Solid game but is not exceptional. The relics are either useless or so useful they break the game. Runs thin by the end.
utterly insane what a couple years of foresight and a couple years of polish will do for a game franchise as static and formulaic as "mega man". shovel knight isn't just a love letter to megaman, although it has it's dna written all over it. it's a love letter to every game made before the 3d era of games. covered in campy dialogue, beautiful animations, incredibly tight and fluid level design, and a story simple enough yet absolutely brutal in it's climax, with the music and presentation and implied story going on?!??! it's truly a beautiful game, and is pretty easy to see why it had so much impact on the indie scene at the time.
i'm truly tempted to give it my rare 5/5 of approval, i remember in middle school playing the FUCK out of this game, but i played treasure trove, not shovel of hope exclusively. this shit alters your brain chemistry
i'm truly tempted to give it my rare 5/5 of approval, i remember in middle school playing the FUCK out of this game, but i played treasure trove, not shovel of hope exclusively. this shit alters your brain chemistry
spells are a bit unbalanced but otherwise just a genuinely good game, works great on 3ds
Probably the strongest game looking backwards at its influences that exists. So many others have commented on ikt, but it's extremely fun with a surprisingly deep story(or character writing, anyway) and some great mechanics, especially in its expansions. A must play.
I finally got around to trying out Shovel Knight and this game is an absolute hit. The platforming, the combat, the story, the music, the settings, the atmosphere, the length. It all scratched the exact itches I've been looking for in an indie title. There were even some really difficult stretches that felt super satisfying to get through after many trials. Excited to try out Plague of Shadows next
I hadn't quite kicked the urge for more Shovel Knight after finishing King of Cards, so I decided to just start replaying all the campaigns. It's been since Shovel Knight came out back in 2014 since I last played the original campaign, so I was long overdue for a replay of this game anyhow. This is technically my third time through the game, as back when it first came out, I didn't realize that the other campaigns weren't done yet, and thought maybe you unlocked them by beating hard mode XP. It took me a little under 5 hours to 100% all the collectibles and beat the game on normal mode.
Shovel of Hope is the original story of Shovel Knight. After his companion Shield Knight fell in battle to the curse of an ancient medallion, Shovel Knight went to live in isolation and grieve. But now the evil tower has reopened, and the Evil Enchantress with her Order of No Quarter seek to rule the land. It's up to Shovel Knight to set out and save the kingdom from their evil doings!
The banter between Shovel Knight and the various members of the Order of No Quarter is fun and silly, as are the townspeoples' interactions with Shovel Knight (who doesn't talk all that much, comparatively speaking). There's less overall dialogue compared to the later campaigns, but given that this is the first one, it's an understandable shortcoming. While on the topic of presentation, the graphics are as pretty as they've ever been, but the music is probably the weakest of the 4 games (again, an understandable shortcoming). Then, that may just be the result of me being more familiar with this soundtrack compared to the other 3 campaigns.
The last bit of presentation I'll mention is something I think was added around the time Shovel of Hope was given it's own subtitle (and not just called "Shovel Knight"), but I had completely forgotten about. You have the option at the start of the game to change both the gender of any of the main cast of characters (Shovel Knight, Shield Knight, and all the main bad guys). Even cooler, this can be selected individually for each character's body presentation AND the language used for them (pronouns, basically). Male bodies with male pronouns, female bodies with neutral pronouns, male bodies with female pronouns, anything is allowed and can be changed via the pause menu at any time. It's a really cool feature that I was really jazzed to see put in a game like this ^w^
The gameplay is the NES homage action platformer Shovel Knight has become so famous for. A short-ranged melee attack combined with a NES Duck Tales-style downward pogo strike make up the bread and butter of your attacks, and you can also find Castlevania-style sub-weapons to use as you progress that you can use by expending what are basically a stand in for Casltevania's hearts. It's honestly really annoying that the sub-weapons don't have their own dedicated button and you have to use the attack button + up on the D-pad to use them. HOWEVER, since Yacht Club Games are so smart, they put in the ability to make the older campaigns play like the newer ones, with the sub-weapons having their own dedicated button instead of that old button combo! It's been polished up a bit since the original release, and it's still a really solid action game that takes place over a series of over a dozen stages, each with their own boss encounter at the end (aside from a couple side-stages with no bosses).
The only real downside to Shovel of Hope is how much it's been overshadowed by the successive Shovel Knight games in what is now the Treasure Trove pack. Compared to Plague Knight's explosive bomb throwing and jumping, Specter Knight's wall running and homing slashes, and King Knight's shoulder charges and spinning jumps, plain ol' Shovel Knight's simple slashes and pogos feel REALLY slow to go back to. It's not necessarily a bad thing, but after knowing how fun the later Shovel Knight campaigns are, Shovel of Hope left me wanting a little bit more with its action elements.
Verdict: Highly Recommended. It may live in the shadow of its three sister campaigns, but the original Shovel Knight is still as good as it ever was. Though it's a bit simple, it's an easier game overall as a result of this simplicity, and it makes for a really nice entry-level adventure for Shovel Knight: Treasure Trove. It's not the best Shovel Knight game, but the competition in that department is so damn stiff, that being so close to the quality of those games is still a really impressive achievement.
Shovel of Hope is the original story of Shovel Knight. After his companion Shield Knight fell in battle to the curse of an ancient medallion, Shovel Knight went to live in isolation and grieve. But now the evil tower has reopened, and the Evil Enchantress with her Order of No Quarter seek to rule the land. It's up to Shovel Knight to set out and save the kingdom from their evil doings!
The banter between Shovel Knight and the various members of the Order of No Quarter is fun and silly, as are the townspeoples' interactions with Shovel Knight (who doesn't talk all that much, comparatively speaking). There's less overall dialogue compared to the later campaigns, but given that this is the first one, it's an understandable shortcoming. While on the topic of presentation, the graphics are as pretty as they've ever been, but the music is probably the weakest of the 4 games (again, an understandable shortcoming). Then, that may just be the result of me being more familiar with this soundtrack compared to the other 3 campaigns.
The last bit of presentation I'll mention is something I think was added around the time Shovel of Hope was given it's own subtitle (and not just called "Shovel Knight"), but I had completely forgotten about. You have the option at the start of the game to change both the gender of any of the main cast of characters (Shovel Knight, Shield Knight, and all the main bad guys). Even cooler, this can be selected individually for each character's body presentation AND the language used for them (pronouns, basically). Male bodies with male pronouns, female bodies with neutral pronouns, male bodies with female pronouns, anything is allowed and can be changed via the pause menu at any time. It's a really cool feature that I was really jazzed to see put in a game like this ^w^
The gameplay is the NES homage action platformer Shovel Knight has become so famous for. A short-ranged melee attack combined with a NES Duck Tales-style downward pogo strike make up the bread and butter of your attacks, and you can also find Castlevania-style sub-weapons to use as you progress that you can use by expending what are basically a stand in for Casltevania's hearts. It's honestly really annoying that the sub-weapons don't have their own dedicated button and you have to use the attack button + up on the D-pad to use them. HOWEVER, since Yacht Club Games are so smart, they put in the ability to make the older campaigns play like the newer ones, with the sub-weapons having their own dedicated button instead of that old button combo! It's been polished up a bit since the original release, and it's still a really solid action game that takes place over a series of over a dozen stages, each with their own boss encounter at the end (aside from a couple side-stages with no bosses).
The only real downside to Shovel of Hope is how much it's been overshadowed by the successive Shovel Knight games in what is now the Treasure Trove pack. Compared to Plague Knight's explosive bomb throwing and jumping, Specter Knight's wall running and homing slashes, and King Knight's shoulder charges and spinning jumps, plain ol' Shovel Knight's simple slashes and pogos feel REALLY slow to go back to. It's not necessarily a bad thing, but after knowing how fun the later Shovel Knight campaigns are, Shovel of Hope left me wanting a little bit more with its action elements.
Verdict: Highly Recommended. It may live in the shadow of its three sister campaigns, but the original Shovel Knight is still as good as it ever was. Though it's a bit simple, it's an easier game overall as a result of this simplicity, and it makes for a really nice entry-level adventure for Shovel Knight: Treasure Trove. It's not the best Shovel Knight game, but the competition in that department is so damn stiff, that being so close to the quality of those games is still a really impressive achievement.
My friend gifted me this game and I was like "Is this game worth the hype?" Yes. Yes, it is. This game is everything people said it out to be and then some. It's full of incredible level design and it seemed to be an enjoyable game for people around me to watch. I died, like, a lot. It was not an easy game, but beating the game felt very rewarding. I did not like a couple of parts, like some autoscrollers and one part of the Tinkerer Knight's stage, but those moments were few and far between. Overall, it was a very good experience.
I'd probably love this game were it not for the sole fact that getting knocked into a pit is instant death. That singular mechanic transforms what should be an exquisite adventure into a frustrating slog.
The fact that this game shows you the speedrun world record in the credits is fucking hilarious to me like "yeah you did okay, but you'll never be THEM"
Really loved this. Played with the Treasure Trove bundle. Amazing game, pure retro love, really cool music, impecable gameplay... An instant classic.
Incredibly fun, great music and nice world building.
Somente feita a história do Shovel Knight por realmente não ter gostado do jogo. Já tinha jogado a versão original anos atrás mas não me lembrava muito, mas para mim foi mais frustrante que divertido. Muito death pit, muita situação que te faz repetir cenário, o boss rush final é uma piada, não foi pra mim. Gosto muito dos personagens desse jogo mas não consigo gostar dele.
Aquí estoy haciendo algo de trampa porque la campaña base de Shovel Knight ya la había jugado antes, específicamente en Enero, cuando también jugué Plague of Shadows (? Pero recientemente la jugué en cooperativo con mi primo, así que la cuento como algo a parte XD En fin, Shovel Knight es un gran exponente tanto dentro de los plataformeros como entre los indies, por saber homenajear los juegos ochenteros y noventeros en los que se inspira, no simplemente por referencias, sino por añadir mecánicas en su gameplay que como un todo crean una experiencia única. Literalmente, es una carta de amor a los juegos de aquellos años sin perder su originalidad y elementos propios. Ya para finalizar, en gameplay es muy bueno y dinámico, el tener vidas infinitas pero riesgo de perder tus recompensas y la posibilidad de romper los checkpoints para adquirir aún más recompensa a coste de un riesgo mayor apela al riesgo-recompensa que hace divertido un videojuego, el level design es bien dinámico con mecánicas nuevas esperándote en cada nivel, las batallas con jefes recuerdan mucho a Megaman y están bien diseñadas, su pixelart es impecable, aunque no es muy largo, tiene contenido por el cual apelar aparte de completar la campaña, la trama es buena, igual el OST, tiene modo cooperativo y ya si quieres puedes hasta cambiarle el género a los personajes. Es una experiencia muy robuzta y divertida
Me in shovel knight
Name:
Goon Knight
Gender:
Female
Specialty:
Gooning
Allignment:
Goon
Opinion on bosnia:
Legal
Name:
Goon Knight
Gender:
Female
Specialty:
Gooning
Allignment:
Goon
Opinion on bosnia:
Legal
There's so many, even too many indie games with pixel graphics so it's kind of hard to standout. Well this came a while ago, still stands and holds out. While it did not "wow" me, it just oozes pure quality and that's all there is to it. Just a pure quality and well made homage to retro games.
Que jogo redondinho, meu maior sofrimento acabou sendo por ainda usar um controle do X360 e a precisão que o jogo exige ser difícil de alcançar no digital do controle.
Outra questão, acho os chefes um cadinho desbalanceados, ou eles são um passeio, ou eles são uma disputa de quem morre primeiro, sinto falta de um balanço maior entre reflexos e memorização neles.
Outra questão, acho os chefes um cadinho desbalanceados, ou eles são um passeio, ou eles são uma disputa de quem morre primeiro, sinto falta de um balanço maior entre reflexos e memorização neles.
What an absolute banger! Shovel Knight breaks free from the constraints of its genre influences, offering surprisingly little in the way of artificial difficulty or unfair game design. The pacing of the game is spot-on and the level design is honestly flawless.
The character writing and world-building in Shovel Knight are surprisingly compelling for a platformer game. While still simple, there's always something fun about a knight with a shovel going on a perilous journey to reunite with his long lost love. It's an all-around enjoyable experience and undoubtedly ranks with the great platformer hits of old.
The character writing and world-building in Shovel Knight are surprisingly compelling for a platformer game. While still simple, there's always something fun about a knight with a shovel going on a perilous journey to reunite with his long lost love. It's an all-around enjoyable experience and undoubtedly ranks with the great platformer hits of old.
Why is this listed separately from Shovel Knight? It says in the description that they're the same game
Classic
Mega Man pero en el medievo y si Dark Souls le hubiera criado antes de oxidarse.
Shovel Knight es de mis indies favoritos y el primero que jugué, lo compré de crío para Wii U y desde entonces lo he vuelto a jugar en 3DS, PC y Switch.
Movimientos simples con una pala, pero que le sacaron mucho juego, desenterrar tesoros, rebotar en enemigos, atacar, activar elementos del escenario, devolver proyectiles...
La historia es simple, caballero busca a su amada tras ocurrir x cosa, pero tiene un giro que aunque es bastante fácil de intuir cuál es en un momento de la aventura, sigue siendo un cambio interesante a esa historia básica de cuento de hadas.
Los jefes son muy icónicos, con diseños y niveles tematizados muy recordables, con una dificultad bastante buena, teniendo que ir dominando el movimiento del caballero según vayamos avanzando en el juego, pues todo se irá complicando en los últimos niveles, donde hay más precipicios y enemigos.
Shovel Knight es de mis indies favoritos y el primero que jugué, lo compré de crío para Wii U y desde entonces lo he vuelto a jugar en 3DS, PC y Switch.
Movimientos simples con una pala, pero que le sacaron mucho juego, desenterrar tesoros, rebotar en enemigos, atacar, activar elementos del escenario, devolver proyectiles...
La historia es simple, caballero busca a su amada tras ocurrir x cosa, pero tiene un giro que aunque es bastante fácil de intuir cuál es en un momento de la aventura, sigue siendo un cambio interesante a esa historia básica de cuento de hadas.
Los jefes son muy icónicos, con diseños y niveles tematizados muy recordables, con una dificultad bastante buena, teniendo que ir dominando el movimiento del caballero según vayamos avanzando en el juego, pues todo se irá complicando en los últimos niveles, donde hay más precipicios y enemigos.
played on switch, pc, 3ds, and probably many more platforms to come. never gets old, even if it isn't my favorite of the campaigns
My mom liked watching this one the least
shovl
man, this game is awesome. you have a shovel. the level design is great. there's a man with a shovel. the ending is fucking awesome. shovel. he's a knight with a shovel what's not to love
man, this game is awesome. you have a shovel. the level design is great. there's a man with a shovel. the ending is fucking awesome. shovel. he's a knight with a shovel what's not to love
Eu REALMENTE odeio os espinhos de instakill
Eu só me sinto meio enganado de ter comprado esse ao invés do bundle com todas as campanhas
I first played this on the Wii U back in the days of yore. I love the level design and concept. It's super unique and very fun to play. Highly recommend (to the 4 of you who'll see this review) if you're a fan of 2D platformers or older NES era games.
An attempt to make the ultimate 8-Bit platformer that is mostly succesful, taking from all the classics while having immaculate design and new ideas of its own, its a near perfect experience
Eu lembrei o quanto eu não gosto da primeira luta com a feiticeira... é triste uma campanha charmosa, bem feita, com um bom level design que não cansa o jogador em momento algum e sempre inova na exploração das fases, terminar com um gosto amargo na boca assim.
Dito isso, é obrigatório para qualquer fã de plataforma.
Dito isso, é obrigatório para qualquer fã de plataforma.
This review contains spoilers
Shovel Knight is probably the best indie platformer imo and it consistently is among my favorite platformers. Shovel of Hope is back when it was just called Shovel Knight, before the DLC campaigns (as great as they are). I have memories of grabbing the original Shovel Knight on the 3DS one night in 2014 after hearing ravings from gaming YouTubers and a close friend of mine about it. It was just as great as they hyped it up to be, at least in my opinion. Nonetheless, it's been a while since I actually sat and played through all of Shovel Knight, and I have yet to even beat King of Cards, so I've decided I'll start playing through all the campaigns one-by-one. Where better to start than here at the beginning? Also, please note that, for some reason, the 3DS is not listed as a viable platform here on Backloggd; I have no idea why because I can clearly still play it through Shovel Knight Treasure Trove and it was one of the consoles the game originally made its debut on, but oh well. I suppose it isn't entirely inaccurate by technicality to label it as Nintendo Switch since I have played and beat Shovel of Hope on that platform, too.
The best part of Shovel Knight is, of course, the gameplay. Its a good old fashioned 2D platformer that takes the great design beats from classic NES games like Mega Man (levels always ending with a boss and you have some freedom in picking which level + boss you want to beat first), DuckTales (mainly in some of Shovel Knight's moves with the most obvious example being his pogo-stick-like descent), and Super Mario Bros. 3 (overworld map and events that pop up on it), yet still has its own identity with some really cool level design that stands out. I will say it might take some getting used to how the game feels; don't get me wrong, the game has excellent controls in my opinion, but the movement is a bit on the slower side and there's no run button so you might feel sluggish. You could argue that's only reasonable for a guy clad in full armor, though. The game is nice and simple, but don't mistake simple for easy. I still died plenty of times and I'm a relatively experienced 2D platforming fan who's already played this game several times before, as long ago as that might have been. Death never feels cheap and it also doesn't feel frustrating because the game is pretty generous with checkpoints and the only thing you lose for dying is a bit of progress and some gold. Stuff like the relics that have special effects for a mana cost and the different upgrades give you plenty to do with all that gold you're gathering up, although honestly the only relic you need is the Phase Locket which kinda breaks this game in two with how overpowered straight up invincibility can be. Once you get all the mana upgrades, boss fights become a big game of "spam the Phase Locket". I think there should've been some kind of catch to overusing this thing, like a high mana cost, because it trivializes boss fights as is. It's a shame since these bosses are all rather unique in their own ways and are fun to fight, plus you get awesome guest boss fights against the Battletoads if you have an Xbox/PC or an infamously canon fight against Kratos on PlayStation consoles. As far as I remember, all the DLC campaigns seem to have taken the criticisms against the Phase Locket to heart and have not introduced something with a similarly crazy invincibility effect. Nonetheless, despite these very minor complaints, Shovel Knight knocks it out of the park in gameplay.
The story...I suppose there is a little, so it might be worth talking about. Basically, Shovel Knight and Shield Knight were an inseparable famous duo of heroes fighting together until they find a cursed artifact in the Tower of Fate, which corrupts Shield Knight into the Enchantress and makes Shovel Knight think she's dead. That's all you really get as far as immediate story, but you get some somewhat interesting little bits of lore shown here, like how Polar Knight has a history with Shovel Knight (bit of a shame he didn't get his own DLC campaign to expand upon that a little). Black Knight plays an antagonistic role but he stresses that he's not serving the Enchantress but instead chasing his own goals, whatever those might be. Black Knight does save Shovel Knight after he's highly injured from freeing Shield Knight and facing the true form of The Enchantress, which was cool. Yea, the story starts off very basic here, but it made for a good starting point for the DLC campaigns to expand upon it a little. I recall Specter of Torment in particular has a pretty good story, but I'll get to that when I get to it. Also, Shovel of Hope (and really anything Shovel Knight) has a really fun, charming writing style. It feels whimsical and silly, with all the knights having some kind of fun over-the-top personality and even mundane villagers having some amusing things to say.
Overall, Shovel Knight is a very solid platformer imo. I feel there isn't a ton I can say about it in comparison to other games I've reviewed, I really don't have much at all to complain about and the game has been reviewed to death already. Its just a damn good game. 5 stars from me
The best part of Shovel Knight is, of course, the gameplay. Its a good old fashioned 2D platformer that takes the great design beats from classic NES games like Mega Man (levels always ending with a boss and you have some freedom in picking which level + boss you want to beat first), DuckTales (mainly in some of Shovel Knight's moves with the most obvious example being his pogo-stick-like descent), and Super Mario Bros. 3 (overworld map and events that pop up on it), yet still has its own identity with some really cool level design that stands out. I will say it might take some getting used to how the game feels; don't get me wrong, the game has excellent controls in my opinion, but the movement is a bit on the slower side and there's no run button so you might feel sluggish. You could argue that's only reasonable for a guy clad in full armor, though. The game is nice and simple, but don't mistake simple for easy. I still died plenty of times and I'm a relatively experienced 2D platforming fan who's already played this game several times before, as long ago as that might have been. Death never feels cheap and it also doesn't feel frustrating because the game is pretty generous with checkpoints and the only thing you lose for dying is a bit of progress and some gold. Stuff like the relics that have special effects for a mana cost and the different upgrades give you plenty to do with all that gold you're gathering up, although honestly the only relic you need is the Phase Locket which kinda breaks this game in two with how overpowered straight up invincibility can be. Once you get all the mana upgrades, boss fights become a big game of "spam the Phase Locket". I think there should've been some kind of catch to overusing this thing, like a high mana cost, because it trivializes boss fights as is. It's a shame since these bosses are all rather unique in their own ways and are fun to fight, plus you get awesome guest boss fights against the Battletoads if you have an Xbox/PC or an infamously canon fight against Kratos on PlayStation consoles. As far as I remember, all the DLC campaigns seem to have taken the criticisms against the Phase Locket to heart and have not introduced something with a similarly crazy invincibility effect. Nonetheless, despite these very minor complaints, Shovel Knight knocks it out of the park in gameplay.
The story...I suppose there is a little, so it might be worth talking about. Basically, Shovel Knight and Shield Knight were an inseparable famous duo of heroes fighting together until they find a cursed artifact in the Tower of Fate, which corrupts Shield Knight into the Enchantress and makes Shovel Knight think she's dead. That's all you really get as far as immediate story, but you get some somewhat interesting little bits of lore shown here, like how Polar Knight has a history with Shovel Knight (bit of a shame he didn't get his own DLC campaign to expand upon that a little). Black Knight plays an antagonistic role but he stresses that he's not serving the Enchantress but instead chasing his own goals, whatever those might be. Black Knight does save Shovel Knight after he's highly injured from freeing Shield Knight and facing the true form of The Enchantress, which was cool. Yea, the story starts off very basic here, but it made for a good starting point for the DLC campaigns to expand upon it a little. I recall Specter of Torment in particular has a pretty good story, but I'll get to that when I get to it. Also, Shovel of Hope (and really anything Shovel Knight) has a really fun, charming writing style. It feels whimsical and silly, with all the knights having some kind of fun over-the-top personality and even mundane villagers having some amusing things to say.
Overall, Shovel Knight is a very solid platformer imo. I feel there isn't a ton I can say about it in comparison to other games I've reviewed, I really don't have much at all to complain about and the game has been reviewed to death already. Its just a damn good game. 5 stars from me
Like Mega Man, but good. Jabs aside, this game is full of charm. Each of the bosses have their own personalities that are apparent through their dialogue AND their designs. Like the pompous Propeller Knight or the crafty Plague Knight. I love the character designs so much, they really are memorable. The main issue I have with the game is the amount of 1-hit kills towards the second half of the game. Lots of deathpits and enemies to push you into those pits. Otherwise, amazing platformer!