There's Some Rain on my Precipice!

Pros: Looks Great, fluid control system, battles are satisfying
Cons: Lack of Story as well as real RPG elements

In 2007, web based comic founders Gabe and Tycho (of Penny Arcade) released their very first "actual" video game. Penny Arcade: On The Rain Slick Precipice Of Darkness Episode 1 (perhaps one the longest named games ever created) was met with a pretty good base of responses. Review scores were near the 7.5-8.5 range and write ups (overall) were on the positive side. With the success of the first installment, Gabe and Tycho are at it again! Enter: Penny Arcade: On The Rain Slick Precipice of Darkness Episode 2 (now take a breath, from here on out the name will just be Episode 2). With a few tweaks here and there, this second episode is just as fun as the first and equally just as mindless and easy.

To call Episode two an RPG is to say that Final Fantasy is a dungeon crawler. In all reality, the series is better known as a real time action adventure game with some RPG (albeit light) elements. The fundamentals of battle are what set this series apart from other role playing games and subverts it into a whole other "sub-set" of RPG goodness. Is your mind tweaked yet? Battles are done in real time meaning they consist of a real time combat system similar to the ATB system of Final Fantasy Games, with context sensitive button presses reducing damage or being used to carry out special attacks. In a nut shell, each attack is timed out after performing it allowing your attack bar (or your items bar and super attack bar) to replenish. Once it has done so, BAM, attack again! There is no turn based system here so the battles flow really fast, meaning you have to be paying attention to which character is ready to attack and which one needs to "fill up." The same goes for the enemies as well so don't think they will just sit around and do nothing!

With out giving too much away from the story line and staying in the boundaries of spoiler free game reviews lets just say the story is just as shallow as the first installment. You have to track down yet another giant robot all while doing seek-and-find puzzles, reminiscent of adventure games, where the player must collect items and return them to a character to advance the plot. They can also collect spare robot parts to upgrade their weapons (I told you the RPG elements were light). It's a pretty linear experience seeing as though you are only giving five different locations to explore and are held by the hand when traversing the story line.

The game has definitely improved visual. The characters are crisper, battles are more detailed than ever (and bloodier to boot) and there is just something pleasing about seeing cartoon robots humping fruit! Load times can get frustrating every once in a while but the gameplay/visual presentation makes up for that in a heart beat. Another quick perk worth mention is you can import you character that you created in the first episode into this follow up, kind of nifty!

Penny Arcade: On The Rain Slick Precipice of Darkness Episode Two definitely scratches the itch if your a fan of the first installment as well as the web comic. If your not privy to the scene you may find yourself scratching your head and wondering what in God's name is going on. Enjoyable for what its worth, Episode Two shines in story as well as visual presentation...a solid sequel.

Episode Two Gets a 7.0 out of 10

-GAME HARD-