I'd like to thank Critical Games for the review key to this title and CriticalGamesAU on Discord (head developer) for answering some questions I had about the game.

Maybe I'm showing my age, but I miss RPGs that weren't massive open-world games with mindless fetch quests and a huge noise-to-signal ratio of anything interesting. I much prefer when the story keeps me constantly engaged and the beats of the plot aren't spaced apart by filler. 8-Bit Adventures 2 is a game that felt my pain and decided to fill that void.

While a sequel to the first 8-Bit Adventures, this game is largely standalone. They do recap the high points of the first and it does play a role in the plot of this game, but for the most part, this game is perfectly enjoyable on its own. The gist of the story is that two years after the salvation of the world from a threat that almost destroyed the world, it seems the danger is far from over. New and old heroes must join forces to deal with a foe who once again threatens their reality.

The above sounds like the start of every classic RPG, and while that's true, the plot has a fun mix of high fantasy meets sci-fi that makes the journey just as fun as the destination. Starting out as the kid brother of one of the heroes of the first game, you catch wind of the new threat to the world and set out to help your older sister. The plot snowballs from there, as a supernatural child with the ability to warp reality has their own plans for the world saved not two years ago and plunges the world into chaos once more.

I really don't want to spoil too much, but this game oozes character from every pore. The plot starts a bit slow a first, mostly setting things up, but it picks up fast. All of the characters get character development, a lot of NPC dialogue is witty and memorable, and the battle system is pretty deep.

Unlike the "random encounters" of classic RPGs, this game mostly confines them to dungeons where you can see and avoid the encounters. Instead of forcing you to level grind (though a mild bit of this is recommended), battles revolve more around strategy. For example, some foes are weak to certain status effects, some require exploiting weaknesses, and some require exploiting attack patterns. All playable characters have regular abilities (which cost nothing to use), special attacks that do cost points to use, and after taking or exchanging enough hits players can use "Omega Attacks", which are super-powered moves with unique effects that can change the entire tide of battle.

When it comes to exploration, this game goes for a quality-over-quantity approach. While most dungeons aren't overly large, most have some sort of puzzle or gimmick to master. The first dungeon, for example, requires creating paths to cross gaps, and a later dungeon requires luring enemies into lighted areas to make battles easier (your vision is impaired greatly in the dark areas). There are a lot of little sidequests tucked away in towns and other NPC areas to find. There is even a secret developer room and super bosses you can find, again like the classic RPGs of old that rewarded out-of-the-way exploration and out-of-the-box thinking with easter eggs and unique challenges.

One of the reasons I'm rather reticent to spoil is because it's very clear the developers are big fans of classic RPGs (as one myself, I commend their good taste), and you will find a LOT of shoutouts carefully woven into the story. Having been raised on the NES/SNES/Gameboy/early PC/PS1 golden age of many RPG franchises, part of the fun is spotting all the clever references. The story goes in its own unique direction, but the dialogue in many places is a grand love letter to classic role-playing games in general.

Graphically, this game is modeled after the 8-bit NES pixel art style. The first 8-Bit Adventures featured some fairly crude graphics, which the developer I asked about their game admitted were hand drawn, but they gave the graphics a massive glow-up across the board (and hired a graphical artist to ensure this) to make sure everything had high quality. Given the fact there is a nigh seamless transition between cutscenes and battles now, I have to commend the quality boost. The main game action takes place in a top-down perspective with animated sprites, while battles feature the classic front-view much like the Dragon Quest and Earthbound franchises.

The music and sounds are classic chiptune music, and if you love old-school synthesized music, you will totally enjoy the musical styling. The soundtrack is available for purchase for PC players on Steam and for others on Bandcamp, more information can be found on the developer's website and their Discord.

Game controls are pretty simple. Much like the NES RPGs of old, you have one action button, one cancel button, a d-pad (or joystick) for movement, and buttons to access the inventory. I played this on a handheld Switch and found myself getting used to the controls in no time flat. For those purchasing this game on Steam, it supports a keyboard and mouse as well as controller support.

The game stability is very good. This was made using RPG Maker MV (something I've used myself and I could barely tell that was the engine used given all the high-quality custom alterations) and runs smoothly on the Switch. Any Windows PC that can boot up is going to be able to run this fine, given the very low system requirements. This title is Verified for the Steam Deck and should run out of the box on Steam Proton. I can further confirm the developers are very willing to listen to bug reports and feedback in case of any issues. The only annoyance I had was no "Instant" option for text, which would be nice given some text sequences are pretty wordy.

Morally, there aren't too many serious issues.

Violence is typical RPG "give orders and watch it happen" level. Language is fairly mild. I saw only a few mentions of d*mn and h*ll. There are a few mentions of potential intimate relationships out of wedlock, but aside from suggestions of this, there is no direct confirmation. In one instance it even turns out to be two characters rehearsing for theater roles. Aside from some mildly suggestive flirting, there isn't too much else of note.

The story is one of those "high fantasy that turns out to have a major infusion of science fiction" blends. While some things like ghosts and demonic entities do exist, a lot of things in the story are revealed to have a science-fiction-based cause. There are backstory mentions of unspecified deities (which are highly implied to have more rational causes like the aforementioned science-fiction elements). Finally, there is the use of magic, but it's largely generic stock fantasy magic. It's worth mentioning there is a "magic circle" puzzle where you have to control the flow of the magic to progress. The magic circle is in a generic star pattern that resembles a Star of David in design though appears to have a more generic occult-like purpose in the game. Some cemeteries do reference Christian crosses though.

Morally, you play as a motley group of generally law-abiding heroes. They cooperate with lawful authority whenever possible and seek to stop a threat to the whole world. There is a recurring theme of being willing to fight for what is important to you that underpins the whole story, as well as a positive take on the virtues of friendship and family.

Overall, if you want a fun RPG throwback heavy on plot and light on filler, 8-Bit Adventures 2 is a worthy investment. Morally, it's got some mild themes of concern that any teenager on up could easily handle.