Damn.

This, like the title says, is really painful.

The game goes through really tough themes, and precaution should be taken if sensitive to the material. Right off the bat, in the main menu, we see a girl hung to death. The story itself is personal, with the world taking a backseat. You're given hints of what it's like, but never really explore in depth, which to me is great. It leaves a bit of mystery. The title says "The miserable journey of a broken man," and it's true. I could leave it there. But eh I wanna get a little bit of details here. It's a simple story about trying to find your adopted daughter after she's been kidnapped. Nothing will stand in the way of Brad Armstrong and his trusty companions, and oh boy are these companions a lot of fun.

The RPG system with companions is the best I've ever seen. You don't want them to live because you like them (even though every companion is so much fun in their own right), you care because if they perish, the game itself is harder for you. This makes the combat system refreshing, as you need all the help you can get. Items, companions, etc. Inventory management is a big deal. Firebombs are extremely useful, but you need to pick the right time to use them.

You also have to choose if you want to keep your arms or, lets say, kill a party member. Losing your arm lowers every stat by a bit, and even loses a few skill moves. You can lose your arm again as well, which makes the game significantly harder.

All the enemies in the game are unique (with a few exceptions for the few possible grinding sections) which gives every battle a personal feeling to it. When they die, they don't simply fade away. They say something to remind you that these are people, and they freaking explode after they perish, accompanied by sad piano. This can at times come off as hilarious, and this game nails humor.

The game is extremely hilarious and yet superbly dark. At first it's got a lot of dark humor, but as time goes on the humor tends to slip into extremely dark, where you can still have a laugh, but the effects do take it's toll on your overall mood. Still, the game offers many experiences that'll make you chuckle.

Did I mention the music yet? It's soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo good. I bought the original soundtrack about halfway through the game. The soundtrack alone deserves to have money thrown at it. It has this scalpal sharp tone that exemplifies every scene you're in. It's grating and loud at times, but at the very best moments where it's used very well.

The main game I finished in about 13 hours. The DLC, 4.

Overall, I very much enjoyed this game.

It's an experience that will stick with you, on a personal level. And, even though it gets very real with you at times, it does offer hope. We can be better people if we tried. Not letting our past experiences dictate who we will be, even though most of the time we're trapped as that's all we've experienced in the world. Simply choose for yourself, not for others. Be joyful, my dude.