Please, log in. Check your mail. There’s something interesting for you to see.
If you’ve not heard of Serial Experiments Lain, I don’t blame you. It’s a cult classic anime that immerses itself in themes of identity, conspiracy, addiction and mental health. It follows a young girl, Lain, whose life changes forever after she receives an email from a classmate who had sadly killed themselves the previous week. The email was sent on ‘The Wired,’ a system that has parallels with the modern Internet. She begins as someone with no technical prowess but becomes increasingly more adept as the story progresses, modifying her NAVI to absurd levels. It’s widely accepted that Lain has an unconventional and complex narrative that necessitates multiple viewings in order to fully understand the plot.
In this article, we will be covering the wonderful translation recently located at this github address and also a web-based version. The passion that Lain fans have for the source material and making it accessible to everyone cannot be understated. All screenshots will be from the PSX version. This is for personal preference, with the requisite CRT filter just because I can. It’s also important to note that you don’t have to experience the anime first, but it may help.
Serial Special Features Lain
The video-game companion piece to the anime does not follow the same plot. It’s hard to even describe it as a game, more like an experience. The creators themselves did not call it a game; they called it ‘Psycho-Stretch-Ware.’ After logging into Lain’s NAVI, you can begin to navigate a web of admittedly confusing shards of narrative. Each point of interest in the NAVI interface represents information, be it from audio recordings, memories in the form of video or readable text. You’ll find that at first, a lot of information is blocked from you. Try to access it, and Lain will try to grab it, only to get an electric shock.
Information is only revealed as you begin to unlock pieces of the puzzle. Previously blocked nodes become accessible. Select left or right, and Lain will walk in those directions. Up or down, and she will float in those respective directions. On disc 1, there are 22 floors of nodes for you to explore. On disc 2, there are 13. After you’ve done a bit of exploring, you’ll soon feel the sheer size of the narrative set before you.
Something to keep in mind for the PSX translation is that this is only a cut-scene and text translation. The audio is still in Japanese, for those who prefer dubbed content.
Serial Experiments Migraine (Affectionately)
Serial Experiments Lain is supposed to be confusing, in both game and anime form. So much so that even though I personally watched the anime prior to playing the game to get a better understanding of what the series is about, I still struggled to push past the confusion. Finding nodes that you can interact with will have you bouncing around the NAVI interface, from plot point to plot point. This seems to indicate that it is intended by the game designers to have a somewhat non-linear narrative where each player has a unique experience.
To conclude, if you’re expecting Serial Experiments Lain to have physical gameplay with a character to move around, this isn’t what you’re looking for. If, however, you’re looking for more insight into the Lain lore and have patience and passion for proto-visual novels, then I’d say play the online version of the game or emulate the PSX version. Maybe you’ll have a better time with it than I did.
This series of articles is one of exploration. I’m personally happy that I gave this a try, even if I struggled with it.
Post Comment