Roll for initiative!
If you have ever played a tabletop role-playing game such as Dungeon and Dragons, then you will be familiar with the set up for this interesting new addition to the Nintendo Switch lineup. Knights of Pen and Paper puts you in control of party of different people, each playing a key role in your party, and embrack on an epic quest to become mighty heroes within a fantasy world full of adventure and humor.
Your find a lot to like within this title from the moment you start out on your adventure to the many hours that follow. By taking advantage of countless references, years of fantasy tropes and culture, Knights of Pen and Paper delivers moment after moment of cleaver writing and gameplay design that leverages the source material to a new degree.
As mentioned, you take control of a party made up of different people such as ‘Pizza Guy’ or ‘Jock’. Each one has a unique bonus that help you pick their class and skilled which will set the foundations for your party. Like any other role-playing title, you will earn experience and level up your party, gaining new skills and equipment to push further into the title. This is done via turn based combat that translate perfectly into the compact design of the title.
Characters and enemies will have initiative setting their turn order. Abilities and skills need to be managed against your health and magic points and using items to gain bonuses will help to ensure you’ll always in the lead when it comes to a fight. To further aid you on your journey Knights of Pen and Paper has a system that allows you to exchange your gold for items at and around the table, where the ‘game’ is being played, to offer permanent bonus to your whole playthrough. This includes items such as ‘snacks’ and the type of table you are playing on. These are a nice way to bring the meta of the title into the core focus of the gameplay, really selling the feel of playing a tabletop role-playing game.
Knights of Pen and Paper has previously been released on a number of different platforms and therefore has had time to become a solid title with stable performance. This is true for the Switch really as well which runs super smooth throughout the whole experience offering minimal loading times as well. In handheld mode the title supports touch controls which make it a good choice for playing on the go along with looking great on the big screen.
One of the only complaints for the title, even though it is so small, is that for a title so reliant on menu navigation, it can be hard at times to see which button you have highlighted. It is something you will get use to as you play but might be an issue for some, so bare it in mind.
Overall, Knights of Pen and Paper +1 Deluxier Edition is a solid addition to the Switch library and one that fans of role-playing and tabletop games will surely love. Even if you have played the title before I highly recommend picking it up to experience all the content it has to offer and for the brilliant humor found throughout.
Summary
Knights of Pen and Paper +1 Deluxier Edition is a fantastic title with tons of content and humor to be found throughout. Do yourself a favor and pick this title up.