Penny Arcade Adventures Episode Two on PSN this week

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Just in time for the holidays, Episode Two of our popular RPG-Adventure series, On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness debuts this week on the PlayStation Network.

baked a cake

We promised to release this highly-anticipated episode of the series before the end of the year, so we’re happy PS3 fans get a chance to sink their teeth into Episode Two this week. Plus, as I mentioned in previous entries on this blog, with every episode we’re getting better and better at cutting down the time between the PSN and other version launches. I think less time waiting and more time playing is good news in anyone’s book!

We have been listening to feedback from everyone that played Episode One, and have incorporated a bunch of it into this new installment. Episode Two features difficulty settings so that you can tackle the game at your own level. And for the truly hardcore, finish the game to unlock Insane Mode which will both test your mettle and reveal several exclusive unlockables. Oh, and don’t forget trophies or all of the other PSN-specific features you’ve come to expect. ;)

screenshot whitechristmas

And last (but certainly not least), the game features a story and characters whose ridiculousness surpasses even the last one. If you thought those little robots with proclivities for small orbs of fruit were weird, you ain’t seen nothin’ yet.

Download Episode Two on Thursday for $14.99 on the PlayStation Network. Enjoy!

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82 Comments

8 Author Replies

  • 5, 12, 16, 17, 18, 21, 43, and especially 49. I, along with MANY other Playstation product owners would surely agree 100%

  • I wish the developers all the best but Penny Arcade is simply an obnoxious outfit I can’t support (and I’ve donated to and fully support the Child’s Play charity.) Their comics aren’t comics; they’re op-eds trying to push an agenda. Worse yet they are always mean-spirited and slanted.

    So not for me, thanks.

  • Aww man! Another PSN game that I really want to purchase but I just don’t have the money now…

    After Christmas though I’ll be going crazy over PSN downloads… you’ll see…

    You’ll all see… lol

  • Thanks Joel everyone else seems a little salty today, but I’m glad you guys worked hard to bring this to us before the end of the year like you promised! The gap between launches was MUCH, MUCH shorter this time around, and I hope you can continue to improve upon that so pretty soon they will be simultaneous. That would probably calm a lot of these other people down.

    Anyway, I greatly enjoyed episode one and I’ll be purchasing this tomorrow. Thanks again!

  • Joel, this isn’t meant for you or the dev, cause the game astually looks intriguing to me, but no way I’m giving any money to anything with Penny Arcade attached to it. Those guys are some of the biggest PS3 haters out there. No, it’s not just comedy. They take shots at Sony every chance they get.

    Anyways, game looks great, I’m sure you guys put a lot into it, I just can’t support it though. That’s just me.

  • Yeah… I feel like I should qualify my earlier comments in light of what schwaa said there in @55.
    I don’t to defend Penny Arcade and frankly I won’t support them either. Many of the insults were directed at at Joel and the developers as if they were the same as Penny Arcade though. I just don’t us running off developers because of our misdirected bitterness.

  • @56
    Well said. I do want the game. I just can’t stand how Penny Arcade falls in line with “the agenda” of the gaming media outlets. If you don’t know what “the agenda” is, then you’re not paying attention.

  • 2 many exclusives on the PSN that i gotta pass on this for now. going into 09 i hope this can drop in price (i’m thinking 9.99)and you guys will have a another sale from me.

    peace,
    Lh

  • 15 dollars an episode? Ouch.

  • Glad I dont like this type of game because that is way too expensive

  • Sign me up!

    I thought it’d be the end of the year before we’d get any info about the release, let alone the game.

    Hooray!

  • Can’t wait till they hit the Euro PSN

    Am I the only one who finds the relation between comments #20 and #24 insanely funny after Jeff banned that guy?

  • Hey, people, stop the hate! We all know the Penny Arcade guys are Xbox fanboys, but Joel is the producer of THE GAME. He is cool enough to make a PS3 version, so please respect his work.

    Im buying the game when it cames to Europe. The Penny Arcade comics are biased, but how ironic is to play the game in a PS3? Come on, guys, some good feeling here, please.

  • I don’t really like Penny Arcade comics, but liked the first games demo. I might pick this up if theres a deal for both, 30 bucks is a tad too much for me right now.

    Mostly due to Lumines Supernova almost coming out :)

  • Someone asked about a combined package already… but I really want to know if there’s a price deduction in the works for the first 1? I just finally started working again after 8 months of being unable to find a job. I’m working for slightly less than next year’s minimum wage. T_T

    I really can’t afford to be spending 15 dollars for 6-10 hours of gameplay right now. That breaks down to 30 dollars for both games and about 12-20 hours of game play roughly.

    That’s 1.50-2.50 for every hour worth of enjoyment. You see for that pricing I can get Disgaea 3 which I’ve already put 40 hours into (gamefly) and can get much much more entertainment out of.

    Right now I’m estimating approximate hour per dollar entertainment value. That’s why I got Resistance 2, Animal Crossing City FOlk, Rock Band 2, Little Big Planet… All these games are games that I can keep coming back to and get tons of enjoyment out of.

    By episode 4 it’ll be 60 dollars, 24-40 hours of gameplay. If you were to reduce the price of the first episode by 5 dollars I might buy it by the end of the week.

  • @66
    I would just like to point out that you are not thinking this all the way through. He stated that 6-10 hours would be the play time if you just played it, but it would take a lot more to actually get everything out of it (like on most RPGs). You are doing your math considering the casual run-through, when it looks like you dig getting back to games. And even buy your math, 30 bucks for 20 hours of game play is quite a good deal, with possibilities to expand greatly depending on how much you want to get out of it…
    THAT SAID, I will personally wait for a bundle.

  • People who like RPGs, definitely buy this. There are not many RPGs on PSN and this is definitely a good purchase, even if you aren’t a big fan of Penny Arcade.

  • I don’t care for Penny Arcade at all, but the people flaming the Dev on the site need to grow up and get some decency. The Dev is making a pretty good game from what i hear. So fans of the site or just the gameplay in general should be happy… If you want to cry about something, go right a letter to Santa.

    HotHead, thanks for bringing games to PSN

  • It’s good that the delay of multiplatform titles are improving and all but damn EU PS Store sucks. I’ve stopped buying PSN titles from there and are buying them from the US one instead. Please Sony we would gladly appreciate if you in the future would merge them to together. We European gamers are always left out if we don’t import games and what not. :(

  • Do you guys have plans for more episodes ? if so, how many ? What about co-op play ?

  • Man, you fanboys need to cool down and walk away. Penny Arcade is an independent entity, that gives them total freedom to bash any and all sides, something I actually appreciate! It’s nice to know that they aren’t making excuses for one side while bashing the other, that’s just bias and turns me off fast.

    Also, I agree about home (at least at the beta stage when I signed in, haven’t returned yet).

    I love the PS3 and really believe it’s the better system, but it’s not the perfect system, and Sony has made some dumb decisions with it an with other areas. WTG PA for calling them on that!

    If anyone from PA runs across this post: I really enjoy your comic and check it every day. As long as you stay independent and continue bashing all sides with abandon I’ll be a fan of your webcomic and will keep showing it to friends. I haven’t gotten your game yet because of time/money/too many games issues right now, but it’s on my Want list, and if you come out with a bundled package of all episodes it would be in my shopping cart that day!

  • Why do so many people from Europe come on a US blog and ask questions about why the first episode isn’t out in Europe isn’t there a blog.eu.playstation to complain about this on? What good is complaining to the US division of Sony when it’s the EU division calling the shots for your area?

  • We don’t have a EU blog, so this is all we have for questions.

    What’s the game play like in this? Also, is it online play? Im very interested in buying as it looks fun :)

  • Ah didn’t realize there was only a US one.

    I like it mostly for the humor. It’s a turn based RPG similar to FFXII but more real time if that helps describe the game play. There wasn’t online play in the first one so I don’t think there is in the second one. I would check out the Penny Arcade online comic at
    http://www.penny-arcade.com/ and see if it appeals to you. The comic is obviously different but it will give you an idea of their style of humor. Also I there is a PC demo for the second one up at http://www.rainslick.com but I would try to find the demo for episode one so it doesn’t spoil any story as I don’t know what they tell you in the demo.

    It does have some replay value also. There are trophies and unlockables as they stated in the article.

  • I’ve played the first game and I really liked it a lot. Which difficulty level in episode 2 is the same as episode 1?

  • Hey Joel.

    Any chance there’s going to be a collection of these games on a Blu-Ray collection of all the episodes once the game is finished?

    I would at least like the *choice* of being able to buy a physical copy.

    DLC is a flat out ripoff on *every system* (Wii ware, XBL games and PSN games).

    If you give me a disc, I’ll buy it.

    No disc = no sale.

    • We have talked about doing this, but because Hothead is digitally focused, we would likely partner with a company that is experienced at manufacturing and distributing physical copies (no small task!).

  • $9.99 games would be $19.99 and $14.99 games $24.99. Disc can get damaged downloads you can delete and re download again as much as you want.

  • What is the deal with all these people complaining about this game because it’s not Lumines? Seriously, somebody has the cojones to put out an oldschool JRPG game in this day and age and you’re mad because it’s not Tetris?

    Further, I don’t know if you noticed, but the stuff in the PA “Home” comic was pretty much the same stuff everybody except the most rabid of fanboys were saying during the closed beta, and again in open beta.

    There *is* nothing to do in Home. When there is something to do, it’ll probably be pretty neat, but honestly, Sony hasn’t yet figured out what Home is *for* yet.

    Don’t hate PA just for telling it like it is. To quote Three Dog (Fallout 3), they’re “Bringing you the truth, no matter how bad it hurts.”

    I doubt if Microsoft’s work in progress Home ripoff has any more of a focus to it.

    I’m totally thrilled to see these games come out on PS3, mostly because I find this kind of game to be more comfortable with a controller (and the demo is unstable as all hell on my PC).

  • @78 – I would rather pay the higher price and a disc. A disc is something tangible that I actually own.

    A download is not.

  • While I like the great puzzle games and shmups on PSN, I also really dig games with a consistent and deep plot. Even with the extreme wackiness, and JRPG bent (which I’ve never been into), PAA episode 1 scratched that itch for me. I do hope that future episodes have better quality audio and video assets, though.

    So many games start off with a promising story that quickly falls apart. Seeing a game that (seemingly) does a good job of starting with a decent story and building a game around that core is something I will always support with my money.

    I can’t wait for Deathspank and the TellTale games (Sam&Max, Wallace&Gromit, Bone, etc) to be available on PSN. These kinds of games are pretty much an immediate buy, for me. Keep ’em coming!

    • Thanks for the note. We\’d love to see DeathSpank on PSN too! The project is coming along nicely and we\’re excited to start showing some of it off….

  • A download is attached to your account so unless Sony deletes your account for some reason you have nothing to worry about. I’m sure you pay for lots of things like cable TV and internet that have nothing you can hold in your hand and look at just you have access to their service just like a download is a service you pay for just not monthly.I don’t count the cable box or modem because you have to give it back when you change services or are just useless without paying for their intangible service. You pay and you look on a monitor to watch tv just like you pay for a download and play it on your tv. DLC is the way everything is going get used to it. I guess you don’t use Steam either. It’s good for people who have kids cause kids destroy discs no matter how much you tell them to be careful. When the disc is damaged you have to buy a new one when my install gets corrupted if ever I just delete and redownload and not have to pay for anything.

  • @82

    No, I don’t use Steam either. Same thing.

    And comparing a phyiscal object like a game to a service like cable or internet is apples and oranges.

    Not the same thing at all.

    People who buy DLC are ruining the games industry.

  • It is the same thing you get to play the game if you pay just like you get to watch cable and go online if you pay. Think of it as having a license to play the game or use software if you think it isn’t a service read the user agreements that’s what they say. They own the software and you paid to license it for a single user. Don’t think I’m trying to argue with you just if you worked around software enough like I do and you read every user agreement you find this stuff out. It really is the same thing except a one time payment instead of paying every month.

  • ” Think of it as having a license to play the game or use software ”

    That’s exactly the problem – it shouldn’t be a license. The idea is laughable.

    Companies aren’t pushing DLC because it’s easier or advances technology, it’s about control. They want to control what you play and how you play it.

    If I have a choice between DLC or nothing, I’ll take nothing. I can’t wait to see all the furious people crying out when all their DLC is gone next gen and can’t access it.

    Meanwhile, I’ll still be playing games I bought 10,15, hell even 20 years ago.

    • Speaking for Hothead, I can say that by focusing on digital the only thing we\’re trying to gain more control over is the creative process of making games.

      In traditional retail products, the large publishers control so much of the creative process that there is a real lack of innovation in the types of products you see. Digital distribution has allowed indies like Hothead and others to bring games directly to gamers. If you\’re trying to make a business decision on whether to make a game, why take a risk on an innovative art look or game design when you\’re going to have to sell millions to even break even? That\’s the retail business. In digital, you can take more risks because you can make cool things people haven\’t seen before and make a good business selling a modest number of units.

      So I like to think that the advent of digital benefits not only indie developers, but also gamers. And if it\’s not for you, that\’s cool–retail isn\’t exactly going to go away. But I wouldn\’t portray it as somehow trying to control your property or rights to play the games. On the contrary, I want more people to play our games wherever and whenever they want.

  • @83
    You say people that buy DLC are ruining the games industry? How do you figure?

    Did iTunes ruin the music industry? Are things like The Guild and Dr. Horrible (or hell, even Hulu) ruining television? These are being talked about as things that are saving their respective industries. They put more money in artists/developers pockets by cutting out the middleman/network/retailer. How does that ruin the industry?

    If anything is ruining the industry, it’s Gamestop.

    @85
    Why wouldn’t we be able to access our DLC in the future? Plug in your old system and there it is. Sony, MSFT, Valve, etc. arent going to turn off their servers unless they go out of business. And even then it only matters if you delete the game for some reason.

    I love me my huge wall of game boxes, but face it…DLC will only get bigger as games get more expensive to make (and hence, riskier).

  • I prefer physical formats of all media – CDs, movies, games, whathaveyou.

    People who buy DLC are ruining those industries.

    There will always be people who want physical media, and it’s damn unfair that we’re being ignored by people who want to make a quick buck instead of thinking things through.

  • People who pirate are ruining those industries.

  • @ Joel.

    I just beat the game on normal. In the game credits, you thank the Xbox Live Arcade team. You might want to change that.

    Dave.

  • @89

    ’nuff said

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