Steel thy shovels, spades, and assorted digging implements of choice, noble warriors – Shovel Knight is back! Developer Yacht Club Games have put out an official statement revealing that his newest brave quest, Pocket Dungeon, is due for release pretty soon.
It’s pretty much unanimous by this point that the diminutive, armour-clad little blue bloke’s inaugural game was one of the most pleasant surprises of the last decade. Featuring nostalgia-laden pixel visuals and a bangin’ chiptune OST (by the same guy who did the DuckTales: Remastered music, so you know it’s a dead cert) married to 2D exploratory platforming that harkens back to the days of Metroid and The Adventure of Link, it was a stone cold winner.
Shovel Knight release date
Round every corner there’d be some charming new gimmick or eccentric new character to pit your wits n’ shovel against; be it the batty King Knight and his chandeliers of doom; the Troupple (trout + apple, duh) occupying the lake; or the writhing dancing girl from the local tavern who operated a glass-chucking minigame in her spare time. Top that all off with a charmingly traditional tale of chivalry as the backdrop, and you’ve got yourself a classic. In short: play it.
As TechRaptor reports, Yacht Club have let fans know to expect Pocket Dungeon on December the 13th, on Steam, Switch and PlayStation. If you’re an Xbox owner? Uh… wait your turn, I guess? “A lot of hard work, joy, tears, & love went into this game’s 3 year development. It was a passion project to bring a new type of puzzle game to the world,” states the studio.
Final thoughts
The game is far from a direct sequel, though, so I’d caution against an immediate buy for fans who are expecting more of the stuff they loved about the OG. Officially described as a ‘tactical puzzler’, you’ll be doing less platforming and more block-sliding-and-Puyo-Puyo-ing to take down your foes in a new combat system. An acquired taste to be sure, and an interesting screech of a left turn for the franchise to make after only one real instalment, but we’ll see how it goes.
While you wait, the first game is on some pretty major discounts at the mo, so you’ve no excuse not to go and get all caught up on what everyone else has been enjoying since… 2014?! My God, has it been that long? I can’t be doing with it, folks. I really can’t.
Will you be picking up the game? Would you have preferred a traditional sequel? Let us know!
Via, TechRaptor.
