I beat before Phokal: On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness

This game was a seven hour self-indulgent wank-fest that caters specifically to fans of the Penny Arcade guys. Fortunately, I am a fan.

Penny Arcade targets a specific demographic and if one is in said demographic, one just can not get enough of it. This is like the animated comic strip, in video game form. The art style is true to its web strip origins and the humor is in the exact same vein. It continues on with its ruthless profanity and questionable acts of violence. Without dwelling on the morals of killing certain humans beings (the characters in the game itself calls this out), we take the game for what its worth.

The graphics are good. Not realistic but it truly looks like an animated version of the comic strip. They’ve also thrown in some glow effects for good measure. Even though the graphics aren’t complex, they look good and gives the sense that you’re where you are supposed to be, in a comic. I do wish that there was more voice acting though, as most of the dialogue and plot is carried out via text bubbles.

I haven’t played a turn based rpg in a long time, but this is different than what I remember. The combat is very based on the items that you have with you. Items are abundant, so you don’t need to farm them or save up for them. With items, you can fight enemies that are impossible otherwise. At certain sections, the enemies ratchet up the difficulty and those are generally the sections that you’ll need to use items. I think the fight mechanic is pretty good. There is no magic in the game and at the end of every fight, your health completely regenerates. There is a finite number of enemies and at the end of the game, you’ll have maxed out your party at level 15.

For $20, fans of penny arcade and role playing games should definitely pick this up. There are a few nit picks here and there, (such as the game almost bugged out at one point and sometimes the ai pathfinding isn’t all that great) but other things that we can be critical about, such as the inappropriate parts of the storyline, are actually true to form with the original. I would have to say that my largest issue is that the character I created looks like Gargamel, so that’s all i could think of when I was running around.