The ubiquitous Shovel Knight has now made an appearance in a real genre-blend of a spin-off.Shovel Knight: Pocket Dungeonis a puzzle title with roguelike aspects, with a heavy emphasis on combat against the falling ‘blocks’ (which consist of actual blocks as well as familiarShovel Knightenemies). It’s all quite tough to get a handle on at first, and thoughthere are tweakable options to make the experience a little more forgiving, it’s a challenging title whether you’re playing with unlimited lives or not.
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The main story is brief, but many will find themselves floundering to reach the end during early runs. Progress through the stages, however, will see the iconic members of the Order of No Quarter unlocked for play (as well as a couple of new faces) by besting them in creative boss battles. Each plays very differently, and players should find that runs go much more smoothly once they’ve selected the Knight that suits their approach to the game. Of the 13 members of the cast available, all are unique and viable in their own way, but these are perhaps the most effective to choose inthis excellent puzzler.
6Shield Knight: Great Survivability, May Not Suit The Best Players
Shield Knight will be an excellent pick for those players who struggle withShovel Knight Pocket Dungeon’s difficulty. Their talents revolve around staying in the action and ensuring the player isn’t punished too severely for the occasional mistake.
When scoring a chain, Shield Knight gets a barrier around their already-armored body. In addition, once per stage, they are able to continue after running out of health. Those who feel that they may not be quite ready for the game’s roguelike mode –in which one defeat ends the run immediately– might find that Shield Knight gives them just the wiggle room they need. It’s important to be wary of the character’s reduced max HP, though, and expert players who can maintain their health well while taking down foes may not have the need for these survival-based talents.
5Plague Knight: This Toxic Troublemaker Is A Very Effective Glass Cannon
Again, Yacht Club Games and Vine have taken the key elements of this character and translated them seamlessly into the unusual new format. Plague Knight, as in the main series, revolves around bomb shenanigans with a heavy side dose of trickery and poison. The brilliance of thiscreative puzzle titlelies in the characters’ abilities, and this is showcased perfectly here.
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Plague Knight does have reduced starting HP, which can certainly be troublesome (especially when playing with limited lives). To make up for this drawback, regular attacks and bombs alike will poison enemies. Poison is a status strong enough to warrant a Relic of its own, the Toad Totem, making it very potent to have innately. Those who can dart around applying this effect while keeping themselves safe will perform very well as Plague Knight. Poison ticks amount to return damage that the player won’t have to take, which can be very valuable, but Plague Knight’s low HP and average maneuverability can let this trickster down.
4Shovel Knight: Ideal For Learning The Ropes And Solid Beyond
Only one playable character is available at the very beginning of the game, and, naturally, it’sShovel Knight. The retro-inspired platformer herobecame trapped in the Pocket Dungeon after interacting with a strange puzzle cube, and now they’re out to recruit the rest of the Knights in his attempt to find a way to escape. To do so, Shovel Knight’s equipped with the perfect abilities to help newcomers learn the game’s deceptively deep mechanics. Firstly, they have the innate ability to cause more potions to spawn. Taking damage is essentially unavoidable, at least sometimes, so even the most able players will find themselves regularly scurrying for a potion.
Secondly, they deal more damage to chains with a fatal hit, which encourages players to keep taking advantage of those grouped foes. Shovel Knight’s skills are balanced in such a way that they’re both a great beginner pick and very solid to stick with as players master the game, and their starting HP is the full default amount (five hearts). Nonetheless, this noble warrior doesn’t quite have the raw damage potential or other advantages that the best of the rest of the cast boast.
3Propeller Knight: Avoid Chaining Enemies To Build Huge Power
Propeller Knight twists the central ‘rules’ of gameplay in another unique way. Targeting chains of foes is generally whatShovel Knight Pocket Dungeonis all about, but as this knight, you’ll want to vanquish lone enemies wherever possible.
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Instead of the high-flying shenanigans they employ in the mainShovel Knightseries (nostalgic indie treat that it is), Propeller Knight’s talents are much more simple here. They gain one point of attack for every lone enemy defeated, and getting a chain causes this boost to be lost and reset to normal. At times, chains will be unavoidable (being the best way to clear large chunks of the screen), so it’s essential to know when and where to strike. When managed well, Propeller Knight’s damage potential is monstrous, and they can dispatch those run-ending ‘minibosses’ with ease. Those who are unable to take advantage of this boost at key moments, however, will find themselves playing a very average character (right down to that default HP).
2Black Knight: The Gem Meter Holds Tremendous Power
True mastery ofPocket Dungeonlies in making the very most of the Gem Meter. This is displayed along the bottom of the screen, building with efficient destruction of enemies and diminishing over time. It is, essentially, a score multiplier, and it’s just not possible to make a splash in the leaderboards without understanding its functionality.
Black Knight, however, has no interest in such matters. For this edgy warrior, the Gem Meter is a source of bonus damage, and potentially lots of it. They also have lower max HP, but the ability able to convert the levels of the Gem Meter into mighty blows. The bonus is lost when healing with a potion, so timing is vital (as always in thischallenging retro-inspired title).
1Mole Knight: The Best Character? Fans Can Definitely Dig It
InPocket Dungeon, it’s easy for overzealous players to trap themselves between enemies they can’t defeat without dying themselves. Prism Knight can simply teleport away from danger, but their ability to do so is limited by the location of nearby enemies. Mole Knight, then, has the most maneuverability of any playable character.
Simply press the special ability button to tunnel underground, avoiding any damage, and select an adjacent square on which to reappear. This can be done in rapid succession, with no limitations. The only trouble is that everything on the board moves around Mole Knight, potentially setting up dangerous situations. Outside of that, though, it’s an ability that is very easy to get to grips with and very, very strong, and their default HP isn’t even reduced to compensate. While it doesn’t deal damage, the ability to dig likea formidable Ground-type Pokemonis very valuable.
Shovel Knight Pocket Dungeonis available now, for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PC and Mac.
