Canon 2: Masterpiece By Masterpiece (1995)
Canon 2: Masterpiece by Masterpiece is a 1-3 Player immersive storytelling sim developed by R.D.O. Games in 1995 as an exclusive for Sony's PlayStation console. The game is set shortly after the destruction of every existing piece of human artistic expression (o/k/a Canon 1) in the year 2020 by the nefarious Machine; players are responsible for crafting something worthy of a place in the next annal of history. Known for its rogue-like elements and inscrutable scoring system.
Canon 2: Masterpiece by Masterpiece is also an Actual-Play Podcast wherein Medley plays Canon 2: Masterpiece By Masterpiece (1995) while accompanied by an extremely special, smart, beautiful and talented guest playing as Player 1.
Recent Episodes
| # | Episode Link | Masterpiece Format | Masterpiece Title | Player 1 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Common Gameplay Elements
The game is split into 5 Sections:
- Prologue
Objectives
- Player 1 is informed they have saved one piece of art from Canon 1 and must decide what it is and explain why.
- Player 1 picks one of The Sacred Five Formats (TV, Movie, Book/Comic, Anime/Manga, Video Game), as well as 2 Genres.
- Act 1
- Act 2
- Act 3
- Epilogue
Player 1 begins the game with 50 HP and 15 MP and is, on paper, the only player making pivotal decisions.
The experience of playing as Player 2 (or Player 3) has been described as 'Diddy Kong-esque' with their gameplay consisting of helping Player 1 make their decisions as wisely as possible.
History
Little is still known about the History of the game's development and its developers. This section needs further research.
Known Achievements
R.D.O. Games had developed a groundbreaking 'Achievement System' by utilizing a peripheral which came with an edition sold exclusively at Toys"R"Us. The peripheral utilized both of the PlayStation Memory Card slots at once, allowing R.D.O. 10MB of additional storage with which to run/manage the Achievement System. R.D.O. claimed there were "hundreds" of Achievements to unlock as of 6 months before release [citation needed]. The following is a list of known achievements as of 3/2/2025:
| Achievement Title | Descriptor Text | Discovered By |
|---|---|---|
Opening Cutscene Transcript
Goddess Avanti: The year is 2020. Humankind’s greatest enemy ‘The Machine’ has successfully destroyed all previously existing works of art in an act known colloquially as ‘The Big Deletion.’ You have been asked to join ‘The Avant Guard,’ a secret society of artists questing to create the next artistic Canon, masterpiece by masterpiece. Welcome Sovereign, to The Avant Guard, and "Canon 2: Masterpiece By Masterpiece"!