If you think you know what to expect from Shovel Knight: Specter of Torment, think again.
No, really.
After devouring Plague of Shadows, Shovel Knight's first major content update released
back in September 2015, I thought I knew what to expect: mostly the same overall game but
with remixed level designs, wrapped in a new story and starring a brand-new playable character.
That's what Plague of Shadows was, after all.
Let me be clear: that's not what Specter of Torment is.
Specter of Torment, the second of three planned DLC campaigns starring key boss characters
from the Order of No Quarter, may as well be a totally new game!
Not only does Specter Knight play completely differently from both Shovel Knight and Plague
Knight before him, his stages and boss fights are wildly varied as well — to the point
that every level in the game looks, sounds, and feels totally different from before!
The amount of work that developer Yacht Club Games has done to set Specter of Torment apart
from Plague of Shadows in terms of the amount of original content on display is staggering
and really can't be understated.
Brand-new and rearranged music, redrawn stage backgrounds, new enemies and gimmicks — Specter
of Torment has it all, and that's just the beginning.
Whereas Plague of Shadows played out kind of like an alternate-reality version of the
events that happen in Shovel Knight's story, Specter of Torment is being billed as an official
prequel to the original game.
It's an apt description, too — as Specter Knight, you literally take part in the creation
of the Order of No Quarter that serve as Shovel Knight's foils in the original game while
piecing together Specter Knight's own tragic past.
Aside from a couple of late-game leaps in logic that left me scratching my head as to
the motivations of certain characters, the story is elegantly told and decidedly grim
and macabre in tone — indeed, just like Specter Knight himself!
Yacht Club have once again proven themselves master storytellers here, deftly utilizing
8-bit sounds and visuals to tell a tale that's every bit as touching and poignant as anything
you'd see in a AAA game — all without the need of a single polygon or even a second
of voice acting.
The game's final scene in particular really hits home, acting as a perfect bookend to
Specter of Torment's overall theme and leading directly into the events of the original Shovel
Knight.
This is elegant, subtle world-building at its finest, with characters we thought we
knew getting re-introduced and re-contextualized in exciting new ways — and it always feels
organic, never forced.
And despite Specter of Torment's overall darker tone, the goofy charm and overall whimsy
that have come to be associated with Shovel Knight in general are on full display here
as well.
I mean, there's an item you can get that serves no other function other than to let
you make Specter Knight strike a cool pose whenever you want.
You can't get much more "Shovel Knight" than that!
But enough about the story, characters, and tone — this is a video game after all, and
none of that means a whit if the "game" part doesn't pass muster!
Fortunately, Specter of Torment is an absolute joy to play, feeling more like the Mega Man
X or Zero to Shovel Knight's Mega Man.
Whereas Shovel Knight and Plague Knight always felt like they demanded a more methodical
approach to challenging situations, Specter Knight's style emphasizes mobility and forward
momentum at all times.
This is achieved by anchoring Specter of Torment's incredibly tight level designs around two
abilities that are unique to Specter Knight alone.
First of all, Specter Knight can temporarily run along most vertical surfaces and jump
off most walls, and as you might expect, that alone has enabled Yacht Club to approach Shovel
Knight's level design from a totally new perspective.
Suddenly, walls aren't just obstacles or barriers — they play an active role in stage
traversal and you're forced to start considering them accordingly.
Working in concert with this is Specter Knight's second big ability: a mid-air dash-slash with
his scythe that sees Specter Knight automatically locking on to certain nearby targets and lurching
forward in a diagonal slash.
It's a little hard to explain in words, but it kind of reminds me of a version of
Sonic's Homing Attack that always works like it's supposed to and never leads to
unintentional deaths!
Anchoring an entire game around this ability could have been disastrous in less capable
hands, but Yacht Club unsurprisingly manage to make it and Specter Knight's movement
in general quickly feel second-nature.
As you get a sense for how Specter Knight plays, you begin to see how Specter of Torment's
gameplay emphasizes "flow" more than previous campaigns as you start stringing together
multiple wall runs, wall jumps, and dash slashes - often alternating between them on the fly!
And once these mechanics totally "click" for you, Specter of Torment rewards you with
an utterly sublime gameplay experience.
Specter Knight can also cash in the Red Skulls hidden throughout each stage to acquire Curios,
which are essentially Shovel Knight's Relics with a fancy new name.
While it can be fun to experiment with Curios to see how they can complement Specter Knight's
base abilities, and it's true that several of them are situationally useful, I feel that
their implementation leaves something to be desired.
Compared to Shovel Knight's and especially Plague Knight's wide assortment of upgrades
and special items that you can choose to prioritize buying based on your play style, Curios simply
become available gradually and seemingly at random.
And not only that, but when shopping for Curios, I was almost never able to choose between
more than two of them at any given time — when I had a choice at all, and I usually didn't.
So in this way, upgrading Specter Knight and adding to his repertoire of abilities feels
significantly more linear and perhaps less rewarding than in prior campaigns.
But that's a minor complaint in the grand scheme of things, and Specter of Torment is
otherwise an incredibly well-oiled machine.
And much like fellow Nintendo Switch launch title The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild,
it also wants you to die.
Repeatedly.
Considering Shovel Knight is one of the easier retro-themed platformers out there and Plague
of Shadows is only slightly harder, the fact that Specter of Torment sometimes presents
a stiff challenge is genuinely surprising.
Now to be clear, not one of my deaths was unfair and the difficulty never feels oppressive,
but the increased challenge factor is worth noting for those who might have been lulled
into a false sense of security by the series' relative lack of difficulty thus far.
Now, while I wouldn't say the increased challenge has anything to do with this, I
should mention that as a 2D game, Specter of Torment is best played with a Switch Pro
Controller — and it isn't even close.
I spent plenty of time playing Specter of Torment in various Switch configurations:
TV mode with the Switch Pro Controller AND the JoyCon Grip, handheld mode, tabletop mode
holding both JoyCon vertically, and tabletop mode holding one JoyCon sideways.
Specter of Torment can be played well enough in the latter four configurations, but the
tiny analog nub and separated face buttons on the JoyCon just can't cut it compared
to a good ol' D-pad, which makes a truly massive difference when playing Specter of
Torment.
Honestly, it's like night and day.
I do want to stress, however, that Specter of Torment looks fantastic on the Switch's
screen in handheld mode, and that it's clear Yacht Club did the best they could with what
they had — it's not their fault the Switch doesn't come equipped with a traditional
D-pad, after all, and I foresee this continuing to be an issue with 2D games on the Switch
until Nintendo releases a JoyCon variant that's equipped with a D-pad.
Let's talk a bit about Specter of Torment's soundtrack.
And I really do mean "a bit," because there honestly isn't much to say — it's
stupendous and even though it's only March, it's an early contender for soundtrack of
the year.
Returning composer Jake Kaufman has really outdone himself here, blessing us with sumptuous
rearrangements of every Order of No Quarter stage theme alongside all-new tunes, the vast
majority of which hit the mark without fail.
At this point, Kaufman has established without a doubt that there's simply no one better
when it comes to composing catchy, punchy chiptune soundtracks in that signature Mega
Man and Castlevania style of powerful melody lines and crunchy bass.
Specter of Torment's soundtrack really is that excellent.
And, of course, Specter of Torment excels in the visual department as well, with the
game's large, chunky sprites really popping against the lush pixel-art backgrounds.
Meanwhile, Shovel Knight's world was already well populated with creative, charmingly whimsical
characters, and the new faces you'll see in Specter of Torment only add to that pedigree.
And if you keep your eyes open, you'll start to notice all the loving little details Yacht
Club has included for particularly eagle-eyed players.
Whether it's an especially well-animated background element or the care taken in the
way certain NPCs move, Specter of Torment is just slathered in Yacht Club's usual
coat of polish.
And ultimately, that's just true of Shovel Knight: Specter of Torment in general — it's
yet another well polished gem in Yacht Club's growing library of hits and an absolute pleasure
to experience.
I love it.
If you have even a passing interest in 2D platformers or the kind of neo-retro gaming
vibe that Shovel Knight embodies, you absolutely must play Specter of Torment — not to mention
the original campaign and Plague of Shadows.
Thank you so much for watching!
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