Knights of Pen & Paper 2 preview: Paper Cuts

Video games have been able to capture many of people's greatest fantasies, but Knights of Pen & Paper showed that they're just as capable of re-enacting a completely different kind of fantasy: the pen & paper, Dungeons & Dragons-style RPG. Knights of Pen & Paper was an intriguing throwback, offering a pen and paper role-playing experience and combining it with a retro graphics style. The result was one of the past decade's more underrated RPGs. So it's nice to see Paradox Interactive and Kyy Games bringing the idea back for round two, in a sequel appropriately called Knights of Pen & Paper 2.

As mentioned during last week's Chattycast, I recently had the opportunity to dive head-first into the series' second installment. Just as in the first game, the idea of the game is that a Dungeon Master is sitting at the head of a table, with his friends sitting at the opposite end and rolling a 12-sided die to determine their moves. All the while, the game is fully imagined in the background, with fantasy settings, monsters, and villager NPCs all appearing at appropriate moments. Not only is this game proving itself to be a fun outing filled with simple turn-based RPG mechanics, but it's also standing out with a grand sense of humor that pokes a lot of fun at itself and the genre.

In fact, the tone is set right off the bat with a tutorial battle against a massive beast called the Tarasque. The first line to be uttered by the beast is one that lashes out at the Dungeon Master, since he's supposed to be end-game content. While the tutorial serves to reiterate this game's similarities to its predecessor, it also establishes the game's style of humor, mainly riffing off RPG tropes and sequel jokes.

From there, it's time to create characters. Knights of Pen & Paper 2 may not dazzle with its array of choices, especially since there's no gender option in place, but the available classes are enough for some laughs. These classes include the Jock, Cheerleader, Surfer, Rich Kid, Rocker, Goth, Lab Rat, and Hipster, all of which carry their own distinctive bonuses. And like in most RPGs, these classes can be played with any of the game's three races, which can make for some interesting combinations. Nothing quite like a bearded Dwarf cheerleader to take the fight to some monsters. While the game starts as a party of two, new party members can be added with currency, while new classes can also be discovered by completing quests.

The proper game plays out like many pen and paper RPGs, with parties undertaking quests that the Dungeon Master reads off of a sheet of paper. Likewise, just about everything is determined by a roll of the dice. Traveling from place to place requires rolling the right number to avoid an ambush. Rolling the wrong number while exploring caves can set off traps. Even in battle, dice rolls determine turn order, as well as whether negative conditions kick in during a character's turn.

As mentioned, the major upgrade for Knights of Pen & Paper 2 is the visual style, making the leap from pixels to 16-bit era sprites. The visual look is complemented by a delightfully retro chiptune soundtrack. Knights of Pen & Paper 2 has a lot of the depth of a classic RPG, but without any of the seriousness. This game is simply out to have fun, which greatly helps it stand out from a crowded field of more modern 3D role-playing games.

Though I played a couple of hours of Knights of Pen & Paper 2, getting a look at cave and forest environments, among others, this looks to be scratching the surface. The preview build of the game I tried out is said to have roughly 20 percent of the game's content. There's a full world out there to explore and players will be able to check it out when Knights of Pen & Paper 2 hits PC and iOS later this month.

Ozzie Mejia

Senior Editor

Ozzie has been playing video games since picking up his first NES controller at age 5. He has been into games ever since, only briefly stepping away during his college years. But he was pulled back in after spending years in QA circles for both THQ and Activision, mostly spending time helping to push forward the Guitar Hero series at its peak. Ozzie has become a big fan of platformers, puzzle games, shooters, and RPGs, just to name a few genres, but he’s also a huge sucker for anything with a good, compelling narrative behind it. Because what are video games if you can't enjoy a good story with a fresh Cherry Coke?