Thank you Paradox Interactive for sending us this game to review!

I enjoyed playing the first Knights of Pen and Paper +1 in 2013 on PC.   Other than some moral issues and DLC options, it was a pleasant experience and I looked forward to the sequel when it was announced.  Knights of Pen and Paper II came out on mobile devices first and then to PC.  The Steam version has twenty-five achievements and full controller support.  Out of habit, I beat the game using keyboard and mouse.  It took me roughly six hours to do so.

While Knights of Pen and Paper II can be enjoyed by anyone, gamers who are familiar with pen and paper RPGs will get most of the quirky humor found in this title.  There are several jokes from popular video games and movies too.  One reference was an ancient vault paying homage to the Fallout games.  Perhaps one of my favorite jokes was whenever the grappling hook was used pull an enemy towards the front row, my character would say “Get over here!” as Scorpion did in Mortal Kombat.  

The main nemesis in Knights of Pen and Paper II is the paper knight and his gang.  They must be stopped but in order to defeat them, several artifacts must be collected and some of them need to be retrieved through time travel.  Time travel and airships don’t come until later in the game - until then you’re stuck using a horse between towns.  The first village is aptly named “Spawn Point Village.”  Like many RPGs your first quest has to do with rats, but instead of killing them, you have to save them by defeating several mouse traps.  Other typical quests involve delivering items and escorting NPCs and getting attacked every step of the way.

In the beginning of the game you get to set up your party of two and can later upgrade it to five.  There are many classes and character types available.   The typical classes of mage, paladin, warrior, thief, hunter are available from the get go and the warlock, barbarian, and ninja unlock later in the game.  The classes can be human, elf or dwarven in nature.  Their background determines some of their base abilities and beginning statistics.   The backgrounds include jock, cheerleader, rich kid, rocker, goth, lab rat, hipster, and the exchange student is unlockable.  Characters can be created at any point in the game and swapped out in towns with taverns in them.

Besides taverns, towns have stores to buy weapons, armors, trinkets, and consumables.  Many consumables can be combined to make more powerful items at the crafting bench.  Resting in town is free of charge and does not require a successful dice roll to let it happen.  A failed rest roll out of town will result in an enemy ambush.  

Enemies can also ambush you when traveling if your die roll is too low.  The dice rolls in battle determine your attack strength, defense, and attacking order.  In dungeons, dice rolls will decide the outcome of traps that have been tripped and the chances of picking the locks on treasure chests.   Every new area on the map gives you the option to investigate it to unlock clues and helpful items.  Each chance to roll will cost 5 gold.  That’s the same amount to travel between points on the map as well.  

Decorating the game room will give you several helpful boosts and the rug I used added +1 to all of my investigative rolls.  That decoration came in handy.  Each stylish decoration costs money, so be sure to save it and spent it wisely.  Other unlockable items are available for a price if you read the digital magazines within the game menu.

The graphics and audio have a retro look and feel to them.  The levels and enemies were colorful and offered some good variety in their design.  Many areas had their own chip tune themed music that was well composed.

As usual, my kids were drawn to my monitor when I was playing this game.  Fortunately, the only language I noticed was the acronym WTF.  With numerous battles, violence is a given and physical and magical attacks can be used.  Some blood is shown when a bleeding condition is triggered.  Some female characters will be shown in bikinis.  Last but not least, there are references to drinking, stealing, and zombies.  

Like many RPGs, grinding is necessary to be powerful enough to defeat tougher enemies.  I never felt under-leveled, but I did feel that some of the quests dragged on a bit.  The humor kept me going until the end though.  I enjoyed my time in this adventure, but I don’t feel like grinding any more after defeating the final boss to level my characters up to thirty for another Steam achievement.  The price is a reasonable $9.99 and worth picking up at full or price or holding out for a sale.