Precipice of Darkness 3: Random Hilarity

Penny Arcade's On The Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness is a 2D RPG developed by Zeboyd Games. The story follows Gabe and Tycho after the first two games as they battle gods, mimes, walking skulls, and many other assorted enemies during somewhat of an apocalypse.

I played the first Precipice of Darkness, but couldn't get through the second. But while the original two offered 3D graphics, the 3rd installment under a new developer took the oldschool Final Fantasy feel to the game.

So did the oldschool style hinder the gameplay? Or did the new devs take the game to a different level?

Warning: If you intended to play the game, screenshots = SPOILER ALERT

Thoughts 

I never really read Penny Arcade comics. I barely knew about them before I played the games. But the humor is evident in this game. And not just completely cheesy humor, but witty and satirical; my favorite kind.

Oh. Le humor.

 And not just the dialogue was humorous. You can tell the writers took the effort to put some kind of humor in everything. From the enemies and their descriptions, the items, the skill names. Literally everything had a humorous ring to it.

Even the items give snarky comments

The gameplay as you can see is reminiscent of the old SNES Final Fantasies. It's essentially a turn-based menu-based game. Unlike the traditional RPGs, you don't start off with MP, but rather you gain a point every turn or by using items or particular skills.

The battles can drag out pretty long, as some enemies have an enormous amount of health, but to combat battles from being long stall-fests, every so often, the enemies get stat boosts. So the longer the battle, the harder it becomes.

That octopus thing reminds me of Ultros from FFVI...

Turn-based fighting at it's finest

At the end of every battle, you'll regenerate health, your items replenish, and your MP goes back to 0. Also, if you die, you just reappear right before the enemy you just lost to. The game doesn't punish you for going all out every fight, and it doesn't waste your time by forcing you to start at the last save point.

Something different from the previous games is the introduction of classes. Each character has one innate class, and is able to add on two additional classes. Each class adds passives and skills for the player's disposal. As you level up, you gain more skills and passives. The game also doesn't completely force you to grind every class, as even the dormant ones gain experience (albeit slightly slower, but not enough to make you rip your hair out if you decide to change it up)

So many classes to pick and choose!

The music in the game is kinda whatever. As with most games, the longer you play them, the more they stick in your head. While there's not an anthem that will find it's way to my mp3 player, it's not annoying to where you would just turn the sound off.

Traditional walking around maps and not so random battles

There isn't much exploring to do in the game. The overworld map is in the style of Super Mario World, and the maps themselves are all linear (minus the paths to treasure chests). There was never a time that I felt I was underleveled, but in some parts of the game, there were just way too many battles. And you can't avoid most of them.

Not much exploring on the "overworld".

Overall, Precipice of Darkness 3 is still a better game than the previous two. The main story took me about 7 hours to complete. And while the gameplay itself was somewhat outdated, the story and writing makes the game funny. So if you find yourself needing to kick back an play an oldschool lighthearted RPG, give this game a try. You could do worse.

Gnomoria: So the Gnomes Created a Time Machine...

http://gnomoria.com/

Gnomoria is an indie sandbox/strategy game developed by Robotronic Games. The game is still in it's alpha stage, and content is being added on a weekly basis.

When I first played the demo of Gnomoria, I was a little overwhelmed. I was having fun, but there was a lot to learn before I could get my feet off the ground. But after spending some time on some forums, sticking my nose in a wiki, I found this game to be one of the most enjoyable sandbox experiences I've ever had.

For some odd reason, you are granted control of a gnomadic (hah) tribe of gnomes who have finally decided to settle. Each gnome is assigned a job to complete, whether it's a woodcutter, a miner, or a builder (completely customizable).

One of the first things I noticed in this game; it's incredibly easy to pick up. For such a seemingly complex concept, things are right in front of you in the form of a menu. The UI is well made, and things are pretty self-explanatory (some things you WILL have to do some reading on though). The menus also make it incredibly easy to keep track of each individual gnome.

So many different stats...

So you start off by mining into some random wall to start your base, farm some land for food, cut some wood, etc. Seems simple enough. You build crafting stations to build furniture, walls, statues, weapons, bandages, or construct anything else your mind can conjure up. Slowly but surely, your kingdom will start to grow, your gnomes will have some beds to sleep on, and life appears easy.

...until the first summer, when the jealous goblins begin attacking. You'll learn quickly that you need to raise up an army to combat the incoming invasions. No really, you need to raise up an army. I think the first two times I played, I didn't make it past the second day of summer.

The gnome quarters, as well as the farms/pastures

As you survive and make your kingdom more mighty, you will attract more gnomads to immigrate on your land. But as your kingdom grows bigger, you attract more enemies, such as ogres, better equipped goblins, or the ever annoying mants. And really, there's not much else to write in terms of basic gameplay. The goals, the objectives, the stories write themselves. And while you're doing that, time just seems to fly.

I started naming my gnomes, and they began to create their own backstories. The game even keeps track of the enemies your gnomes kill.

I built a small town for funsies

 And while my first two gameplays only lasted 30 minutes (I died pretty fast), the current game I'm has me hooked with well over 25 hours.

Gnomoria might not be a fun game for everyone, but if you want an interesting take on a sandbox game and you love to create your own stories and you're willing to put in some time to learn, this is an amazing game. And while it's still in Alpha stage, the devs are highly receptive to player input. One can only wonder what kind of content is to come.