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juushikaSomeone turned off the air conditioner last night and I tell you, the silence of the house this morning was almost uncanny. The guinea pigs shuffling and talking to themselves near echoed through the house. You learn to tune out the sound of the AC, but never quite dismiss it—and it was lovely to live without it for a bit.
Penny Arcade Adventures: On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness: Episode One
Adventure RPG
Created by Penny Arcade and Hothead Games, 2008
Available for Xbox, Windows, Mac and Linux
Game website
Penny Arcade
New Arcadia appears to be a peaceful, ordinary place—except that the darkest evil lurks beneath its quiet streets. When a gigantic robot destroys your house, you team up with Gabe and Tycho of the Starting Developments Detective Agency to discover what the robot is—a journey which, in this first episode, takes you from alley to boardwalk, pits you against mimes and clowns, and ends with your first boss battle. Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness is an episodic game; Episode One is less than ten hours long and takes the player up to level 15, but levels, character, and abilities will carry over into the sequels. With script and humor pulled straight from the Penny Arcade comic, a promising but inconsistent battle system, and a mix of bulky 3D and amazing 2D comic cut scenes, the game is quite good, fun to play, but not perfect. It will appeal most to fans of the comic and I do recommend it—but I hope that the following episodes are even better.
If you read and enjoy Penny Arcade, then you will probably enjoy the plot and script of Episode One. The writer is the same, many of the characters are the same, and the irreverent, immature, sometimes disgusting humor is the same. I love Penny Arcade, and found the script quite amusing. Devon reads it only infrequently, and while he enjoyed watching the game some of the jokes went over his head. With the many similarities to the comic, the setting of New Arcadia—a faceless modern American city fulled with magic and monsters similar to the Cthulhu Mythos—seems almost out of place. The rhyme and reason behind your foes is sometimes similarly illogical, but the story approaches both setting and plot with barefaced innocence: Of course there are terrifying Elder Gods hidden beneath the streets of suburbia. Of course clowns are evil and want to kill you. As a result, the illogical aspects become humorously absurd, part and parcel of Penny Arcade's humor and writing style. The story and the game are brief and this comes as a bit of a surprise but is due, of course, to the episodic nature of the game.
The fighting style is a slightly different take on turn-based combat: each character can use items, basic attacks, and special attacks, and each new option becomes available a few moments after the prior option so that the player must constantly weigh the benefit of a stronger special attack against the benefit of a faster basic attack. Along with varying enemy resistances, essential items, and special characters that aid you in combat, the battles are turn based without the waiting and "x" button mashing usually associated with the game type. Even more exciting: after finishing tutorials and leaving for the greater world, combat takes goes from easy to very difficult—while not impossible, every single battle demands attention and strategy. Items and timing become essential. The concept of grinding is obliterated. To a frequent RPG player, this is a refreshing change. It is rare to be so continually challenged—rare, and invigorating. Unfortunately, after a few more levels, the battles get easier—and if you go to locations out of the intended order, many battles are just boring. After those wonderful, difficult battles, the easy ones are a let down. I would have loved to see the combat remain challenging throughout.
The game's style and appearance is exceptional but flawed. At the beginning, the player creates a character (given a limited array of body types, outfits, features, and coloring to chose from). It's a nice bit of self-insertion if you chose to go that way—I created a large-nosed dark-haired male because I had no real desire to attempt another CG copy of myself. This character joins Gabe and Tycho, appearing in 3D during gameplay and seamlessly integrated into the 2D cut scenes. The 3D aspects are skillful but far from perfect: angles and shadows are too sharp, clashing with the comic art style. The 2D cut scenes, on the other hand, are exceptional. The player's character appears as if he has always been there and the style from the comic is reproduced faithfully. Cutscenes read like an extended special story from the Penny Arcade comic—and I could imagine nothing better. (More images are available on the game's website.)
How much you will enjoy (and, probably, want to play) On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness: Episode One is probably directly correlated to how much you enjoy (and want to read) the Penny Arcade comic. If you enjoy the art, characters, and the humor of Penny Arcade, then this game is probably right up your alley. It's not unlike the comic's short bouts of continuity, extended this time into an entire book: the characters and writing are similar, but the setting is different and there are no gaming jokes. The story is certainly unique and wonderfully presented. The gameplay is above average and flawed mostly because it is inconsistent—hopefully this will improve in later episodes. I enjoyed the game and I'm looking forward to future installments. I also recommend it—the cheaper episodic releases provide the opportunity to check out the game with a minimum investment, and this is a capable, fun game that shows real promise.
Adventure RPG
Created by Penny Arcade and Hothead Games, 2008
Available for Xbox, Windows, Mac and Linux
Game website
Penny Arcade
New Arcadia appears to be a peaceful, ordinary place—except that the darkest evil lurks beneath its quiet streets. When a gigantic robot destroys your house, you team up with Gabe and Tycho of the Starting Developments Detective Agency to discover what the robot is—a journey which, in this first episode, takes you from alley to boardwalk, pits you against mimes and clowns, and ends with your first boss battle. Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness is an episodic game; Episode One is less than ten hours long and takes the player up to level 15, but levels, character, and abilities will carry over into the sequels. With script and humor pulled straight from the Penny Arcade comic, a promising but inconsistent battle system, and a mix of bulky 3D and amazing 2D comic cut scenes, the game is quite good, fun to play, but not perfect. It will appeal most to fans of the comic and I do recommend it—but I hope that the following episodes are even better.
If you read and enjoy Penny Arcade, then you will probably enjoy the plot and script of Episode One. The writer is the same, many of the characters are the same, and the irreverent, immature, sometimes disgusting humor is the same. I love Penny Arcade, and found the script quite amusing. Devon reads it only infrequently, and while he enjoyed watching the game some of the jokes went over his head. With the many similarities to the comic, the setting of New Arcadia—a faceless modern American city fulled with magic and monsters similar to the Cthulhu Mythos—seems almost out of place. The rhyme and reason behind your foes is sometimes similarly illogical, but the story approaches both setting and plot with barefaced innocence: Of course there are terrifying Elder Gods hidden beneath the streets of suburbia. Of course clowns are evil and want to kill you. As a result, the illogical aspects become humorously absurd, part and parcel of Penny Arcade's humor and writing style. The story and the game are brief and this comes as a bit of a surprise but is due, of course, to the episodic nature of the game.
The fighting style is a slightly different take on turn-based combat: each character can use items, basic attacks, and special attacks, and each new option becomes available a few moments after the prior option so that the player must constantly weigh the benefit of a stronger special attack against the benefit of a faster basic attack. Along with varying enemy resistances, essential items, and special characters that aid you in combat, the battles are turn based without the waiting and "x" button mashing usually associated with the game type. Even more exciting: after finishing tutorials and leaving for the greater world, combat takes goes from easy to very difficult—while not impossible, every single battle demands attention and strategy. Items and timing become essential. The concept of grinding is obliterated. To a frequent RPG player, this is a refreshing change. It is rare to be so continually challenged—rare, and invigorating. Unfortunately, after a few more levels, the battles get easier—and if you go to locations out of the intended order, many battles are just boring. After those wonderful, difficult battles, the easy ones are a let down. I would have loved to see the combat remain challenging throughout.
The game's style and appearance is exceptional but flawed. At the beginning, the player creates a character (given a limited array of body types, outfits, features, and coloring to chose from). It's a nice bit of self-insertion if you chose to go that way—I created a large-nosed dark-haired male because I had no real desire to attempt another CG copy of myself. This character joins Gabe and Tycho, appearing in 3D during gameplay and seamlessly integrated into the 2D cut scenes. The 3D aspects are skillful but far from perfect: angles and shadows are too sharp, clashing with the comic art style. The 2D cut scenes, on the other hand, are exceptional. The player's character appears as if he has always been there and the style from the comic is reproduced faithfully. Cutscenes read like an extended special story from the Penny Arcade comic—and I could imagine nothing better. (More images are available on the game's website.)
How much you will enjoy (and, probably, want to play) On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness: Episode One is probably directly correlated to how much you enjoy (and want to read) the Penny Arcade comic. If you enjoy the art, characters, and the humor of Penny Arcade, then this game is probably right up your alley. It's not unlike the comic's short bouts of continuity, extended this time into an entire book: the characters and writing are similar, but the setting is different and there are no gaming jokes. The story is certainly unique and wonderfully presented. The gameplay is above average and flawed mostly because it is inconsistent—hopefully this will improve in later episodes. I enjoyed the game and I'm looking forward to future installments. I also recommend it—the cheaper episodic releases provide the opportunity to check out the game with a minimum investment, and this is a capable, fun game that shows real promise.
