Rat Exterminator

If anything I’m glad I put it off for so long, as I’ve unintentionally found myself playing it while watching Twin Peaks for the first time and attending multiple “Remembering David Lynch” screenings at my local cinema of both films I’ve never seen before and my absolute favourites of all time. Who’s Lila? is directly influenced by Lynch’s work and feels Lynchian in the way that the narrative unfolds for the player. It even has an on-the-nose reference in the scene where Lila hides in Martha’s closet while a poster for Blue Velvet hangs on the wall directly opposite it.

The characters themselves feel fleshed out and real. William is a sheltered kid still healing from the loss of his overbearingly protective mother who has just become the vessel for a demonic entity. Tanya’s character feels very reminiscent of Laura Palmer in that she was the cool girl who seemingly had it all before meeting her tragic end. Her disappearance and murder is the focal point of the narrative in which the player slowly unfolds. Tanya bears a striking resemblance to Lila which is used by the game to confuse the player into thinking the two are the same as their portraits are switched interchangeably. It was only on my second play through of the game that I even noticed this, as I had initially thought that Lila and Tanya looked the exact same.

The game play is one of the most unique I’ve come across. Initially thinking that our main character just needed help with social cues, the main obstacle Lila faces is that she must contort William’s face to get the reaction she wants out of a conversation. While it is definitely clunky at times with what emotion it thinks it’s displaying, I find myself forgiving it. The use of sound is also utilised in an effective manner, especially in the boiler room under the school. The sound design overall sets the tone for each of the locations while also leading the player on the path of the narrative. When Lila enters The Veil in the burnt down cult apartment, we come across a wax figure that tells us to download DAEMON and to have it open alongside Who’s Lila?. This opens up another side to the game entirely as the DAEMON highlights easily missed items, plot points, and information we wouldn’t have had access to otherwise to further the plot. My only gripe is that I wish it did more. There are only about six instances where DAEMON functions to advance the narrative, two of which only add an extra line of dialogue.

Overall I found myself really engrossed in this game. My only regrets with finally picking it up after so long were that the ARG side had already been long complete. I even felt like coming across Tanya’s Twitter profile was almost “outdated” considering how much the website has changed in the three years since the game was released. I am glad however that I went into it completely blind as it morphed into something I never expected it to.

Who’s Lila? is available to purchase on Steam.