Shovel Knight: Plague of Shadows

 3DS
User Score
7.7

Generally favorable reviews- based on 23 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 18 out of 23
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 23
  3. Negative: 4 out of 23

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  1. Grant_Mackin
    Sep 18, 2015
    10
    While Shovel Knight himself works better on consoles like the Wii U and PS4, I feel like Plague Knight flows WAY better on the handheld 3DS. From the side-scrolling/side-jumping, to the mechanic where you can pick on the bottom screen to change potions or add health or even pause the game to adjust your flasks and beakers, to just the way the game feels when you rain down a multitude ofWhile Shovel Knight himself works better on consoles like the Wii U and PS4, I feel like Plague Knight flows WAY better on the handheld 3DS. From the side-scrolling/side-jumping, to the mechanic where you can pick on the bottom screen to change potions or add health or even pause the game to adjust your flasks and beakers, to just the way the game feels when you rain down a multitude of potions from above, Plague Knight is a must-have update for Shovel Knight. And best part of all?

    IT'S FREE TO DOWNLOAD!!    … Expand
  2. SunnyPoe
    Sep 22, 2015
    10
    Upfront, Plague of Shadows seems to be a simple expansion by reusing older game assets from Shovel Knight. The real experience is anything but this.

    Plague Knight's mechanics certainly lend themselves to easier combat, and this can become apparent in certain boss fights. Fights that were much more taxing as Shovel Knight can become a breeze as Plague Knight. However, Plague Knight's    Upfront, Plague of Shadows seems to be a simple expansion by reusing older game assets from Shovel Knight. The real experience is anything but this.

    Plague Knight's mechanics certainly lend themselves to easier combat, and this can become apparent in certain boss fights. Fights that were much more taxing as Shovel Knight can become a breeze as Plague Knight.

    However, Plague Knight's mechanics make platforming an entirely different beast from the original. Yacht Club managed to make the two characters play entirely (and I really do mean entirely) differently. While I found myself investing similar amount of effort between bosses and platforming in the original, in the expansion I found the platforming to be incredibly tricky at parts as Plague Knight.

    Also while combat can be easier, it's much more intricate and gives you a feeling of control over how you want to play. It makes for a much more personal experience and you can change the way you play for the same level. By customizing flasks, fuses, relics, bursts, you can tailor the character to how you want to play to a much higher degree than is possible with Shovel Knight.

    The game is made even more personal with what feels like a more fleshed out story. While it isn't anything amazingly compelling, the game does have more narrative to it than the original.

    Overall, this DLC is definitely worth the time of anyone who enjoyed the first Shovel Knight. While the game does re-use assets such as the levels, most bosses, and some songs, none of these feel like much of a let-down. By giving an entirely new way to experience the game with a fully unique character, the game feels very new and different. Also, it should not be ignored that the expansion is free.

    Yacht Club Games delivered an amazing product, one that any other publisher could easily have charged at least $5-$10 for, and released it for free.    … Expand
  3. GuywiththeGames
    Oct 11, 2015
    8
    This was free. THIS WAS FREE DLC. Plague of Shadows gives you a fresh new experience with its new playable character, plague knight. His play style is fairly different then shovel knights, but in a good way. You now have a triple jump, potions, and bombs. Every level has been slightly redesigned in order to cater towards plague knights abilities. Much has been changed in the game, but notThis was free. THIS WAS FREE DLC. Plague of Shadows gives you a fresh new experience with its new playable character, plague knight. His play style is fairly different then shovel knights, but in a good way. You now have a triple jump, potions, and bombs. Every level has been slightly redesigned in order to cater towards plague knights abilities. Much has been changed in the game, but not always for the best. The new music isn't the best, some of its good, but a great amount of it is a remix of plague knights theme. Also, plague knight at times, is slightly difficult to control, due to the triple jump. And finally, the armor sets you get all feel useless. The armor does not help plague knight to a great extent, due to most of them just making plague knight even MORE difficult to control plague knight, unintentionally. Even the special armor you get for collecting all 420 cipher coins is not even that helpful. But in the end, its still a fun experience, and this gives me another reason to replay one of my favorite games.… Expand
  4. ProbablyNotABot
    Oct 2, 2015
    8
    Plague Knight controls like a thing that's hard to control but is really fun once you've worked out the kinks. There's a huge amount of variability in what you can do with him too, from the bomb components to the relics. It does seem that they made up for the added difficulty to control with really strong relics to act as safety nets, which I thought was a shame, but is probably for thePlague Knight controls like a thing that's hard to control but is really fun once you've worked out the kinks. There's a huge amount of variability in what you can do with him too, from the bomb components to the relics. It does seem that they made up for the added difficulty to control with really strong relics to act as safety nets, which I thought was a shame, but is probably for the best.

    It's a bit lousy that the levels are largely the same as Shovel Knight's, especially in moments when they don't mesh too well with Plague Knight, but I honestly can't bring myself to complain much about the lack of content in a free expansion pack. if you haven't played Shovel Knight since near its initial release then it's fun to look back through those levels, but I would think it would be a bit dull if you've played it recently.

    I had expected to revel in the sadistic joy of a villain, but the story instead made Plague Knight's struggles relatable, and the character sympathetic. I was surprised and pleased.

    It's solid. Shovel Knight was a good buy before, and now it's even better.    … Expand

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  1. Atomix
    Sep 20, 2015
    90
    Plague of Shadows is a terrific new version of the great Shovel Knight. It’s new gameplay and levels, makes it a must have to everyone that enjoy the Yacht Club Games’s master piece. The best part? This DLC is free.
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