Penny-Arcade: OTRSPOD 3 Quick Review

So, I know I touched briefly on this game a few months ago, and now I've finished it.  I had put this game on the back-burner after awhile, and forgot about it.  When I went back to it, and played it for a bit, I realized I stopped playing literally an hour away from beating it.  So there's that.

If you remember my old post (here), I mentioned a few of the gimmicks of the game; class pins, interruptions, et al.  The biggest advancement since then, is an advancement in the class pin system.  At the time, I could only equip one class pin to mix with your core class.  Well shortly after that post, I found that you can equip two classes in addition to your core.  Doing some simple math, with about 10 choosable classes you have roughly 45 total, two-class combinations.  If you want to try mixing and matching to find your play-style, this is the way to go.

Just for the sake of keeping this short, here's a bullet list of thoughts on OTRSPOD3.

• The combat is still fluid and nuanced.  You can find a general strategy that will work on most enemies, but there are some fights where you have to change things up.  
• The class system is clever.  I think the class combination system is really nice in creating interesting strategies for battle.  Some classes, obviously, synergize well together, but having the option to branch out radically adds a really nice touch.  
• The writing is a bit wordy at times, but it fits the whole Penny Arcade mold.  Tycho is verbose, and Gabe is a bit spacey.  It fits the comic well.  Whether you think this is a good thing relies on your thoughts of the writing in the strip.
• Free DLC, so there's that.  If you're playing the Steam version, auto-downloaded.
• Interrupting enemies becomes a huge priority in late game fights.  Once enemies start powering up, you'll want to keep them from attacking.
• In case I didn't mention this last time, enemies get stronger the longer the battle goes.  It's not uncommon for bosses to be at 200% capacity or higher by the time you even get then below 1/4 life.

I highly recommend this game to fans of 16 bit RPGs.  The turn based combat has enough new wrinkles to keep it interesting.  The automatic healing between battles means you're not micro-managing items and abilities that can drag down a game.  The game isn't particularly long, and it's been fairly cheap on Steam of late, so consider it if you have an RPG itch.

Game Round Up

So it's time for another 'What I've Been Playing' post.

So we're just going to dive into this.

Penny Arcade's "On A Rain Slick Precipice of Darkness 3"

This game is styled like an old fashioned 16 Bit RPG of the SNES.  If you know anything about Penny Arcade, you'll immediately recognize the humor and writing style from the comics.  A lot of Tycho's dialogue is very verbose and lengthy, whereas Gabe provides the non-sequitors and other nonsense.

Yes that enemy is called Optimus Mime, and those are Mime Pirates.  Soak it in.

The gameplay is also similar to older RPGs with a few modifications.  Every character has a 'base' class, like Brute for Gabe, and Scholar for Tycho, but as you progress, you get these things called "Class Pins", that can be equipped to a character to change how they play.  For example, comic staple "Tube Samurai" can be equipped to a party member, granting the ability to change battle stances that confer stat bonuses.  Other classes like Hobo are good for inflicting "Hoboism" (a status effect that deals damage over time) and for beating up enemies.  This allows you to make interesting hybrids of character.  You could make a tanky character that's fast and can heal themselves. 

Another change it makes to traditional RPGs is the fact that you can interrupt your opponents attacks if your timing is good.  If the enemy's portrait is between the CMD and Act portion of the top bar, the interrupt will push them back a lot further than if it is before the CMD portion.  Also, you want to finish battles FAST.  After about the 3rd turn for an enemy, they start to get stronger, by about 10% per turn.  This is especially dangerous on boss fights.  

I find the game hilarious, and the combat for it is pretty entertaining.  It's a good throwback with some modern twists on the RPG genre.  My favorite enemy description was for one of the "Hobo" enemies: "Another proud Poli-Sci major".  

Terraria

Ok, so I've had this game for awhile.  My relationship with building games is kinda cyclical.  I'll be really into MineCraft/Terraria for a bit, then I won't play them for 6+ months.  I'm in the "play" portion of that cycle, and I've been playing a lot of Terraria.  I started this cycle by playing online with some friends.  Then I took that character into offline mode... and then online with other friends...

So for the uninformed, Terraria is a game that was inspired by MineCraft.  You harvest resources, you craft, and you fight.  This game focuses more on the creating and fighting though.  Weapons are varied, enemies are interesting, and there are bosses.  

Like the Eye of Cthulhu.

The formula is simple, dig, build, fight, craft, repeat, but it's an addictive cycle.  Building your house just so to  house the helpful NPCs and fight off an invasion is a fun time sink.

Also you can harvest blocks with dynamite.  

Seriously, that's all you should need to know.

Persona 3

See here.

Red Dead Redemption

My girlfriend has a write up that covers the experience pretty well.