His scythe attack is interesting... he can't jump very well, but any time you are within scythe range of an attackable object while in midair, you get a sort of homing attack prompt that, if executed, will either make you air-dash diagonally upward or downward depending on whether you are above or below the object... I dunno the exact hitbox dynamics here, but it's a pretty fun concept. and, you can already see it being used in really cool ways for the sidepath secrets in this first level.
Oh yeah... the levels have a certain number of red skulls to collect (10 in the first level)... these are used to trade in town for Curios, which are the special A button abilities you can purchase. Curios use up your Darkness meter... and there are Darkness Wisps you can find in certain levels that will increase your darkness meter. A woman in town tells you what levels the Darkness Wisps are, and also says that every level has one Willfullness Wisp in it (increases your Will meter, aka hearts).
And there's a thing in town that you can donate money to... so yeah money does still have a purpose here. I don't know what it unlocks but it's something.
Also you absorb the souls of all the enemies you defeat... I'm not sure what this does though. Do the souls just refill your Darkness meter?
I like this so far... and yeah the story is decent. It has a very Castlevania vibe where you're the bad guy working to increase Dracula's army.
The Red Skeleton misses his beloved, and the red skulls you find throughout the stages remind him of her, I guess? That's why he trades you Curios for them. But you don't just get the Curio power... he sends you to some secret skeleton zone that's like a mini level where you learn to use that Curio.
lol this mirror character... he tells you your various playthrough stats... "I'm not a mirror!"
woah, I think I just completed a sidequest on accident... this gold knight wanted to get stronger or something... and then I destroyed a lantern above him by airdashing through it too many times, and the lantern oil fell on him and turned him red, increasing his strength somehow.
oh, and I found out that donating to those weird spirits that float overtop of pots... well I did one of them at least, gives you access to upgrades for your Curios, in exchange for even more money.
Screenshots of first level:
Screenshots of town exploration:
So, it's Megaman style choose your stage... The gatekeeper can give you some info about each stage too, which updates based on your progress.
Lost City / Mole Knight
I decided to go here next because that's where this knight sidequest character said he was going to go to next.
These green bouncy blocks are kinda annoying to deal with when combined with that bird head enemy that bounces around the room, and death pits... actually that bird head enemy is just annoying on his own.
I'm learning how each type of block works now... I like this difficulty, and how you gotta learn things on your own.
My goal is to 100% clear every level before moving onto the next.
I man... did I just fight the same red knight that I met at the town? He did say he was going to Lost City...
This knight enemies are pretty tough for normal enemies... they're like the Zelda II Iron Knuckle.
omg... when it goes to the chain explosion blocks... that one part is so hard... well not so much the execution, but figure out what to do... also they put a freaking bird enemy inside the big bouncing block that you need to destroy too, as if it wasn't bad enough already.
I don't like how easy it is to mess up your jumps by accidentally climbing a wall. That's my only complaint so far.
Oh wow this is clever... so it's established by now that Specter Knight will bounce off any green object that he lands on, or hits or dashes through (your air dash will reverse horizontal direction)... and now there's these green blobs that come out that you can use to turn the lava temporarily green so you can climb and bounce off it... and you can also use it to turn lanterns green.
Damn, Mole Knight is hard... just projectile spam city... but once I managed to get ontop of his green bouncy blocks and get the high ground on him while be was diving left and right, it was done.
I only got 9 of the 10 red skulls there though... also I guess I didn't find the Willful Wisp in that level.
That girl in town also lets you buy whatever Wisps you missed in the levels you completed... nah I'm not gonna do that.
lol this Knight's color changing sidequest isn't over yet... I guess I'll keep using him to decide what level I'm going to next. Iron Whale it is.
Iron Whale / Treasure Knight
This level was pretty fun... the water physics in this game combined with Specter Knight's controls feels really fun.
Treasure Knight was really hard to hit and avoid when the water is drained, but when the room is flooded it becomes really easy... barely beat it first try without using healing.
Part 1 of Donovan/Specter Knight backstory
I'm really into this story right now. It's better than I was expecting.
Wow, this floating Curio really kind of breaks the game a bit... the strong claw attack I had before gives you a bit of extra air time, but this parachute thing is ridiculously game changing.
omg and the upgrade for it is even MORE broken. Invincibility while floating, wtf... obviously I gotta get that.
Explodatorium / Plague Knight
This stage wasn't that hard... basically just dodging a lot of timed flame obstacles... beat Plague Knight on my first try. I just splits himself into copies and jumps around throwing bombs at you slowly... sometimes he makes potions appear on the arena which increase the range of the bomb explosions.
More town exploration... taking screenshots of all the dialog I found amusing.
That minigame thing in the hidden part of town I found just now (and also found the other 2 skulls I was missing here)... that goes on longer than I thought. what a crazy challenge...
On my first try through each level, I got:
9/10 skulls on Lost City
8/10 skulls on Iron Whale
9/10 skulls on Explodatorium
You'd think it'd get easier to find these after getting the parachute ability, but I'm still consistently missing one or 2 each level. plus I only found the Willfull Wisp on Iron Whale out of those.
Woah wtf... as soon as I was about to step into Clockwork Tower, some new character busts in through the wall, acting like a hero and trying to fight the bad guys. Specter Knight tries to go easy on him and give him a chance to escape, but Enchantress turns him evil and makes him into the new level select portal guy. I guess I missed out on the rest of the other guy's info dialog for all of the levels.
Clockwork Tower / Tinker Knight
This stage is incredibly fun... a lot of moving platforms, conveyor belts, and other stuff that really works well with Specter Knight's wall climb/wall jump skills.
Tinker Knight... for a sec I thought that maybe since this is the prequel, he wouldn't have his 2nd form's machine built yet so it would end at the first form... but no, he brings out a tank and then floats around on his jetpack while projectiles come from both the tank and him. The tank's drill isn't harmful at all, and is actually a really helpful platform... this was pretty easy.
I guess that's the end of the color changing knight sidequest... The last lantern broke his helmet and he was revealed to be a dragon. So now I'll just choose the next stage on my own.
The Lich Yard / Phantom Striker
Specter Knight's future level... a different character is the boss here in this game.
These zombie and ghost enemies that are always on you... this is like a ghosts n ghouls level kinda
This boss makes lightning balls appear all over the place... After I beat him, he refuses to join me and teleports away.
Part 2 of Donovan/Specter Knight backstory
Donovan and Luan sneak into this castle (the same one as the hub world in this game) to steal an amulet... Shield Knight shows up to try and destroy it because it's too powerful, and Donovan fights her for it... Luan seems to be siding with her, while Donovan is acting all arrogant and stupid.
Shield Knight is the hardest boss yet... until I learned that the best strategy is to try and always stay airborn, just keep using homing attacks even if it's just hitting her shield, cuz you are a lot less likely to get hit by her attacks when you air airborne
Flying Machine / Propeller Knight
Wow... this autoscroll cannon section is ridiculously hard... I don't even get how to make up to a platform at this one part... I died a lot here due to playing badly, but it's actually not that hard.
The boss is interesting, you fight him on a bunch of falling platforms in the sky.
I've managed to get all the red skulls in almost all the levels I've played while high so far. I'm only missing 1-2 in Explodatorium, Lost City, and Iron Whale.
This was a really weird random interruption just as I'm about to go into the next level... I dunno what that was about.
Stranded Ship - Polar Knight
Woah this level looks cool... not only the aesthetic, but also in the gameplay... rail grinding like that one part in the hub...
That level was really fun... Polar Knight wasn't hard at all, besides having to avoid landing in the instant death spikes...
Part 3 of Donovan/Specter Knight backstory
Thisis just after Donovan fell through the floor... He meets the Enchantress. lol, Specter Knight is like Darth Vader... being swayed by a power of resurrection...
Only one knight left to recruit until Donovan gets his wish...
I guess I didn't do that badly... I got enough gold and red skulls that I was able to buy all the outfits and curios after playing through each level just once... not enough to upgrade all the curios yet though.
Primedoor Keep - King Knight
EZ... but damn I missed a red skull somewhere...
Going into what I assume is the final stage, with 88/100 red skulls. This was all just from playing each level once.
The last curio power I got is this weird clone power that gives you a ghost clone that goes through walls and can collect and kill stuff that would normally be impossible/difficult to get to.
The big story segment before the final level continues where all of the backstory scenes left off. Black Knight manages to convince Specter Knight to fight against the Enchantress.
Tower of Fate - Entrance
That was pretty hard... I found all 5 skulls easily though.
Here's my stats by the time I go into the final level.
Tower of Fate - ????
Didn't find either of the 2 skulls at the area right before the Enchantress.
This fight against demon Reize is really fun. I died a lot but it's not actually that hard once you get the hang of it.
This ending was amazing.
During the credits it showed all the areas becoming what the are in the present day in Shovel Knight, including the areas that weren't in this game like the village.
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