Knights of Pen & Paper 3

About

Knights of Pen & Paper 3 is the sequel to the turn-based, pixel-art adventure game full of danger and saving throws. The game features improved everything, including an upgraded character creation system with diverse class and party build options. Unlock new prestige classes, and utilize a sophisticated skill system where even low-level skills are useful. Immerse in pop culture references and prepare for a unique RPG experience.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player Play through the game's story or campaign solo

19%

Audience ScoreBased on 276 reviews

story14 positive mentions

gameplay7 negative mentions

The game features beautiful pixel art and animations, enhancing the visual experience.
It maintains the humorous tone and charm of the previous Knights of Pen and Paper games.
Some players find it enjoyable and relaxing, appreciating the casual gameplay.

The game is riddled with bugs and lacks many features present in the previous installments, making it feel unfinished.
Combat is slow and tedious, with unbalanced enemy scaling that can lead to frustrating gameplay experiences.
The progression system is poorly designed, requiring players to grind excessively for skill books and rewards that do not significantly enhance character abilities.

story
144 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
10%
83%
7%
The story in "Knights of Pen and Paper 3" is criticized for being poorly executed and lacking coherence, with many players feeling it fails to live up to its predecessors. Reviewers note that quest progression is frustratingly unbalanced, often requiring excessive grinding and featuring randomly generated side quests that do not contribute meaningfully to character development. Additionally, numerous bugs and design flaws hinder the overall experience, leading many to recommend avoiding this installment in favor of earlier games in the series.
- “The story isn't the best written or most thought out, but it hits every mark for a fan of Knights of Pen and Paper.”
- “Occasionally, the plot pleases with at least something relatively coherent, like the hunt of a Babylonian fish, but even this part is godlessly tightened with monotonous battles.”
- “The map being a 1 to 1 with the map of Knights of Pen and Paper 2 is beautiful, and great environmental storytelling.”
- “The 'natural' character progression through the main quest is absolutely insufficient to progress from chapter to chapter.”
- “How in the world could they screw this one up so bad, when all they needed to do was copy-paste the first two and add a new story or something.”
- “Weak, unfunny, incoherent, and delusional plot (better play Epic Battle Fantasy 5).”
gameplay
50 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
6%
80%
14%
The gameplay has been widely criticized for being poorly designed and overly grindy, with many mechanics feeling unfinished or hidden, leading to a frustrating experience. Players report a lack of meaningful progression, repetitive combat, and significant bugs, including save deletion issues. While the game has potential, it currently feels like a cash grab, especially on mobile platforms, and many recommend waiting for substantial updates before investing time or money.
- “I really enjoyed the first two games and I really like all the added mechanics they put in to make it different, but there are quite a few quality of life updates I'd say you should wait for until you buy the game.”
- “This game has a lot of potential; there is quite a bit of weirdness when it comes to the mechanics and there are a lot of bugs, but if the devs don't give up on the game, it should end up being great.”
- “There were certain gameplay changes that I was somewhat fine with, albeit annoyed, but the things just feel unfinished.”
- “The gameplay is totally broken.”
- “Every fight has delays with no speed up option - you actively want to avoid status effects because 1) it doubles the time it takes for characters to take their turn with debuffs, and 2) while you will fail your saving throws about 80% of the time, the enemy will only fail about 20%, making debuffs a completely useless mechanic to eat more time.”
- “This is just a weird sequel with very enjoyable graphics and monster/character animations, but the gameplay and questing is horrendous compared to the previous versions. I don't know what they tried to go for here, but it's not worth anyone's time in its current state.”
grinding
38 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The grinding in this game has been widely criticized as excessive and tedious, often described as lacking substance and feeling like a cash grab. Players note that the experience points and item drops are poorly balanced, leading to a frustratingly slow progression that detracts from the overall enjoyment. While some appreciate the game's potential and aesthetics, many feel that the grind is overwhelming and detracts significantly from the experience.
- “This game is grindy beyond belief and in that grind there is 0 substance.”
- “The game is boring and grindy; it does look good though, but I would rather have an ugly game that is fun to play.”
- “Really disappointed this new version is just endless grinding without payoff.”
stability
31 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game has received widespread criticism for its significant stability issues, with players reporting numerous bugs, glitches, and crashes that hinder gameplay. Many describe it as feeling unfinished or in early access despite being marketed as a completed product, leading to frustration over unresponsive features and unclear mechanics. Overall, the stability of the game is a major concern, detracting from the overall experience.
- “As it stands right now, this game is ripe with glitches and no meaningful way to interpret what the stats will do for your character.”
- “Game is very buggy from the beginning, with instances like a class just becoming another class skill-wise but none of the passives, so I lost my cleric for a while because of it.”
- “Game itself says it's version 0.2 beta; it's unclear how they released this buggy, unfinished game out of nowhere without any prior announcement, and then decided to release an unfinished beta.”
graphics
21 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
57%
29%
14%
The graphics in the game have received praise for their significant improvement, showcasing beautiful pixel-art and impressive animations that stand out as the best in the series. However, this visual upgrade is overshadowed by gameplay issues and a lack of essential features, leading to a perception that the overall experience has suffered in comparison to previous titles. While the graphics are enjoyable, they do not compensate for the game's shortcomings in mechanics and questing.
- “No microtransactions, easy grind that isn't nearly as hard as the free mobile game grind, good combat system, earn experience and gold fast enough to progress and not get stuck for hours, cool town square area, way nicer graphics than previous games, easy to unlock weapons, spells, and classes.”
- “Graphically it's fantastic, best yet, and there are some really cool additions but there are some base fundamentals that have been removed for a more mobile game approach.”
- “It has all of the hallmarks of the Knights of Pen and Paper series that I love (interesting writing, beautifully animated graphics), but the game is really hampered by the tedious grinding that the early game has consisted of.”
- “I'll repeat myself, but except for the graphics, it's worse than the prequel in everything it should have improved, and made things that were alright worse.”
- “The graphics have improved so much that it seems everything else was neglected.”
- “I was about to point out some bugs, but basically any quest completion, battle completion, level-up, or any other pop up can easily cause graphical and menuing issues.”
humor
20 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
80%
20%
The humor in the game receives mixed reviews, with some players appreciating its punny and D&D-inspired jokes, while others criticize it as weak, incoherent, and unfunny. Many feel that the humor falls flat, with some even feeling mocked by the game's self-referential jokes about its own quality. Overall, while a few find it mildly amusing, the consensus leans towards disappointment in its comedic execution.
- “Still rocking that punny good sense of humor that entertains on top of the game.”
- “I'm really bummed because this game was a ton of fun and as a D&D player I really enjoyed the progression and humor poking fun at D&D.”
- “It is relaxing and mildly amusing with its own brand of humor.”
- “The game is not funny at all.”
- “Weak, unfunny, incoherent, and delusional plot (better play Epic Battle Fantasy 5).”
- “Weak, unfunny, incoherent, and delusional plot (better play Epic Battle Fantasy 5).”
monetization
10 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
60%
40%
The monetization aspect of the game has received largely negative feedback, with many players perceiving it as a cash grab designed to encourage spending to bypass grindy mechanics. Critics note that the game feels like a poorly executed mobile port, lacking meaningful item drops and a functional market, while some mention that it was initially designed with microtransactions in mind but ultimately did not include them. Overall, players advise against investing time or money into this title.
- “Poorly made compared to the other games, seems like a cash grab. Quest XP and gold don't change whether it's a level 1 or level 30 quest. Item drops don't make sense, the market sucks and you can't sell items. The game seems designed to be a money maker on Android by having people pay to skip the overly grindy mechanics of this game. Don't waste your time or money, just play number 2.”
- “Very difficult to see this game as anything other than a direct mobile port meant to be focused on in-app purchases and making the game so frustratingly slow that it feels like that's what you need.”
- “It feels kind of like it was designed to have microtransactions and daily login bonuses like a mobile game, but no microtransactions made it into the final game.”
replayability
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
150%
150%
Reviewers note that while there are numerous job options available, the lack of variability among support and tank roles limits replayability. Enhancing the diversity of these roles could encourage players to explore more of the game's content.
- “The game offers a wealth of options that encourage players to explore different strategies, enhancing its replayability.”
- “With numerous character builds and playstyles available, each playthrough feels unique and engaging, making you want to dive back in.”
- “The variety of quests and challenges ensures that no two playthroughs are the same, significantly boosting the game's replayability.”
- “Greater variability among the jobs, particularly among the support and tanks, would add to replayability, but there are a lot of options and not many reasons to explore about a third of them.”
- “The lack of meaningful choices in character builds makes replaying the game feel less rewarding, as the differences between playthroughs are minimal.”
- “Once you've experienced the main storyline, there isn't much incentive to replay the game, as the side quests and additional content feel repetitive.”
music
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
50%
The music in the game is described as pleasing and complements the beautiful pixel-art style, enhancing the light-hearted adventure theme that humorously reflects experiences from pen-and-paper games.
- “Looking at the presentation of the game, I expected a light-hearted adventure poking fun at experiences one can make in pen and paper games, presented in a beautiful pixel-art style and with a pleasing soundtrack.”
- “Looking at the presentation of the game, I expected a light-hearted adventure poking fun at experiences one can make in pen-and-paper games, presented in a beautiful pixel-art style and with a pleasing soundtrack.”
emotional
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The emotional aspect of the game is largely negative, as players feel mocked for their purchase due to the game's self-referential humor that highlights its poor quality writing. This approach detracts from the overall experience, leaving users feeling disillusioned rather than entertained.