Shovel Knight Dig

Inspired by the 8-bit classics we used to see from Capcom and Konami, Shovel Knight proved to be a massive hit when it was released back in 2014. In fact, for a lot of people, Yacht Club’s popular platformer is the very first thing they think of when they hear the words “indie game.” For me, I liked Shovel Knight when it was first released, but haven’t kept up with all of the spin-offs and DLC. Perhaps that’s why I was caught off guard when Shovel Knight Dig showed up out of the blue. This is the newest entry in the eight-year-old franchise, coming out this week on Switch, Steam and Apple Arcade. And while the release may have caught me off guard, I was not surprised to discover that this is yet another great playing action/platformer that oozes style and charm. This is my review of Shovel Knight Dig.

This is a brand-new adventure starring our favorite shovel-wielding hero, who jumps into action after his peaceful camp is burglarized by the dastardly Drill Knight and his evil digging crew. This sends us on a new type of quest that sees the Knight tunneling deep below the earth’s crust in order to fight monsters, battle bosses, survive traps, open treasure chests and, if all goes well, recover all of the stolen loot. And just in case that didn’t sound daunting enough, you’re going to have to do all that without dying, because running out of health will send you right back to the top of the pit, forcing you to start the adventure over from the very first level.

In case it wasn’t plainly obvious from the set-up, this is not your typical Shovel Knight adventure. Sure, a lot of the gameplay elements are the same, but it’s clear that this spin-off has been inspired by everything from SteamWorld Dig to Spelunky to Downwell. The result is a ridiculously addictive adventure with procedurally generated stages, all kinds of power-up items and multiple paths, assuring that no two playthroughs are ever the same. This is Shovel Knight like you’ve never seen him before, complete with new friends and foes, vertically-minded stage designs and a few major surprises that will shake up how you view the Knight and his friends.

The first thing you need to know is that this is not going to be as easy as it sounds. In theory, all you have to do is survive through a handful of stages, defeat a predictable boss and then move on to the next part of the descent. Of course, it’s not going to e that simple. You’ll quickly find that just surviving the first few levels is a major challenge all on its own. Thankfully, as you spend your time trying to understand the ins and outs of this hostile underworld, you’ll also be earning gems, that you can use back on the surface to make your future runs a little easier.

Click For the Full Picture Archive

A lot of this game comes down to taking advantage of the shops, treasure chests and hidden rooms that are sprinkled throughout the various vertical stages. This will allow you to extend your life bar, upgrade your trusty shovel, increase the amount of special items you can hold at once and so much more. There are also items that will give our hero some much-needed perks, such as walking on spikes, jumping a little higher, walking through fire without being burned and a lot more. Survive long enough and the Shovel Knight will become a real contender, no matter how hard the levels get. But remember, if you die, all the progress, perks and items go away.

Now, when I say that you have to start over from the beginning, that’s not entirely true. As you beat the bosses and uncover deeper parts of the underworld, you’ll be able to unlock a quick warp that will allow our hero to skip a tremendous amount of the adventure. That’s good, if you want to see a change of scenery, but it also comes with some serious down sides. The biggest issue is that you missed out on several levels full of perks and items to pick up and buy. You’re starting these much-harder levels at a big disadvantage, so you’ll always feel like you need to catch-up just to stand a chance.

Given to the wrong developer and all this would be too repetitive to be enjoyable. Thankfully, the people behind Shovel Knight Dig do an excellent job shaking things up, not only with the amount of different enemies and obstacles it throws at you, but also the different paths. A good example of this comes after you beat the first boss, the mushroom-capped Spore Knight. It’s here where we’re given the option to either fight through a fire pit of a level, or take your chances in a water-soaked stage. Even when the decision isn’t that vital, you’re often forced to pick between a stage that may have more gems or one with easier obstacles.

I also like the way the story plays out. Every time you make a little progress in the game, something big happens back on the surface. At first this means the introduction of a bunch of new characters moving into your camp sight, but you’ll start to notice that major things are happening in the background, slowly filling in a fun and thoroughly satisfying story. It’s obvious that this type of game is usually more about the action than the storytelling, so I appreciate the amount of work that has gone into introducing new characters, showing us some familiar faces and adding just enough twists and turns along the way to keep you engaged in the adventure.

Click For the Full Picture Archive

That said, Shovel Knight Dig suffers from a lot of the problems and cliches that have plagued this particular genre. While I applaud the game for adding a lot of much-needed variety, there’s no doubt that this game still becomes repetitive after a while. You’ll visit the Mushroom Mines a few too many times in an effort to collect gems and unlock all of the bonus perks. Thankfully, the later stages make up for the initial repetition, what with the nice change in scenery, enemies and coloring.

And speaking of enemies, the boss fights in Shovel Knight Dig are surprisingly awful. We fight small bosses with predictable attacks, all of which can be taken out with just a few hits of your special, secondary weapon. I was able to win a few of these fights simply by saving up my special attack and unleashing six of them in a row. These poorly thought-out battles almost feel like an afterthought, and they are by far the weakest part of the game.

Between the randomly constructed stages and the game essentially hitting the reset button on you after each death, I can understand why some fans of the original Shovel Knight will be turned off by Dig. This type of game is often polarizing, and I’m not sure this specifical throwback platformer is going to change anybody’s minds. That said, Shovel Knight Dig has a great presentation that is overflowing with style and personality. From the colorful cast of characters to the silly power-ups to the beautifully detailed locations, fans of this style of action game will certainly dig what this Shovel Knight installment is offering.