Against all odds, these three statements are true:
- Shovel Knight Dig is, overall, a good game I would recommend to others.
- If Shovel Knight Dig was my introduction to Shovel Knight, I would have ignored the whole franchise, Shovel Knight Dig included.
- But I played Shovel Knight Dig immediately after the entirety of Shovel Knight: Treasure Trove, so it is one of my favorite games.
Let’s try to figure out what happened here.
First of all, you are expected to understand the breadth of Shovel Knight: Treasure Trove at this point. There were just eight weeks of articles on the site about that whole, years-spanning game, and I simply do not have it in me to type the phrase “retro 2-D platformer” even one more time (oh, dammit). Shovel Knight Dig is something of a sequel (though technically a prequel) to the first campaign of Shovel Knight: Treasure Trove, Shovel Knight: Shovel of Hope. You know, the only one where you actually play as Shovel Knight. This time, instead going up against a Mega Man-esque collection of eight knights and a final castle, Shovel Knight only has to conquer 4-6 knights with no finale beyond that (most of the time), and each knight’s level consists of three parts that wrap up surprisingly quickly. In fact, once you know what you are doing in Shovel Knight Dig, you can see the credits roll inside of a half hour. That is a far cry from the literal hours it takes to finish a new game in Shovel of Hope. The absolute best-in-the-world run of Shovel of Hope is a little over forty minutes! You can finish Shovel Knight Dig and have a nice laser-cut ham in that same time!
Though this probably has something to do with Shovel Knight Dig being a rogue-like.
Yes, Shovel Knight Dig plays like Shovel of Hope with its pogo-pounding, relic-blasting, and treasure-nabbing gameplay. But when you (inevitably) die in Shovel Knight Dig, you are stripped of your upgrades, drained of 25% of your earnings, and sent right back to level 1. You have the opportunity to buy a few upgrades at base camp, maybe cash in some sidequest victories (mostly part of the DLC that was not available at launch), and then it is time to head back down the well from the very start. You may have an improved chance from an earned upgrade, but the majority of your luck on this “run” will be based on what (ultimately temporary) powerups spawn in what rooms, and how often you accidentally fall down a shaft when you are desperately trying to get to an enemy-dropped apple. A “bad run” is always just as much a possibility as a good ‘un, and by about your second strata you should know if you (literally) have what it takes, or are woefully unequipped for later encounters. Yes, the core gameplay is still retro 2-D platforming (fiddlesticks), so you technically could beat the whole game with half a health point and a broken jump button, but the majority of players are going to be ruled by a roll of the dice. It is a rogue-like from the top of basecamp to the bottom of the center of the Earth, so choose between your three possible powerups and gird your shovel for challenges.
And holy cow does Shovel Knight gameplay not work well with the rogue-like setup.
Even more than the later campaigns, Shovel Knight: Shovel of Hope is an extremely properly measured platformer. There are checkpoints before and after challenges that are part of a risk/reward system encouraging you to bet treasure on your skills/survivability. Platforming is based 100% on Shovel Knight’s distinct jump height, and his ability to leap off nearby enemies. Tricky pickups, like treasure troves or musical sheets, are often just out of reach, and require complex knowledge of Shovel Knight’s skills to attain. And if you don’t get ‘em? Maybe you can try again on a different playthrough. The same challenges will still be in the same spot when you return, and maybe learning more about knights and how effectively they bounce off of magical gears will serve you on a return trip. After all, you have other things to focus on, as there is a challenging boss to defeat at the end of every stage with distinct patterns you can learn over multiple clashes. And if you are still learning, don’t worry! Shovel Knight is very generous about providing checkpoints before its biggest challenges. You will not have to retread the entirety of The Enchantress’ Tower just because you did not realize Polar Knight can generate insta-kill spikes. Yes, being insta-killed by an unexpected trap may seem arbitrary, but you can easily recover.
In Shovel Knight Dig, if you fall to a random, unexpected trap, you then have to replay the whole game over again. Died to the final boss? Well get ready to beat literally all the bosses over again! Whether they were interesting the first time or not!
And, yes, that is just how an action rogue-like works. You fall in the final area, and you have to fight your way back to even try at another chance. But Shovel Knight Dig generally follows the same difficulty curve of a “normal” platformer, so later levels are more difficult, more likely to contain death traps, and bosses have more definitive attacks. Drill Knight’s final phase can summon an instant-kill saw! And if you happen to be in the wrong corner of the room when that comes a-knockin’, you are going right back to the start. Same as if you get yourself massacred trying to obtain a stage’s “secret” golden gear. You fail, you die, and you are back at the start, possibly to never see that configuration of traps and gears again, thus never able to figure out what you even did wrong. Oh well, back to digging, Shovel Knight, or you’ll never save the world.
Oh yeah, that’s the other thing: Hades spoiled us. Not only must you repeat the challenges of any given Shovel Knight Dig run, but the story is eternally resetting. “Base Camp” changes and expands as you accomplish things down in the hole (there is a statue celebrating your victory!), but once you hit the first tier, the story always resets to its absolute start. This means that every encounter with a Hexcavator includes only one of two possible dialogue exchanges, the third layer always ends with the bad guys teasing their evil plans, and the finale always includes that one silly bit where Shield Knight acknowledges she cannot join you in the final battle (when, even in her more active runs, she is only ever present for minutes of your adventure. I was not expecting your help anyway! And don’t get me started on your feathered friend!). These are the kind of plot bits the enhance the story as a whole and make the featured characters all the more endearing… But it gets old. I can only talk to the first level’s boss, Mushroom Knight, so many times before I never want to see that toad ever again. And the continual push and pull of the challenges that are required to see the real final ending are frustrating every time they repeat without a resolution. Yes, I know I am supposed to be careful with this skeleton key. I know it is important. The only reason I lost it the last six times was because some stupid wasp monster came out of nowhere, and then I had to repeat the first level ten times to get a roll where the damned owl appears. Do not talk to me like I’m a toddler! I hope someone curses you forever, you condescending jackass!
So, basically, I hate this game and everyone in it.
And, naturally, I have sunk hours into playing Shovel Knight Dig. After I finish this writeup, I’m going to go back to playing it.
I like Shovel Knight! The bones here are good! Better than good: Yacht Club handed the keys to Nitrome (makers of Bomb Chicken!) for this adventure, and they understood the assignment. Shovel Knight still feels like one of the best 2-D retro platformers (fie and damnation) of the last 30 years. And, because of that, I swallow my distaste for rogue-like gameplay, and rush back into the pit after every loss. It is not about the destination, it is about the journey, and if that journey means I have to beat the same dumb opening area about 67,000 times, I may as well get journeying. In much the same way that I play Mario games because it feels good to run around as Mario, I will keep playing Shovel Knight Dig because it feels good to bounce around as Shovel Knight. There may be bad runs. There may be times my poor knight is traumatically naked thanks to rotten luck. There may even be the occasional trip that is cancelled because a sentient book simply would not close with the right timing. But I am going to keep playing, because I like controlling Shovel Knight, and I like seeing him succeed. I want Shovel Knight to complete his dig, and I want to help him get there.
Is this 90% leftover affection for Shovel Knight: Shovel of Hope? Of course. But is Shovel Knight Dig also a Shovel Knight game where you can play as Shovel Knight? Yes. And is the theoretically “infinite” nature of a Shovel Knight rogue-like something I would have killed for ten years ago? Absolutely. It is Mega Man 9/10’s Endless Attack all over again! So it may not be my favorite game, and it would certainly not be a game I played for more than twenty minutes if I did not already adore Shovel of Hope, but Shovel Knight Dig winds up being a game that conquered hours of my life because it was an ideal follow-up to perfection.
Shovel Knight Dig: If you want more Shovel Knight, you’re going to dig it.
FGC #735 Shovel Knight Dig
- System: Nintendo Switch, Playstation 5, Xbox X/S, PC, and mobile devices. The vertical nature of everything involved really is ideal for phones.
- Number of players: Looks like there will not be a multiplayer update with this one, so we are sticking to one at a time.
How about Shovel Knight Pocket Dungeon: I was considering giving both of Shovel Knight’s maverick sequels an article, but Pocket Dungeon is even less of a game “for me” than the rogue-like. I can deal with a puzzle game where you line up pills or gems or bombs or whatever. I instantly abort if you are expected to carefully measure your movements on a grid. I hate grids! I hate grids so much!- Favorite Tier: As (repeatedly) mentioned in the article, you see the Mushroom Kingdom (first area) way too often, so that is right out. Weirdly enough, the possible third strata, Magic Landfill, I barely ever encountered (dumb random luck), and that fails because the high number of mages practically makes it a bullet hell (it does get bonus points for being super purple, though). I guess I’m going with the possible second tier, Secret Fountain. Water has some cool effects on gameplay, enemy crabs are always a good time, and the sponge slimes are a wonderful variation on an old favorite. Topping it all off with a majestic Mole Knight is just the (curiously blue) cherry on top.
- Favorite Hexcavator: Hive Knight has a little bug buddy! They high-five! Instantly endearing! I am even going to forgive how Hive Knight stole his spikey walls/dirt directly from the fourth level of Super Ghouls ‘n Ghosts. He is a known thief! It is okay!
- Obvious Influences: Drill Knight is transparently just Ground Man (but not Drill Man) from Mega Man & Bass. Yes, “drill robot-y guy” has been a thing for decades (and became mega popular with Gurren Lagann), but a fight between Drill Knight and Ground Man would be a mirror match in Yacht Club vs. Capcom.
- Favorite Relic: The Rising Dagger will help you recover, so that wins for movement abilities. Beyond that, we have the Blizzeo Wand, which finally grants Shovel Knight a freeze beam. Considering how important it is for Shovel Knight to keep monsters motionless for jumps, it is amazing it took this long for this relic to arrive.
- How about those sidequests? I enjoy seeing new tasks pop up to explore across multiple runs. I do not enjoy playing hoop volleyball with a mage. I am never going to complete that. I do not care if the prize is my own enchanted hoop, I simply do not have the patience.
Retcon Rodeo: I am impressed that no one wedged King Knight, Plague Knight, Mona, or Specter Knight/Donovan into the proceedings. There are obviously references to all sorts of recurring Shovel Knight motifs and characters, but prequeling any of the big players around the campfire or as part of a sidequest would have been as easy as mole-made pie. Limiting returning players to a pair of Hexcavators (that actually make sense!) shows admirable restraint. Still had to see Percy, though.- Amiibo Corner: The Shovel Knight Amiibo collection all summon little character fairies! Yay! They still do absolutely nothing! Yay for consistency!
- Did you know? Duelist Di hangs out at the campfire and distributes sidequests related to fighting giant skeletons. She is a happy little knight that gets along well with rooster folk. She is also notably dead and a ghost by the time King of Cards rolls around. Considering she has a gaping hole in her chest by that game, she had a really bad time somewhere in there.
- Would I play again? Feel like this one was answered by the article, but clearly stating “yes”. This is the Sega Genesis sequel to Shovel Knight’s NES Classic: the graphics are improved, the music is a little less memorable, and the gameplay is simultaneously the same and different. It is Contra: Hard Corps. And, like that classic, I will play it less than OG Contra (not to be confused with Contra OG), but I will play it again.
What’s next? Screw it. We are rounding out Yacht Club Games coverage with Mina the Hollower next week. Let’s claim that was always the plan. So get ready for something new to dig into. Please look forward to it!
