Shovel Knight Dig Review – Digging Down In Glory

It felt like I was returning home the moment Shovel Knight Dig began to play. As someone who hadn’t played most of Shovel Knight’s post-launch DLC, the last time I touched this series was nearly a decade ago. It was easy to take control of the title character and I found my old Shovel Knight routines returning to welcome the new series by Nitrome. The moment-to-moment experience plays excellently, in part because it’s more Shovel Knight with some well-designed gameplay twists. However, the game’s venture into roguelite territory feels inessential and so light-stepped that it didn’t convince me it needed to be a part of this ever-expanding genre. Shovel Knight Dig, however, is more Shovel Knight. Retro-gamers and platformsing fans will still find much enjoyment. 

Dig challenges players to go deeper and deeper than the levels that are visually pixelated. These new emotions are added to my existing list of feelings when I play Shovel Knight games: urgency and stress. Unlike many platformers out there, you can’t take the time to observe where you must go and how best to get there. You have to keep digging down and while going back up a few spaces is possible, it’s not easy. You’re not meant to backtrack because your goal is far below you. If you miss some gems or one of the stage’s three machine cogs, which unlock a special bonus reward, you probably missed your chance. 

On top of that, if you spend too long in any one place, the antagonist Drill Knight will use a massive one-hit-kill excavation machine to bury you deeper into the Smeltworks, Secret Fountain, Grub Pit, or one of the game’s other stages. I like this added stress to Dig’s platforming, which largely feels identical to that of the original Shovel Knight game. 

Once you’ve completed all three phases in the given lair, your boss will be presented to you. I love these boss fights, but they’re disappointing in the context of Dig. They feel like Shovel Knight bosses, fast-paced and fun, but they don’t take advantage of the new mechanics specific to Dig. While trying to do damage, you can jump about an arena and dodge their attacks. Only the final boss implements the game’s unique dig platforming mechanics and I wish this type of design was present in the multiple other opponents I faced before this one. 

I never felt like I was playing the roguelite despite spending hours digging through every stage. It was only when I died and returned to above ground, which is where a camp of NPCs you’ve met and shopkeepers reside, that I was reminded of the game’s tip-toe into roguelite mechanics. Although you lose some stage progression and your gems when you die, the losses are so minimal that I felt no need to make any effort to recover my currency during my next run. 

It was rare that I felt the desire to purchase new sets of armor. They can only purchased from templates found in hidden areas throughout each stage. The only thing I was able to permanently upgrade was my bag. This allowed me to keep more than one item (such as a chest key or door) at any given time. Dig felt like each run was a new beginning. This is part of being a roguelite. I didn’t hate this, but it’s not my cup of tea. 

Still though, because most of my eight hours with Dig were spent spelunking through stages leading down, I rarely had to think about the game’s roguelite efforts. I spent most of my time playing through beautiful stages to the tune of chippy synth tunes, fascinated with how far Nitrome and Yacht Club were able to stretch the “dig” aspect of this game. Perhaps the roguelite nature of Dig will play a bigger role in my post-game excavations because I’m rearing to jump back in to discover all of its secrets. Even if it doesn’t, though, I know I still have at least a few more hours of great Shovel Knight gameplay ahead of me and in the world of platforming, that’s a treasure worth digging up.