First of all, let me say that I've been a huge JP fan since I was about 9 (and I'm 18 now). I've loved the original albums for years, but I was extremely disappointed by the first new adventure that came out in 2017 (Digging Deeper) and decided not to buy any of the other new albums. Then last Christmas, my dad surprised me by giving me No Other Gods and The One True God. I just finished listening to it and I will say that it's WAY better than Digging Deeper. I'm afraid most of my analysis will sound negative, but I'm biased in favor of the old albums! :)
Characters: Dr. Brady is a little unbelievable, he's almost TOO much of a character at times. Really, going around in war paint or a toga? Doesn't sound very professor-like. :) And his enthusiasm can get a little annoying, but I did get to like him better as the story went on. I REALLY miss the old Kendall Park (Frank Montenegro) but I don't mind the new one, I just wish he would do more of the actual teaching like he did in the old albums. I really appreciate that Jessie is no longer hyper and food-oriented, she just gets a little too emotional at times. Stelle can be a bit hard to understand, but I totally LOVE British accents. Jonathan is . . . classic Jonathan. Honestly, I find Isaac annoying. I get that he's supposed to be the comic relief, but he's too comical, like in the part where the rest are discussing omnism and he keeps interrupting about dumb omelets. I mean come on!! And his crush on the Israeli girl is just bleh. Dr. Kliner makes a good sinister villain, he's just also kind of hard to understand. Cecil is funny - I love a funny bad guy henchman - but he too can get a little too goofy. One note I would make is that sometimes it's hard to tell who's talking, is it Dr. Brady or Kendall or Jonathan? And I miss the rest of the old team.
Plot/Action: It took a while for the plot to really start going places, and while some of the events are kind of unlikely, so were a lot in the original albums. :) Some of the action is confusing to figure out what's going on, because all you hear is a lot of noise. In the old albums, the characters would often sort of narrate what was going on (like "oh they're still behind us") which made it a lot easier to follow. I think there's a little too much huffing and puffing and grunting (especially in the first two cds) which can get annoying.
Content: So the focus of the story is comparing religions/evangelization, but I'm honestly not seeing a lot of explanation of it so far. I'm hoping there will be more of it in the next album because that's something important that I would like to learn about. Also I can't tell if the King James Version is used for the Scripture quotations but that was something I really liked about the old stories. But I will say this, I definitely appreciate that there isn't any language like there was in Digging Deeper.
And the cliffhanger . . . REALLY bad place to end the story! It's as bad as the way J.R.R. Tolkien ends The Two Towers, with Frodo being captured and dragged off by orcs. I realize the point is to make people want to buy the next album, but still.
Again, I'm sorry if I sound super negative - I mean it as constructive criticism, and I really did like it well enough. I would probably enjoy it more if I was completely new to JP, but as it is I can't help comparing it to the original albums I know and love so well. :) Still though, it's an interesting story and I am looking forward to starting the next one!
