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It’s been a stellar year for RPGs on the Switch, with even Mario managing to squeak out three of his own within 12 months and a heavily anticipated remake of a Famicom classic hitting shelves this month with Dragon Quest III Remake. But among all these heavy hitters, be sure not to overlook the humble 8-Bit Adventures 2, as it’s possibly among the same ranks for the right player.
Developer by Critical Games, and a sequel to — you guessed it — the original 8-Bit Adventures, this is a love letter to classic titles like Chrono Trigger, Mother 3, and even (as noted by the developer) Final Fantasy X – heartfelt influences the game wears on its sleeve with pride.
First of all, the most arresting part of the game is in the name: the 8-bit visuals. Fittingly, 8BA2 (as we’re calling it) doesn’t take up all of the Switch’s screen, instead appearing in a 4:3 box. You can also squash further to emulate a ‘pixel perfect’ version like some modern ports of retro games.
Using a vibrant pixel palette, 8BA2 communicates its story and world effectively even without the sort of PS5-melting visuals some gamers expect. This modest design only adds to the charm, and it makes it impressive when you finally see some screen-filling enemies in all their gnarly, pixelated glory. This is a title meticulously crafted with love, and nowhere is that more evident than in the masterfully curated visuals.
As you’ll be staring at those enemies during battle for quite some time, it’s just as well that your fearsome foes are a mixture of impressively detailed and just plain wacky. Enemies like Overweight Snake, the Obligatory Bat, and the terrifying Leviathan boss use every single pixel on the screen to great effect with twisting limbs, cheeky expressions, and some really endearing art.
It all works well alongside fantastic sound design, with memorable themes like the melancholy Niveus town theme and the exhilarating battle theme. And every little bleep or bloop when navigating the UI has a really satisfying decay that adds to the charming retro aesthetic.
Getting to battles, these are turn-based, but there is also a running order on the side of the screen where you can see which enemies will attack when. It all complements deeper mechanics including abilities, augments, elemental weakness, and status afflictions – Slow, Poison, and more. We particularly enjoyed the almighty Omega attack, which is a hail mary that gradually charges with each turn. When you need a large attack and want more options, each party member has a different Omega attack and unique animation, some healing, some hitting every enemy, and others hitting for status conditions.
For even more strategy, you can swap out each party member with a reserve whenever you want. 8BA2 is an occasionally punishing RPG that not only expects you to experiment with battles and learn how to beat enemies, but often blindsides you if you don’t. Battles are consistently fun and the challenge ramps up nicely, and thankfully there aren’t random encounters.
But a couple of modern flourishes would have been nice. 8-Bit Adventures 2 is very deliberately using older games as its influence, but we still missed certain time-saving measures we’ve gotten used to over the years. There’s no way to speed up battles animations, no auto-battle, and while fights were always fun, there are some times with RPGs where it’s nice to just grind through matches to level up. Considering you can revive all enemies in areas to keep battling, a couple of other modern conveniences would have been nice. This is a grand old adventure, lasting between 30-40 hours, and it occasionally feels like the game is wasting your time instead of rewarding it.
Similarly, an auto-scroll for speech would be great, as this game has a lot to say. We have to praise the actual narrative, as it subtly touches on the first game and its heroes but brings a whole new threat called The Glitch that feels fittingly apocalyptic. New players won’t feel like they’re missing out – this is a story that easily stands on its own.
You start out playing as the young boy named Charlie, who dreams of exploring the world. But through some fun twists and unexpected plot turns, you eventually fill a party with characters from the original game and some new additions. Don’t expect a cookie-cutter RPG narrative, though, as this is a journey that repeatedly bucks expectations and offers fun new gameplay twists.
There’s an Ace Attorney-inspired courtroom drama in one chapter, then airship battles, a brief trip on a sled to explore sunken ships in an arctic tundra, and a trip into a computer world throws up bands electric guitarists and drummers. The variety is appreciated, and we were pleasantly surprised at each turn.
But there are a few other niggles. The party is constantly being split up or shifting, which we liked as it forces some thoughtful battling. Thankfully, if a party member is about to leave for a while the game warns you and advises you to unequip their augments and equipment. But, it still expects you to go into the menu to do this busywork instead of offering to simply unequip everything for you at the same time it mentions it.
Similarly, there’s also a distinct lack of waypoints on the map, objective markers, or any way to remind you of the story. It is very easy to get lost and waste your time, which alongside the occasionally frustrating level of difficulty in battles can make the genuinely charming story grind to a halt and feel like a chore.
Conclusion
8-Bit Adventures 2 is an exquisitely crafted RPG epic that any fan of classic (and we mean classic) RPGs will appreciate for its adherence to the conventions of games of the era. With gorgeous pixel art, a satisfying battle style with as much challenge as variety, and a story that both honours and subverts RPG tropes, there’s so much to love. However, it doesn’t always respect your time and the lack of some modern conveniences — auto-battle, an auto-scroll for dialogue, any real way to point you towards your goal or remind you of the story so far — could make this a journey that many get lost on before reaching the end.