8-Bit Adventures 2 review

It speaks volumes for 8 Bit Adventures 2 that I had not even played the preceding title, but thanks to its excellent, gently revelatory storytelling, I was emotionally invested in the returning characters and developing story ark early on. Of course, it also helps that this is a belting old-school role player that takes well-worn tropes and themes that we have seen for donkey’s years, and still presents something that feels fresh, vibrant and relevant. It helps immensely that it looks and sounds like it could have been plucked from the golden 16-bit era, with some neat design and a sweeping, gorgeous soundtrack.

Like any good RPG, 8-Bit Adventures 2 features a heady mixture of character classes, fantastical monsters, and elements of retro-futuristic technology, in this case a world that is ruled by an autonomous super-computer, which in the first game was damaged by a malevolent, viral entity known as The Dust. This sequel picks up from the events of the earlier game, but focuses on a new Big Bad, and a new central character in the form of eminently loveable oik Charlie, an orphaned youngster raised by thieves.

Gameplay leads Charlie and an ever-growing cast of characters through a series of beautifully realised dungeons and towns teeming with folk that each have their own stories to tell, and a wealth of magic and monsters to play with. The script is absolutely superb. Sometimes I dread playing new RPGs of this ilk as there are swathes of often boringly implemented conversations to read through. Not so here. 8-Bit Adventures 2 features some impactful and emotional storytelling, well-crafted characters that you will fall for hook, line and sinker, and cleverly walks a balance beam between knowingly meme-ish humour and the ability to flick a switch and drag things into peril and darkness.

Also quite unlike a lot of role players, combat encounters are not random. A bit like some of the modern Pokemon titles, you will see the enemies on the overworld and although they will make a quick beeline for you once in their sights, some battles can be avoided by simply running away. Your party is augmented by a character called, hilariously, Save Point, who functions not just as that. The ability to save anywhere is part and parcel of the game anyway, but your pal Save Point is there to chirrup in with some advice (such as when it might be a good idea to, you know, save), tactics when facing down battles, and even a sprinkling of sarcastic gags. It is another wonderful and rather original touch.

The dungeons are mostly linear but exploration is rewarded as there are treasures and weapons to discover, which will ultimately make your quest easier. Combat is turn based and quite traditional, with attack and magic points used as currency for actions, and a party of up to seven that you can rotate in and out of the fray. As mentioned, there are a variety of different character classes, and each has their own special ability that makes them unique. These are sometimes quite obvious (Warrior can smash an enemy and stun them into submission for a turn, Thief can, well, thieve), but a few of them are quite clever. Our hero Charlie can make like splitting the cards in Blackjack, and attack twice – with the cost being that his power is halved. There are Limit Break-style chargeable Omega attacks too, and it came as a delightful surprise to me when I learned that certain combinations of characters can actually cause specific abilities to emerge or improve. With so many characters to play around with, a stunning menagerie of enemies and almost unimaginable party variations, the combat does not get stale.

8-Bit Adventures 2 is a game clearly engineered by folk who have an innate reverence for the genre, and no doubt know their way around an early Final Fantasy or Dragon Quest; however the key here is how the team has managed to make something feel both old-school and refreshingly modern in the same breath. I thought my days of enjoying vintage style RPGs was behind me, but thankfully Critical Games has changed that. I now want to pick up the first game for more of the same goodness.