And you don't seem to understand...
March 29, 2021 1:16 PM   Subscribe

Q: I'm confused about the game
A: Amazing! That means the game is working properly.
Serial Experiments Lain was a mind blowing, confusing anime. The Playstation game based on it was even moreso. If you want to experience this confusion first hand, it is now available in a browser emulator. (Best played in a Chromium browser).
posted by MartinWisse (18 comments total) 38 users marked this as a favorite
 
Ahhh, Lain is my favorite but I've never gotten a chance to play the game. So excited, thanks for posting!
posted by thebots at 1:30 PM on March 29, 2021


Just remembered an old bookmark for The Serial Experiments Lain Game Translation Project (2008-2014) that worked to translate the game into English and formed the base translation for this project.
posted by kenyatta at 1:45 PM on March 29, 2021 [5 favorites]


Definitely need to revisit Lain, and had no idea this existed. But if I'm gonna take on a VN it probably has to be Steins;Gate, which I've heard is fantastic.
posted by BlackLeotardFront at 1:53 PM on March 29, 2021 [2 favorites]


I love that even with the translation and re-making the game, the author still is unsure about it all works. Very Lain.
posted by simmering octagon at 2:09 PM on March 29, 2021


Huh. Playing this game has given me absolute control over everyone's mind and reality itself. Dialogue with my various alter-egos suggests that I should erase myself from the collective memory, but that kind of sounds like a bummer? Please advise.
posted by kyrademon at 2:27 PM on March 29, 2021 [5 favorites]


At least the setting is always contemporary.
posted by star gentle uterus at 2:32 PM on March 29, 2021 [3 favorites]


I remember watching some of this as a teen and being confused and depressed, never finished it... but some of the aesthetics have stuck with me, the character in their computer den with all of the glowing monitors is pretty iconic cyberpunk imagery.

The game is interesting, moreso to read about, than to actually play. Kind of something that happens when really experimenting or getting post-modern with the medium.
posted by GoblinHoney at 2:33 PM on March 29, 2021


Checking my order history I see I got the box set in early 2002, when AAPL was ~$25 IIRC. These videos cost me $27,000 by that measure so I guess I should watch it.
posted by Heywood Mogroot III at 2:38 PM on March 29, 2021 [2 favorites]


A group used to be working on recreating the Copland OS as seen on Lain's NAVI computer in the series, but alas the project has long been abandoned.
posted by star gentle uterus at 4:02 PM on March 29, 2021 [3 favorites]


Wow I had no idea there was a game. Lain was...something else.
posted by Amplify at 4:26 PM on March 29, 2021


At least the setting is always contemporary.

Obligatory PRESENT DAY - PRESENT TIME
posted by automatronic at 4:28 PM on March 29, 2021 [5 favorites]


It's interesting. Near as I can tell, it has a similar structure to Her Story, except that instead of being able to create searches in a database of recordings, you branch from recording to recording with key words. Presumably, you similarly just stop playing when you're satisfied?
posted by Reyturner at 9:32 PM on March 29, 2021


dammit i just lost the game
posted by not_on_display at 10:33 PM on March 29, 2021 [2 favorites]


One more bummer note: on a random Twitter thread today I learned that Bôa, the band that sings the OP song "Duvet", isn't some small indie band that somehow got discovered by the show's creators, it was founded by Steve and Jasmine Rodgers, the children of Bad Company singer Paul Rodgers and his Japanese now ex-wife Michiko Shimizu.
posted by star gentle uterus at 10:49 PM on March 29, 2021 [1 favorite]


I really need to rewatch Lain. The amazing thing is that what was meant to be scary and dystopian at the time now feels like an absolutely utopian view of technology...
posted by wooh at 1:13 AM on March 30, 2021 [1 favorite]


Nitpicking, but I think it's a JavaScript remake using the original assets, not an emulated version.
posted by RobotVoodooPower at 9:55 AM on March 30, 2021


The anime is currently on Funimation (in the US, at least.)
posted by ChurchHatesTucker at 10:46 AM on March 30, 2021


Yeah, bôa had some good stuff ("Duvet" isn't bad, but it's not their best). Both of their albums are enjoyable. They never get too far out of their light-rock sweet-indie-female-vocals groove (although "Scoring", "Little Miss", and "Angry" try), but they do what they do well.

Also, more on-topic: I loved the anime, never played the game, thrilled to see it ported!
posted by jackbishop at 3:19 PM on April 2, 2021


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