Shovel Knight: Treasure Trove Review (Switch eShop)

this does look good and ive never played any of them so maybe I'll finally go for all 3 on switch

Wouldn't expect anything less than a 9 for shovel knight! Such an amazing indie I can't wait to get my hands on specter. I'm super deep in breath of the wild so I'm gonna hold off on it but I've been on the shovel knight train since the start!

Got the 3DS version and love it (even though the latest expansion doesn't come out for this until the end of the month), but might upgrade to switch, once again, IF there was a physical release

I own it both physically and digitally on Wii U so that'll do me just fine. Will they offer any incentive for Wii U owners to rebuy it? No.

Wait, what's the new campaign? And will it become available for 3DS?

@Dev Not gonna happen, unless you are willing to pay 50 bucks just to get it on a cartridge.

@SLIGEACH_EIRE Apparently not.

I've already got Shovel Knight for 3DS... and coming from that version I think I'll find it a bit awkward with no D-Pad on Switch. I'll wait for a sale me reckons.

@lemonjellydude
Same here I never played the series. This is a great opportunity to try them out.

@Jeronan Yacht Club games are considering a physical version once King Knight's campaign is released.

15 hours—it would take me FAR longer than 15 hours to play through this entire package, just playing normally a few hours here and there or whatever. What are you guys doing, speed running the game or something?

Christ, it took me weeks to beat Super Mario World back in the day, and certainly to 100% it. And I didn't accomplish the same feat with Yoshi's Island for over a year—although it probably only took me a week or so to complete it normally, playing a few hours a day or whatever.

Stamping a simple "hours to finish in a single play-through or straight-run" time on games, as has become the norm these days, just seems a bit off and meaningless to me. I don't measure anything of a game's value by how much time a single play-through takes. It just seems unfair on any game that doesn't specifically try to bloat those hours in some largely empty way, and it really just caters to the big publishers and their huge budget AAA games that only a tiny segment of the games industry can actually afford to make. Why play into that kind of thinking . . . when some smaller developers out there put absolutely as much of their time, heart, soul, money and resources into making their games (all things being relative), and, in a way, it kind of punishes them for maybe not being able to slap some "60 hours plus" label on their game?

I guarantee that some people will see that "15 hours" number and unfairly judge this game in some negative way as a result, when the truth is that it will probably provide more hours of genuine satisfaction and fun that the majority of huge AAA games out there—and I think that's the thing to highlight over and over and above all else in a review like this (certainly in the summation part of the review).

@AlexSora89 Specter of Torment, and yes, its just a timed exclusive because Nintendo helped playtest it
Every version of Shovel Knight will eventually become the "Treasure Trove" Edition eventually...well, except the Specter of Torment stand alone.
And every version of Treasure Trove will eventually get the remaining campaign (King Knight) as well as the Battle Mode for free.

@impurekind Speedruns will probably clock in under 3 hours for all of it WR vor the main campaign currently is 42m54s by Smaugy.

But 15 hours is, all things considered, a realistic average.
And for a MegaMan-esque platformer, that's insanely huge !

@Einherjar Yeah, Treasure Trove is basically the entire content in one game, the main/original game plus all the expansions, which should be coming to all the platforms the game is already on and being released on soon. And, all the individual expansions will also be seeing release as standalone cheaper [digital] downloads too.

I have it on Wii U. I have it on 3DS.

However, not only does this offer me an HD handheld version, more importantly it offers the ability to leave and continue playing on the same save, come back and continue again. That seamless transition is worth its weight in gold, and you won't find that anywhere else. I love it.

Been curious about this for a good while now and the Switch seems like the perfect home. Will hopefully be picking it up in a month or so once I've got a bit more cash to spare.

@SLIGEACH_EIRE Outside of supporting the developer, and the inherent portability of the Switch, it seems no. I would like to support Yacht Club, but the lack of proper d-pad on the Switch and the inflated price means I'll be skipping this re-release.

@Dev I read that they will be considering a physical release once the 4th and final game for King Knight is completed. Waiting for retail copy as well.

The review reads like a 10/10!

Specter of Torment is coming to the WiiU in the near future, correct?

Does anyone know if the third DLC campaign (King Knight) will release on the WiiU?

Yeah, Shovel Knight! Really looking forward to taking this on the go when I finally get my hands on a Switch!

So if this automatically upgrades on what you have and includes Specter of Torment, what's the point of having SoT separately for sale?

@holygeez03 Spectre of Torment is coming to the Wii U in April.

Not sure about King Knight's campaign, but I imagine it would be coming to Wii U.

@Reignmaker I guess it's for those not wanting to double dip on the full game and to play the latest campaign on the Switch instead of returning to the Wii U or 3DS.

How do you get the free update on wiiu? I have the physical game.

Edit: What the person above me said.

@samuelvictor You should already have the Plague Knight Add-On if you have installed all updates for Shovel Knight. The Specter of Torment Add-On will be available as a free update as well. The Switch just gets it earlier.

@Moon @tjhiphop I have no problems with the (non) d-pad on the Switch when playing Specter of Torment. I guess it will be a problem for Fighting Games but for jump and runs it works well.

SO when does this come out for the 3DS & Wii U version ? also just noticed that its showing as £22.49 now in the eshop sure it was £15 or something before.

@Jeronan its not going to be 50, they said they're raising it that price(24.99) and it'll stay that price when they release a physical. For the wiiU it was that price so if anything they'll raise it to 35 most.

Been re-playing this on the Switch, and it's been a dream come true. And I must say, while a traditional D-Pad would have been preferred, the negativity surrounding using the Joy-Con with this game is unwarranted. Took me maybe 2 minutes to get used to using the directional buttons, and they work just fine. I could see them being less-than-ideal for something like Street Fighter II, but no issues here. (My only control gripe is the placement of the select/minus button. Makes switching from propeller dagger to phase locket a bit of a pain at the end of the Frigid Flight relic course).

@SLIGEACH_EIRE

I honestly don't there is any user who carries more animosity toward Nintendo than you. When you consider that gaming is just a hobby and not a creed or right, it's sad to see your estate so bitterly expressed.

@OptometristLime It's up to Yacht Games to offer a discount, not Nintendo. I don't hate them, I hate some of their practises and business decisions. They've been steadily annoying me since the tail end of the Wii.

@holygeez03 Yacht Club has said that all the DLC is coming to all the platforms, so I doubt that has changed or will change. Also, I recall reading that development of the King Knight campaign was handled simultaneously with the Spectre Knight campaign, so the wait for it should be much shorter than it was for Spectre Knight and the possibility of a Wii U cancellation very low. On top of that, Yacht Club has been very good about delivering on their promises.

@whitespy12 I imagine a great d-pad would be even better, but a platformer lik this, and one that's not particularly manic, I can see being quite fine with the joycon controller. The genres I've found that benefit the most from superior d-pads are fighting games, as you pointed out, and shmups.

@Reignmaker I think having the campaigns available standalone is for people who may be interested in the style and mechanics of a particular campaign, but are not interested in Shovel Knight as a whole. I think it also lets them market something like Spectre of Torment more directly. I recall there was a lack of awareness when Plague of Shadows came out. A lot of people, according to Yacht Club's statistics, didn't update when Plague of Shadows came out and didn't know it was a thing. I suspect this is a step to help awareness of the new campaign. It's easy to assume everyone knows about Shovel Knight and all the cool free DLC, but that's not the case it seems across the various platforms. I suspect the awareness is higher on consoles compared to Steam.

@sdelfin
I thought I read an article a long time ago that Spectre would be the last WiiU DLC... but now I can't find the article. I hope you are correct about "all DLC".

@impurekind you make a good point. There are probably some who discount this based on the number of hours. Someone like that doesn't know much about platform games though. On the other hand, there are people like me who become more interested when a game is shorter, but not too short. Hopefully, the game's strong reputation has overcome the reservations some may have about its length.

@holygeez03 I hope I'm right too, and I don't even have a Wii U. I can't quite find all the info I recall seeing before, but I did a bit of searching and found a couple of things that should be encouraging to you. In the comments section for a Yacht Club post titled "Switch-up" from January 11, a Yacht Club rep stated "Wii U and 3DS will continue to get all updates!!". And also from January 11, in the Treasure Trove Q & A post, they answer the question of whether the future content including the King Knight campaign will continue to be free and the Wii U is specifically mentioned among the platforms. The answer they give there is that it's still coming for all platforms. The only exception is battle mode being local multiplayer only and thus, not coming to the Vita or 3DS. I think it's safe to remain optimistic here.

@impurekind that's just what I was thinking! Simply completing the three campaigns once will take most people more than 15 hours and that's if they ignore all the achievements, new game plus and challenge mode! I've clocked about 40 hours and I haven't even played Specter of Torment yet.

I love the "scroll down" part of the review score at the very top right of the page you guys recently implemented. Always makes me chuckle.

@Einherjar
I really oughta get back on that single player campaign then.

My first time playing Shovel Knight is on the Switch. Very, very impressed with this game thus far and played it in various game play and control setups. Feels tailor made for the Switch.

@countzero I just wish I had a demo in order to test it out on, or at least some 2D platforming equivalent.

Is it just me or is the name menu really sensitive with the left joy con??

Question for you guys....I've completed Shovel Knight on the Wii U(Shovel Of Hope I believe) and I am thinking about buying Treasure Trove for the Switch. I've looked everywhere, buy I can't seem to find a definitive answer...is there a new campaign in the sense of new levels? I see new campaign everywhere....but it seems like it is only playing with a different character and new abilities... Are they the same levels? Same story mode? If so, I won't be buying it. I am not the type to buy a DLC just to play a certain character...with new abilities (at least).

@impurekind They said 15 hours was just their playthrough time.

When the flying hell is the King Knight DLC coming out?! Great game though; can’t wait to see what Yacht Club Games comes up with next... maybe a new series that pays tribute to the SNES era of games?