Shovel Knight Dig Review In Progress
The following article is a review in progress based on my first 9 hours with Shovel Knight Dig. I will be posting additional impressions about the late game content in the coming weeks as I complete the game and experience more of what it has to offer. A huge thank you to Yacht Club Games for providing LukeWarmGames with an early Steam Code of the game for review coverage. The game launches on September 23rd for Nintendo Switch, Steam and Apple Arcade. Now onto my review of Shovel Knight Dig.
The roguelite genre featuring procedurally generated levels has become an all too crowded market in recent years. Mega hits like Rogue Legacy, Dead Cells or Hades have established such a strong bar for what this genre is capable of. With the release of Shovel Knight Dig, developers Yacht Club Games and Nitrome set out to take the fantastic gameplay from their action platformer series featuring the same iconic Shovel yielding adventurer into a new genre. It is safe to say that Shovel Knight Dig stands out from the pack of roguelites thanks to its incredibly varied level design and tight platforming controls. Let’s dig (pun intended) into what makes this game so special.
Shovel Knight Dig takes the polished action platforming gameplay of its predecessor and evolves it within the roguelite genre. The controls in the game are extremely tight and feel very responsive as you move through Mushroom Mines, Secret Fountains, Smeltworks and more distinct worlds. The gameplay loop is further elevated by the upgrade and accessory system. During runs and at your Camp, you will have opportunities to purchase or find special items. These items permanently level your health/magic level or offer you temporary abilities like shooting fireballs or turning into a bubble that acts as a protective shield, allowing you to evade enemy attacks or dodge hazardous obstacles within a level.
Timing is also a key aspect of the gameplay that adds significant challenges. The game creates a sense of urgency by forcing you to move quickly through environments. This urgency demands precision platforming and quick decision making. Do you risk your last bit of health for the final gold cog or do you play it safe in order to finish the stage, but go into the boss encounter with next to no health? The game can be punishing at times, but the challenge does make the victories feel that much more satisfying when you make a risky platforming maneuver to finally complete a tricky area.
While discussing the difficulty of the game, I wanted to take a moment to highlight the accessibility options that are available in the game. Via the Accessibility Menu within Settings, players can turn off screenshake, give their character extra health, alter how often health/gem items appear in game, increase attack damage and adjust game speed. I appreciate Yacht Club Games and Nitrome taking the time to include these features in their game to allow more people to enjoy the game on their own terms.
The level design of Shovel Knight Dig is filled to the brim with variety. From level verticality, weapon/relic drops, enemy types and NPC encounters, every run feels fresh and engaging. Even the level layout of boss fights change each run. In my 9 hours with the game, I have found something new in each run and continue to be rewarded for my curiosity. My desire to explore areas and discover secrets is further reinforced by the wholesome, colorful and always entertaining cast of NPCs.
The narrative of Shovel Knight Dig is relatively straightforward. Shovel Knight needs to track down Drill Knight and his rogues gallery to find out why they are drilling underground, retrieve his bag and put a stop to their plans. The story thus far is fun and it doesn’t overstay its welcome or intrude on the gameplay loop.
The standout writing within Shovel Knight Dig is the amazing NPCs that you meet along your journey. Whether it's Tom Bola, the mole who speaks in rhyme and runs a slot machine game that grants you special items or Fan Boy, the helpless fan who wandered into the wrong place, you are always meeting a new character of interest. My personal favorite encounter was after I picked up a perk that made Shovel Knight more “attractive” and allowed me to get a temporary discount when purchasing items from HOOFMAN, the kind horse shopkeeper. It's strange and funny moments like this that create memorable stories to regale my friends with when we are discussing our adventures and comparing our scores and run times through the in-game leaderboards.
The heart of Shovel Knight Dig is the fantastic score composed by Jake Kaufman. The music of the game perfectly encapsulates the retro nostalgia of the 8 and 16-bit eras that inspired the original Shovel Knight while complimenting the intense and momentous nature of the action platforming. As I dug, fell, dodged and slid my way through the Secret Fountain, the game’s water area, I couldn’t help but dance to the beat of the extremely catchy tunes in my office chair as I desperately tried to focus on the platforming challenge at hand. The music during boss encounters is especially epic as you do your best to stay calm during the climatic electronic moment unfolding before your very ears.
With a game as beautifully crafted as Shovel Knight Dig, it is impossible not to fall in love with its visual style. It reminds me of my favorite arcade games as a kid but with a new level of crisp resolution and modern sensibilities that really pop on a 4K display. Each character has a wild amount of detail within the pixel art and the animations harken back to retro games while still feeling fast and responsive.
With stunning pixel art, an incredible score, addictive roguelite gameplay, varied level design and some of the most polished platforming controls ever, Shovel Knight Dig is an experience that I cannot recommend enough. Yacht Club Games and Nitrome have built on the already solid fountain from Shovel Knight to create something truly special. Now if you excuse me I have some evil doers to vanquish and some more digging to do….
