The Beginning of the End (DLC)

Continuing with the DLC for Penny Arcade's On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness 3, we got into the second and final bit of story DLC, The Beginning of the End. This particular story takes place before the events of the main game (Episode 3) and explores your fate from Hothead's Penny Arcade Adventures: On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness: Episodes One and Two. Having played through this story to see what had happened to me between Episodes Two and 3, I found the experience to be somewhat satisfying.

After the harrowing experience of taking down two dark gods, Gabe feels a little jumpy and decides to rest. Just as quick as he gets to sleep, however, Tycho wakes him up and takes him on a trip to Desperation Street, the place where their last two adventures began, in order to seek your aid. While the story is short, lasting about an hour and a half, You are treated to another hilarious adventure as You help Gab and Tycho on their quest (the problem of having yourself be customizable in the Hothead half of the OTRSPOD series is even cleverly solved by having You be inside of a sack). The ending is a bit weird (I'm not going to spoil it for people who haven't played it yet), but overall it feels like a nice continuation of Episode Two.

Gameplay is similar to that of Episode 3 and the Lair of the Seamstress DLC, with the twist that your party only has one class, with You being a Gardenar with slighty different, more rake-focused powers. The battle system is otherwise the same, but you are also treated to a whole swath of new enemies including evil mail boxes, tumbleweeds, and many others, most of which have a funny description that continues with the Penny Arcade brand of humor. The final boss is as much of a surprise as the campaign's ending, but once again I won't spoil anything here. This is all complimented by some very catchy music, utilizing music from the main game while also including at least one original piece to help it feel more unique.

The Beginning of the End is a great add-on to an already great game, one that you don't even have to pay for since it was added for free through another patch. As the game says, it is best that you play through the $5 Episode 3 (and maybe even Episodes One and Two) before exploring this story, since if you jump to this right away you might be confused about a few things. Hopefully the upcoming Episode 4 will provide a satisfying conclusion to the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness storyline when it drops on Friday.

And just what was in Dr. Stripe's safe deposit box anyway?