My Shovel Knight replays come to a close as I wrap up Specter of Torment. Specter Knight's campaign was what I would've called my favorite until this session of replays. Now I'm not sure quite what to think, given how much I've enjoyed all of them X3. It took me around four and a half hours to complete the game and get all the collectibles.
Specter of Torment isn't a side story, but a prequel to the main game. As a servant of the Enchantress, Specter Knight must travel throughout the land to recruit the members of what will become the Order of No Quarter. Throughout, he is haunted by memories of a tortured past of how he came to be in these circumstances in the first place, and has to choose what he is ultimately fighting for. Specter of Torment still has its silly and lighthearted moments, but it's certainly the most serious and somber out of the four campaigns in Shovel Knight: Treasure Trove.
The construction of the game itself is also quite different from the other expansions. Instead of a kind of post-level shopping center (or a main village like Shovel of Hope has), Specter of Torment doesn't even have a world map. You operate out of the Tower of Fate (the Enchantress' base), and while you can talk with the NPCs there to upgrade your equipment and play a mini-game or two, you also talk to the magic mirror's operator, who gives you a list of playable missions. There are no side-levels like in the first two campaigns, but you can play any of the 8 main stages in any order you like. Certain ones have higher bounties than others, implying a kind of intended order of play, but the ultimate choice of in which order to do most stages is up to the player. The music is also pretty drastically remixed, and I prefer it significantly over the first two expansions' soundtracks.
Also a first for the expansions (which King of Cards would later continue and expand on further) is no more reused levels. Specter Knight plays very differently to Shovel Knight and Plague Knight, as he has a wall run as well as a homing slash. The levels are sorta familiar and have some areas to them that are recognizable to a point, but they've been drastically altered and added to to make them compelling and challenging to operate with this new set of controls. There's been a few new bosses added, but just as in Plague of Shadows and King of Cards, the new fighting mechanics you have to use make old fights feel as new as ever. The sub-weapon system is even changed again, with it being a bar that refills as you do combos to enemies or do pick-ups (and in hard mode your mana bar and health bar are the SAME THING, so you need to constantly be going fast and doing combos just to stay alive). I really love how Specter Knight's combat plays. It has a really fun fluidity and tempo to the action given by his homing strikes, and it makes for really satisfying boss fights.
Verdict: Highly Recommended. I think I might like King of Cards just a little bit more than Specter of Torment, but I still love this expansion a lot. The mechanical action and level design feel great and are some of the best in the Treasure Trove. The writing may not be my favorite, but damn if this isn't an impressive piece of modern retro platforming goodness.
Specter of Torment isn't a side story, but a prequel to the main game. As a servant of the Enchantress, Specter Knight must travel throughout the land to recruit the members of what will become the Order of No Quarter. Throughout, he is haunted by memories of a tortured past of how he came to be in these circumstances in the first place, and has to choose what he is ultimately fighting for. Specter of Torment still has its silly and lighthearted moments, but it's certainly the most serious and somber out of the four campaigns in Shovel Knight: Treasure Trove.
The construction of the game itself is also quite different from the other expansions. Instead of a kind of post-level shopping center (or a main village like Shovel of Hope has), Specter of Torment doesn't even have a world map. You operate out of the Tower of Fate (the Enchantress' base), and while you can talk with the NPCs there to upgrade your equipment and play a mini-game or two, you also talk to the magic mirror's operator, who gives you a list of playable missions. There are no side-levels like in the first two campaigns, but you can play any of the 8 main stages in any order you like. Certain ones have higher bounties than others, implying a kind of intended order of play, but the ultimate choice of in which order to do most stages is up to the player. The music is also pretty drastically remixed, and I prefer it significantly over the first two expansions' soundtracks.
Also a first for the expansions (which King of Cards would later continue and expand on further) is no more reused levels. Specter Knight plays very differently to Shovel Knight and Plague Knight, as he has a wall run as well as a homing slash. The levels are sorta familiar and have some areas to them that are recognizable to a point, but they've been drastically altered and added to to make them compelling and challenging to operate with this new set of controls. There's been a few new bosses added, but just as in Plague of Shadows and King of Cards, the new fighting mechanics you have to use make old fights feel as new as ever. The sub-weapon system is even changed again, with it being a bar that refills as you do combos to enemies or do pick-ups (and in hard mode your mana bar and health bar are the SAME THING, so you need to constantly be going fast and doing combos just to stay alive). I really love how Specter Knight's combat plays. It has a really fun fluidity and tempo to the action given by his homing strikes, and it makes for really satisfying boss fights.
Verdict: Highly Recommended. I think I might like King of Cards just a little bit more than Specter of Torment, but I still love this expansion a lot. The mechanical action and level design feel great and are some of the best in the Treasure Trove. The writing may not be my favorite, but damn if this isn't an impressive piece of modern retro platforming goodness.