Shovel Knight Pocket Dungeon

 Image Source: Steam

I have loved Shovel Knight since I first met him, back when there were no additional campaigns, no Amiibo, and the game was one of my favorites on my 3DS. Since then, I got the game on my switch with the "Shovel Knight Treasure Trove" edition and loved every second of it. The platforming, music, characters, world, gameplay and everything for me was near perfect and is set of games I love playing from time to time. When this game was announced, I was excited, I love puzzle games and this series, so I bought it day one. So, to kick off puzzle game month this month, let's look at this game and see if it was worth all that initial hype.

This game really took me by surprise, after the game dropped me in and played the initial cutscene, I was taught how to play, and I was not expecting a puzzle game mixed with a rouge like, with tons of gameplay options to mix and match to fit your style. The screen floods with enimies, as well as health potions, items in chests and other goodies, you run into everything from enimies to attack or items to collect. But you have health and the enimies do too, and they are not afraid to fight back in different ways, but being knocked down is not the end, you can respawn, grab your gold and regroup. But it causes time to speed up and if the screen fills up, it is back to camp or restarting the whole run over again.  You can either go in order always starting in the plains or go in a random order, collect money to buy items during the run or upgrades before it, and if you make it far enough you will be faced with a boss, familiar and new faces alike. Defeat said boss and you will recruit them, making them playable with their own move set, and with how many there are you are bound to find a favorite. 

The gameplay is fantastic and super fun to dive into, there are also a couple additional modes, namely multiplayer but I just focused on story mode and still feel like I have gotten enough content for the twenty-dollar price tag.  Each of the unlockable characters are fun to learn and the game much like a great rouge like sometimes gives you a great long run, and other times a short one but still a great sense of progression. The gameplay is super fun, very easy to learn but very hard to master, the game controls great and leads to fun and frantic gameplay. This game is great in short bursts and for long sessions, it is also a great puzzle game. Fun and frantic gameplay that has accessibility features, fun options to change the game, and a great feeling of progression to balance when the game gets crazy.

The boss fights add a new layer of fun and challenge to the gameplay, with a fantastic reward attached. Each one has their own styles but don't feel unfair. This game translates some of the ideas such as respawning but losing money, and the boss fights from "Shovel Knight" while adding enough new to make it worth playing and not just the gameplay shifting genre either. The game feels like a Shovel Knight game while being something completely new and being incredibly fun. 

The graphics are fantastic across the board, and much like the games that proceeded it in this series, the dialogue is fun and light. The old characters are still just as delightful, and the new characters fit in right alongside them. When the game is in action the character portraits, boards, and worlds all look amazing. And this game is accompanied by amazing remixes, the music is nothing short of fantastic. Across the board the presentation is amazing.

If you want a different kind of puzzle game with great gameplay, plenty of content and variety and a ton of charm, this is a must. With "Shovel Knight Treasure Trove" and "Shovel Knight Dig" on the way, this series is still doing fantastic. Even with a new gameplay style the great gameplay, tons of variety and amazing presentation makes this game a must. This is a must for puzzle game fans and is great for a little while or a whole afternoon, even when a run ends the gameplay is so solid and balanced that it does not come across as discouraging, but rather has you tried a new upgrade, or playstyle and try again. This game is fantastic, definitely worth DIGGING into, and one I will be playing for quite a while.