On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness: Episode One - 003

^ Read a random comic here! ^

 Some people play tennis, I play 16 year old action-adventure games.

Last night I bought "On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness: Episode One" and I'm here to talk about it! For the sake of my fingers I'm going to be shortening this to Precipice of Darkness moving forward. I'm aware you're usually supposed to finish a game before reviewing it but I had quite a few thoughts to share just a few hours into the game.

Precipice of Darkness is an action-adventure RPG following the adventures of alternate universe Tycho Brahe, Jonathan Gabriel, and your very own Penny Arcade-sona, this alternate universe takes place in New Arcadia set sometime in the 1920s. 

Upon opening the game you're greeted by a great opening cutscene, however, when the gameplay starts, it immediately becomes clear how dated the game is due to one small detail; The movement is click to move, and a lot of the elements of gameplay are point-and-click.

The gameplay

Warning! This section is under the impression you're playing on hard mode.

Now, the game having point-and-click elements isn't inherently an issue, and it is still an action adventure RPG. The unique gameplay was actually quite charming at first! If you are a fan of games like Runescape then this would be a very enjoyable experience, but the issue for me came with the combat... I am on a laptop with a trackpad and no mouse, during combat you have to click your ability and then click the target you want to use it on, normally this wouldn't be an issue but the hitboxes leave no room for error and the game is not turn based.

At first this doesn't seem like an issue at all, but the amount of times I just barely missed clicking an enemy and then they attacked me before I could reposition my mouse was very, very annoying. Even if the team member being attacked isn't the one trying to act it will wait for any actions currently being performed to end before starting the next one, you can get around this by timing your team's attacks in such a way that the enemy AI doesn't have time to attack.

This is not an issue with the game itself, but it can negatively impact gameplay when you're first starting out if you're not properly prepared for it; This isn't to say I didn't get used to it, during my first difficult fight I had a massive heal-off and trying to revive my team while blocking all incoming attacks was actually really fun! It added an element of difficulty to the game that I assumed would be akin to a point-and-click adventure. 

If you're looking for a challenge then I highly recommend you play on the hardest difficulty, but if you are looking for a more story based experience they have that as well! The writing was very entertaining and I was actually having fun talking to all the NPCs and participating in fetch quests.

So far, after adjusting to the combat system, I have no issues with the gameplay aside from the difficulties with having no mouse.

The story

I am admittedly not very far in the story, but here's what I have so far:

One morning, you're outside raking your lawn, and then all of the sudden a MASSIVE robot crashes through your house, completely obliterating it. As you stand there in shock, two strange men run past you after the robot. 

These "strange men" turn out to be Tycho Brahe and Jonathan Gabriel, together they run the paranormal detective agency, "Startling Developments." You ask to team up to find the giant robot and together the three of you set off on a journey across New Arcadia.

So... That's where I'm at so far! This isn't indicative of how far I am in the game, but there hasn't been any major developments in the story since the end of the tutorial. There is a section dedicated to Precipice of Darkness on the Penny Arcade shrine I mentioned in my last blog post if you're looking for something with a bit more substance.

On the topic of the story however; There are 4 games in the series, episode one and two are available on steam for about 10 dollars together or 6 dollars individually (if memory serves me right,) and episodes three and four are also available on steam for free. I am only on the first game so I have no input on the other 3 games but I'm under the impression that this series has a really, really long story, so I apologize for not doing it justice here.

Why Precipice of Darkness?

1. It's Penny Arcade, 2. Jonathan Gabriel is there.

But in all seriousness, if you aren't a fan of Penny Arcade then you might be asking yourself "What makes this game so special?" Well I'll be the first to tell you that it's just an enjoyable experience, you don't need to be a fan of Penny Arcade to understand it as it's an AU and almost has a fanbase of it's own, but if that's not convincing enough then here's a few more reasons:

1. The price. The first 2 games are very affordable and the second and third games are completely free! You are 100% getting your money's worth with Precipice of Darkness.

2. The system requirements. If my laptop can run it, then ANY device can run it. The minimum system requirements are INCREDIBLY low, it'll run on any school or work laptop from the past decade.

3. The storytelling. The universe of New Arcadia is vast, I find myself wanting to learn more and more about the world these characters live in with every new quest completed. If you read the comics then it's a great change of pace and it changes the way you look at the characters a lot; Even if you don't read the comics, playing this game will make you want to.

4. The combat. Precipice of Darkness has an incredibly unique but easy to understand combat system, this might just be because it's not my usual genre but it was a very welcome change of pace for me.

Every game I play these days just steals from another one trying to make a quick buck, but Precipice of Darkness is a hand crafted love letter to one of the best webcomics I've ever read. You can immediately tell that they put a lot of love and care into making it, even if the graphics are... lightly outdated.

In conclusion:

Precipice of Darkness is a unique, entertaining, and affordable RPG that will provide a much needed change of pace from the modern formula. It's also a great way to get into Penny Arcade if you aren't afraid of spending a few dollars.