Shovel Knight [PC/3DS/Wii U]

[JaidynReiman]

It depends on what consoles you have, really, but Yacht Club Games really seems to try and give them all something special.

I haven't had much chance to play Plague Of Shadows yet, but I notice I'm down one Cipher Coin in both King Knight's stage and the new Forest of Fishing.  I haven't checked over the former yet, but I've done multiple runs through the Forest of Fishing and I still can't find the one I'm missing.  Perhaps there's some hidden wall niche I've overlooked, but I have been looking around.

On the note of that missing coin, I found one I was missing, too:

 

After the second checkpoint I believe, on the next screen above you is a ladder which leads to Plague Knight's secret area in this level. The first chamber has a bunch of propeller rats, but above that are two fire mages shooting fireballs at you.

In the center of the room are two yellow dirt platforms just to the left of the right most fire mage; the left one has a Cipher Coin in it. I never broke this dirt before because I didn't think it'd have anything in it.

[Salamander]

That one sounds very likely, JaidynReiman; I'll check it out as soon as I can, thanks.  No idea where the one in Forest of Fishing could be, though; it's not like it's a huge level or anything.  Though on that note, I hugely appreciate that Yacht Club Games appear to have wholly remade the relic-based challenge areas, and the new exclusive areas in each stage really change things up too.  It's very nicely done.

One point that interested me: I just remembered that in one of the earliest screenshots for Plague of Shadows, it was clear that there was a very different crafting system in place, judging from the HUD:

[DiamondX]

I am getting this game soon, im pretty excited

[Salamander]

I found the two Cipher Coins I was missing; the one in King Knight's stage was just where JaidynReiman predicted, so thanks for that, and the one in the Forest of Fishing was on something like the second screen, in a fishable pit with a waterfall in front of it that helped disguise the sparkles.

Plague Knight's stage, ironically, gave me a lot of difficulty, but I really like how they handled the Armour Outpost and the Troupple Pond.  I'm starting to get an idea of what the final boss might be...

[Salamander]

And I finished the game, which is to say Plague Of Shadows, late yesterday.  Very good expansion; they really went the extra mile in making it not just a silly new control style but weaving in a fresh story around the old one.  I'm still not very good at controlling Plague Knight, but as time goes by you gather more tools to help you out of tricky spots (most notably the Vats), and I think it's interesting to look at it as addressing some of the weaker points of Shovel Knight as well; for example, the abundance of health in the main campaign is more or less inverted in Plague Of Shadows, in which healing becomes a much more valuable and scarce resource.

Hopefully it won't be quite so long to wait for the next extra campaign, which will be either Spectre Knight or King Knight - they've said recently that they aren't sure which they'll do first, but I think there are a couple of reasons why Spectre Knight is likely to be top of the list.  Goodness knows how they'll handle him as a playable character.  A flight meter instead of magic, relics cost health, constant Leech Liquid effect?  Edit: The early "Dig the Vote" ideas for Spectre Knight's moveset, incidentally, suggested that he would be fast but have low health, his rapid scythe attacks would all move him forwards, and that he would retain his move of flinging his scythe and teleporting to it.  Not so sure how you'd handle the darkness and summoning of the dead, but the former could be his equivalent of an invincibility relic, of course.

Edited September 27, 2015 by FFWF

[JaidynReiman]

And I finished the game, which is to say Plague Of Shadows, late yesterday.  Very good expansion; they really went the extra mile in making it not just a silly new control style but weaving in a fresh story around the old one.  I'm still not very good at controlling Plague Knight, but as time goes by you gather more tools to help you out of tricky spots (most notably the Vats), and I think it's interesting to look at it as addressing some of the weaker points of Shovel Knight as well; for example, the abundance of health in the main campaign is more or less inverted in Plague Of Shadows, in which healing becomes a much more valuable and scarce resource.

Hopefully it won't be quite so long to wait for the next extra campaign, which will be either Spectre Knight or King Knight - they've said recently that they aren't sure which they'll do first, but I think there are a couple of reasons why Spectre Knight is likely to be top of the list.  Goodness knows how they'll handle him as a playable character.  A flight meter instead of magic, relics cost health, constant Leech Liquid effect?  Edit: The early "Dig the Vote" ideas for Spectre Knight's moveset, incidentally, suggested that he would be fast but have low health, his rapid scythe attacks would all move him forwards, and that he would retain his move of flinging his scythe and teleporting to it.  Not so sure how you'd handle the darkness and summoning of the dead, but the former could be his equivalent of an invincibility relic, of course.

I do think they'll go with Spectre Knight next...

Especially with that tease they threw in Spectre Knight's section of Plague Knight's ending...

[Jovahexeon Jax Joranvexeon]

Hey guys,  guess who's showing up in Azure Striker Gunvolt 2!

 

[Diogenes]

Time for this thread to rise from its grave...

Shovel Knight: Specter of Torment trailer

Hot damn, I thought Plague Knight's campaign was a massive addition, but this looks like practically an entire new game's worth of content. New enemies, new boss fights, new level designs, new gameplay, new story, and it's all looking just as solid and fun as Shovel and Plague.

[Salamander]

Wow, that really does look more amazing than I thought possible.  I guess essentially making the DLC campaigns into totally new games is how they're handling the fact that they're still working on the same game years after release; they explain in the link that Spectre Of Torment is a built-from-the-ground-up prequel.  Despite the extra character campaigns having been funded in the Kickstarter, I simply could not object in the slightest to being charged for this; YCG have really gone above and beyond the bounds of duty.

[Nast]

.

[Junko]

The main game and the 2 DLCs are all standalone now with the base game being renamed to Shovel Knight - Shovel of Hope. You can buy the standalone games as an intro to Shovel Knight, or buy what the current Shovel Knight on sale is being renamed to Shovel Knight - Treasure Trove to get all three.

[Jovahexeon Jax Joranvexeon]

2 hours ago, Athena Cykes said:

The main game and the 2 DLCs are all standalone now with the base game being renamed to Shovel Knight - Shovel of Hope. You can buy the standalone games as an intro to Shovel Knight, or buy what the current Shovel Knight on sale is being renamed to Shovel Knight - Treasure Trove to get all three.

God, if this makes them enough, I'm really hoping that means we'll be able to get campaigns for Propeller Knight, Mole Knight, Treasure Knight, and company ( in that order) as well!

[Sean]

Body swap (previously called gender swap) mode is pretty neat and robust.

http://www.polygon.com/2017/2/28/14752908/shovel-knight-body-swap-gender

You can change each character's gender and their pronouns individually rather than all at once, and Yacht Club put a lot of thought and effort into the redesigns and wanted to avoid stereotypical traits like giving characters a mere bow or dress. All characters' gameplay and personalities are identical to their regular counterparts. Body swap mode only applies to story-relevant characters and not town NPCs or guest characters.

[Klinsy]

Yo, yo, yooooooo!

Did you think you saw the last of Shovel Knight amiibo?

I just wished we got Shield Knight, but beggars can't be choosers.

[Sonictrainer]

Besides the Amiibo, Shovel Knight: King of Cards was revealed yesterday during the Nintendo Direct.

Quote

Shovel Knight: King of Cards is the final campaign in the Shovel Knight: Treasure Trove saga, and it’s bigger and grander than ever! Play as King Knight, the gilded goon himself, as he travels through 4 new worlds and more than 30 all new courses, on a journey to best the Three Kings who rule over the land. With a high flying spin and a boisterous bash, he can crash through all who would dare stand in his way!

Does King Knight have what it takes to become a ruler? Maybe he can pick it up along the way on this quirky quest! Experience refined platforming, exquisite visuals, new action-packed courses, brand new bosses, and amass a devoted following in Shovel Knight: King of Cards! This campaign is headed for release in 2018. For even more details and screenshots, check out the press kit!

…but that’s not all! Don’t miss the first reveal of gameplay footage included in Nintendo’s PAX West Presentation!!

Also, the Game Grumps did another trailer for the Amiibo

 

[Jovahexeon Jax Joranvexeon]

Love the sounds of that campaign. Shame it's another prequel though. 

[Salamander]

After a paraquel and a prequel, I was imagining that King Knight would somehow be a sequel...  But I definitely think I can live with what they're giving us here.  It's incredible that they're once again transforming what was pitched as a simple alternative character playthrough into effectively a new game.

[JaidynReiman]

I was hoping it'd be a sequel as well. Oh well. I like how it looks so far. Interesting that King Knight is broken up into smaller stages instead of one big stage.

[Sonictrainer]

Shovel Knight's getting a Multiplayer Mode!

 

[JaidynReiman]

22 hours ago, Sonictrainer said:

Shovel Knight's getting a Multiplayer Mode!

 

Well it was the last of the stretch goals for the game...

[MetalSkulkBane]

Shovel Knight's revenge for not being full character in Smash Bros.

Awesome.

[mayday2592]

So the release date for  King of Cards and Showdown has been set for April 19th.

http://www.ign.com/articles/2018/08/30/shovel-knight-king-of-cards-showdown-physical-edition-release-date-announced

[JaidynReiman]

Um... lolwut? King of Cards has been pushed back to April 2019? Like why are they struggling so much to get this game out lol?

[Solly]

King of Cards being pushed back to 2019 probably has something to do with it allegedly being the biggest of the campaigns (maybe even bigger than the main game?), and Yacht Club having ~5 employees last I checked.

The delay does suck, but I'm sure it'll be worth the wait. The trickle of stretch goal updates has been slow, but only because Yacht Club has over-delivered on all of them. I just hope their next project is underway, so we don't have to wait too long for that, too. 

[Salamander]

April 2019 is certainly a lot later than I expected, but they explain somewhere that they're aiming to go for a simultaneous release across all consoles this time - and I think they also have long planned Showdown (or rather, the local multiplayer battle mode) to be released with King Of Cards, too.  All of that pushes everything back.

I didn't particularly care about the battle mode before, but if Showdown has a single-player mode with a story for each character, I could be persuaded to take an interest.  As a 3DS owner, I'd have to purchase it separately on the Switch - but I haven't paid anything for Shovel Knight since the original Kickstarter, and at this point I really feel like I should be giving them something more for the vast amount of content they've provided, so that's another reason.