Shovel Knight: Treasure Trove

I have been playing Shovel Knight a lot lately. I think I played over 400 hours and I love it. It is my favourite game already and I consider it to be the ultimate platformer. It has a bunch of campaigns that play super different from eachother. The heroes a cool, the narrative is sweet but light enough, the aestethics suit me perfectly - each and every sprite feel like it has soul on their own. The mechanics which are arguably the most important thing in a platformer are pinpoint accurate. Even the water level is damn fun...it may as well be one of my most favourite in the game. But to be honest I do not see how I will get tired of this game. Even after so much playing I still can boot the game and go beat a campaign pretty much every day. If you have never played a platformer - pick up Shovel Knight! If you do not like platformers - pick up Shovel Knight, you may as well be surprised! If you like platformers - I guess you have already picked up Shovel Knight anyway... If you...oh, God damn it, just play the game!

So, I can honestly say it's been a while since I played through a platforming game that hit every nostalgia button in my head, AND refreshed me with an original story that literally made me almost tear up at the end. Shovel Knight is a masterpiece. I have started the Plague Knight campaign, and so far it is amazing as well. I eagerly look forward to the Specter Knight campaign (and of course the coming King Knight campaign and Showdown additions!) I managed to get this game on sale, but I can comfortably say this is worth the original asking price. Once everything is said and done, and the new additions are implemented, you are essentially getting 5 games for the price of 1. That is amazing. The music as classic, the look is classic, and the mechanics are a perfect mix of classic NES and newer Metroidvania type movement. The semi-linear story line is so refreshing as well. Trust me, you want this game. You may not know it yet, but this is a piece of your past, mixed with your future, that you don't want to let slip by. You will not regret this purchase.

...and that's a good thing. This game emulates the old games well, but uses the years of game design development that past since to its advantage. Color scheme is vibrant, controls are responsive and animations are smooth. There are also features that mostly didn't exist back then like a very developed system of character upgrades (that varies heavily depending on character, with Plague knight being able, for instance, to tweak their bombs in a variety of aspects at once), challenges, lots of anti-frustration features (like the fact that you only lose a bit of gold when you die, and you can optionally retreive it afterwards). If there's a single one thing that amazes me about this game, it's how well thought-out the levels are. It almost feels like a puzzle game sometimes in a way that moving a block a step right or left would break the level. You start to appreciate it more when trying different characters, since each other of them has a different movement set, and you can see how the levels (often literally the same screens of the levels) were adjusted to accout for that, and how sometimes different move set offers a radically different solution to the same (or similar) screen. The story is, as far as I can see, pretty interesting to read, even if game doesn't take it that seriously. I ended up actually caring for characters in a game that is mostly about platforming. I won't give it 5/5 for one reason: it often becomes annoying. Every area has its own gimmic but it often gets overused in the same way (especially darkness in lich yard) until it's no longer fresh and really frustrating.

This game is incredibly great. Tight controls and reminiscent of a mash-up between mega man and super mario (with maybe some of the combat from castlevania thrown in), great music, challenging but fair, and overall just a lot of fun. I'll be getting this game when the mac version is out (I have it on the 3DS) for sure.

Shovel Knight is a must-have game for any fans of the platformer genre. Even though I was not familiar with the classic NES platformers (I was too small at the time to play those games), I had a blast on my first playthrough. The levels are varied, the music is memorable, and the challenge is fair. I especially liked how its story was told: while not the most complex of stories, the storytelling was powerful, and most importantly, it happened hand-in-hand with the gameplay. I cannot recommend this game enough, and soon I will be starting my second playthrough. What are you waiting for?