Title: Shovel Knight Dig
Developer: Nitrome
Publisher: Yacht Club Games
Genre: Platformer, Roguelite, Action-Adventure, RPG
Number of Players: 1
Platform: Steam
Release Date: Sept. 23, 2022
Price: $24.99
I remember downloading the original Shovel Knight game on my 3DS back in 2014. I don’t have much experience with platforming games outside of the Super Mario Bros. franchise back then, and yet, I fully enjoyed the game along with its expansions. You have to give props to Yacht Club games for not only making the game as good as it is but also supporting it over the years and following up with their promise of additional standalone games. The original game became Shovel Knight Treasure Trove as it now has 4 games with separate stories, plus an additional fighting game featuring the different characters in the series.
Fast forward to now, another Shovel Knight game has been released, but no longer a DLC or expansion of the original. The game is called Shovel Knight Dig, and it features Shovel Knight and Shield Knight as they battle against a group of rogue knights, called the Hexcavators, led by the game’s main baddy, Drill Knight. Basically, Drill Knight drilled through the earth, creating a big hole, and Shovel Knight has to go after him. This game is set before the events of the first game, by the way, so the rest of the knights of the Order of No Quarter do not appear on this game. But even if that is the case, this game feels pretty much the same as the previous games, from the visuals and level design to the catchy tunes of the soundtrack. If you have played the previous games, you will feel right at homer right way on this one.
Of course, you play as Shovel Knight, and this time around, you dig downwards to the earth to get rid of the Hexcavators, hence the Dig in the title. And also, the game is of the roguelite variety. Yeah, the “Git gud” one. Every time you go back digging, the level gets procedurally generated, and thus, the game offers unlimited replayability. But of course, like the original game, you still have to follow a set story beat and you progress more the deeper you dig down. If you die, and you will, for sure, lots of times, it’s game over and you have to start from the beginning the next time around. That is, unless you beat the boss of the area that you play in, which opens up a new area for you to explore.
When you die and decide to go back to the surface, there is an NPC that would allow you to buy your way into skipping to the areas that you have already unlocked. By the way, like in the original game, you collect gems that you can use to buy stuff, and there are lots of stuff to buy in this game, like relics and consumable items. But since this is a roguelite game, you don’t get to readily use the stuff you buy on the surface, rather they become available to be used if you happen to encounter it in your run. And you lose everything, except some of your money, when you die. You do get to buy some permanent upgrades, like armor sets, etc., but they are much more expensive, so you really have to grind your way into getting lots of money.
When you die and decide to go back to the surface, there is an NPC that would allow you to buy your way into skipping to the areas that you have already unlocked. By the way, like in the original game, you collect gems that you can use to buy stuff, and there are lots of stuff to buy in this game, like relics and consumable items. But since this is a roguelite game, you don’t get to readily use the stuff you buy on the surface, rather they become available to be used if you happen to encounter it in your run. And you lose everything, except some of your money, when you die. You do get to buy some permanent upgrades, like armor sets, etc., but they are much more expensive, so you really have to grind your way into getting lots of money.
You will eventually reach the bottom of sub-areas, where you will have the chance to get more gems as a reward. If you happen to collect 3 golden gears placed at different places within the sub-area, you will get the option to either fully heal yourself or get a new relic that further enhances your build for your current run. You will be presented with two paths and you can choose where to go next. Some paths will require a key to be accessed. You can buy a golden key on the surface to open one of these such paths, if they eventually appear during your run, but you have to be very careful, since the key gets dropped if you get hit and you may not be able to re-acquire it if that happens. Regardless of the path that you choose, you will repeat the process of going down further to dig and fight and uncover secrets some more, until you reach the boss of the area.
Like in the previous games, boss battles are fun and challenging, especially when you happen to meet that boss for the first time. The attack patterns are well-telegraphed, and you will be able to memorize them immediately, but still, you have to be skilled enough to deal damage yourself and even better still if you are equipped with relics that will give you advantage. Like previously mentioned, defeating a boss allows you to progress further into the game. This game is a short one with only 4 areas to dig into, but this is the type of game that is endlessly replayable due to its roguelite nature.
Overall, Shovel Knight Dig may be another rehash of the old Shovel formula that have worked in the past and that us fans all love dearly, but developer Nitrome gave the game some new bells and whistles for it to stand on its own and even go toe to toe with its predecessors. This is a new adventure and a new way to play a Shovel Knight game, and for me, it is a very much welcome addition to the game series. I highly recommend it to my fellow Shovel Knight fans and I think that this is a must-play for them. If you’re not, this could be a good introduction to the game series I can almost guarantee that you will enjoy it as well.
REPLAY VALUE: Very High
PROS
- Amazing visuals and sounds, which are retained for the most part from the previous games in the series
- Excellent level design
- Shovel Knight surprisingly fits well in this roguelite genre
- Fun and challenging boss fights
- Lots of collectibles
- Lots of relics to discover and equip
- Good variety of enemies
- Grinding is not much of a chore since the game has procedurally generated levels on each run
CONS
- While grinding is fun in this game, this could still lead to much frustration and high repetitiveness as time goes on
- Items bought from NPCs (except for the area tickets that let you skip to a particular area) are mostly a waste of money as they do provide permanent boon
RATING: 4.5/5 gems, relics and roguelite heroics
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