Anybody played the new Shantae? What about Shovel Knight?

[evil_ash_xero]

The new Shantae and the Pirates Curse is pretty damn good. I have problems with it, as always. I am a picky guy.
One, it was made for the 3DS, and it shows. It looks blown up on the screen. A little off, and a little blurry. Yet still pixelated. On the pad, it looks just great.

The game is a bit too easy. Kinda. They give you life potions out the ass, so you can just sorta keep chugging those on your way to victory. But the game itself is not easy. Lots of head scratching puzzles, and tricky platforming. And they punish you for falling to your death, by making you re-do it. So, that's a plus.
Seriously, if they wanted a perfect "hard mode", they would just reduce the potions you could carry, drastically.

I recommend it. It's one of WF's best.

After I played it, I was in the mood for some more retro-action, and got looking into Shovel Knight. I know it's made by 6 ex-WayForward people, and is getting a lot of praise. So, I looked into it, and a complaint was that it was too easy. Luckily, you can put in a code to go to New Game Plus, right off the bat, without any powerups. It's a good challenge. Really feels like the old 8 bit kick in the balls games (in this mode).

Anybody played this game any? I've only beaten the first 3 knights, so I'm not sure what to expect.

I do get a little peeved at reviews though. From what I can tell, Shovel Knight is going to be a satisfying game. But it's not as good as Pirate's Curse. But I feel like since it's so indy, that it gets better scores. It's not fair, really. And not good for people buying the games.

But I digress. Opinions on either game?

And damn...get Pirate's Curse. It seems like no one on here cares. So sad.

[Xan]

But why no physical release...

[KennyMan666]

I'm going to get it as soon as it actually gets released over here on the European eShop.

Stupid region restricted digital releases.

[evil_ash_xero]

But why no physical release...

Yeah, I know.

It's really high quality. It should have at least been put on the 3DS in physical format. It's around a 10-12 hour game, depending on how many of the secret items you get.
They put a lot of effort into it.

[evil_ash_xero]

Bump for the Shovel Knight questions/opinions.

[Ebbo]

Shovel Knight might be my game of the year. It pretty much delivers on every front the developers set out to fulfill and they do it with such ease and grace it puts many other KS games to shame.

I somewhat share the general consensus that the experience might be just a bit on easy side. Although with optional power ups and different cheat codes you can make the game just as hard or easy you'd hope for. The levels are lots of fun to speedrun either way. One thing I really appreciate about SK is that while the game certainly pays tributes to many great classics of yesteryears, it isn't really shoveling any forced retro references down your throat. Just puns.

[Squire Grooktook]

Shovel Knight to me is one of the first Mega Man styled games I've seen in eons that actually evolves the formula.

Having gold, which functions as a psuedo-score counter, plus the ability to break check points, adds genuine tension to each stage that makes them all far more engaging and exciting. Using currency as score works great because you can go for low score runs, high score runs, 100% completion runs where you buy everything, speed runs, etc. Admittedly it's not a perfect scoring system, as there are parts where you can farm gold forever (I think) or where you can quit the game without saving to counteract failures. Still, the end game charts your number of deaths and I find it does help keep your eyes on the prize, which is more than any Mega Man for the past 20 years has done.

The actual combat is pretty fresh and original by action platformer standards. It plays like a more platforming heavy version of Nes Batman, where bosses and enemies lose their hitboxes when you strike them. The bosses are hella agressive, so it turns fights into brawls where the best defense is a good offense, and landing a careful strike can some times save your skin. Once again very risk/reward, much like the check point system.

As for the actual moment to moment platforming, it's no Contra so don't expect that kind of ultra fast paced blasting, but it does offer some devious and tense run and jump stages with creative hazards that can be true nail biters by the end.

So yeah, I like it a lot.

[Cagar]

Shovel Knight gets a full-on 10/10 from me. Get it, even if not on sale.

Shovel Knight might be my game of the year. It pretty much delivers on every front the developers set out to fulfill and they do it with such ease and grace it puts many other KS games to shame.

I somewhat share the general consensus that the experience might be just a bit on easy side. Although with optional power ups and different cheat codes you can make the game just as hard or easy you'd hope for. The levels are lots of fun to speedrun either way. One thing I really appreciate about SK is that while the game certainly pays tributes to many great classics of yesteryears, it isn't really shoveling any forced retro references down your throat. Just puns.

[evil_ash_xero]

One of the things I liked about SK, is the weird stuff in it. Like the horse head people, and the rat/helicopter enemies. Old Nintendo games always had some WTF stuff it in, and I was pleased to see some strange designs in this. Really, Japanese games, in general, have this kind of stuff in it. So, I was happy to see a U.S. developer just be like "fuck it, let's be weird".

Anyway, for those who don't care, here's some pics of SatPC. Come on now, this has got to get your interest a bit? I feel like a shill for WayForward.

[Iron Peach]

Shovel Knight is at the top of my reasons to buy a PS4 finally. Guess I'm easy to please; $400 console for a quality indie game.

[Udderdude]

I really need to play both of these ..

[SuperGrafx]

Looks like the type of game I like to play.
Thanks for posting!

[Cagar]

Shovel Knight is at the top of my reasons to buy a PS4 finally. Guess I'm easy to please; $400 console for a quality indie game.

You typed that on hardware that is capable of running Shovel Knight. (if you're on PC)

[Squire Grooktook]

Wii U and 3ds are both excellent places to play it.

[GSK]

Shovel Knight turned out to be a lot easier than I expected but it's definitely a well-designed game and the team seems to be making sensible changes to accommodate speedrunners, too. I'm kinda surprised it hasn't received more attention on this board, come to think of it.

(Shovel Knight is going on sale on the eShop in about 12 hours, in case you wanna pick it up for 3DS/Wii U.)

Shantae isn't available over here so I don't really have too much to say about it, but it does look to be a step above the other games which were pretty and featured tight controls but didn't really amount to much.

[Squire Grooktook]

I recommend trying the second loop/new game + if you thought Shovel Knight was easy. It doesn't change much (mostly parameter tweaks), but it really yanks a lot of the safety nets right out from under you. On the other hand, I'm used to playing Mega Man X games with no e-tanks/life ups/boss weaknesses, and I approached Shovel Knight with a similar mindset. So if you're the kind of person who goes for efficiency and immediately grinds up to buy every life up, than maybe you'll still find it easy.

[DoomsDave]

Shovel Knight is at the top of my reasons to buy a PS4 finally. Guess I'm easy to please; $400 console for a quality indie game.

Wii U though.

[Herr Schatten]

Is Henk Nieborg still in charge of Shantae's graphics or are they just mimicking his style really well?

[GSK]

Is Henk Nieborg still in charge of Shantae's graphics or are they just mimicking his style really well?

He did some new stuff for this game and they've also recycled most of the work he did for the last game.

[Mischief Maker]

Don't forget Freedom Planet in this discussion!

[BrianC]

I have Shantae and the Pirate's Curse for 3DS and Shovel Knight for Wii U and I like both quite a bit. The former is my favorite of the series and I especially like the humor in the game. Squid Baron is hilarious.

[Leandro]

Nice, I'll get Shovel Knight when there's a good discount on Steam. I should have got it together with Mark of the Ninja, damn it

[Ruldra]

Nice, I'll get Shovel Knight when there's a good discount on Steam. I should have got it together with Mark of the Ninja, damn it

Also consider Oniken.

[GaijinPunch]

Nice, I'll get Shovel Knight when there's a good discount on Steam. I should have got it together with Mark of the Ninja, damn it

Also consider Oniken.

That looks fun. Wish it would run on Mac.

[evil_ash_xero]

I kind of had this hidden in some text earlier, but I think some folks missed it.

Put in RQQYUKIJ in Shovel Knight to play it as New Game Plus, without any upgrades or relics from a normal run. This makes it a great Hard Mode.

Personally, I wouldn't want it being easier than this. It's a good challenge. The old man/witch says I've died around 130 times, over the course of 8 hours. I suck!

I'm down to one last Knight (Propeller Knight). Then I have the Dr. Wily type stages.

I have Shantae and the Pirate's Curse for 3DS and Shovel Knight for Wii U and I like both quite a bit. The former is my favorite of the series and I especially like the humor in the game. Squid Baron is hilarious.

The humor is very good in Pirate's Curse. I haven't really played any of the other Shantaes much, but I heard this was the best one. I've read the second one is too short and easy. And the first one was made for Game Boy Color...so, it's not as pretty, I guess.

Squid Baron just wants to be the best mid-boss ever. He's gonna have to compete with that guy from Disgaea.

Risky's Revenge on PC looks like shit. It should really have some kind of Interpolation option. Or let me shrink the screen down to where it doesn't look like that.

All in all, this has me pretty psyched for Half Genie Hero, whenever the hell that comes out.

[evil_ash_xero]

Finished Shovel Knight a while back.

I still like Shantae better (not by much), but with the hard mode code, Shovel Knight kicked my ass. I died 230 times, over the course of 17 hours. I'm SURE I could better that, but it was my first time through, so those numbers are going to be awful.

I tweeted Yacht Club Games, and thanked them for adding the New Game Plus without upgrades code. And the person speaking for them, said that he hadn't beat the game that way yet.

It takes a man.

But seriously, I wholeheartedly recommend these two games. Had a great time. Best new old school games I've played in a while. Nice holiday treat.

[evil_ash_xero]

Shovel Knight is getting a physical release in October. I guess I'll have to double dip. Luckily, it's only 20 bucks.

[the_last_shmupper]

I have the new Shantae too or at least the one on PC, I know some other one came out on PS4 I have that one too, haven't played it.

While I feel like Shantae is good, I almost forget about it. I thought it was a little sexual and maybe its always been, this is my first Shantae game.

[CStarFlare]

Shantae is definitely a little fanservicey. It's not explicit, but it's over the top for a game that is otherwise so clean it could have been a family friendly Nintendo game.

[the_last_shmupper]

Shantae is definitely a little fanservicey. It's not explicit, but it's over the top for a game that is otherwise so clean it could have been a family friendly Nintendo game.

I know I've heard the term before, and excuse my question, but does fan service mean sexual / innuendo-ey?

And yeah I feel its still a family friendly, but playing it I just can't imagine one of the Belmonts wiggling his butt when he ducks.