A hilarious game from the makers of one of the web's funniest comics.
If you are unfamiliar with Penny Arcade, that's a shame, and I suggest you go to www.penny-arcade.com right now, start at comic one and binge yourself on it until you read them all. Penny Arcade is arguably the most popular and influential video game web comic on the net. Among other things "Gabe" and "Tycho" head the PAX expo and the Child's Play charity. With the launch of PAA:OtRSPoDE1… yeah, they also launched Greenhouse with is a Internet launching platform for Episode 1 and probably more games in the future. So its safe to say, the guys over at Penny Arcade are heavily involved with all things video game, and have finally launched their debut game.
PAA:OtRSPoDE1 is a game that takes Final Fantasy like battle RPG mechanics with the classic Penny Arcade humor and just comes out with a great, funny downloadable RPG. The game starts with your character being told by a ominous voice to rake up your yard and almost instantly your house gets crushed by a giant Fruit ****er (don't report me, that's what it actually is called.) You see 1922 versions of Gabe and Tycho following after it and you're soon to follow. You eventually meet up with them to get involved with a whole big adventure that has a bunch, and I mean a bunch of little Fruit ****ers.
Game play is a active battle system RPG, this means there are no turns, its just when you're attack gauge is ready, you attack. A lot like mid series Final Fantasy games, see? Anyways, it doesn't get much more complicated than that. Despite fairly standard gameplay, what really shines through here is the humor. One of the first items you'll find and use in battle is a "distraction orange" which when thrown the Fruit ****ers will… well… you know, they'll do what they're named to do. The game is really just flat out funny.
If you've looked at my profile, you can see that I've reviewed both the PC version and the Xbox 360 version. Why? Because for some reason I bought the game for my Macbook Pro and Xbox 360, no idea why, I guess I just wanted to spend money? Anyways, the reason why I gave the 360 version a slightly lower score is the control. The game handles a lot better with a point and click mechanic rather than the 360 game pad. That's all that's really different; over all they're the same game.
While the price point is high, I do believe that this game is worth it for any Penny Arcade fan or RPG fans who just want a light hearted episodic game to play.