So, I'm sure many of you know, On The Rain Slick Precipice of Darkness, a Penny Arcade Adventure, is now out. I grabbed the demo and I have to say, I'm both impressed and not impressed at the same time. It's fun and has some very funny "dialoge" (I never got to actually talk to anyone, I'll talk about that in a second), but there are some things that really get in the way of my enjoyment of the game.
First, you can't skip cut scenes. What the hell? I would think Game and Tycho would know better. You can't save in the demo, and recently my computer has been acting up so I've had to go through the opening cut scenes several times. Just... why!? Thankfully, the cut scenes are short, so I'll give them a break. Having to sit through the cut scene multiple times isn't too bad.
The interface is also a little weird for me on PC (have yet to play the 360 version). You have to click on the skill you want to use when its ready, then an enemy you want to use it on. Honestly... for a general attack that's just too much clicking, especially when combat is in "real time". There are no short cut keys (at least not obvious ones) or shortcut movements. Being able to hit "A" to have the next read person attack, or if I could click directly on an enemy to have the next person who's ready attack, or if I could right click on an enemy and be given a set of options from people who are ready (radial context sensitive menus are the shit... really), that would speed up play and I wouldn't have to go back and forth between my character pictures and the enemies.
Less movement, fewer clicks, most common task available quickly. This, to me, is key to good UI design, and I kind of expected at least this game would have gotten it.
Last, I've experienced a few bugs that are, well, interesting to say the least. I lost my cursor once when I went out to a menu (checking to see if I could save) and came back. I think the game was trying to play a cut scene which I interrupted. that's why I've never had a chance to get into dialog. Stuff like that is just disapointing.
That said, the game looks good, and it looks fun. These are really REALLY minor quibles, but they do impact the game experience for me. I will still probably buy it once I get a little extra cash, but after playing the demo, I think it's something I can wait on.