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[WiiU, 3DS, PC] Shovel Knight review

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    [WiiU, 3DS, PC] Shovel Knight review

    I bought the WiiU version yesterday but played it today...and there was an update already.

    So, Shovel Knight is platformer with 8-bit graphics and sounds, takes the world map from Mario 3, the attack/bounce from Duck Tales, the level layouts are slighty reminescent of Mega Man (especially 9), some enemies require to alternate attacks like Zelda II, you can upgrade health, magic and buy new items in towns like Faxanadu (and a gazillion other titles), when hit you jump back like in Castlevania (or Ninja Gaiden, or Zelda II again)...probably listing the games from which Shovel Knight takes inspiration will take some posts, so let's speak about the game.

    Shovel Knight and Shield Knight are the top adventurers of the land, but Shield Knight dies when the two are tackling a particularly dangerous dungeon. The Enchantress and her cronies (all following the <something> Knight template) take possession of the land and only Shovel Knight can end their tiranny! Is it me or the splash page and the intro have spoiled how the obligatory plot twist with just a couple of screens? Oh well, whatever.

    The first thing I did was to check the options: no developers, if you want to capture a nostalgic feeling, A jumps and B attacks, not vice versa. Luckily you can reconfigure the two buttons as you see fit.
    Shovel Knight controls very well, tricky platforms are mostly reserved for secret areas and the game looks and sounds like a NES title, only in widescreen, without sprite flickering or scanlines.
    The first level is linear, though there are a few secret areas here and there, accessed by digging through walls (which can be easily spotted thanks to the different sprites) or using the bounce jump to reach ladders or platforms. Enemies drops, which are converted into money; when dying, you drop a small amount of money that can be recollected Demon's Souls style; if you die before recollecting them, they are lost forever.
    Each level has a genereous amount of checkpoints, that can be destroyed (and made useless) for extra money.

    Secrets in levels include money, music sheets (to deliver to the local bard for an in-game sound test) and secondary weapons that drain your (limited) magic meter. As your shovel as a rather short range, most of these weapons are offensive ranged weapons.
    Secondary weapons can also be bought in towns, which also host NPCs that will increase your health and magic meter in exchange of Meal Tickets and Relics, respectively. These two items are awareded at the end of certain stages or can be purchased from other NPCs.
    There are no quests, but by speaking to NPCs, you can learn that some of them would like a specific boss defeated, and they'll reward you for doing so. So far all bosses have been mandatory, so these requests are a further reward for progressing in the game.

    Shovel Knight plays exactly how you would expect from a 8-bit platformer. Controls are tight, music is catchy, there's a lot of attention to detail, and every stage is unique, with only few enemies shared between them; levels are a linear affair, with only few featuring secondary paths that lead to some sort of treasure. These secrets aren't particularly hard to find, what it takes to find them is a couple of seconds to scan a screen and decide on which enemy you should bounce or which wall you have to dig.
    All levels have one or more defining feature, like platforms that move only if there's enough weight on them, or tapestry hiding treasures or destroyable walls.
    Stages aren't particularly hard, neither are bosses; both require some effort to be beaten, but there are no lives, checkpoints and restorative items are aplenty, and the penalties for dying are limited.
    On the WiiU, the pad works as inventory for quick access to the various items.

    So far, Shovel Knight's biggest problem has been its reliance on mechanics taken (or blatantly ripped off, depending on your point of view) from a large number of games, and rather than saying "I'm playing Shovel Kngiht", I'd say "I'm playing Mega Man + Zelda II + Duck Tales + something else". This mix is very well done, but I hope that by the end of the game, there will be something that will define Shovel Knight as its own self, rather than an amalgam of other games.

    #2
    The adventures of the knight with the shovel continue, now halfway through the game (if the achievement-like message "halfway through" is to be believed) and I confirm what I've written before.

    Shovel Knight is very competently made, but doesn't feel like its own game, but a mix of too many other games. None of the bosses I've met posed any challenge, and you even get two restorative items to get you out of troubles...I got them today, and used once. Refills are free as well, and I already bought everything from the two towns available. There are extra armours with different powers and shovel upgrades, and now at 80 magic points I never run out of mana, as the game is very generous with bonuses.
    There have been two optional bosses (that appear on the map Hammer Bros.-style, like in Mario 3) that were interesting, but nothing particularly difficult.
    Some extra weapons allow your knight to "dash" through diggable blocks: this power up is a secret in one level, and apparently its only use is in that stage (in other secret rooms) and one bonus stage.

    I'll see the game to its end, but so far I'm not seeing all the greatness reviewers are raving about: it's a competent game, or probably it's just me getting too old.

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      #3
      Was really hyped for this on the 3ds turns out its NA only at the moment, i wonder if there is any way to download the us version on a UK 3DS

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        #4
        There isn't I'm afraid.

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          #5
          I paid for a copy of this via the original Kickstarter program, so I'm expecting my 3DS DL code to come through when this game eventually gets a European release.

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            #6
            Its got a pegi 7 rating acording to the vid on the nintendo uk youtube, so i don't think its far off being released in the uk, its not the rating process holding it up must be nintendo.

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              #7
              Completed the game yesterday, after a rather pause...well, wasn't the last boss disappointing. The fight

              is divided in two segments, with the first one being the most engaging, as you square off the evil Enchantress (fortunately the game doesn't throw in a twist that in-game character never expected but you saw from the intro screen), and then you team up with Shield Knight in the second half.

              A couple of attempts, and the game is beaten, with no health refills.

              I had fun with Shovel Knight, but due to the many mechanics borrowed from too many games (and the ending sequence

              that rips off Castlevania

              ), it never felt like a definite game. Secrets are easy to find, penalties for dying are way too low; stages are well designed around unique mechanics, which is good, but nothing that will make you remember them, either with hate or joy.

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                #8
                I finished this the other day, I think you're being a little bit harsh Briareos...
                You said in another thread how much you loved Gunhound EX, but ultimately that is a complete rip off of Cybernator.

                I think you can where the inspiration for things came from but I don't think it's fair to say it's just a rip off. I never got the sense that I was playing a copy of another game or what I was playing was subpar.

                Also the idea that secrets are obvious I think is a little harsh too. Yea some are obvious but I finished the game with only 28 of the 45 hidden music track collectibles so they weren't all straight forward to find.

                The difficulty is a hard one...
                I think the game is a little easy mainly because you have unlimited lives and multiple checkpoints in each level, this means you will always eventually brut force a level without really learning it inside out.
                It took me 6 hours to finish and I feel you could have doubled that if they had been stricter with dying.

                Definitely feel they taken feedback from modern day gamers because Megaman difficulty this isn't, but then I can remember everyone complaining about Megaman 9s difficulty when that came out so horses for courses I guess!

                Was a solid game for me and I really enjoyed it, definitely worth checking out IMO.

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                  #9
                  I might have been, but Gunhound EX is very open toward its roots and throws in a couple of new things (but it dumbs down others, for sure), while Shovel knight is a mix of other games that didn't make me feel I was playing "Shovel Knight", while I can tell apart Gunhound and Valken even if they are very similar.
                  I don't know, it just didn't clikc with me: I've said it before, it's not badly made, developers know what they are doing, but I fail to see this Great Game everyone is talking about.

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                    #10
                    Any idea on whether this is a better bet on WiiU or 3DS?

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                      #11
                      This has just been released in the EU/AU regions on Nov. 5th. I only realised this today, and downloaded it immediately. I've beaten quite a few levels already. The game is really fun, a real nostalgia trip. The controls are really responsive and gameplay generally excellent. Of course the game is quite old now, a few months, so there's no point in telling what the game is like but I'm enjoying it so far.

                      Got it for the Wii U.

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                        #12
                        I backed the original Kickstarter campaign for this and only got my 3DS download code for it a few days ago.

                        I'm enjoying it. It clearly takes it's influence from some of the classic platformers like DuckTales/Makaimura/Megaman, etc., but it isn't as brutal as some of those classics could be. The attention to detail and content included is pretty excellent imo and the gameplay for the most part is fine (only a few levels in) - still having a tiny bit of trouble getting used to B button being for jump though (too much Mario!).

                        GFX and SFX are really easy on the eyes and ears for a 8-bit styled title too.

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                          #13
                          Originally posted by Nu-Eclipse View Post
                          still having a tiny bit of trouble getting used to B button being for jump though (too much Mario!).
                          IIRC you can change that in the options menu.

                          [edit] yes, you can.
                          Last edited by briareos_kerensky; 09-11-2014, 17:48.

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                            #14
                            Got this on PS4 and been playing on and off for a couple of weeks. What a brilliant game! Absolutely nails everything about the best of the era that it's taking it's influences from, while also poking affectionate fun at it. Not as brutal as the early Megaman games, as has been said, but I'm all for that (the Megaman 9 reboot was too controller-busting hard for my tastes). Graphics, music, writing, gameplay are all spot on. Heard there's some free expansion on the way at some point too, taking in Plague Knight's story. Guess it'll be a Halloween thing.

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