Scythe in hand, Specter Knight arrives on Nintendo Switch ready to become the new favorite hero of fans of 2D action and platform adventures. You have it easy! Haunted by his past, this skeletal knight is so fierce in the fight, and so agile avoiding obstacles, that it takes little to fall for the genius of the video game in which he stars. In this Shovel Knight: Specter of Torment review we tell you why you can’t let it escape.
Essential question before starting. Have you played Shovel Knight ? If the answer is no, what are you waiting for! It’s one of the best 2D action and platformer adventures in recent years; a wonderful tribute to the great classics of yesteryear that respects like few others their great legacy, without losing the opportunity to write their own history, to walk the path to glory following their own steps. So you have no excuse. Go get him! And if you already knew him, if you already enjoyed the epic odyssey in which the knight of the shovel embarked … then, do not hesitate for a second!, Also go for Shovel Knight: Specter of Torment, its second content expansion, which is more than just an addition, a simple excuse to return to this dark , retro-style fantasy world .
Everything good about Shovel Knight, everything that made the Yatch Club Games video game great , is still here, intact, but at the same time slightly changed. It may sound contradictory, I know, but even though it is very similar, the sensations it transmits are very different. The reason? Specter Knight , one of the villains of the original and here a great protagonist, who proves to be a more agile character than his predecessors, I would almost say acrobatic, giving the action an extra frenzy that feels frankly phenomenal. He can climb walls, and thus jump to high areas, or use his fearsome scytheto charge fiercely against the enemy … just as he uses his weapon to propel himself across the stage at high speed using a series of strategically placed lamps, or the monsters that live there! It seems little and yet it changes everything for the better.
Shovel Knight Specter of Torment: Trailer
Fast and deadlyIf you have the Shovel Knight amiibo, a fairy in the shape of the shovel knight will accompany you during the adventure, collecting diamonds and fighting enemies.
The authors of Specter of Torment have managed to rebuild the adventure so that, even taking you to the places you have already visited in the past, and facing the same enemies and renegade knights, at no time do you feel that you are repeating the same adventure. The level design is, at this point, masterful. Changes here and there, small tweaks, details that seek to take advantage of the new abilities of the spectral knight. It didn’t take much more to build, once again, one of the best platforming action adventures of recent years. So clear, I’m not exaggerating !, because from start to finish you will run, jump and fight incessantly with a big smile drawn on your faces. It’s the magic of Shovel Knight, that special charm that defines a saga that by its own merits, already rubs shoulders with the greatest of the genre.
The level design is masterful and takes advantage of Specter Knight’s new abilitiesI have been fascinated by the way in which, step by step, the video game teaches you new ways of dealing with its action. I already tell you, they are subtle changes, very small variations of what has already been seen in the original, but they are enough, you do not need more! to be incredibly good when it comes to platform challenges , and truly exciting in fighting certain enemies. If the knight with the shovel could fall on his prey to, thus, propel himself upwards and avoid deadly traps, Specter Knight uses his onslaughtto ascend or descend in a hurry, avoiding obstacles with astonishing agility. Finding the right moment, the key point at which to use the skill, is essential to avoid death in a video game where, precisely, falling victim to enemies is quite easy. Very old school style !
The Yacht Club Games team is here faithful to the Nintendo philosophy in the sense of preparing you little by little, almost without realizing it, for the great challenges that await at the end of each level. You will experience the abilities of Specter Knight, will taste new ways of fighting, overcome obstacles, overcoming trials with a difficulty crescendo … until it’s time to confront the dangerous jefazo waiting for the end of each stage. They are the same as the original, but they have prepared new tricks and tactics! with which to surprise you. Everything makes sense at the plot level .
Specter of Torment is a prequel to Shovel Knight; Here our mission is to gather the eight knights who will serve under the evil Sorceress and, for this, we must visit their domains and face them fair and square. It sounds typical, a mere excuse to live adventures in the same settings as always, but really, there is an evolution in the narrative, in the way of telling the story. There is excitement, well-written dialogue in old Spanish , surprises, high-profile villains, and a good pace of action. The latter is what I liked the most. The way in which the main missions are linked, which we freely access through a magical portal and not from the map of the world, with the misadventures of Specter Knight himself before becoming the sinister knight we met in the original video game.
Knowing the past of Specter Knight is one of the strengths of this expansion. It also has fantastic details! What does a skeleton eat?
There is passion, epic, great moments to remember … and all this makes us repeat ourselves “one more level and I’m done” over and over again. But you never finish! You always have a little more time to enjoy the wonderful platform action of a video game that, in addition to its main campaign , which you will complete in about five hours, introduces other equally attractive optional challenges. On the one hand the New Game + mode , which allows you to relive the adventure with a greater degree of difficulty, but also with all the improvements and equipment that we would have previously unlocked, and on the other, the Challenges Mode, which is as addictive as it is incredibly difficult: these are special levels that pose very specific challenges, with one in particular that has made me enjoy enormously, because in a way, it is a great tribute to the stages on rails of the classic Donkey Kong Country. In addition, it is also proposed to us to destroy the bosses in very unfavorable circumstances. Can you handle everything?
Three in oneThere are two ways to get Specter of Torment, buy the expansion as a standalone game for 9.99 euros, or bet on the precious Shovel Knight: Treasure Trove, which includes the original game, plus the DLC Plague of Shadows and Specter of Torment. The price of this pack is 24.99 euros. Nintendo 3DS, PC and other platform users who purchased the first Shovel Knight will receive this expansion at no additional cost.
To deal with such threats, Specter Knight has at his disposal the so-called Birrias, special objects that among other things allow you to restore your health points, hit enemies by throwing the scythe, summon a sniper skeleton to shoot from a distance, or even ascend to the skies for a few seconds to avoid death in the last sigh. Its use is, at times, essential to survive the many threats that await in this adventure, but to unlock all these improvements before we must thoroughly explore each level in search of the red skulls that give access to them. It is not the only thing. With money we can acquire new capes that give unique abilities to the knight, as well as better versions of the Birrias that we already have under our belt. A great excuse to encourage exploration.
Nor was much more needed in view of how good the video game looks. Yes, it is true, little or nothing changes with respect to Shovel Knight, but artistically this is a work with special charm. I love the design of enemies, of the great villains you face, and I especially like animations, how everything moves with an amazing naturalness. There is a specific scene, a ballroom dance, which I thought was great for the care and detail with which the movements have been taken care of. The color, the use of certain visual filters, even the soundtrack !, with new versions of the already known songs; everything in Specter of Torment is at a very high level and is appreciated.
“Magnificent”
Shovel Knight: Specter of Torment
9.2
Readers
(2)
There is a lot of love in each pixel of Shovel Knight, immense respect for great classics like Mega Man, DuckTales or Ninja Gaiden, and this passion for action adventures and 2D platforms is perfectly reflected in Specter of Torment, an additional episode that lives up to the original video game. It’s true to everything that made its predecessor great, but somehow it makes it feel something different, new, thanks to Specter Knight’s spatial abilities. Do not hesitate, either separately, or in the Shovel Knight: Treasure Trove pack, you must get this video game.
- Masterful level design and Specter Knight skills
- Perfect control system. It is a joy to enjoy the game
- The story, graphics, music and additional challenges
- Story mode can be made a little short.
- By reusing scenarios, more artistic novelties are missing.
