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Shovel Knight Review Thread

H

Hero

Member
Yeah I don't understand any complaints against how Shovel Knight controls at all. Sounds like some technical error on the user end.
 
C

Crom

Junior Member
Nice reviews. Gotta to support these guys for making a cool looking game. Will buy it on my Wii U tonight.
 
S

Shadowhaxor

Member
Schobeleth said:
FYI we gave it a 6.5/10, mostly because the controls aren't as tight as they should be.

Thank you :)
Click to expand...

Could you elaborate on the controls? Not only did I play it but I also passed the controller around to 4 other people and then asked them what they thought about the game and while the responses differed, everyone was pointing out how well the game controlled.
 
H

Hero

Member
Just beat a normal playthrough. Can't say I ever died due to Shovel Knight not controlling well enough.

I'll probably write a review of my own in a bit. But I pretty much think this game is fantastic and eagerly anticipate the rest of the Kickstarter content.
 
J

jon bones

hot hot hanuman-on-man action
you may not like the game for any number of reasons, but if you think this controls poorly that's probably user error
 
H

Hellshingu

Member
So glad this finally was released. I've been wanting to get my hands on this game for a long time. Good to see it is being received rather well.
 
S

Schobeleth

Member
Shadowhaxor said:
Could you elaborate on the controls? Not only did I play it but I also passed the controller around to 4 other people and then asked them what they thought about the game and while the responses differed, everyone was pointing out how well the game controlled.
Click to expand...

I'm still trying to get him online (it wasn't me that reviewed it) so I can get him to try out the v-sync thing. I might even get him to do an impromptu voice chat that we'll upload or something at this point.
 
F

ForteanMan

Member
All of these positive reviews have finally convinced me to bite on this game. It's been on the periphery of my radar for months now, but I think I have to give in to temptation and get it. I believe I'll get it first on 3DS. Maybe later I'll get it on Wii U or PC.
 
T

Toxi

Banned
Schobeleth said:
Could you add our review too?

http://nichegamer.net/reviews/shovel-knight-review-steel-thy-shovel/

FYI we gave it a 6.5/10, mostly because the controls aren't as tight as they should be.

Thank you :)
Click to expand...
I have no problem with your general impressions even if I don't share them, but these parts don't understand the game mechanics well.
Beyond digging up treasure and breaking blocks, the Shovel Blade’s main use is attacking. You could tap the attack button to swing it, but that would be absolutely foolish in most cases.

In fact, I found that beyond the very first level of the game, I almost never, ever used the basic swing attack ever again. It is barely effective and has absolutely no range. Think of Simon Belmont’s un-upgraded whip in the first Castlevania; now imagine having to go through the entire game with a whip half that size, that’s how useful your basic attack is in Shovel Knight.

Instead, you are going to want to find a way, in every combat encounter, to use your down-strike, repeatedly until the targeted enemy is dead. You will quickly get the hang of this as every boss encounter essentially boils down to this exact tactic once you find an opening.
Click to expand...
Many parts of the game are designed around the basic swing and are much easier when using it. For example, the exploding rats in Plague Knight's stage are almost guaranteed to damage you if you do the shovel drop on them. One easy way to safely take them out is to jump and use the basic swing, which always knocks them far away before they explode. The skeletons in Specter Knight's stage are also easier to take out with the basic swing, since they immediately back away when you jump and the drop will rarely be able to hit them. And then there's the fact that when you attack a boss, they don't do contact damage while flashing, so you can use the swing to get some easy damage on bosses like Specter Knight or the Baz that float around a lot without getting hit in return.

And that's just for attacking directly. The basic swing can also knock around objects into foes and reflect projectiles, and it's much quicker than the drop for beating the Hall of Champions.

I actually ran into a few cases where the platform before a checkpoint forced me to smash away my safety-net because of the way I was falling. Of course, I find these mechanics would work better if the game did not have quite so many balancing issues.
Click to expand...
And this is another reason why you need to use the basic swing; it's how you go back to falling normally if you're shovel dropping.
 
J

john tv

Member
KooopaKid said:
The game got an 8 out of 10 from Gamekult, a Edge-like French website :

http://www.gamekult.com/jeux/test-shovel-knight-SU3050124119t.html#pc

Rough translation :

+

Tons of ideas
Perfect character responsiveness
Awesome soundtrack
Original bosses and universe
Very cool level design
Lots of humor
Beautiful visual style
Never boring

-

One broken relic
Free chalice filling

Why am I more exited for a pseudo 8bit game than most 2014 releases?
Click to expand...
What's the broken relic, and why?
 
N

Neiteio

Member
Downloaded this on the WiiU and played for an hour. I have a full schedule tonight so I won't be able to play more until the weekend, but man, what a game.

I usually don't pay attention to retro-styled indies because there are just so many of them that they tend to blur together after a while. Luckily I watched GameXplain's preview. The jumping is SO TIGHT. Lots of neat environmental gimmicks like knocking enemies off platforms that sink under your weight (or knocking them onto platforms), or thwacking plants that then float in the air so you can pogo off them to even greater heights. That's just from one of the early levels after the tutorial. And you can fish for treasure in every bottomless pit, or reveal hidden passages by striking imperfections in the wall, or even destroy the checkpoints for gold (at the expense of a respawn point). Unlimited lives, too, but there's real incentive to survive since you have to reclaim your treasure, Souls-style, from the spot where you fell. Only one shot to get it back!

Game has a ton of personality and looks gorgeous in 16:9 widescreen on my 42-inch 120hz TV. The Souls-style message system, exclusive to the WiiU, gives you great reason to keep checking the GamePad, too -- you can choose from a wide variety of sprites to represent your posts (all of the bosses, etc), and as you move through each area, the posts of other people appear on your GamePad. It's also good for switching out relics and gear, as well.

So many secrets in this game. I passed up a couple ladders I couldn't figure out how to reach. The first village is awesome, with so many people to talk to, including a talking frog-man who makes like a billion awful puns. It's wonderful!

Can't wait to get back to it. Neiteio's Verdict (SO FAR): Two out of two tits.
 
S

Shadowhaxor

Member
Update. So my team and I managed to snag an interview this week with Yacht Club Games. If anyone has any questions that they want to have asked, PM me and I'll see if we can fit them into the interview.

Thanks!
 
N

Neiteio

Member
Shadowhaxor said:
Update. So my team and I managed to snag an interview this week with Yacht Club Games. If anyone has any questions that they want to have asked, PM me and I'll see if we can fit them into the interview.

Thanks!
Click to expand...
Please tell them that an anonymous member of NeoGAF had a vision of the future where humanity's last hope hinged on the existence of a 16-bit Super Shovel Knight and a 64-bit Shovel Knight 64 with open-world levels in the style of Super Mario 64.
 
Z

ZoddGutts

Member
Shadowhaxor said:
Update. So my team and I managed to snag an interview this week with Yacht Club Games. If anyone has any questions that they want to have asked, PM me and I'll see if we can fit them into the interview.

Thanks!
Click to expand...

Ask them if they're going to branch out to making games of other genres or are they going to stick with Platformers.
 
J

jwhit28

Member
Shadowhaxor said:
Update. So my team and I managed to snag an interview this week with Yacht Club Games. If anyone has any questions that they want to have asked, PM me and I'll see if we can fit them into the interview.

Thanks!
Click to expand...

What caused them to exit Wayforward who recently had their own successful Kickstarter campaign with Shantae?
 
F

foxuzamaki

Doesn't read OPs, especially not his own
Shadowhaxor said:
Update. So my team and I managed to snag an interview this week with Yacht Club Games. If anyone has any questions that they want to have asked, PM me and I'll see if we can fit them into the interview.

Thanks!
Click to expand...
Ask them if we can expect to have their next game on WiiU
 
M

mrhej

Member
Shadowhaxor said:
Update. So my team and I managed to snag an interview this week with Yacht Club Games. If anyone has any questions that they want to have asked, PM me and I'll see if we can fit them into the interview.

Thanks!
Click to expand...

Ask them how much Nintendo helped them with exposure of their game and if it helped them.
 
W

watershed

Banned
I finally caved and bought this game for the 3ds. Its downloading now. I hope I enjoy it as much as the majority of gaf seems to.
 
F

foxuzamaki

Doesn't read OPs, especially not his own
mrhej said:
Ask them how much Nintendo helped them with exposure of their game and if it helped them.
Click to expand...
yea, would love to know the answer to this, nintendo even did a custom eshop thing on the WiiU for them, make sure to PM him.
 
T

Toxi

Banned
Shadowhaxor said:
Update. So my team and I managed to snag an interview this week with Yacht Club Games. If anyone has any questions that they want to have asked, PM me and I'll see if we can fit them into the interview.

Thanks!
Click to expand...
Ask what sort of ideas didn't make the final cut (and they're not planning to add as DLC).

No idea if that's an appropriate question to ask.
 
C

CDX

Member
Gamespot named Shovel Knight

Game of the Month June 2014

http://www.gamespot.com/articles/game-of-the-month-june-2014/1100-6420886/

eH8O1nll.jpg
 
D

Deleted member 125677

Unconfirmed Member
After finishing it, I can now firmly state that i thoroughly disagree with the reviewer that complained about controls. It plays like a dream, super thight and responsive from start to finish.

Played on PC at native res (1080p) with Vsync disabled.
 
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