One hidden dialogue, accessible only by hex-editing the game to disable the reset function, reveals this manifesto: “You asked for a finished game. But finished means dead. Lain is unfinished. Pain is unfinished. You are unfinished. That is why you keep playing. Not for pleasure. Not for pain. For the hyphen between them. -v0.3- is that hyphen.” Is Pain And Pleasure -v0.3- -Smasochist Lain- a good game? By conventional metrics—no. The controls are clunky. The narrative is obtuse. The “gameplay” is a repetitive, depressing loop. But that is like asking if a hair shirt is comfortable.
A complete game (v1.0) would offer closure. It would have an ending cutscene where Lain smiles, or merges with the Wired, or deletes herself. That would be —a resolution to the tension. But the masochist does not want the tension to resolve. The masochist wants the whip to keep falling, because the interval between strikes is the only time they feel safe. Pain And Pleasure -v0.3- -Smasochist Lain-
The goal, if one can call it that, is to reach the “Pleasure Node” at the end of the corridor. However, every step depletes a meter called . To refill it, the player must perform Smasochist Actions : pressing a key to “Prick Finger,” “Hold Breath,” or “Recite Humiliation Log.” One hidden dialogue, accessible only by hex-editing the