Portal

There isn't much I can say about this game that hasn't been said. And honestly I cant express how awesome and unique the experience has been. There's something to be said about simple goals, honest gameplay innovation, and snappy story. This is one of those games I was talking about that forced my hand about buying an Xbox 360. There's been some shit talk on Kotaku about who on earth would be interested in this game for download on XBL. Well I was, and I'm so happy it came out. I finally got a chance to play this game, without upgrading my PC. And honestly the only game I'm willing to upgrade for is the StarWars MMO coming.

My friend and I were talking about this over dinner, we came to the conclusion that the main reason this game is the jam is the story. There are layers, and subtext that is conveyed in a combination of voice acting, random graffiti in the environment, the environment itself, and gameplay... I could try to explain it, but I think others have done better. But I can say something about its length and content. Its a tight, precise amount of story fit exactly into the length of the game. The game has this weird perfection about it. Its a short game but so incredibly deep. We decided that most games stretch games out to make the game longer but instead of filling it with 12 hours worth of story, they fill it with pointless "puzzles" and gopher missions. Shit that doesn't usually push a story forward, just time bloat. Some bastard says but X is 11 hours game time, we only have 9 and a half, fatten it up! And some poor sob has to put in extra game time to please his boss's boss's check sheet. But this game is lean and efficient like a cheetah or a shark. It feels like a vision executed exactly as intended. Whether or not that's true, its what it feels like that matters. And it feels great.

We discussed this for about 10 minutes, and came to this while my wife ignored and chided us about how much she hated it. She had to listen to GLADoS without playing... so I cant blame her for picking up some passive aggressive sentiment.

Whew, time to do it again.

Well here we are. A week from launch of Penny Arcade Adventures : On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness : Episode 1; and I've beaten it. It's a great game. All the things I liked about it in the beginning I liked in the end. The Gameplay only got better as I got used to it, the enemies only became more charming, and I only grew closer to my character, Elsworth. There is a caveat to having completed the game and triumphed over a single god waiting on the windowsill. I can no longer play as my original man. He's frozen in time between episodes. Since I only learned how the overkill system worked near the end of the game. I've chosen to play the game 2 additional times. Once as my pseudo daughter, Pearl, and once more as Elsworth (after having deleted the original). I've chosen to do this for 2 reasons. Pearl will be my way through the 4 achievements I failed to collect the first time through, and Elsworth 2 : electric boogaloo so that I can max out his overkill bonus in anticipation of bringing him along for episode 2 as my main. It works for me because the game's dialog is funny, and I know I wont be sick of it. I actually laughed harder last night when I started Pearl than I did the first go round. Ive never been excited about playing an RPG to the end, let alone playing through again. I think this is partly because its combat is more interactive and less calculation. And partly because the game is quite short. I took a leisurely stroll through this game the first time and it was really about 8 hours, probably 7 the second time through now that I know what I'm doing.
There are some things worth mentioning, the items you collect as you go, are neat. But the music you collect as you go through is really fun. You can go back to the office and listen to it whenever you want. The Hightlight being MC Frontalot's credit music. Then theres the d20, and I gotta tell you, its sweet.

The more alternatives, the more difficult the choice.

o this morning as I was basking in the glow of a solid 2 hours of playing Penny Arcade Adventures the night previous. I get an IM from my friend saying, "...lol what was, the awesomeness of pspod? Rspod". Next thought that popped in was, damn that is a long title, but it fits the game so well. The game is wordy in a great way. Im super pleased with the game play, at first I was afraid it would be like Star Trek 25th aniv. game with better graphics. Which, while it wasn't a classic, it was fun, but action packed it wasn't. The action in OTRSPOD, between queuing attacks and blocking, takes a normally pedantic turn based model and makes it awesome and filled with buttons and decisions. Its cool, looks great and is fun. But if there must be a drawback, the open world targeting using the controller is less than precise. Which isn't a big deal for me. Though, I had a nagging feeling I might want to try it out on my mac. I had a suspicion that the mouse might make that whole process more intuitive. Well ya know, since I had a Mac, a lunch hour, and access to a free demo... I gave it a shot. I immediately felt that it wasn't as good as the controller. Sure I could mouse over the item and click, and in combat click my attack and then my foe. But as they say, "pushing play is not enough". It's still awesome, my favorite parts are still present, custom character, the dialog and the cinematics. If this game was only for Mac, PC, and Linux, it would be outstanding. I think satisfaction with my choice of 360 speaks to my preference for the controller more than a shortcoming on the games part.
BTW : Gold
"Oh yes, I saw you before, mouth agape."
"Agape?"
"It means open."
"You know what else means open? Open."

It is clearly a Precipice; it's dark, and slippery.

We're here people, its the launch day of On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness! Heres a nice interview, skip to ~13min in to pass the M$ propaganda and to get to the meat. There is a sweet comment about the cost. And I cant agree more. 20$ is not too much for a complete RPG game, with a customizable player character, AND primal evil as your foe.
Now that I have a 360, Ive been presented with a choice. The choice to purchase On the Rain-slick for my PC, my Mac, or my 360! Its a VERY difficult choice on paper, I have all three, they are all capable. But in real life? 360. Its almost not a choice at this point Ive been looking forward to this type of RPG, for my 360, in a setting I like... I like playing those with a controller. Mouse and click is great but there was a glut of those during my childhood, and I'm over it. The "Leisure Suit Larry" interface holds very little appeal for me at this point. But holy hell. I'm excited.
Also you can demo Precipice of Darkness : Episode 1, here for Mac/Linux/PC. It's tempting to download it here at work and play... I'm not sure if my scruples will allow that. Or my boss.