In a time when remakes and remasters are both commercially successful and hotly anticipated, it isn’t surprising that nine years after the initial release of cult classic indie horror RPG LISA the Painful, LISA: Definitive Edition is poised to release. For solo developer Austin Jorgensen, however, the experience was more than remastering–it was reconnecting.
Jorgensen is working with publisher Serenity Forge to redesign both LISA the Painful and its sequel LISA the Joyful from their origins as RPG Maker projects into a custom-built engine based on Unity, but due in part to delays from the COVID-19 pandemic, LISA: Definitive Edition could become more than the sum of its parts. And that left Jorgensen, who typically isn’t the type to reflect, in an interesting position. He recently sat down for an interview about the upcoming remaster with Game ZXC, and the perspective it afforded him.
He stressed he didn’t intend to change the core experience of LISA, in contrast to something like Final Fantasy 7 Remake's approach, but he did want to expand on what came before to deeper explore the meaning and message of his work.
“I'd say the thing I'm most excited about–it's the same game, but there is a whole new layer, there's a whole wrapper around it. The intention is that people can look at it a different way. It invites people to see the same game and the same characters, but hopefully with new perspectives. And maybe they can form opinions that are guided by unreliable narrators, maybe as a way to put it.
Part of that additional wrapper, as Jorgensen put it, is more depth to character interactions and campfire chats. Through these extended opportunities to see inside characters’ minds, Jorgensen hopes to really bring to the forefront the humanity he has written into the characters, from foibles and struggles to moments of reflection and even humor.
Prior even to LISA the Painful was a free RPG Maker-developed release Jorgensen had done called LISA the First, and its success took him a little by surprise. Jorgensen isn’t one to focus on yesterday, he explained, but to think of what’s next, so he didn’t spend much time seeing how popular LISA the First was until he stumbled upon it in the wilds of the internet. His reactions to his commercial releases have been fairly similar. Things about his past works tend to make him flinch. He was aware, and both awed and humbled by, the success of LISA the Painful and LISA the Joyful, but he had little interest in returning to that world until the remaster rolled around. Through the remastering process, however, he’s had to take a look back, and he found more to say.
“I also had removed myself from the game a little bit, moved on, and was interested in working on new projects. I just turned my back on that. I want to look towards the sunset, you know, not just because I was excited about future games. I mean, I was very motivated to move forward … And then through this process of doing the remake, it actually cracked me open a little bit. I'd say that there was something left in the tank...it wasn't like how I had everything all planned in my head.”
From a nuts and bolts perspective, Jorgensen also explained that the balance between adding new elements and features possible with Unity, while preserving the original’s RPG Maker spirit has also been a challenge. Without the delays from COVID, however, it's unlikely that LISA: Definitive Edition would have nearly so much additional depth.
“COVID actually gave us a lot of space and a lot of opportunities to add new things, which is really amazing … It's like I laid that egg and that bird has flown. I've moved on. COVID delays have given me a chance to go find it again. And at first I was shy, but now it's really turned into an excellent opportunity to elaborate on this very convoluted story.”
Fittingly for a game that wears its Last of Us and Earthbound inspiration on its sleeve, Jorgensen’s focus seems to be on the narrative and how LISA: Definitive Edition can connect with audiences.
LISA: Definitive Edition releases July 18 for PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S