Solo Dev Reflects on Decade-Old Horror RPG LISA Ahead of Definitive Edition
In an era where remakes and remasters are not only commercially successful but also highly anticipated, it comes as no surprise that nine years after the initial release of the cult classic indie horror RPG LISA the Painful, LISA: Definitive Edition is on the verge of launching. However, for solo developer Austin Jorgensen, this experience goes beyond just a remastering; it is a chance to reconnect.
Netflix, the popular streaming service, has announced plans to enter the game streaming service industry, joining the ranks of Stadia and xCloud. Jorgensen is collaborating with publisher Serenity Forge to revamp both LISA the Painful and its sequel LISA the Joyful, transforming them from their RPG Maker origins into a custom-built engine based on Unity. However, due to delays caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, LISA: Definitive Edition has the potential to become more than just the sum of its parts. This situation has put Jorgensen, who is not typically one to reflect, in an intriguing position. He recently sat down for an interview with Game Rant to discuss the upcoming remaster and the perspective it has given him.
Jorgensen emphasized that he does not intend to change the core experience of LISA, unlike the approach taken by the Final Fantasy 7 Remake. Instead, he aims to expand upon what came before and delve deeper into the meaning and message of his work. He stated, “I would say that the thing I am most excited about is that it’s the same game, but with a whole new layer, a whole wrapper around it. The intention is to provide people with a different way of looking at it. It invites them to see the same game and characters, but hopefully with new perspectives. They can form opinions guided by unreliable narrators, so to speak.” As part of this additional layer, Jorgensen has added more depth to character interactions and campfire chats. Through these extended opportunities to delve into the characters’ minds, he hopes to bring their humanity to the forefront, showcasing their flaws, struggles, moments of reflection, and even humor.
Even before the release of LISA the Painful, Jorgensen had created a free RPG Maker game called LISA the First, which achieved unexpected success. However, Jorgensen is not one to dwell on the past; he prefers to focus on what lies ahead. Therefore, he did not pay much attention to the popularity of LISA the First until he stumbled upon it on the internet. His reactions to the commercial success of LISA the Painful and LISA the Joyful were similar. Certain aspects of his past works make him cringe. While he acknowledged and felt both awed and humbled by their success, he had little interest in returning to that world until the opportunity to remaster the games arose. However, through the process of remastering, he found that there was still more he wanted to say. “I had distanced myself from the game, moved on, and was interested in working on new projects. I turned my back on it. I wanted to look towards the future, you know, because I was excited about future games. I was motivated to move forward… But through this process of doing the remake, it actually opened me up a little bit. There was something left in the tank… It wasn’t like how I had everything all planned out in my head.”
From a technical standpoint, Jorgensen explained that finding the right balance between introducing new elements and features made possible by Unity while preserving the original RPG Maker spirit has been a challenge. However, without the delays caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, LISA: Definitive Edition would not have gained such depth. “COVID actually gave us a lot of space and opportunities to add new things, which is really amazing… It’s like I had laid that egg, and that bird had flown. I had moved on. The COVID delays have given me a chance to go find it again. At first, I was hesitant, but now it has become an excellent opportunity to elaborate on this intricate story.”
In line with its inspirations from The Last of Us and Earthbound, Jorgensen’s focus for LISA: Definitive Edition seems to be on the narrative and how it can resonate with players. LISA: Definitive Edition is set to release on July 18 for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and PC.
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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 Rant, and the perspective it afforded him.
He stressed he didn’t intend to change the core experience of LISAin 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 Firstand 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 Joyfulbut 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 The 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 PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and PC.
