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Reviews Shovel Knight: Pocket Dungeon | Review Thread | Steel Thy MetaShovel

Are you planning to purchase Shovel Knight: Pocket Dungeon in the near future?

  • Yes

    Votes: 24 45.3%

  • No, waiting for a sale

    Votes: 19 35.8%

  • No, I'm not interested

    Votes: 10 18.9%
  • Total voters
    53
Nabbit

Nabbit

Heading to Lorule? Rent your equipment here!
OpenCritic: 85
MetaCritic: 84

Selected reviews:

With hugely varied gameplay and compelling Roguelike elements, Shovel Knight Pocket Dungeon is a contender for greatest ever puzzle game.
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God is a Geek - 9.5/10

Much like the inspiration, it's challenging, but it's also forgiving enough to not dissuade frustrated players. I didn't think I'd see the day when someone did Wario's Woods as a conceptual idea justice, but dang, they did it. Pocket Dungeon is incredible.
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NintendoWorldReport - 9/10

Shovel Knight Pocket Dungeon might turn some people off with its roguelite framework and randomization, but there’s a deep puzzle game at work here; one that’s worth exploring if you’ve grown up on the action-puzzle genre. This is something I can see myself playing again in the years to come, especially with versus mode augmenting some of the leaner elements.
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Destructoid - 8/10

Pocket Dungeon grabbed me immediately and hasn't let go. Everything in this puzzle game works; the aesthetic, controls, modes, bosses, replayability. A puzzle game that has this level of polish will stand the test of time with the likes of Tetris.
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Gaming Nexus - 9.5/10

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So glad to see this turned out seemingly amazing, just as I'd hoped.
 
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Wasn't expecting that, guess i'll treat myself with a indie game this week (sorry loop hero, maybe another time).
 
Lord Azrael said:
Pretty impressive reviews so far
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Yeah I thought it would be 8/10 territory but it's especially impressive for a puzzle game. Gems like Pushmo World and BoxBoy!! struggled to reach scores like this.
 
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Thank god it's not 8-bit pixel art. It hurts my eyes on the huge Switch screen.

I'm loving that the indies trying fresh new ideas in block puzzle genre. Grindstone was one of the best block puzzle I've ever played and this looks like it has a chance to do better. I'll see if it does tomorrow.
 
9-Volt said:
Thank god it's not 8-bit pixel art. It hurts my eyes on the huge Switch screen.

I'm loving that the indies trying fresh new ideas in block puzzle genre. Grindstone was one of the best block puzzle I've ever played and this looks like it has a chance to do better. I'll see if it does tomorrow.
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Looking forward to your impressions! ⛏️
 
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Day one! I love puzzle games and I love Shovel Knight! If you don't like puzzle games, we can't be friends.
 
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This is sounding good, indeed. I quite like when that happens.
shoptroll said:
Waiting for a physical copy to go on the shelf next to the original but I’m definitely getting this
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We have 1 more fun thing to reveal today!

We loved developing this game so much that we just can’t get enough! That's why we’re planning on releasing an expansive slate of DLC. More will be revealed after release!

It might be a bit yet, but I hope they offer a physical release once the updates are all out, so everything can be included on cart as a definitive edition.
Which reminds me, I need to try to track down the complete Shovel Knight on cartridge; I meant to do that before.

Nabbit said:
Yep! The PR notes "Another incomparable soundtrack in a new style by astonishing virtuoso Jake Kaufman"!
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Soundtracks are one of those things that sometimes seem don't get the full attention they deserve, especially in less enthusiast circles. Glad to see this.
 
Moltres006 said:
We never got a propeller knight campaign...... 😢
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The last two are so dang good I can't complain. I need to try to get back into Plague Knight. But don't get me wrong I welcome more focus on the Order of No Quarter. Hopefully the rest get their due in the next game(s). It sounds like every single Knight might get a campaign or version of the story in Pocket Dungeon.
 
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I've been on a puzzle game binge lately, playing a lot of Tetris Attack and Puyo Puyo. This came at the perfect time. So far I'm enjoying it a lot, but a little frustrated with the rogue-lite mechanics. I finally beat the first boss and unlocked a new character but it's annoying to restart from scratch each time. I may change the difficulty settings - Glad they have tons of robust options for that. Fun game so far, hope it has staying power!
 
BombChorizo said:
I've been on a puzzle game binge lately, playing a lot of Tetris Attack and Puyo Puyo. This came at the perfect time. So far I'm enjoying it a lot, but a little frustrated with the rogue-lite mechanics. I finally beat the first boss and unlocked a new character but it's annoying to restart from scratch each time. I may change the difficulty settings - Glad they have tons of robust options for that. Fun game so far, hope it has staying power!
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Just as a heads up, if you bash through the right wall in the hub, there's a cannon you can unlock fast travel to everywhere you've been before!
 
I never played any of the shovel knight games, since although I like the character, I am terrible at all Megaman games. I figured it would be too hard for me. This is much more interesting :)
 
looked up a video and this looks like the kind of game I hate, so I'll be skipping until it's $5. I hope shovel knight dig isn't canceled, that one looked a lot more fun to me. but at the end of the day it depends on how many games the dev can handle at once-- how deep is the yacht?
 
Tailzo said:
I never played any of the shovel knight games, since although I like the character, I am terrible at all Megaman games. I figured it would be too hard for me. This is much more interesting :)
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I dislike most Megaman games and also find them hard, but Shovel Knight I found to be a good difficulty, and different enough from Megaman to enjoy it.
 
There a demo of this that I've missed? The review footage all looks too messy to me, I'm sure it makes sense to do it but watching it makes it hard to see what's hurting and helping them.

Also £18 is almost half the price of the complete collection of the previous stuff so I'm not going to blindly pull the trigger on it
 
Gashead said:
There a demo of this that I've missed? The review footage all looks too messy to me, I'm sure it makes sense to do it but watching it makes it hard to see what's hurting and helping them.

Also £18 is almost half the price of the complete collection of the previous stuff so I'm not going to blindly pull the trigger on it
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It's fully worth it if you like puzzle games, it's like Mr. Driller mixed with Crypt of the Necrodancer.
 
1upmuffin said:
It's fully worth it if you like puzzle games, it's like Mr. Driller mixed with Crypt of the Necrodancer.
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I love Mr. driller (which is what was confusing me with the falling blocks not hurting them) but I've yet to play Necro or Cadence
 
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Brock Reiher said:
looked up a video and this looks like the kind of game I hate, so I'll be skipping until it's $5. I hope shovel knight dig isn't canceled, that one looked a lot more fun to me. but at the end of the day it depends on how many games the dev can handle at once-- how deep is the yacht?
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Well, both this game and Dig are being handled by external partners with oversight from Yacht , I think Yacht themselves are largely focused on whatever the next big thing is now Shovel Knight is wrapped up. I don't think there's any reason to be concerned about Dig existing.
 
Brock Reiher said:
looked up a video and this looks like the kind of game I hate, so I'll be skipping until it's $5. I hope shovel knight dig isn't canceled, that one looked a lot more fun to me. but at the end of the day it depends on how many games the dev can handle at once-- how deep is the yacht?
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Dig is being developed by Nitrome. YCG are currently working on two unannounced projects, one of which is a new IP (so the natural assumption is the other is Shovel Knight 2).
 
I was struggling at first, but I kept at it and managed to see the credits last night. Fun game, although it doesn't seem to have much variety. I enjoy the core gameplay enough to keep playing and unlocking characters, but I hope there's a little more to the endgame. They hinted at it.

One thing that really impressed me is the variety of difficulty options. I don't think I've seen a game so flexible with that. I never actually changed anything, but I really appreciate the options.

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This thread is suprisingly inactive, and there's no ST. Let's try and get some discussion going...

What's everyone's favorite character? Mine is easily Mole Knight. His swap mechanic saved me countless times and is amazing for setting up chains.
 
BombChorizo said:
I was struggling at first, but I kept at it and managed to see the credits last night. Fun game, although it doesn't seem to have much variety. I enjoy the core gameplay enough to keep playing and unlocking characters, but I hope there's a little more to the endgame. They hinted at it.

One thing that really impressed me is the variety of difficulty options. I don't think I've seen a game so flexible with that. I never actually changed anything, but I really appreciate the options.

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This thread is suprisingly inactive, and there's no ST. Let's try and get some discussion going...

What's everyone's favorite character? Mine is easily Mole Knight. His swap mechanic saved me countless times and is amazing for setting up chains.
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Mole Knight is a really good one, I beat the game with him only so far (non true ending). Currently trying to get true ending with King Knight who I like a LOT.
 
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Tailzo said:
I never played any of the shovel knight games, since although I like the character, I am terrible at all Megaman games. I figured it would be too hard for me. This is much more interesting :)
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1upmuffin said:
I dislike most Megaman games and also find them hard, but Shovel Knight I found to be a good difficulty, and different enough from Megaman to enjoy it.
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I agree heartily with 1upmuffin here, I find Megaman games nigh-impossible but I found Shovel Knight to be much, much more doable, wayyy smoother and easier to control, and a much more accomplishable difficulty curve. The two DLC campaigns I've played were even better. I really think Shovel Knight: Treasure Trove as a whole is one of the best platformers of the past decade. I hope you get to try it out sometime Tailzo, I think you'd be surprised how much it deviates from MM gameplay despite that being one of its inspirations. :)
 
Lovecatt said:
I bought it but idk when I'm going to find time to play it
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Looking forward to your impressions when you do! This seems like an optimal game for a demo. I think I'd like it but I'm not 100% sure the gameplay and learning curve will jive for me.
 
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I think the learning curve is a bit steep at the very start because there are lots of little details you need to keep track of for a fairly fast paced game (if you're playing with default rules). You need to keep track of both your and enemy health bars, enemy placements, memorize enemy behaviors and patterns, etc.
But you will definitely hit a point where the flow the of the game just works and its really a lot of fun and quite addictive. It's just not really a casual relaxing puzzler like Tetris Effect can be, it really requires your full attention.
 
SpookyTango said:
I think the learning curve is a bit steep at the very start because there are lots of little details you need to keep track of for a fairly fast paced game (if you're playing with default rules). You need to keep track of both your and enemy health bars, enemy placements, memorize enemy behaviors and patterns, etc.
But you will definitely hit a point where the flow the of the game just works and its really a lot of fun and quite addictive. It's just not really a casual relaxing puzzler like Tetris Effect can be, it really requires your full attention.
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Thanks for this info! I like games with a steep learning curve so long as I do hit that flow. Are the non-boss levels all randomized or do they have consistent elements across each type of stage? And, do you know how many different types of stages are out there? From what I understand there's 10 in a full run but I got the impression there are more than 10 that are picked from for that playlist of levels.
 
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Nabbit said:
Thanks for this info! I like games with a steep learning curve so long as I do hit that flow. Are the non-boss levels all randomized or do they have consistent elements across each type of stage? And, do you know how many different types of stages are out there? From what I understand there's 10 in a full run but I got the impression there are more than 10 that are picked from for that playlist of levels.
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There are ten level themes (not including boss fights), they each include their own unique enemies (and generic ones from other levels) as well as unique level hazards. As far as I can tell, though each level has their own unique enemies and hazards, they are randomized in how they are used. You also unlock quite a few other playable characters by beating them in boss fights and they each have a unique mechanic to them. I haven't actually beaten the game with any character yet, so I don't know what sort of post game stuff might unlock.

The developers did announce they have robust DLC plans for the game. I don't recall if they mentioned whether it would be paid or free.
 
SpookyTango said:
There are ten level themes (not including boss fights), they each include their own unique enemies (and generic ones from other levels) as well as unique level hazards. As far as I can tell, though each level has their own unique enemies and hazards, they are randomized in how they are used. You also unlock quite a few other playable characters by beating them in boss fights and they each have a unique mechanic to them. I haven't actually beaten the game with any character yet, so I don't know what sort of post game stuff might unlock.

The developers did announce they have robust DLC plans for the game. I don't recall if they mentioned whether it would be paid or free.
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When you beat the game the one unlock is an
Endless mode, not too exciting.
 
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