Knights of Pen and Paper 2: Here Be Dragons Review (PC)

good
key review info
  • Game: Knights of Pen and Paper 2: Here Be Dragons
  • Platform: PC
  • Show system requirements
  • Gamepad support: No
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Knights of Pen and Paper 2: Here Be Dragons dragon in action

The first dragon that I met was red and angry, filling the entire screen, looming above my party of five adventurers and the dungeon master, clearly interested in roasting them with powerful attacks to keep them from finding out more about the kingdom of Expandria.

After a long fight that involved one character death, a lot of chain lightning that only targeted one creature, some berserker attacks that got one character close to death, and a cleric that almost emptied his mana spamming healing spells, I managed to take down the scaled beast and got on with my dragonmint and royalty-dominated quests.

Knights of Pen and Paper 2: Here Be Dragons is both a celebration and deconstruction of modern fantasy, an expansion that wants to make fun of D&D while also making it attractive for a generation of gamers that might have never experienced the actual tabletop game.

There are plenty of enemies to take out, some very silly quest lines to complete, and a party of five characters that can be updated based on their chosen classes, customized to deal with the challenges of the world around them.

Knights of Pen and Paper 2: Here Be Dragons is developed by Kyy Games and published by Paradox Interactive, and gamers can pick it up on the PC as well as on mobile devices running both Android and iOS.

Story

Knights of Pen and Paper 2: Here Be Dragons is a relatively classic expansion pack, designed to appeal to gamers who have created high-level characters and have managed to complete all the content offered in the base game.

The concept that powers the entire fictional universe remains the same: gamers control a party of actual tabletop players who themselves engage in adventures using their personal meta-fictional characters in a world that borrow its core ideas from Dungeons & Dragons but also references a lot of recent fantasy-driven pop culture.

The idea felt fresh and engaging when the first title in the series was launched, but a few expansions and a sequel failed to tweak it in any meaningful way, which means that it's harder and harder to smile at the jokes and to appreciate the meta-commentary delivered by the video game.

Knights of Pen and Paper 2: Here Be Dragons green attack
Knights of Pen and Paper 2: Here Be Dragons green attack

Here Be Dragons manages to earn some goodwill because it takes players on an adventure that features actual flying and fire-breathing creatures, the ultimate prize for role-playing fans, but there are plenty of twists and turns delivered by the Kyy Games team.

The expansion also introduces the Knight class and the Bookworm player type, each of them with its unique abilities and skill boosts, and there are some cool combinations that can be created for the gamer-controlled party.

Knights of Pen and Paper 2 fails to deliver an impressive narrative or solid character growth, but it still has small pleasures to offer for fantasy and RPG fans as they move through the new Expandria zone and try to defeat all the dragons who live there.

Gameplay

Knights of Pen and Paper 2: Here Be Dragons retains the core mechanics of the series, with the virtual players sitting at the familiar table with their dungeon master, chatting around as they face a wide variety of enemies.

The game is pure classic role-playing, with plenty of items to earn or buy and an enhanced set of recipes for crafting, but these systems are not very attractive on their own.

The meat of the gameplay in Here Be Dragons, as in the base Knights of Pen and Paper 2, is the combat, and there are some improvements that make the experience more exciting, even if there are plenty of moments when the encounters feel like grinding rather than adventuring.

The new world of Expandria is relatively limited, and gamers will have to move around quite a bit, which is equal to dealing with frequent ambush battles that rarely result in anything interesting other than some extra experience.

The new enemies are interesting to fight, with the attack beavers taking on the role of most threatening because of their resistance to being dragged to the front row and their solid two-handed attack moves.

The dragons, although a little too rare in the expansion, are worthy adversaries that deliver very interesting battles, filling the whole screen and throwing out status effects that make it very hard for the player party to use special attacks effectively.

I often lost at least one man while battling the flying beasts, which almost never happened while facing the bugbears or the attacking beavers that are also featured in Here Be Dragons, and a few treks to core zones show that those enemies also pose little threat.

The Knight is a worthy addition to the class roster of Knights of Pen and Paper 2, allowing gamers to constantly generate threat to keep enemies away from their more squishy party members while also offering a solid special attack that can be used when the opposing party is close to being wiped out.

The crafting options have been expanded, but given the amount of items dropped by enemies and the options coming from stores, there's never a real need to use it. Moreover, a new bestiary is added, designed to offer information on enemies and to deliver a small boost once enough of them are killed.

Here Be Dragons offers some engaging dragon battles and a new way to build a party around the Knight, but many other core mechanics require a little more attention than they received in the first expansion for Knights of Pen and Paper 2.

Graphics and audio

Knights of Pen and Paper 2: Here Be Dragons delivers no presentation upgrade when compared to the base game, using the same purposely old-school graphics, with plenty of pixelated characters and a user interface that can sometimes frustrate.

Despite the limitations linked to the structure of the series, there's a lot of imagination at play in the expansion, especially when it comes to the portrayal of the dragons themselves, big and powerful and clearly determined to take out the player party.

The sound design of Here Be Dragons is once again dominated by a range of happy-sounding 8-bit style tunes, which are engaging on first listen but can become annoying during long sessions. However, the real problem is the lack of variety in the sound effects department, which will quickly make finishing a quest a rather unappealing prospect.

The overall presentation of Knights of Pen and Paper 2 will push some nostalgia buttons for long-time RPG and Dungeons & Dragons fans, but it also has a modern edge thanks to its bright colors and personality-filled characters.


The Good

  • Dragon battles
  • New class and player role

The Bad

  • Limited story appeal
  • No major gameplay tweaks

Conclusion

Knights of Pen and Paper 2: Here Be Dragons is a good expansion for those who loved the base game and wanted to see a new class in action while also finding ways to take out the powerful new dragon enemies.

The new content is not very long, and the locations fail to be very innovative, which also places some limits on the narrative and the jokes that the developers at Kyy Games can deliver.

I liked the dragon-based challenges and the way they force players to tweak the tactics that they use against lesser enemies, but even those need to be more innovative to justify the Here Be Dragons expansion for most players.

I don't know whether Knights of Pen and Paper 2 can support another expansion without a major set of changes to the main features and a radical shift in the way it tells its story, which might involve dropping the faux fantasy setting in favor of something more original.

Until then, gamers should pick up the base game, finish its story and then decide whether access to another class and dragon battles justifies spending time with Here Be Dragons.

story 7
gameplay 7
concept 9
graphics 7
audio 7
multiplayer 0
final rating 7.5
Editor's review
good
 

Knights of Pen and Paper 2: Here Be Dragons Images (20 Images)

Knights of Pen and Paper 2: Here Be Dragons dragon in actionKnights of Pen and Paper 2: Here Be Dragons introKnights of Pen and Paper 2: Here Be Dragons combat mechanicsKnights of Pen and Paper 2: Here Be Dragons worldKnights of Pen and Paper 2: Here Be Dragons bridge to content
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