The second time I started Shovel Knight Dig, it felt like coming home. As someone who hasn’t played most of Shovel Knight’s post-launch DLC, the last time I touched on the series was almost a decade ago. Gaining control of the main character immediately felt familiar, and my old Shovel Knight routine is back to welcome this new take on the series, led by developer Nitrome this time. The moment-to-moment experience plays out brilliantly, in part because it’s more like Shovel Knight with some well-designed gameplay knobs. However, the game’s adventure into roguelite territory feels so unnecessary and lighthearted that it doesn’t convince me it needs to be part of this ever-expanding genre. However, Shovel Knight Dig is more similar to Shovel Knight, meaning that enthusiasts of classic and platform games will find great enjoyment throughout.
Instead of scrolling right through a pretty screen, Dig task players with digging deeper, deeper, and deeper into procedurally generated levels. This represents new sensations in the emotional spectrum that I felt while playing the game Shovel Knight: urgency and tension. Unlike many of the tops out there, you can’t take the time to observe where you have to go and the best way to get there. You have to keep digging down and while backing up a few spaces is possible, it is not easy. You have no intention of backing down because your goal is far behind you. If you missed some gems or one of the three gears of the level, unlocking the special bonus bonus, you may have missed your chance.
On top of that, if you stay too long in any one place, the villain Drill Knight will use a giant one-hit-kill digger to bury you deeper into Smeltworks, Secret Fountain, Grub Pit or another in other games of the game. stages. I love that this added tension to Dig’s background, which largely feels similar to the original Shovel Knight game.
After completing three stages in a given lair, you have to face a boss. I love these boss fights, but they’re disappointing in the Dig setting. They feel like Shovel Knight bosses, fast-paced and fun, but they don’t take advantage of the new Dig-specific mechanics. You jump around an arena trying to damage a boss while dodging their attacks. Only the final boss implements the game’s unique digging mechanics, and I wish this kind of design was present in many of the other opponents I faced against this one.
I spend hours poring over stage after stage, rarely feeling like I’m playing a roguelite. It was only when I died and returned to the surface, where the camp of the NPCs you met and the shopkeepers reside, was I prompted to engage in the game’s roguelite mechanics. You lose your stage progress and some of your gems on death, but these losses are so small that I never felt compelled to find a way to get my lost money back on my next run.
I also never felt the need to equip new armor sets, which can only be purchased after finding prototypes of them in secret areas scattered throughout different stages. In fact, the only permanent upgrade I can make is my bag, which allows me to hold more than one item, such as a door key or a chest key, at a time. Part of the fun of roguelite is tracking your progress and growing stronger with each run, but in Dig, every run feels like a whole new beginning. I don’t hate this, but it’s not my cup of tea.
However, because most of my eight hours with Dig were spent spinning through the lead downs, I rarely had to think about the game’s roguelite endeavors. I spent most of my time playing through the beautiful levels to the fun synth tunes, enamored with how much Nitrome and Yacht Club were able to expand the “dig deep” aspect of this game. . Perhaps Dig’s roguelite nature will play a bigger role in my post-game excavation as I’m gearing up to return to uncover all of its secrets. Even if it doesn’t, though, I know I still have at least a few hours left to play the great Shovel Knight game ahead, and in the platform world, it’s a treasure worth digging.
