Uma grande surpresa para min, não esperava tanto para uma variante do shovel knight, mas esse jogo consegue ter sua própria personalidade, apesar de se passar no mesmo universo e ter aquela característica do shovel knight, ele tem seu próprio modo de jogar, mas ainda mantém o nível de dificuldade, aqui com mais pulos precisos e uma movimentação muito fluida, o que torna as falhas e falhas não serem frustrantes, acompanhada de uma trilha sonora magnifica e ainda consegue aprofundar mais ainda o universo da obra, trazendo o contra ponto do outro lado e explicando mais os acontecimentos que levou o jogo principal, tão bom quanto o primeiro em alguns pontos até melhor.

definitely the easiest of the four campaigns, but that doesn't take away from how fun it is at all! the story is particularly fantastic here, taking itself more seriously but in a very fun way. specter knight's move set is amazing, his slash feels so satisfying and his little wall hop thing has saved my ass more times than i can count. still sad polar knight didn't get his own expansion pack, but i digress. probably my favorite shovel knight game. if shovel knight ever gets a direct sequel, i hope we get to check up on Donovan

even though it's an expansion, specter of torment really brings its own flair and switches up the gameplay quite a bit from the original. the maps might have the same layout, but they've been totally reworked to fit this new dynamic movement style. i'll admit, i don't like this movement approach so much, but they've actually executed it quite well. once you get the hang of this campaign, things start falling into place. the specter of torment mechanics make it noticeably easier to handle combat situations and slip in and out of fights. but don't mistake my point, it's still a strong campaign that adds an intriguing new layer to the story.

Shovel Knight's third campaign, Specter of Torment, follows the titular Specter Knight as he wrestles with his past while assembling the main game's villainous gang The Order of No Quarter. While the other characters are focused mainly on gameplay, Specter Knight's story is focused on its premise and lead character. There is much more dialogue this time, and the story is weighty and is less cliche and tropey than before. Specter Knight has his own unique control scheme. This time, your blade is your primary movement vehicle. With it, you can slash enemies or objects in air to dash across gaps. You also have an automatic wall run that can pull you up from ledges. The combination of these two moves makes many of Specter Knight's levels feel more parkour-adjacent than the more rigid platforming in King and Shovel's stories. I liked the open nature of the levels, you can tackle the familiar stages in any order after returning to the castle hub world. If you've played the Shovel of Hope story, it is very familiar. Much of the game is a remix of the original rather than a sequel, but the game's interstitials of story and general movement options makes this an important part of the Shovel Knight canon. While the wall-running led to some frustrating deaths, and all bosses become laughably easy, Specter of Torment offers a quick, meaningful revisit into the world of the Knights.