting to take a girl captive and assault her, and benny only lives at all if you never reach out to your friends. this isnt the kind of game id ever give the hopeful subtitle personally.
See, this is something that I wish Worm had phrased differently; specifically about Beltboy’s Route, you don’t ONLY get it by not interacting with his friends. It’s actually the most common and easiest route to get because in order to get Lanks’ Route, you have to pick ALL FOUR of the top row answers, and to get Cyclops’ Route, you have to pick ALL FOUR of the bottom row answers. Any other mix of interactions will lead to Beltboy’s Route; a mix of challenge responses and supportive responses, only supportive responses, or just leaving the room and skipping the optional dialogue, all lead to Beltboy’s Route. IMO, how many different ways there are to get Beltboy’s Route takes away from the potency of his route’s themes. I was puzzled by why she chose to describe that specific way of triggering his route. But anyway, I agree that the game is not really HOPEFUL, and even Beltboy’s Route is not very hopeful. But if you actually interact with the guys, you can give generic supportive answers to Lanks (ie “we’ll get through this”), and even one or two challenge answers (like “I don’t know how to get past it but I’m with you every step of the way”), and he still kills himself. There’s only so much Beltboy can do. If anybody needs Teddy Mercury, Post Apocalyptic Therapist, it’s Lanks lmao. BTW idk if you’ve played the game before but she didn’t mention that there’s a gag with a therapist. There’s all these little NPC moments that add to the themes of masculinity and this allergy to vulnerability and grieving that the most reductive and harm-causing forms of masculinity encourage and inherit. I don’t like the term toxic masculinity because masculinity and men are not inherently toxic imo. As Worm says, these characters but really the men of Olathe at large really lack the tools for being real and holding the space for their own, and others, grieving. Post flash Olathe is a world that has denied the need to grieve and instead numbs the pain via alcohol, entertainment, violence, or most notably and metaphorically, Joy. There’s the grief of relationships ended abruptly, goodbyes never said, promises broken, apologies never made (for example, Beltboy never getting to apologize to Amy for what happened, but she forgives him in that last campfire anyway, he finally allows himself to receive that forgiveness, even if it’s from a ghost). The root of so much abuse is grief that is never properly addressed. Hart himself exemplifies this in his final moments. Nobody talks about this but, the way Hopeful handles grief and forgiveness really is it’s strongest nod back to Painful and what that game was all about. Brad never processed the grief related to Lisa’s abuse and death. Marty himself never processed the death of his wife (the lore is Lisa’s mother died soon after she was born) and that’s why he abused Lisa. Buzzo never properly grieved Lisa’s death and takes that out on Brad. There’s forgiveness that has to happen in this grieving process, for any mistakes we made, because to acknowledge these mistakes without forgiving ourselves is to lose ourselves in despair. You have to acknowledge what made you do the bad thing in order to take responsibility. This is a pretty revolutionary stance and not one that people who believe only in punitive justice like to support. Some crimes are horrible enough and some people are gone enough to warrant punishment, but in general our tendency to punish people for their mistakes rather than hold the space for them to process what led to the harm happening, I believe is what adds greatly to our culture’s grieving problem; ie the lack of grieving. Grieving, of course, is associated with tears and sadness and this is considering feminine. But grieving can make you feel anger, disgust, all sorts of emotions. Anyway, we see what happens when Beltboy allows himself to grieve over his friends’ deaths at that last campfire. Worm really brushed over this moment and said Amy’s presence was “mocking”, and I couldn’t disagree more. THAT CAMPFIRE is the most hopeful moment in Hopeful. “I need a friend” wouldn’t have happened if Beltboy hadn’t forgiven himself, via Ghost Amy saying “I forgive you”. Because who would ask for a friend if they felt like a waste of space who just needed to man up (*cough* Lanks), or a big fuck up with nowhere else to go because he’s turned everyone away (*cough* Cyclops). This isn’t just a tragedy about men behaving badly. This is a game about **self love against all odds**. Many people say “before you can love others, you have to love yourself”. I think this is true for many people, including Beltboy, but not everyone. Some people have to be vulnerable enough to try to love others, and then still vulnerable enough to receive the love they get from others back, and that eventually becomes self love. I think that would be how Cyclops could love himself, maybe. He certainly does radical acts for others like sacrificing himself to the Lovelies or running into fire. Then if only he could let people express gratitude for what he does and take that to heart. Both of these methods of love (originating in the self or originating in relationships) can flourish and perpetuate when people consciously decide to process their grief.
@@alienswillcomeAWC reslly good comment but small note: toxic masculinity doesnt mean all masculinity is toxic, but is used to describe weaponised masculinity more than anything
Wow this video was so well made. As a die hard Lisa fan I appreciate the amount of detail you went into with the story. I would love to see another video like this but for the pointless or the timeless since there isn’t really any explanation videos on RU-vid on those games. Or at least not ones there were as high quality as this one. I will definitely be looking forward to more Lisa content if you do more. With that said I hope you have a great day.
You're doing a great job with these lore videos. You put so much work into the games themselves and it really shines through in your video essays. Can't wait to see what's next.
Great video! This really is one of my favorite fangames soley for the fact its a complete story with enough room for a sequal (which is already in the works). But now im gonna vent about some little details in this game and theorize some shit cus i love it. Fire magic in LISA is powered by strong emotions, which get stronger the heavier the emotions. Its why Brad - a somewhat normal guy - can sling fire like its FF. Lanks before the lovlies I believe unlocks a pretty weak fireball, since he doesnt have any really strong memories or trauma that we know of. However, after Fred Fuck-I mean Fuchs, he slowly unlocks stronger fire attacks; and in his route, he becomes an unstoppable powerhouse cus all of his friends are dead. This detail even applies to 5, as in her fight with cyclops she uses a little fire in one of her punch attacks. Other than her outright stating she's lost folk in a cutscene, its a nice piece of visual storytelling that shows how people have experienced loss/trauma. On the snowy peaks in the rodriguez route, you fight a trio of lovely boys that are almost parallel-evil versions of Beltboy and his friends. The guy on the left is slow and patient with his aiming while Beltboy sprays wildly. The guy in the middle is packing some pounds and prepared to fight compared to the mainly support 'n lanky Lanks (hehehe). And while Cyclops can enter a blind rage at points, the guy on the right is a litteral wild animal with no arms. Reginald speaks about looking for his lost son, which we never really get to explore. However, if you color pick his skin and Big Lincoln's (Boss from Joyful) uncovered hands in a pixelart software, they are the exact same skin tone. Reginald also has a final move he unlocks which uses the same downward-from-above attack style AND flaming skull graphic as Lincoln's "Sends you to hell" attack. This, i believe, heavily implies that the giant 1st-in-charge warlord of Olathe is the son of a tiny lil' scrunkily goober guy. And finally, a little detail i just like is that mutant Hart's silhouette is a heart Edit: ive realized you are in the discord and have probably already have heard all of this
DUDE, I NEVER THOUGHT ABOUT REGINALD BEING BIG LINCOLN’S FATHER BEFORE BECAUSE OF THAT ANIMATION LMAOOOOOOOO. That’s an awesome theory. I don’t know if Taco intended for that connection to be there or just thought the animation looked cool, but I like your answer lmao.
Well articulated, insightful, and enjoyable. Your storytelling is more like literary storyboarding, in that it paints not only the image, dialog and your thoughts, it's as though a framework exists in which to view the diorama of the scene, to help navigate and digest everything within. Kudos kudos kudos
I'm going insane, the lisa games, especially hopeful was so important to me, though there was like 0 content for it, seeing this video in my recommended now that im older is so nostalgic! TYSMMM for making his,, its so well written and you really did lth some justice im hoping to see more cool content from you in the future!!
I was hoping you’d continue these types of videos after stumbling over the fear and hunger story explained videos. Cannot wait to see where you take this series.
Fantastic video as always. Reminds me that the Lisa games have some fans that somehow miss the message entirely. The 'Brad Did Nothing Wrong' crowd - all the violence and chaos is just what a red-blooded American male should to protect what belongs to them. Like the women in their lives. I guess once you're deep enough in that mindset, even a story as obviously, brutally unsubtle in its message as The Painful/Joyful/Hopeful can't get through.
Brad Did Nothing Wrong and Rando Did Nothing Wrong both bug me. Rando is not a perfect person either, he put his trust in the wrong men and they hurt Buddy at the beginning of Joyful. He has a particular vision of who she can be and what she can do and she wants no part in it, and I can’t really blame her. It’s just funny that no one says Buddy Did Nothing Wrong. Yes, she killed pacifists, or people with no intent to do her harm, that was pretty bad. But so did Brad! I like the idea of Rando being like a supportive older brother to her, the problem is she’s way too lost in the sauce of denying her own pain and needing to have as much power as possible in order to be safe (I mean it’s not just revenge; her actual safety is on the line, and Brad taught her no one is safe… and Rando too, by accident).
Brad did do wrong but any man who has had his daughter in danger(which I don't think would apply to anyone here) knows that you will do anything to get rid of that danger and any causes of it. You're basically in an entirely different mode. Anyway I think ideas about masculinty, at least for painful, are imposed by people and aren't actually what a lot of things in the game are meant to represent in it.
I'm so glad to see you talk about LISA fangames! I remember getting into a spiral back in 2018 and coming out with psychosis theories concerning taitoki's use of train sounds in his music. Love your content!
Second this youtuber made Beltboy use Joy, I immediately went "Oh no..." Because the ending is affected depending on who consumes Joy, completely changing some outcomes. Can even get to a point where Lanks is the final fighter, or it becomes a bloodshed in the end.
Love the video. I like that you covered some very hard to talk about subjects that normally get either ignored totally or skirted around to the point that they may as well not mention it.
Love your analysis of games in this way Worm Girl. Never thought you'd do this series after Fear and Hunger but it's great. Can't wait for the next one.
I’m honestly a little disappointed that there isn’t an ending in which the party ACTUALLY gets to the girl without being half-dead and the player gets to really see how monster-like the characters really are
Never expected to see a whole video essay on a fangame but hey, it was worth the watch. I'd love to see one for Pointless (even though it's not a complete game yet, but you could do it just for chapter 1)! I really wonder how Hopeless will approach Beltboy's traumas from the events of Hopeful. No way he isn't gonna be constantly haunted by the loss of his friends... Poor guy's honestly gonna be messed up and I wonder how it will impact his dynamic with Five. Also, hoping that Yogurt Masters can reappear in Hopeless just because he feels great to use in Rod route.
Who knew that the path to the good ending was to not try to talk to your freshly violated friend? It's been years since I played this fangame but my one playthrough was the one where Clyde gets burned, I think I was just so bad at the game that when I died at the Sports Dome I just tried to speed past that section and disregarded talking to Liam for what I thought would surely just be flavor text. Crazy to see how much bigger this game was than it looked on the outside!
Another video, and unsurprisingly, another banger. I've been watching since the CDDA tutorials, and I have to say I'm glad I found this channel, as looking at games through the lens of the characters that inhabit them and the impact that their choices have on the world around them leads to story-telling leagues above simply re-counting what happens in the story. This might be a degenerate request, but the lore of Black Souls (made by Ini Mini Mani Mo) might just have one of the most in-depth, confusing, disgusting, and soul-crushing stories I have experienced in the RPG Maker genre that I would love to see analyzed by your story-telling skills. If that is way too PG, I would also love to see an OMORI video if you plan on doing one on it.
wow, this gave me a whole new perspective on a game I thought was kinda surface level. Kinda wish I'd seen these themes more immediately on my first playthrough.
You do a fantastic job, I love all your videos, I watched the whole thing, no computer on or anything. I love your content and I can't wait to see what else you bring. I'm a huge fan! Keep up the amazing work! P.s. I bought one of your stickers lol
Bro I was MISSING SOMETHING because I played this game like 3 times AND watched a playthough and I had NO IDEA that Beltboy could mutate WTH??????????? LOL?????????????????
I think one of the biggest things that makes Lisa: The Painful so special is that it presents you with the character of Brad, and it doesn't just say 'this is a bad person you're being made play as', and it doesn't just ask 'is this a situation where the end could ever justify any of the proposed means'; The whole entire game, in my eyes, is framed around the final choice: Do you hug Brad, after everything you've been through? The game spills so much of its ink presenting you with the awful, terrible things Brad is willing to do, that the question is never whether or not he's a good person. He's made mistakes before you ever get control of him that condemn him from the word 'go'; this is exemplified by the fact that a Joyless Playthrough cannot *actually* change the ending in any meaningful way, because Brad's character is already that of an addict, and you, the player, can't change that. He makes plenty more even after you begin playing, often whether you want him to or not. It's a forgone conclusion. He is already the sum of his mistakes and his failures, his best intentions and his worst moments. Because the question the game is asking is, 'can you forgive him?' After experiencing all of the game's content, you know his whole story, and there's so much about him to feel conflicted over, the objectively terrible, the nearly-heartwarming, the gut-wrenchingly traumatic, that it eventually becomes clear that the game's stance isn't 'is he a good person', it's almost like it's leaning back in its chair and asking, 'the man is literally dying. Does it even matter if he's a good person or not?' The entire narrative is framed around Brad's act of chasing redemption, looking for forgiveness both external and internal, so many people are concerned with either the past or the future, but the reality of the situation is that the only thing that we know for sure exists is the present. And what Brad does in the present is manipulate people and kill anyone who stands in his way, so that he can know for sure that someone he really truly cares about will be safe. He is a nobody. He is a father. He is a failure. He's all these things and this world doesn't have some cosmic judge of character to say if he's 'good' or 'bad'; It's just Buddy and her (and, by extension, your) feelings about it. That transience, the 'now' and not the traumatic past or the doomed future, when the chips are down that's the only thing left that's real. I say all of this to lead into the idea that I personally believe the Rodriguez Route to be the most narratively satisfying ending in Lisa: The Hopeful. All of the gang, in every route, spends so much time in various states of concern about whether what they're doing is right. This is, for all intents and purposes, pointless. You the viewer are hopefully a sensible enough person to know that assaulting a woman, especially a minor like Buddy who's who they thought they were after, is an objectively bad thing. Genetic bottlenecking and logistics therein that make the ideal reality unattainable don't even need to come into the picture, the morality of the situation is as pitch black as it can get. No amount of backpatting over if it'll 'be worth it' can make up for that and the notion is absurd, and never portrayed as anything but, and for good reason. And that begs the question about Beltboy, who the game definitely postures as the most morally upright character for his whole 'not being in it to rape a lady' thing and the fact that his solo Joyless ending has the best greater implications for the setting. Why is he even hanging out with these people if he, understandably, has no interest in what they've set out to do? Easy. He's here for the ride. He doesn't keep that a secret. I think that, in a few words, captures the essence of what this game adds to the morality of Lisa: The Painful. 'Finding the girl' could have been anything else, for him. It would've been *really really nice* if it were anything else, and he doesn't keep that a secret. But what he cares about, and what he tries to get everyone else to care about at all times, is that he wants to be with people he cares about, and exist in the moment, without hurting themselves thinking too far forward or backward. He genuinely is The Hopeful One; he's trying to be upbeat and nice and friendly in a world that literally chokes that out by its very nature, where men are actively degenerating into twisted caricatures of themselves on an hourly basis and the only bonds left between survivors are gangs capable of virtually nothing but horrendous, terrifying feats of violence. He stakes his whole identity on the idea that, hey, if the world's gone to shit and we're all here to watch it burn, we can't have nothing if we're together, right? And he wants his friends to care about that. In the Rodriguez Route, the thing that makes it special, that separates it from all the others and everything terrible that happens therein, is the fact that it doesn't break the group up. Nobody dies alone, nobody suffers alone. You literally come out the other side having a bigger group of friends than you started. It's funnier, it's more enjoyable, you see new things, encounter new obstacles, have a more mechanically fulfilling final boss. The ride literally becomes more enjoyable. Yes, they all die at the end. That was gonna happen no matter what. May as well go out together, right? It's dark, and it's tragic, and you wish these people could have had better. But we're not living in the timeline where The Flash never happened, Rodriguez either remarries or stops staking his self-worth on the romantic feelings of another person, the boys grow up and learn to respect women, and everyone gets to live. The 'best ending' is one where all of Beltboy's friends, the things he cares about most, die, and he has to suffer the world of Olathe without them. Do you think that really makes him happy? Do you think that's what he ever even wanted, when he stuck out in a living hell working towards a goal he never believed in just so he could be with the friends he lost along the way? Sometimes, the best you can Hope for is living your best life with the people you care about. Find people whose lives you can improve by being there, who make you happy. Go out on your own terms when the time comes. Raise hell and go down swinging on the way down. You always have your own way of making the world a better place. Don't hurt yourself on anyone else's impossible standards, least of all your own. That's what I see in these games that makes them mean so much to me. That's why I think the biggest victory Hopeful has as a fangame is succeeding upon the original in a unique, meaningful, thematic way. S+. 100/100. No notes. Perfect fangame.
I am so happy to see fans coming out of the woodwork to talk about what this game has meant to them, and I think you're right on here, even if my personal favorite ending is Beltboy Joyless. But every ending is great, even with slight variations, you get to see so many sides to these characters, and the developer really seems to understand what makes the world of Lisa so narratively interesting.
@@mutantwormgirl Don't get me wrong-- I love the Beltboy ending, I love that this game is willing to really stand out and say 'this game contains a character that is genuinely capable of doing the right thing when put in the right circumstances', Beltboy is my favorite and he's legitimately so precious. Totally agree with you; That is the 'best ending' I just think there's something special about the way the 'S-route', which you were right to call it that, was not focused on that, and was instead 'the boys get to just go on a road trip, and actually have a decent time together'. There's something uniquely thematic to me about working so hard not for a 'best ending', but just... one where the characters you probably made yourself like don't have to suffer so much, even if they die in the end. I think that's kinda beautiful, in its own way. It definitely hit me the hardest, if you can't tell, heh.
Lanks' issue seems to be he'll ultimately forgo his morals and forgo looking deeper into other people for the sake of standing with his friends. He'll go after the girl because he thinks its what they want him to do, he'll shoo off the red haired girl because he cares too much for benny to think about what her life is like or why she wants to run away.
This. He’s a people pleaser at heart. I wish Worm had mentioned more about the characters’ pasts because they all were big factors in making them who they are in the game. Lanks not growing up with a father, only with his mother, likely alienated him from feeling like one of the guys and so he felt like he had to do more to fit in, to be man enough. I also think of him as being an introverted and sensitive person which would also add to him feeling different from other guys.
Ok finished the video and I’m so inlove, the way you cover everything is so smooth in flow, it’s engaging and the way you included the lil “These people aren’t good people.” Was able to get the job done without feeling jarring.
Beltboy's ending was my first route, and I think my version didn't have the Rodrigez route when I played. That being said, I always found his ending the most cathartic and realistic. I say this all because of the end. Not with 5, but with Hart. That cosmic fireball, that shoulder tackle the guys, it seems kinda cool but nothing seems more cold than that frown on beltboy as he just... guns them down. Even though you use the guns the whole game, that's how it would FEEL and LOOK if you had guns in Olathe. You would just... erase them, on the spot without a second thought. They would run at you, you would pull the trigger, and they'd be gone. That hallow and empty moment when he just blows them away was sapped of its cathartic nature simply because of how much had been lost at that point. Then that moment when he's fighting Hart, and through the impossible you're not alone, and then he mutates... *Hart ruined your life.* And then your ghost friends dye and vanish, simply leaving a final whisper behind. It broke me, a little. I felt like I was the one holding those triggers, feeling every bullet unload out of that gun. I didn't want to win anymore, I just _wanted him dead._ Him wanting to just have a friend was super awesome as well. It was super nice to see him actually just... befriend her. Through all that pain and suffering, he managed to stay sober from the power trip-he managed to stay _sane and with his morals._ I guess, in the end, Beltboy... _kept to his guns._
In a way, when Benny was put to his breaking point...he stopped fucking around, he didn't have the luxury of optimism...he just stopped fucking around. We got to see the bullet waster land his fucking shots accurately for once.
@@yexe9129 No spinning in circles while holding the trigger, no spraying the ground around the enemy's feet to make them dance, no firing shots into the air to look cool. The trigger's held down, and every round is being blasted into Hart.
Hopeful is the only game in the series to really tackle a nitpick I have with the main games and almost every fan game. The whole series is a tragedy, and in tragedies, events have to feel avoidable, or it feels cheap. It's been a while since I played Painful, and I do still cherish the game, but (SPOILERS) the fact that the dad is still alive after the apocalypse, has reformed, AND found Brad's surrogate daughter was too much for me to believe. I get that sometimes events have to line up for stories to work, but that was way too on the nose, sometimes it felt like Brad was destined by fate to suffer no matter what. In Hopeful, you get an entire alternate storyline with Rodriguez, showing how easily all their problems could have been avoided with a bit of leadership. The three are aimless, and end up walking into every trap, getting tortured, and break apart as friends. With their boss, they didn't get their happy ending, but even in death, they had few regrets. The contrasting routes exponentially adds to the tragic elements of the main story, they didn't have to suffer, if they planned things better and showed emotional maturity. That's a good tragedy, you know it shouldn't have happened, but it makes total sense why and how things got so bad.
Honestly, I sort of assumed it was meant to be ambiguous if the stuff with Marty even happened since I think that would be Brad's worst fear, even moreso than failing Buddy; That with all he'd done, even killing his oldest friends, he was just as bad - or even worse - than his father. While the game makes it obvious Brad is overly controlling, I think it goes even deeper than that. Consider how he calls Buddy his "second chance". It was never *really* about her, even if he loved her as well as he could. It's left ambiguous if Brad cared at all for Rando, or merely less so than Buddy, but if his goal was merely "being a good person", he could have simply been a mentor for Rando. Instead, it was about specifically proving he was better than his father and he wouldn't fail again, if that makes sense.
The thing about those games is, it's best not to treat everything that happens literally. Notice how no one was happily married in Olathe before the flash? That's because it's mostly a symbol for being trapped in hypermasculinity. They don't say what happened to the women because it isn't important for the themes of the game. The emotional by line doesn't make sense if you analyze the situation from a lore perspective. That scene showed that he could have a second chance if he could let go of his trauma and not let it literally control him. Even when presented with exactly what he wants, he is unable to change course.
@@FranK-tg7ouAlso, some people don't deserve forgiveness. Sure he can have become a better person, but he still destroyed his kids. He sexually assaulted and abused one of them so badly it led to her death. Even if he had been given time to get to know about his "reform", Brad would be justified (and smart) not to trust or forgive him.
You know, that makes me wonder if it even WAS Marthy. Joy can lead to hallucinations, and at that point Joy literally controlled Brad to make the choice to kill. What if Buddy was taken in by completly unrelated man, and Brad saw that man, that "took" Buddy from him, as Marthy? Not necessarily thinking this is true, but I think it's interesting thought.
For me, the most impactful line in the game was from Cyclops. ‘There are more important things than girls. I should have realized that sooner.’ It really broke a spell in me. For the longest time I felt worthless, for being without someone else, for not being in a relationship. Staking my happiness on the absolute sureness inside me that this would make me happy. That line sorta made me realize; that love I was searching for? All it is, is something not in my life. It isn’t the end all be all. The way to this ‘happiness’ I was in search of was not through a single finite goal, but self reflection, and understanding that life isn’t only worth living, for others. It’s a bit, as they say, ‘cringe’ that realization came from a game, I know, but considering cyclops is the most diehard to the attitude of ‘nothing else matters except the girl’ up to that point, it struck a chord.
The realization that another person cannot be responsible for your happiness is a hard one to achieve. There is nothing cringe about a story, any story, helping you figure that out. It's a hard lesson. You're gonna be okay. Keep at it, one step at a time. You're doing good.
This is an amazing recap of the game. I was reminded of Hopeless's existence again. Five and Benny's adventures! I think the everyone's alive route showed how fun it is for a boys roadtrip. But also how none of the boys grow under without self-reflection.
with little problems in their journey, they merely become yet another gang in th Lisa world, killing people in the name of getting the girl. Some of them, namly benny, may not have bad intentions for her, but in the end that's how they appear to others and to the girl.
You know now that I think about it each ending reflects the personality of each character . Cyclops loved the apocalyptic land because he was just a janitor who peaked at school and didn’t want to open up because it would make him look like a loser something he hated and in then end his pride got him killed. Lanks was timid but whit his ending shows he felt entitled to a reward and show he wanted the girl no matter what ( witch makes me wonder was he trying to protect Benny from the girl or he was mad that she chose Benny instead of him). And Benny just wanted to be with his friends , it didn’t matter to him the girl or morals he just wanted to help his friends with this in the hope to reconnect and mend their friendship.
I really connected with this game, because a lot of my childhood abuse was connected to my father's insecurity about his masculinity. My abuse was pretty severe, and was mostly emotional abuse, some sexual abuse, and a tiny bit of physical abuse. Entering into adulthood, I lacked any tools to sincerely connect to people. I couldn't be vulnerable because I thought that's not what a man does. When Lanks said that he couldn't tell his friends about his assault, that really hit me in the feels. I only started opening up that some of my abuse was sexual last year, and it's been over a decade since I last saw that side of my family. It was right around when I finished this game that I finally told the complete version of my story. ____________ They already knew the horrifying things my father told me that weighed me down like lead weights for years. How I'd be a miserable failure probably only fit to collect his garbage. He told me that I would always be useless, that he was the only one who ever actually could love me, that he was the only one who wasn't lying to me. He had me convinced that his ex-wife, my mother, was trying to poison me, which is why I was so small and weak. He told me some pretty graphic stuff when I was only around 9 years old. He knew my mother was insecure about being able to protect her kids from intruders. He drug me into the garage, sat me down on an upside down plastic bucket, and told me that my mother lived in an area surrounded by sex offenders. He told me how evil and predatory people usually were, and how they were all out to get me. He told me that someone would probably break into her house, tie us all up, and then rape my young sisters and mother in front of me, before forcing me to watch as he slit their throats. That's a lot for a 9 year old to hear. You can't help but believe it when you don't have real world experience. He terrified me so much that I'd walk around my mother's house checking the locks like a zombie in the middle of the night. It hurt my mom pretty bad when she caught me doing that and I told her she couldn't protect us. That was my father's only goal with that, as far as I can discern. Carve a scar into my emotional health just to torment his ex. That's a great story to give you an idea of what was going on in my home. Obviously, there was a lot more on top of that. My father was so afraid to be found out as a weak girly man that he was always scheming to sabotage me as soon as I became a "masculine threat." He made my life hell so that he'd never be humiliated again. While this was going on, my much older step sister moved in to our big home. She probably began grooming me somewhere around 12 years old. She'd selectively reveal sexual intimate details about her life and desires to provoke me during my early adolescence. She really mixed me up pretty bad. As time went on, she became more sexual with me and I reciprocated. Because so much of her abuse happened while I slept, I started to think that was kinda normal. Probably the lowest point in my life was around 17 years old when I reciprocated the abuse by walking into her room and groping her, after she had done something to me while I slept. I don't blame myself or anything. I don't even think I had an opportunity to learn how that was wrong, and honestly that wasn't even my worst problem. After years and years of having my mind eviscerated by my father, I had become very mentally sick. I was SO FULL of hatred and so much anger. I stared at my father's unlocked gun cabinet fantasizing about hurting other people, and taking from them what my father took from me. I really thought that's what I wanted. To take a gun to school and show everyone how strong I was. I wasn't strong, my time in the darkness had made me just as weak as my father. And then... a breakthrough. Someone I cared about and trusted pushed me to open up. I don't really know why, but I did. My pain came out like a dam had burst, and they were there to help me sort it all out. I'll always be thankful to them for being there for me during that. I was so dark inside that I routinely took it out on her. It had just become natural to manipulate, but she was so much more wise than me that she'd never put up with my shit that I tried to pull. She'd also explain it to me in a way that I could understand. It was HARD WORK sorting through all of that baggage in my head, and trying to understand who I really was and wanted to be. I spent so many nights crying, but sometimes I was crying in relief instead of anger. My perspective started to turn, and things just started to click. Things weren't as dark as I thought they were. There were always people for my by my side, imperfect as they were. I was surprised to learn that... people were good, actually. Even the ones who did bad were usually doing so because of misconceptions, immaturity, or miscommunications. I realized I've really only met a few actually bad people in my whole life. And wow, the hard work really paid off. I felt like I had shed so many weights I didn't even know were there. I barely even passed my final year in high school. A couple of points difference, and I wouldn't have passed my remedial math class. 5 years later, I got a god damn PHYSICS degree. Yeah, heh, I really surprised myself with that one. I worked on a bunch of cool research, met a bunch of cool people, and made some serious connections with them. My friends and family helped me turn away from that darkness and made me so strong and happy. I have bad days, and I'm still weak in some aspects, but I'm seriously really happy. We're talking 9/10 happy on most days, I'd say. It's pretty great. I'm honestly a little blessed with the cool people around me. Now I'm on to something even cooler. It's stressful, and it's been a lot of work, but I'm ready to change the world. This time, I'm going to make a positive change. That kind of stuff is mostly boring work, but it's really fulfilling. If you're lost in this world, there's a place for you that you can find. Open up to someone you can trust. If you don't have that someone, volunteer somewhere and make some friends. Work a new job with new people, or go to community college, if you can swing it. Go to therapy if you think you should. Seriously, all you have to do is call the number on your medical insurance card to get started, and they'll usually handle the rest. You have to TRY to be better. Trust me, you may think it's a lot of work, but it's REALLY worth it. ________ Lol, and so I suppose to loop back, this game in particular helped me think about the shadow of my father's warped masculinity that stretched over my life still. It was embarrassing and honestly a little humiliating, but opening up about my sexual abuse was like flicking off the last weight dangling on my shoulder. I couldn't really forgive myself for my mutual abuse of my older stepsister, and I had lived with that shame and guilt weighing on me for a long time. I had to say it out loud to myself and then others to really process it, I suppose. I love these Lisa games, because they're such an interesting examination of masculinity, and they have a lot of interesting moments with trauma. I think Hopeful is my favorite, but I could have a bias because it seemed to blow into my life at the right time for me to really be invested in it's themes.
I like how each character outside of Benny is an aspect of modern masculinity. Benny, imo, represents the "soul" of men. Every other guy represents facets of our paradigm of manhood, but the one thing they have in common is that their masculinity is defined by predation. Liam and Clyde are the literal Virgin/Chad meme, the Toxic Masculinity version of the Angel and Devil. Rodrigeuz is a media type who created a Clint Eastwood persona for his DJ job, an affectation and nothing more. He's a podcast Male Guidance type who gives the boys leadership and purpose. Yogurt Masters is a no nonsense Self Improvement guy. Reginald is an old man who helps everyone out if they're nice to him. Heart and the Lovelies are the blackpilled Active Shooter types whose gave into their darkest impulses because they didn't get the love they desperately craved. But even under the Rodrigeuz route, where the whole band feels like one happy family, and everything is going right, is still predicated on that same predation. They are still predators, the woman they seek a non-entity, simply prey to compete over. Even the Cyclops-Joy ending, where you "get what you want", ends with you being a mindless husk and a monster. There seems to be no route that doesn't end in misery for everyone. But here is where the story gets insightful: Benny, the Soul of Man, has to realize he can't get out of this Wasteland of Masculinity by trying to synthesize the toxic impulses he has. They aren't really his friends, because they're driving him to the same bad end: disregarding others. The true path forward offered by the story is this: you have to let these parts of you die. How do you do that? Through emotional work. Benny comes to terms with all the turmoil he's been feeling. He lets Clyde the Cyclops admit to his singular vision (lol) leading them down this path, he lets Liam the lank admit to his weakness, before they fade away. In doing so he sheds relationships based on predatory comraderie. He has one last confrontation with Heart, the nihilistic self indulgence which inevitably consumed all other paths of this kind of masculnity, putting it down for good, and only stumbles forward wanting one thing: friendship. And that's small glimmer of hope we are left with.
@@mutantwormgirl Thanks! But no, I have enough self-awareness to realize I do not have the consistency to churn out content on the regular in video format. RU-vidrs by and large seem to universally regard the platform itself as an ironic obstacle to providing good content, and I'm not sure if I have the patience required for it not to turn into a neurosis. Thanks for the kind words tho.
Found your channel with the Fear and Hunger video, but your narrative style and pacing is really one of the best there is, really hope you cover more games like this, your content is amazing. Greets from south america.
To people who are one hour deep and are now reading the comments A Relationship is not the magic fix you need in order to pull your life around A Relationship is a massive drain of energy. It is a massive investment of time and effort. A Relationship is not something to fix you it is something you can aspire to once you are good. And when you are fine you can look into something more. A Relationship means giving up everything you can for someone you love and once you have given your all you can see the person you love the most in your life be happy This is something beautiful Them giving you their all is meaningless in this exchange. This is not what a relationship is. Receiving. But don't go chasing women thinking it will make your life a good place If you are fucked up then going the extra mile to involve someone else is going to kill you and hurt them.
@@MrThezyga All that this guy said is true, and needing a "cope" for not having a gf is a giant sign that there is something in you that needs addressing. It is not your partner's responsibility to fix you, nor yours to fix them. A relationship is hard work, and thinking it'll somehow make you less insecure or less sad is a massive mistake that WILL negatively affect all parties involved.
You know what happens? Fear. Fear that, you are just wasting time. Fear that, in that time that you would expend "Getting better", opportunities are going to fly away. Fear that, You will get too old, or even die before really meeting someone. This is why we need friends, people, around us, to calm this fear. That "Special relationship" is not the only way you can connect to people. And it helps, because you realise we all have this kind of fears, and we are able to aid eachother. Im fearful man. But im glad my friends keep me togheter.
@@Cogu985 Humans are social creatures. This idea that you need to 'fix' yourself before you're worthy of relationships is one of the more sociopathic truisms that gets repeated by weirdos on the internet. Most healthy relationships exist despite obvious flaws, not in the absence of them.
Lisa fangames, without a doubt, are the best application of worldbuilding from the original I've seen. It pains a picture that everyone has a story, we just have to see the different sides to all of them. The things they did to get where they are and everything they went through, everyone has those. The different route off the main 4 characters, with very noticeable, but subtle changes really sells it for me. Weird as it says but a theme of going after the last girl is a bit of an under utilized concept for the lisa games, Hopeful definetly does this the best. Your storytelling is awesome, been 5-6 years ago when i fell in love with my first lisa fangames, Pointless and Hopeful and loved them with a passion ever since. Aside from that, Lisa the Hopeless, a sequel going off the Beltboy route is in the works.
It's always dumbfounding whenever LISA fans dismiss the idea that the LISA series is about, or at least touches on toxic masculinity. Like bro, one of the first fights in Painful is a man bleeding to death telling you "I'm not dead yet you prick, come over here so I can kick your ass!" The new additional campfire scenes in Definitive Edition like Terry, Queen Roger and Olan really help drive that idea in further. Like sure, dudes rock. But toxic masculinity, desperately needing purpose to prove your worth and stoicism will destroy you and everyone you care about. Both of these things are equally true. Fantastic video Worm Girl, good stuff.
@@MarleyBM199 The creator of LISA the Painful Austin Jorgensen, which is the origin point of the series commenting on Toxic Masculinity is an actual martial artist that has a quite clear interest in wrestling. And looking at his performances in martial arts, it's clear he's dedicated to it.
@@MarleyBM199 That just shows your intellectual cowardice. Like what? You'd listen to 'giga chads' that are either miserable as shit or grifting you out by telling you to vent your frustrations on half of the entire human population?
Through the pain mode of Lisa the hopeful and seeing the ending it made me value my friends and my brother more than normal, it taught me that I need to value the people I have in life because I'll never know when I'll lose 'em.
I just wanted to watch this, because I remember the F&H video on this channel, and was like "Hell yeah, I love LISA" and now I'm sitting here rethinking my perspective on a few things. Always cool when examining a story does something like that. Toxic masculinity is hard to avoid... I'm a very emotionally open (and probably mature?) person, but even despite that, and even despite not necessarily having been raised with toxic mindsets, I managed to pick up quite a bit of bs along the way. Be it people calling me a girl for wearing my hair long, telling me to just "man up" when I got bullied, that I must have liked it when a girl assaulted me, or just the usual homophobic bs, these stupid mindsets are everywhere and make it hard to not withdraw and just hide away... Even around "friends". One of mine once literally said "I didn't know you had feelings" after I consoled someone who'd just lost a family member. And relationships are interesting... some people feel like all they need is just another person in their life, who is going to fix them, solve all their issues, and that it'll all be okay, as long as there's someone else... I've been working on shaking that mindset off for the past decade or so. My first relationship failed, because I had the mindset that a partner would complete me, which it obviously didn't and just drained my partner, who wanted to help but couldn't... the last failed because my partner had that mindset, and I couldn't help them. Honestly, I almost feel lucky for not having been born into having to be a guy, because if I was raised with all the bs some guys have to go through, on top of everything i already have to deal with, I probably wouldn't have grown out of being mad at the world and unable to deal with it. Bottling up emotions and being made to feel like you live to be strong is just... awful... and extremely unhealthy. Tl;dr: Toxic masculinity is everywhere, and relationships really aren't everything Accept your emotions, work on dealing with them in a healthy way, and people will be much more happy to be around you.
Glad to see you covering LISA content. I know it's one of those "deep cut fangame fanmod fanmod fangame" type deals, but I'd love to see some short videos or "minisodes" about LISA the Pointless' Scholar of the Wilbur Sin. That game has hundreds of little small isolated stories between the NPCs that the player will never see in one or even two playthroughs.
for beating the hardest rider i used beltboys weirdass arsenal and akimbo fingers since it does massive damage to everyone, then i kinda just slugged the rest of the fight prioritizing not dying until hardest riders second phase where he calls in 4 after-images and i just spammed tnt (dont forget you can trade for tnt at the last shops) and various firebombs until i won. hope that helps for anyone else struggling with hardest rider. --- hello you people im back again beltboy route: weirdass arsenal akimbo fingers spam (does massive damage to everyone). prioritize not dying. use firebombs and tnt in the last phase, you can trade for tnt in the last shop lanks route: hes basically got godmode im sure you can do it youll be fine, dont forget tnt though if you wanna get that extra damage in clyde route: pray? in all seriousness youll want his weirdass armor that heavily buffs his defenses and melts his brain for 15% of his hp every turn you know the drill. me personally i think having reginald in your party is essential (remember you can recruit him! in every route too!). Reginald should be keeping everyone alive while clyde spams taunt because reginald is frail as raw spaghetti. Since clyde is tanking, remember to use furious bull (WWW) too because that move actually doubles his defense, buffs his crit chance to 10% and gives him a 25% chance to counter attack (remember youve taunted!). Alchohol makes you drunk, which gives you an attack bonus btw. if you have the TP at the end of your rampage (you should anyways), use your best attack or use an item or two to keep reginald alive as he's the only reason your alive at this point. For his final phase spam tnt. Rodriguez route: this ones easy enough that i did it on my first try, just use all these techniques and me personally i really like rodriguez ass-weapon but i think hes more useful as a diet lanks with his healing. things to remember: reginald can be recruited on every route ([in pain mode], this guides about pain mode anyway so idk why im typing this out) drunk buff is good if you die, you lose, so remember to prioritize not dying (and losing) tnt is good (can be traded for at the last shop) the best (non-ass equipment) can be traded for at the last shop, use this link if your a weenie and werent a bottle junkie (its ok i understand ) www.saveeditonline.com/
This is absolutely amazing, I'd love to see a similar analysis of Pointless, your videos are very well written with narration that's not too intrusive that it makes for something annoying to listen to but at the same time not too monotone or plain that it makes it boring or disinteresting. Absolutely love these recaps and analyses of games!
@@mutantwormgirl Whereas SOTWS with Infinity Unfolds would be a fun analysis, I think you should stick with OG Pointless for lore analysis Alternatively you can just say that some parts of SotWS is non-canon and still have them in
I think you can argue that one of the main themes of the game is letting go of toxic friends. While they are his friends it can't be denied that Cyclops and Lanks are not the best influences on him. Cyclops is the more obvious example as his literal bullheadedness is what is driving the gang toward the immoral goal and his aggressive personality stamps out discussion to the contrary. Lanks is a little less obvious but it shows that he was the one who broke up Belltboy and the girl, he may argue it is for Beltboy's safety but it shows a clear sign of manipulation on his part to achieve what he wants from his friends. The only way for Beltboy to improve is to drop the negative influences from his life, no matter how comforting or attached he may be to them and ultimately he accomplishes this in the solo ending.
i really enjoyed this breakdown, the guys choose the easier route to not think of the girl as a person and it lead to their tragic end, only beltboy finally dealing with his own trauma and thinking of the girl more as another human being with their own feelings and motivation can there be hope. it's a message often lost because of how loud and chronically online the other messages are. so i'm glad more media like this exist, and for free
You should check out Lisa: Lovely Conspiracy. It's a fan game meant as a side story to Lisa: The Hopeful, starring a gang of Lovelies who have defected from the Lovely gang to try and find the girl on their own. It's really good.
I like how you not only explain the story of the game but also comment about the gameplay and give tips for the battles, which can help people that get into the game through your video. Also the best part is the memes you sprinkle through the videos, they are so funny and even funnier when mixed witht the context of the video.
To me, this game feels darker than the fear and hunger games, which is partially because of the more in depth look into the characters and their feelings, but also because of the takes on morality. Fear and hunger is a world where in many places morality doesn’t really exist, with the protagonists often being the ones to be the saviors doing the right thing. Lisa is about a world where you don’t even have a strong moral foundation with the characters you’re playing as, because they lived in a world that used to have plenty of morals, but that all got ruined by everyone’s shortsighted views on the apocalypse and how to respond. At least with the fear and hunger games, an ending that might not be good for you can still help other people, but most of these endings just go to show just how shortsighted and bad anyone can be.
I know you said many people have made videos about Lisa The Painful/Joyful, but please consider doing one. I immediately searched for them after watching this video, and was disappointed to find that none of them come close to your level of quality. Also, all of them are by men.
Just dropping in to say I’m head over heels for your ability to bring lucidity and feeling to such harsh content - also your narration is so soothing ❤
Finally! Thank you for a new video! Know that there is people that really love the kind of work you put in to your videos! I for one really hate how tiktok and such push videos to being this 1 min shorts whit no real deapth in it. Thanks again :)
Its a bit weird that the best ending comes from you never talking with your friends during the breaks between matches, you would think that openning up and discussing feelings of shame, vulnerability and comraderie would lead to a better ending, I don't get why not talking about your feelings leads to a better ending where you are able to empathize with the girl, feels a bit contradictory.
You’ve been killing it with the uploads. I came for Fear and Hunger, stayed for your Cataclysm series, and now you’re covering my favorite Indie title. Love your videos, awesome attention to detail.
Beltboy is a foil for Buzzo, its not a coincidence they have similar names, the same backstory and even the same grin on their face, they're meant to parallel each other and share the same grief. However, the biggest difference is that Buzzo drowned in his grief and trauma and threw it at the world, Beltboy didn't because he had a support system that allowed him to learn a valuable lesson, "There are more important things than girls". Thats why Five saved him, Buzzo had to die to let go of Lisa, Beltboy let go of his childhood crush before he had his final fight with Hart. Its why in his dying moments he called out for a friend and why he earned Five's trust
