I didn't play the first and second games and I got this one for "free" ( I think it was a humble bundle or a promo).
It took me a long time to actually start playing it (I usually don't get immersed easily in 8-bit game, so I was putting it off a bit but WHEN I DID. My god. The humor, the sillyness. The plot. It's jut great.

10/10 would buy if I didn't get it for free.

The long-delayed sequel. Gone is the ability to make your own character; you'll be playing the PA guys the whole game. Also gone are the 3D polygon graphics and animation, replaced with SNES-esque sprites and tiles. This would be a big step back in some ways, but fortunately, the combat makes up for that. It's got some ideas borrowed from other games (like Grandia and FFT A2), and some new ones. The classes are also pretty interesting, and offer some good combinations. Fights are less plentiful than some games, but still relatively common, and the enemies are tough, so they can take a while.
I was annoyed by the fact that, if you stick with the same classes the whole game, you won't wind up with all of them capped out. To explain further, you start out with no class equipped and quickly gain your first set, then later get another set and the ability to equip a second. There will still be leftovers, however, and unequipped ones earn less exp than selected ones. Add in 2 more factors: the number of fights (and thus exp) in the game is limited (monsters don't respawn), and there's a bonus dungeon that can only be unlocked by maxing out all the classes. You can see how this would be frustrating, to finish the game and be stuck with no way to get into the bonus area. Now, there is an arena where you can fight stuff, but I'm not sure if they give much exp. Might try this later on.

This game was a whole bundle of enjoyment, playability and laughs for me. Essestially it is an rpg with 16-bit graphics. You can play it straight (well as much as this crazy game allows), or embody the madness. It pokes fun at the genre and at itself. Really it's what you might expect from Penny Arcade. If you don't know what PA is, i recommend you check it out, and get this game too, it's worth it.
Btw if you're interested in a more detailed review, i recommend you check out the one written by MinervaMedica, which is a true belter of a review, congrats Minerva. If you happen to get to this review at all, that is.
Enjoy the game!

I'm a little disappointed in this game. I truly am. The previous Penny Arcade games, in their 3D environment, semi-free-roaming capabilties, witty dialogue, character customization, and comic book-styled cutscenes were excellent, but this one...
I just can't bring myself to keep playing. It's become a 2D RPG-stylized game, and though it started out pretty alright, the required battling, which for the most part, is every enemy you see on screen, really started to bore the living fecal matter out of me. It was just too much. Between every fight, you regain all your stats fully, so there's really no urgency of healing, which could be taken as a blessing, but...I don't know...I felt less imersed in this game, less dedicated to the characters and outcome. Sure, the dialogue is witty, for the most part, but given the lackluster gameplay and visuals...it just wasn't fun. I would've rather just read a comic book with the same style and written dialogue without the non-stop RPG fights chewing up my time and killing me with boredom.
I'm genuinely sorry for not enjoying it more. I look forward to the next installment of Penny Arcade and hope for the best.

A complete and utter disappointment.

First, graphics are your run-of-the-mill, RPGMaker junk, losing the style and feel from the first two (Hothead-designed) games.

Second, the music doesn't play for me -- and based on comments around the internet, I'm not the only one. I followed a few different steps and nothing helped. Oh, well, since a visit to Youtube showed it was chiptunes so I'm good.

Look, I love old games. I have hundreds of them, I own a damned arcade machine... but give it a rest, developers. It only stands out when you're unique, not one of thousands.

If this game didn't have the Penny Arcade writing and humour, it'd be hot garbage through and through.

edit: The DLC has a solid story, but unfortunately the same derivative JRPG gameplay. It's worth playing, though. OtRPoD 3 is darker than the first two games, and at first I wasn't sold, but I think it's good, especially when taken with the DLC.

First of all, I enjoyed it. It definately had shining moments, but also many drawbacks.

I really started laughing quite a bit once I got into it, despite just rolling my eyes at the beginning. What really kept me playing was the character interaction, and the overall artstyle of the game. It also looks like Precipice 4 has improved a lot of the "linear" issues, so it's worth playing to lead into that.

It definately looks like a later SNES title (though not quite Chrono Trigger, or FF6 but close). An interesting battle system compared to 16 bit titles from back in the day...definately unique.

I like how you can mix and match classes however you want, but having to build MP was annoying for me. Sometimes the battles were interesting and other times redundant, leaving me wanting to just see what happens next in the story instead of fighting.

Way too linear. I actually really like the "Super Mario World" style overworld -one of my favorite things in the game- but the individual areas were way too linear for me. No towns, no townsfolks to chat with, and you can't enter any buildings/rooms within the individual areas. Looking at Bookshelves and drawers give the same text for each one.

Music is pretty good, but there isn't enough of it, so it becomes repetitive. Certainly no memorable tunes like the classics, other than perhaps the battle theme...but you hear plenty of it..

I enjoyed it a lot and I'm really glad I played it but as far as recommending it to someone else...I'm not sure. For the price, yeah. If 4 continues to be as good as it seems so far, (More of a Cthulu vibe) definately.