Highlights
- Lisa: The Painful is a dark and mature RPG with a deep story that explores sensitive topics like abuse, depression, and self-harm.
- Players will encounter various unique characters in the game who can join their party, each with their own history, motivations, and abilities.
Lisa: The Painful is a Role-Playing Game that takes place in a Post-Apocalyptic world after a mysterious white flash engulfs a village called Olathe that eradicates all female life. Chaos descends, and the devolution of society cripples the world in Lisa: The Painful. The story follows Brad, a multifaceted tortured soul who sets out to do a good thing the wrong way when his adopted child vanishes in a gruesome scene. Lisa: The Painful is a bleak and very much mature tones game that has an extensively deep story that touches on sensitive topics like abuse, depression, and self-harm.
Players will trek through the intense subject of Lisa: The Painful, slashing through encounters and making hard decisions. Along the way through Brad's adventure, players will find characters scattered throughout the game's setting that will join them on their quest. Each character has their own set of history, motives, personality, and unique traits that make them a solid addition to Brad's party. Among the expansive roster of characters available, players will want to pay close attention to their party needs for support, damage, etc. Here are some of the best party members to have in Lisa: The Painful.
8 Ajeet Mandeep
The king of pointing fingers, Ajeet Mandeep uses his supernatural Punjabi Pokes to inflict harmful status effects on targets while being a sturdy character to take into long-winded encounters. Ajeet is a brawler with several hard-hitting moves that will become available as he levels up, such as the Abyssal Hammer and Rocket Skewer.
Ajeet is a character obtained in Skull Town that players can reach by travelings through the Sands. Players should note that Ajeet is opposed to Joy users and will not join the party if the player has used Joy more than two times.
7 RT
RT is an excellent character for the party for his strength and durability. With a relatively monstrous design, RT is a homeless man that Brad encounters in the Beehive brothel in the Crossroads area. RT doesn't talk much aside from the usual grunt but throws himself into battle with a wild vigor.
RT has several strong physical attacks in addition to powerful effects usually cast by his duffle bag. To obtain RT, players must trade RT Duffie for his loyalty which can be found in the Sands area.
6 Shocklord
Shocklord appears as a shirtless man wearing a brown vest and a purple wrestling mask and encounters Brad for the first time after they team up and attempt to win the Tag Team championship together at the EWC.
At the same time, a key factor about Shocklord is that he can be the best or worse character depending on the player's taste. Shocklord only has access to one highly damaging move, but it may be all a party needs. Shocklord can be obtained at the EWC after winning the Tag Team championship.
5 Nern Guan
Guan is a character that can be invited to the party pretty early in the game and has a wide range of skills that make him a perfect support for any team. Guan has several skills that can deal damage, so he can compete in a fight, but he also has excellent support skills that can replenish most of the action currency in the game.
Guan is a historian in Lisa: The Painful and is a very talkative fellow; Guan can be invited by finding him on Nern's cliff near the crossroads and must listen to several stories until he decides to join the party.
4 Olan Hoyt
A family man like Brad, Olan spends his time drowning his sorrows in a bar which is where the player will first encounter him. Olan is a range character gifted in the art of archery and inflicting poison on enemies.
Olan is also one of the few characters in the game to use TP instead of SP and is an overall great ranged damage party member. To invite Olan to the party, players must first buy him and drink, and Olan will join, no questions asked.
3 Terry Hintz
Terry Hintz is a fan favorite among avid Lisa: The Painful fans and is one of the more light-hearted characters Brad meets throughout the story and is one of the first party members players will get once they start the game.
Terry is a great support character who aids the player with his hints and gives positive effects to other party members. While at the start, Terry may not seem like a must-have, leveling him up grants him access to "The Coolest Dance," which is an incredibly powerful attack worth having.
2 Birdie Hall
Birdie is another lost soul devastated by the death of his two sons who have decided to bury his grief in alcoholism at the local bar as he cries out about his family. Birdie has his ups and downs as a party member, a positive being that he can place affective debuffs on enemies with his gasoline spit, making targets vulnerable to fire damage.
The downfall of Birdie comes with his dependency to drink, which causes his stats to suffer. Birdie can be found in a bar in the Crossroads area and will join the party if players gift him Olathian Whiskey.
1 Bo Wyatt
Bo Wyatt is a peculiar man in a peculiar world: he has a very unique design compared to the rest of the available cast of characters but not the most bizarre. Brad finds Bo in The Muddy Waters playing the guitar. Bo is a terrific pick for a supporting character, with his ballads curing many Ailments placed on other party members.
To invite Bo to the party, players must first find his brother's record. Retrieving the record and returning it to Bo will win his favor, and he will join the party to find his missing brother.
Lisa: The Painful - Definitive Edition is available on Nintendo Switch, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, and PC.