I was really looking forward to this as my first entry to Shovel Knight games. What I got is a typical rogue like, the type I DON’T like. There is no meaningful progression you can bring with you after dying. You can only buy the chance to encounter certain items based on the short time I played. I read that you can also unlock shortcuts eventually. There are other upgrades but they reset after dying. This is a big red flag but there is more that didn’t jive with me.

The controls/gameplay didn’t feel right. It’s hard to explain how but there is a chance this could improve the more you play. However, I can already tell that the levels and enemies are not great. There are some cheap sections right at the start, there are enemies that keep respawning, there is a drill that follows you if you stay too long in one spot etc. It doesn’t feel like a good gradual introduction to the game and its challenge.

There might be a great game hidden here but I’m not sticking around to find out. I can already imagine the repetitiveness and frustration that will show up and that’s never a good thing when you barely played the game.