 Shovel Knight is a kickstarter-funded retro platformer released by Yacht Club Games (a company founded by former Wayforward developers) in 2014. Inspired by Mega Man and various other NES platformers, the game's retro sensibilities, impeccable design, catchy music, and humorous storytelling captured the hearts of hundreds of thousands of gamers right away. One of the kickstarter stretch goals was to create playable campaigns for 3 of the boss characters in the game: Plague Knight, Specter Knight and King Knight. It took the team 5 years to finally deliver on these goals, as it meant essentially making 3 new games.  The final campaign mode, Shovel Knight: King of Cards just released, completing the Treasure Trove edition of the game. As a bonus, they've also released Showdown mode, a Smash Bros-ish VS mode in which you can play as every single protagonist, every boss character in the game, and even some NPCs! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iA09qzAZ674 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VUFQFwvFhqk Being released on 11 different systems, with over 2 million copies sold, with constant updates, and with its protagonist guest starring in everything from Azure Striker Gunvolt to Smash Bros Ultimate, Shovel Knight is truly the titan of indie gaming. While the initial title is finally done with new content (barring a possible tweak here and there), the franchise is far from over, with a board game and a pseudo-sequel already well on their way, and a possible direct sequel very much a possibility in the distant future. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tRGOF9d7yoU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B5aG0TrnvUE And Yacht Club's next project, whatever it may be, is certainly one to watch out for! So this thread is for discussing the Shovel Knight franchise in general, King of Cards in particular and Yach Club Games in the abstract. Have fun and Steel Thy Shovel.
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Dec 14, 2019 23:51
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| # ? Jun 11, 2024 06:12 |
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First things first, King of Cards loving rules. I think King Knight's movement mechanics are my favorite so far, and I love Joustus. It's so simple and intuitive (although it can get intensely frustrating when you get outplayed). I hope some sort of Joustus vs mode gets added. Showdown mode mostly just makes me imagine the alternate universe where some of the other knights got a campaign. Spoilers: 
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Dec 14, 2019 23:55
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King Knight's movement and attacks are soooo weird, but since we've already had 3 full shovel knight games I'm fine with this one being oddball.
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Dec 15, 2019 00:08
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How do I help the Troupple King? I heard you’re supposed to jump down from up top and then spin down into the blowhole but every time I try King Knight just gets knocked away suddenly as soon as he reaches him. Can I not do it until later in the game or something?
Larryb fucked around with this message at 00:16 on Dec 15, 2019 |
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Dec 15, 2019 00:10
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Larryb posted:How do I help the Troupple King? I heard you’re supposed to jump down from up top and then spin down into the blowhole but every time I try King Knight just gets knocked away suddenly as soon as he reaches him. You have to shoulder bash into the hull of the ship where the gems are. You should drill down into him on the next screen. Zaphod42 posted:King Knight's movement and attacks are soooo weird, but since we've already had 3 full shovel knight games I'm fine with this one being oddball. I think Specter was way weirder when it came to movement. It took me a while to wrap my head around the wall climbing and such.
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Dec 15, 2019 00:14
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Got it thanks. Finally, which of King Knight’s weapons would you say is the overall best? So far I’m kind of partial to the hammer that makes enemies drop hearts. While King Knight’s controls take a little getting used to I’ve been having fun so far. It’s also nearly twice the length of the previous three campaigns, abandoning the Megaman style for a more Mario 3-esque one.
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Dec 15, 2019 00:22
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Honestly now that all the games are out it's frigging impressive that they were 4 for 4 on making genuinly engaging, fun and enjoyable platformers using the same basic mold but with significant gameplay differences. I honestly enjoyed playing all four characters and that is something I never expected, I was sure there would be a dud. Joustus is the one potential sticking point in King Knight's campaign but it's basically entirely optional so unless you want all medals it's no big deal. (And if you want all medals you can just cheat your way through.) I enjoyed it once I had a good deck at least. But it's hard for me to pick a favorite campaign and that's pretty drat cool. Shovel Knight is the most 'basic' for obvious reasons so it'd probably be my least favorite of the campaigns but it still is one of the best platformers I've ever played and eclipsed only because they were able to put what they learned from it into the following ones. I really hope Yacht Club gets to make something new now because I feel like they've shown they have an incredibly strong team. Larryb posted:Got it thanks. Finally, which of King Knight’s weapons would you say is the overall best? So far I’m kind of partial to the hammer that makes enemies drop hearts. "Best" is a tough term. The hammer is probably the best combat weapon but I would say the Bubble is loving amazing for platforming, it feels like a cheat code especially combined with the 'restore MP on damage" armor.
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Dec 15, 2019 00:30
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Yeah, King Knight's subweapons are the most situational of any of the campaigns I'd say, in a good way. They're all very good in specific situations, and recognizing those situations is the key. Though I understand that the dueling glove is where it's at for pro players.ImpAtom posted:Honestly now that all the games are out it's frigging impressive that they were 4 for 4 on making genuinly engaging, fun and enjoyable platformers using the same basic mold but with significant gameplay differences. I honestly enjoyed playing all four characters and that is something I never expected, I was sure there would be a dud. Joustus is the one potential sticking point in King Knight's campaign but it's basically entirely optional so unless you want all medals it's no big deal. (And if you want all medals you can just cheat your way through.) I enjoyed it once I had a good deck at least. As much as I love playing as Plague Knight his campaign is a bit dragged down by the fact that the stages are 99% the same as Shovel of Hope. On the one hand it's fun to see how much faster Plague can get through those obstacles and bosses, but on the other hand it would've been really neat to have more situations designed specifically around his abilities like Specter and King got.
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Dec 15, 2019 00:35
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ImpAtom posted:But it's hard for me to pick a favorite campaign and that's pretty drat cool. Shovel Knight is the most 'basic' for obvious reasons so it'd probably be my least favorite of the campaigns but it still is one of the best platformers I've ever played and eclipsed only because they were able to put what they learned from it into the following ones. I really hope Yacht Club gets to make something new now because I feel like they've shown they have an incredibly strong team. Well they already announced a sequel a little while back but otherwise yeah, it would be nice if they could work on something new for a change. Overall I still think Plague is probably the most fun to play for me (also I really like his character and overall story) but all 4 have their good points. Ironically the one I find myself coming back to the least is Shovel Knight himself, he just feels kind of inferior now compared to the other three who have much more versatile move sets.
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Dec 15, 2019 01:04
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Pretty much all of his subweapons have some sort of use. I got like tons of mileage out of all of them during my playthrough. The flame sword is really good for shredding bosses that are actually susceptible to it. 2 whole pips of damage if you land all 3 hits. Lurdiak posted:As much as I love playing as Plague Knight his campaign is a bit dragged down by the fact that the stages are 99% the same as Shovel of Hope. On the one hand it's fun to see how much faster Plague can get through those obstacles and bosses, but on the other hand it would've been really neat to have more situations designed specifically around his abilities like Specter and King got. Plague Knight is basically an oddball since it was supposed to basically be a character swap at first, and they went further beyond. Then they decided to go even further beyond with Specter Knight. That and Plague of Shadows was really intended to be played after Shovel of Hope since you originally couldn't access that campaign without beating Shovel Knight first until they changed it to let you start at any campaign with the Specter of Torment update. King Knight was originally supposed to be what Plague of Shadows was to Shovel Knight and be more of a remix for Specter Knight so they would put less work on themselves, but they changed their minds after making the level design too specific to Specter Knight, and trying to design for King Knight at the same time was holding Specter Knight's levels back. So Plague Knight ended up being the only "remix" instead of its own thing like the others.
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Dec 15, 2019 01:06
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After having the non-Shovel Knight campaigns in my backlog for god knows how long, I finally decided to knuckle down and finish up Plague Knight, then I blitzed through Specter Knight and just started on King Knight. Kinda weird that I beat the main game on the PS4 while my Switch version will have me complete the rest. Plague Knight feels like a romhack of Shovel Knight, but in a good way, and still very enjoyable. I absolutely love the Specter Knight mechanics and levels, but, and this is a bit of a petty gripe and no one is really playing this game for it anyway, but the story is basically angsty garbage. I guess I really don't know what I expected, but it wasn't a bad fanfic (Reize? really?) that muddles the timeline of the original game. Goddamn those levels are fun though and the campaign is still well worth the time; I am just being a pedant over dumb stuff. King Knight I am not finding as tight as Specter Knight, but he reminds me of Wario Land in the best possible way. Joustus is also pretty fun. However, I am also very bad at Joustus; Lost all my good cards to Baz and ended up paying Chester to get them back. Going to be a bit more careful from now on about my rematches. Unlucky7 fucked around with this message at 06:36 on Dec 16, 2019 |
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Dec 16, 2019 06:30
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Unlucky7 posted:King Knight I am not finding as tight as Specter Knight, but he reminds me of Wario Land in the best possible way. haha exact same feeling I think. not a knock at all.
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Dec 16, 2019 07:13
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I found King Knight to be the easiest of all the DLC characters to figure out. I beat the game once and I think I got everything in the platform in the platforming stages, but I’ve only beaten the first Joustus house. The only card game I’ve gotten into is Hearthstone. I’m not great and usually just find net decks, but I understand the general idea of building a deck around a strategy in that. In this I don’t. Am I supposed to have all my cards pushing in the same direction or what? Hearthstone had single player game modes where you faced predetermined decks too, but then you didn’t risk lose cards when finding out their gimmick. Something I just noticed in the second Joustus house about the fire blob player: You can break a nearby wall, and it reveals some dripping bouncy goo that you can push into it and douse its flames. Leaving the screen resets it. Does this have any game effect?
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Dec 16, 2019 08:25
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Dr Christmas posted:I found King Knight to be the easiest of all the DLC characters to figure out. Green blob is a separate opponent.
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Dec 16, 2019 08:37
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Dr Christmas posted:The only card game I’ve gotten into is Hearthstone. I’m not great and usually just find net decks, but I understand the general idea of building a deck around a strategy in that. In this I don’t. Am I supposed to have all my cards pushing in the same direction or what? Hearthstone had single player game modes where you faced predetermined decks too, but then you didn’t risk lose cards when finding out their gimmick. You're supposed to have a deck that can adapt to any situation. Not knowing the landscape or the enemy's powers ahead of time can be frustrating, but if you have varied and powerful cards you can handle anything the game throws at you. Grave cards are great for the fields that are split into 4, conveyor cards are great to get around field hazards, cascade cards are great for when the enemy has really good cards, and slam cards are always great.
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Dec 16, 2019 09:55
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SyntheticPolygon posted:Green blob is a separate opponent. The fire blob also doesn't count for fighting the champion since the banner shows the green blob instead.
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Dec 16, 2019 15:58
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Good to know. As for the future of Yacht Club, they’re publishing Cyber Shadow, a Ninja Gaiden-inspired game developed by a one-man team, a Finnish guy named Aarne “Mekaskull” Hunziker. The trailer has me pretty hyped. The trailer dropped back in spring, but there isno release date yet. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=sA_Sy-PkeMU
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Dec 16, 2019 16:23
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Araxxor posted:The fire blob also doesn't count for fighting the champion since the banner shows the green blob instead. I just facepalmed. I thought I didn't get credit due to a glitch or something, not that the banner was actually the green blob. Definitely going back there tonight.
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Dec 16, 2019 16:35
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You can also use the blob as a way to jump high for stuff.
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Dec 16, 2019 17:10
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YZC5goY_Prg Probably my favorite theme in this campaign. Wasn't expecting to get new locales but those were a very welcome addition!
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Dec 16, 2019 18:24
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So I just finished the campaign. Christ, that last full level is a frustrating mess. Who thought it would be a good idea to end with an extremely precise vertical auto-scroller? The final boss wasn't too bad though. One question though, where is the last heirloom? The Fanfare I've beaten every stage, every exit, and collected all the merit medals. I need it if I'm going to be collecting all the cards since one secret is locked behind having it.
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Dec 19, 2019 08:16
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PlasticAutomaton posted:So I just finished the campaign. Christ, that last full level is a frustrating mess. Who thought it would be a good idea to end with an extremely precise vertical auto-scroller? The final boss wasn't too bad though. At the first Joustus house. Talk to the barmaid and agree to buy drinks for everyone.
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Dec 19, 2019 09:07
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Finished this game, it was brilliant. 10/10 would play again. After playing I went back to the original Shovel Knight campaign, and it made me miss the King Knight movement and sub-weapons. They really improved on that first game. Joustus is tight too.
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Dec 19, 2019 10:26
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I've completed the Shovel Knight campaign and have tried the three DLCs. King and Specter seem cool, but how do I get "into" Plague of Shadows? I feel like I'm always plodding along, changing my bombs to match the enemies I have to fight, and it takes forever and sucks. If I don't snipe all my enemies ahead of time, they knock me back 100 feet and I fall into a pit and die like a loser. Is there some good starting kit I should be saving up to equip?
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Dec 19, 2019 10:45
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I bought Showdown thinking it was a separate standalone version, and then loaded Treasure Trove to see that it is a part of the base game as well. I'm not even mad. I've bought Shovel Knight on four different consoles and I bloody love it, so I'm more than happy slinging more cash their way. Also, the Shovel Knight amiibos are all excellent, if that's your cup of tea. King of Cards: The Troupple declaration! It gives you little kisses!!!!!  Also (secret area spoiler) the fairy glade is just the most charming goddamn thing
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Dec 19, 2019 14:46
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Captain Queernabs posted:I've completed the Shovel Knight campaign and have tried the three DLCs. King and Specter seem cool, but how do I get "into" Plague of Shadows? I feel like I'm always plodding along, changing my bombs to match the enemies I have to fight, and it takes forever and sucks. If I don't snipe all my enemies ahead of time, they knock me back 100 feet and I fall into a pit and die like a loser. Is there some good starting kit I should be saving up to equip? You should be relying on your burst more, either to attack or to evade. You should probably be using a potion combo you can spam a bit, as staying airborne by tossing potions is a great way to attack from relative safety. Generally speaking you should be trying to remain airborne as much as you can. Plague Knight packs more punch than any of the other characters and can move faster than everyone except maybe Specter, the trick is to get used to building momentum and timing your attacks. It's a bit of a shame he doesn't get to have levels that play to his strengths to teach people how to use him effectively, but at the same time playing as him through Shovel Knight's stages feels a bit like having wallhacks on.
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Dec 19, 2019 15:59
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PlasticAutomaton posted:So I just finished the campaign. Christ, that last full level is a frustrating mess. Who thought it would be a good idea to end with an extremely precise vertical auto-scroller? The final boss wasn't too bad though. I agree, I actually hated both of the last two levels (gently caress ice levels altogether), but Yacht Club love themselves some precise vertical auto-scrollers. This one seemed especially bad because there was basically no way to get through it without dying a bunch as you scouted a little farther each time - I can't imagine making it through that thing without knowing where everything is going to be.
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Dec 19, 2019 16:09
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I really liked the tower climb lol
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Dec 19, 2019 16:11
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I think I died twice in the autoscroll section, and I suck. Did you guys just not use the warp walls?
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Dec 19, 2019 16:29
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I've been replaying Shovel of Hope, and I've been noticing some more touches and improvements Yacht Club made to the later campaigns compared to the base. Like the lava cauldrons in the Pridemoor Keep stages give out periodic "drips of lava" so you can time getting past them easier in the later campaigns, where that little cue doesn't exist in the earlier ones. And by King of Cards, every NPC has a portrait where so many are still stuck with the little talking bubble sprite in Shovel of Hope. And Shovel of Hope really highlights just how much stronger the other knights' base toolkits are. They're all much more mobile and just plain stronger. King Knight can basically combo every boss that was just imported from Shovel of Hope, or at least their phases super easily. Granted Specter Knight 2 actually gives King Knight more trouble since he has no range and can't immediately do a downward attack like Shovel Knight can. (I remember back when Plague Knight released this was cited as a bit of a problem, as Plague Knight utterly shredded every boss that wasn't a new one, aside from Propeller Knight.)
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Dec 19, 2019 18:59
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It was really weird jumping into King Knight right after playing Celeste, since they both focus around jump/dash combos. I feel like you can really see how the whole team has grown and shifted over time throughout the new releases, and in some ways, they seem like they kinda chafe under the restrictions of the old game. Like the subweapon system seems designed without the expectation that you'll be throwing them out left and right, but with how useful they are, you really want to switch constantly like it's Zelda or a Metroidvania. The story's tone also drifted from the simplicity of the original, and newer characters don't really match the older ones in style. Joustus is kind of annoying since it's not really like any real TCG, and you can't fool around to get a feel for things because there's a punishment for losing, but at least they let you cheat.
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Dec 20, 2019 02:23
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Araxxor posted:I've been replaying Shovel of Hope, and I've been noticing some more touches and improvements Yacht Club made to the later campaigns compared to the base. Like the lava cauldrons in the Pridemoor Keep stages give out periodic "drips of lava" so you can time getting past them easier in the later campaigns, where that little cue doesn't exist in the earlier ones. And by King of Cards, every NPC has a portrait where so many are still stuck with the little talking bubble sprite in Shovel of Hope. I don't know if I agree that they're all completely stronger than Shovel Knight, especially on hard where Specter and King Knight get some serious downsides Shovel Knight doesn't have to deal with. Shovel Knight's also the only one with a decent base jump, which isn't as exciting as the weird movement mechanics the others have, but is certainly easier to control.
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Dec 20, 2019 12:06
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Do the wisps you get after beating Missy do anything besides the visual effect? I think I've seen the entire accessible map, and none of it appeared to require the wisp, but the fact that you can get more makes me think it's more that a one-off joke. Oh, and if anyone else is wondering what I did: You need to fight both the Blorb and the Blazorb to get the achievement for fighting all joustus opponenets.
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Dec 21, 2019 10:59
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Nostalgamus posted:Do the wisps you get after beating Missy do anything besides the visual effect? I think I've seen the entire accessible map, and none of it appeared to require the wisp, but the fact that you can get more makes me think it's more that a one-off joke. I just got every collectible, and I didn’t need the wisps for anything.
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Dec 21, 2019 11:32
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Nostalgamus posted:Do the wisps you get after beating Missy do anything besides the visual effect? I think I've seen the entire accessible map, and none of it appeared to require the wisp, but the fact that you can get more makes me think it's more that a one-off joke. It’s a one-off joke with a goofy effect that the game lets you see more than once.
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Dec 21, 2019 16:54
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Lurdiak posted:I don't know if I agree that they're all completely stronger than Shovel Knight, especially on hard where Specter and King Knight get some serious downsides Shovel Knight doesn't have to deal with. Shovel Knight's also the only one with a decent base jump, which isn't as exciting as the weird movement mechanics the others have, but is certainly easier to control. Oh yeah. Shovel Knight definitely has a very good base moveset. Simple, but fairly easy to design around and gets the job done. Been also using his subweapons more (where in my initial playthrough years ago I barely touched anything that wasn't the Phase Locket) and Chaos Orb just shreds most bosses. I can see why that's an immediate pickup in the speedrun. Really most of his subweapons are pretty decent. Only ones that seem really weird are the mobile gear and the war horn. Though the war horn can at least one shot the Goldarmors. Can't wait to get to Plague Knight, especially since they added in a proper quickswap for all non-3DS versions. As someone who picked up Shovel Knight before it became Treasure Trove, I can see why they did the price hike and attached prices to the expansions later. 7 years of dev time only to get paid for 1 of the 5 games they made would have sucked.
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Dec 22, 2019 03:20
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Just beat new game+. There's a difference in the endings depending on whether you beat Mr Hat or not. If you pick up his shop, it falls from the sky into the Armor Outpost during the ending. If you don't, he drags it there with a rope. New game+ is tough. It caps you to four health, makes your heirlooms cost gold, makes you drop your gold Sonic the Hedgehog-style when you get hit, and all your gold on death. Enemies will heal you immediately on death or sufficient damage instead of dropping hearts. So it's not the best for farming gold for mystery cards. I'm not sure if health and vigor upgrades I bought during my first play though have any effect. The first form of the enchantress sucks on any character because it seems like she's always out of reach, and the platforms she creates tend to be destroyed as soon as they're made when she's flying above. It doubly sucks for King Knight on NG+ because you lose all your gold and can't make use of heirlooms.
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Dec 22, 2019 04:53
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Araxxor posted:As someone who picked up Shovel Knight before it became Treasure Trove, I can see why they did the price hike and attached prices to the expansions later. 7 years of dev time only to get paid for 1 of the 5 games they made would have sucked.
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Dec 22, 2019 04:59
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Is there any difference in Showdown story mode difficulties beyond target points and continues/stocks/health?
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Dec 22, 2019 08:24
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| # ? Jun 11, 2024 06:12 |
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Araxxor posted:As someone who picked up Shovel Knight before it became Treasure Trove, I can see why they did the price hike and attached prices to the expansions later. 7 years of dev time only to get paid for 1 of the 5 games they made would have sucked. That was the result of kickstarter stretch goals, right? It's pretty weird otherwise to just keep making new content for a game long past the release with no extra charge. If they hadn't wound up making one of the best games of all time that would just keep selling as they kept porting it, then they probably would've wound up in financial trouble by now. I do really like a lot of the new things they made, but I've been wondering for a while whether they could've made something better if they just moved on from Shovel Knight 'n' pals, like what the opportunity cost was, since while the later campaigns are still good, there's a bit of stiffness or jank from fitting new plots and mechanics into a system and series of characters never planned to be used like that, and since Shovel Knight was so good starting from fresh, I just wonder what they could do starting afresh again.
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Dec 22, 2019 22:13
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