It seems to me that calling them controls in the first place is selling them short. Nothing about its controls feels slippery, broken or unresponsive. This is something a game like this lives and dies on, and when things go haywire for a platformer, they go brutally so. It feels like everyone, even the bosses, are friends with each other and no, this does not harm it whatsoever.Ī couple of hours into the game, when you’re proficient with its workings and what you can expect, you may begin to notice how good it all feels in your hands. It takes the whole shovel thing seriously, but as a whole the game is not serious at all. Important dialogue is emphasized with wobbly letters and every level opens with something like -FOR SHOVELRY- or -STEEL THY SHOVEL. Rats with blank stares hanging from propellers count as enemies, and there’s a pretty delightful dance starring an apple-whale pictured below. Interaction with NPCs, boss dialogue, and enemy design is always coated in whimsy. There’s a real charm running through the game. It feels like a freshly polished pair of mechanics-shoes for Shovel Knight to slip into. Though it is somewhat disappointing in a vacuum how few original ideas made it into the game, it never feels like a pile of tired mechanics. The thing about it, though, is it never feels like this. You can use magic items selected with The Legend of Zelda’s inventory system, and visit a Zelda II town in-between levels to resupply and upgrade. 3 and fight an assortment of Mega Man-style bosses, whose names all end in “Knight”, using the Duck Tales bounce-on-your-enemy’s-head combat. You traverse the overworld map from Super Mario Bros. It plays essentially like a who’s-who of elements from classic NES games. There’s an especially poignant side arc involving a repeated mini-boss’s struggle to stay free from any allegiance, including the Enchantress’s Order Of No Quarter, which served to be one of the central emotion-drawers in the narrative and struck me as a detail that wouldn’t have made it into a lesser game. The game’s narrative power may seem small, but its resolution is shockingly heartwarming and stands out as one of the most satisfying endings of any game I’ve played. Naturally, standing in your way are nine bosses that make up the Enchantress’ “Order Of No Quarter”, and a plethora of mini-bosses. It revolves around the titular hero and his quest to rescue his adventuring lady companion, Shield Knight, from the evil Enchantress. The story is simple, but like most things in Shovel Knight, subtly and masterfully effective. Shovel Knight isn’t going to be remembered for being the first of its kind in any detail whatsoever, but in 10 years, people will be playing Shovel Knight just because of how damned good it is.
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