Character is (usually) a wiseass, but all alignments get options.
Description
Sucking up most of the central Penultiman plains is Johnson's Farms, one of the only corporate owned mass-production agricultural facilities in the forgotten realms. Daily living is routine; walk the dog, milk the cow, feed the chickens. Only now, the poultry want a little more than seed to feast upon... Swarms of enemies await you in the depths beneath Johnson's farm. Lots of combat here, dungeon exploration style, with a premise that stretches credibility to its breaking point! Whee! (Updated to v1.2)
Posted by amers1015 at 2009-09-24 12:07:46 Voted 9.50 on 09/24/09
All I can say is WOW! I can't believe I'd never played this series before!
It's very funny (sometimes down right hilarious), but still manages to tell a great story with engaging characters.
I agree with others that posted that the combat was too freakin' hard at times, but I was having such a good time with this, that I didn't even mind really.
Excellent work, everyone should try this series! _________________________ The less you know, the more you believe.
Posted by Goglutin at 2009-08-17 08:50:47 Voted 9.00 on 08/17/09
I played through the hole campaign and it was really good ( the rating is for the whole campaign). Note : I'm really greedy on tens...
I had not given a ten because in the first 5 modules (out of ten). I got really frustrated by too hard combat and by the fact that XP was only gained through fight. I was playing a rogue and it was really hard without a good henchmen to help me maneuver for placing my sneak attacks. Indeed, the balance is really much better in the ''rerolled'' campaign and the fact that you have a henchmen with you helped me much. The second part of the campaign is really better than the first one so keep on playing up to those one and you'll be surprised.
Still, the humor and the storyline is good (or should I say GOOD !!!) so it deserve its 9 rightfully !!! Be prepared for a good laugh and don't take it seriously !!!
Posted by Kilvain at 2008-10-18 05:21:18 Voted 9.75 on 10/18/08
When chickens attack!
Posted by Copperhawk at 2007-12-13 08:00:17 Voted 8.25 on 12/13/07
Combat is quite repetitive but the story is a saving grace. Nonetheless this is a very enjoyable game.
Posted by WeAreAllKosh at 2007-12-07 14:49:58 Voted 7.00 on 12/07/07
An improvement over the rest of the series. The writing, though still not too humorous, gets a bit better here. I like the turn the story takes with the whole 'chaos & ambition vs. order & tedium' debate. The jabs at all things corporate remain the funniest aspects of the module. I especially enjoyed the chairwoman's dialogue, with the form required just for asking permission for something and the euphimisms for 'slaughter' ('proactive employee selection process instigated by an involuntary third party review process'). The tie-ins with previous modules are refreshing (Grandma Skullsplitter and the Plowshares, the ancestors of certain characters in the flashback, etc)
Same knock applies, though -- the combat is tedious. You're just fighting the same varieties of chicken, cow, and corporate zombie through numerous very large areas. I also ran into a problem. Grandma Skullsplitter left my party at, seemingly, the wrong time. She was supposed to help me fight the Cluck Master, but she left me in a side cave talking as if the mission were accomplished. :\
Posted by Steve_Savicki at 2007-07-13 05:06:24 Voted 9.75 on 07/13/07
I actually dug this one. A little upset with the innocents trying to help you getting killed, and as always, the plot fairy needs to be updated, but I like this one the best so far. _________________________ Steve's Characters - please don't forget to vote on them if you play them.
Thanks,
Steve
Posted by zethre at 2007-01-30 14:40:45 Voted 10.00 on 01/30/07
This series just gets better :) _________________________ If the human brain was so simple we could understand it, we'd be so simple we couldn't
Posted by cosmonauts_wrath at 2007-01-17 19:29:53 Voted 10.00 on 01/17/07
The henchmen break if you do anything beside WALK or TALK... fighting most definitely breaks them... _________________________ I do not have a superman complex; for I am God, not Superman!
You mean, "each installment was better than the LAST", unless you're playing the series in reverse order! lol :)
Posted by Scarn71 at 2006-06-28 21:56:05 Voted 9.75 on 06/28/06
Stefan Gagne, hats off. This entire series is terrific. I recommend it to any and all players. The time and effort put into crafting a well thought out series such as this makes this a must play for all gamers. Each installment was better than the next. Thank you.
Posted by slobberknocker at 2006-04-09 18:57:45 Voted 10.00 on 04/09/06
very good
Posted by GLWizard at 2006-03-18 09:02:27 Voted 10.00 on 03/18/06
Uh, I couldn't fighure out the key thing, but after I killed the boss, there were some more enemies to fight. I killed them and the boss' nephew teleported in, gave me the key, and there you go.
All of the henchmen in Penultima 3 4 & 5 break if you have HotU installed and you do anything other than walk, talk, or fight.
Posted by TOllas at 2005-03-10 11:09:30 Voted 9.00 on 03/10/05
Posted by darth_borehd at 2004-11-27 16:08:58 Voted 9.75 on 11/27/04
The entire Penultima series is a must-have, but this one is the gem of the bunch.
Posted by MikeLM9215 at 2004-10-03 07:57:45 Voted 6.75 on 10/03/04
Poultry and bovines become extremely dangerous extremely fast. Every fight is a matter of life or death. _________________________ The road to Ravenloft is paved with good intentions.
Posted by Brandiles at 2004-09-29 10:07:03 Voted 8.25 on 09/29/04
Easily the best thus far in the series. And easily the funniest! Your task is to find a fabled scroll that will allow one to cast Power Word Mediocre. To do so, you must pass through the largest corporately controlled poultry farm in Penultima! Unfortunately, something EViL has happened and all the farm animals have revolted on the owners! Holy cow this is a really clucking bad situation!
There's just something innately hysterical about battling your way through hordes of chickens and cows. There's also this horde of zombie-like former corporate executives roaming about that you must deal with...it's just really funny. Overall, the combat was fun and still quite challenging. I'm still playing my monk on "easy," as that seems to be about perfectly balanced for her, though I think this is the first chapter where I could have probably made it the whole way on normal. There were a few points near the end where combat was getting a bit monotonous, but I probably was being a bit overly thorough in my crawl through the dungeon too.
I haven't mentioned it much yet, but I really do think that a (permanent!) henchman or two would be very appropriate in this game. I realize it may be geared more towards small parties and the like, but I think they could be worked into the story well and would add a lot in terms of the versatility of the party to dealing with threats. Beyond that, I don't have all that much to criticize...but ultimately, this still is very much a linear dungeon crawl with little opportunity for roleplay or character development. There's a bit near the end, but that separates it from the top scale of the ratings. Still, this was great fun and, for the first time in this series, I really do recommend this title to everyone.
Posted by THG at 2004-09-27 14:09:04 Voted 9.00 on 09/27/04
The biggest downside to this module is that you don�t get to kill anyone in marketing. Sure, you can imagine the Insane VPs are all marketing VPs (which I did), but some confirmation would be nice. Though fighting through hordes of poultry and poultry executives is strangely satisfying, once again, my thief was his +1 short sword was at a disadvantage, this time against stone-skinned chickens. A bunch of other weapons in the game have added elemental damage, what about the short sword? I was happily surprised to run into Dewey Ploughshare and Grandma Skullsplitter; however, like the henchfolk in Hazard Pay, Skullsplitter would just sort of quit my party for no discernable reason. In addition to liberal amounts of humor, this module clearly lays out the plot of the story, and its depth is actually more akin to Gagne�s EE series than I would have expected. Anyway, this module has the best ending in the series, as you can�t wait to kick some snobby elf +blocked+ in Home Sweet Home.
Posted by TJFord at 2004-08-29 19:58:04 Voted 8.00 on 08/29/04
Posted by muniz at 2004-08-06 06:29:58 Voted 9.25 on 08/06/04
Posted by Karroud at 2004-07-27 10:42:30 Voted 8.50 on 07/27/04
Ugh. Ninja chickens. Funny until you've had to reload for the umpteenth time...That said, this is still a lot of fun.
Posted by Aquilonious at 2004-07-25 22:15:05 Voted 8.25 on 07/25/04
this mod really makes me wonder what Stefan was doing when he created it...heh heh heh :). ninja chickens, yeah!
i had a great time adventuring through it.
Posted by nath at 2004-07-23 02:29:30 Voted 6.00 on 07/23/04
Posted by Ultramundane at 2004-07-10 13:26:39 Voted 10.00 on 07/10/04
Posted by shivohum at 2004-05-31 00:45:26 Voted 6.00 on 05/31/04
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at 2009-09-24 12:07:46
at 2009-08-17 08:50:47
at 2004-10-03 07:57:45
