Game Reviews

Knights of Pen and Paper 2

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Knights of Pen and Paper 2

Knights of Pen and Paper 2 is a game that's slightly entangled in the problems of the original Knights of Pen and Paper.

It's still fun, it still looks great, and it's still got a wicked sense of humour. But it's still a little on the grindy side. And while it pokes fun at certain facets of tabletop RPGs, sometimes it falls into the same traps.

It's still bright, breezy, and fun, but sometimes it's a bit of a slog.

+1 to pixels

Like before, you're playing a game within a game. Your characters are sat around a table, rolling dice and talking to the DM. In the background are all sorts of fantastical creatures and settings.

You take quests, fight monsters, and trawl through dungeons, all the while gaining XP and learning new skills. It's pretty standard stuff, but it's presented with such cheeky aplomb that it's hard to dislike.

Battles are turn-based, and the dice-rolling all takes place behind the scenes. You start off with a couple of characters, but you can add more as you add more seats around the table.

The characters are all pretty standard, albeit based on stereotypical tabletop players. You don't just control a Warrior, you control a Lab Rat controlling a warrior. You don't just play a Hunter, you play a goth playing a hunter.

Everything bimbles along at a decent pace, and you've always got something to be getting on with. Slightly annoyingly, the new characters you add come into the game at level one, so you need to grind some earlier scraps with them to get them caught up with the rest of your party.

Roll with it

There's something genuinely pleasant about Knights of Pen and Paper 2, especially if you're a fan or tabletop role playing. It pokes fun, but it's always warm towards its subject matter.

But that goodwill doesn't quite do enough to lessen the impact of the grind. It's old fashioned in that way, like its predecessor. If you enjoyed that - and many of you did - this is more of the same.

Knights of Pen and Paper 2

Knights of Pen and Paper 2 is more of the same. And it's still full of heart, wit, and grind
Score
Harry Slater
Harry Slater
Harry used to be really good at Snake on the Nokia 5110. Apparently though, digital snake wrangling isn't a proper job, so now he writes words about games instead.