Serial Experiments Lain

~ Review based on lainTSX adaptation ~

I've been a lain fan for a few years now, it's one of my favourite pieces of work all-time and feels odd that I've played the game for the first time so far on the road. I remember watching a few minutes of gameplay after I finished the anime for the first time and it was so confusing that I decided to forget about its existence.

My initial experience with Serial Experiments Lain game is a good example of the main downside of the game as a whole, it's not an intuitive UI, it's hard to get into it compared to the anime. In fact, the gameplay mechanics are inexistent, maybe it can be called a visual novel, but, in my opinion, it is closer to an interactive audiobook.

The only thing you'll be doing is visiting different 'nodes' on a program, and each node will be a different file, mostly consisting of audio files of characters talking with random arts/landscapes in the background. Occasionally you'll find short video files, and the only real game gimmick is using Lain to navigate these files and search for a specific file that upgrades your software so you can access more nodes.

Understanding the basics of the game is a bit tricky, but it's not complex at all. There are different types of audio files based on which character it belongs to, or based on overall context. Reading an introductory guide will ease the initial confusion a lot, so I recommend it.

What makes this weird visual audiobook with unpractical UI extremely good is the overall writing and atmosphere. The plot is not the same as the anime, but they share a very large number of similarities. Lain being the protagonist is the main one, of course, but the huge emphasis in existentialism, memories, AI, mental illness (and so on) is also present. They are good complements of each other. The anime is a bit more surreal, focusing heavily on visual aesthetics, while the game is a bit more straightforward, reaching a wider range of themes in the story.

Different from the anime, there's a second protagonist in the game called Yonera Touko, Lain's psychiatrist. Lain is not linked with technology from the beginning, so there's a huge focus on mental illness, especially schizophrenia. The game can be played linearly, but it's up to you to choose the order you'll be viewing the nodes, so you might as well see events far in the plot in the first 10 minutes. I started doing it kinda randomly, but I switched to linear after a hour or so, just try it out and choose what you're more comfortable with.

For a 1998 game, S.E.Lain is massive, there's a deep exploration on topics like AI, technology, virtual reality, depression, suicide, schizophrenia, divorce and its impact on children, deception, dysphoria, extreme delusion, career choosing, even capitalism to some extent. The game is way more direct, full of information than the anime, it's all over the place, a lot of trauma filled scenarios and unsettling conversations perfectly written and performed, some segments are still a bit abstract, but it's nowhere as nonsensical.

Lain and Touko's developments are massive, they are extremely different yet assimilate in a lot of problems, paranoias, almost merging to represent one same entity. Once you get into the plot, you'll be craving for more and more, until you reach the very ending (that 'exists' this time around). It's a very niche experience, but I do believe every Lain fan should give the game a try, it's one hell of a psychological ride.