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Shovel Knight: Specter of Torment Review

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Specter of Torment is a prequel to the original Shovel Knight: Shovel of Hope game. It follows Specter Knight as he "recruits" each member of The Order of No Quarter. It also dives into Specter Knight's backstory, which I will not reveal here.

The game itself is similar to both Shovel of Hope and Plague of Shadows. It is a 2D platformer that has you fighting boss battles at the end of every level. What is different from Shovel and Plague is Yacht Club Games has gotten rid of the world map. In the previous games you used the world map to travel from level to level (like Super Mario World), but in Specter, you just jump straight to any level via a portal (think Mega Man... Read All Specter of Torment is a prequel to the original Shovel Knight: Shovel of Hope game. It follows Specter Knight as he "recruits" each member of The Order of No Quarter. It also dives into Specter Knight's backstory, which I will not reveal here.

The game itself is similar to both Shovel of Hope and Plague of Shadows. It is a 2D platformer that has you fighting boss battles at the end of every level. What is different from Shovel and Plague is Yacht Club Games has gotten rid of the world map. In the previous games you used the world map to travel from level to level (like Super Mario World), but in Specter, you just jump straight to any level via a portal (think Mega Man games). I missed the world map, and I wonder why they did not include it here. I think they were going for the Mega Man feel here, but it just feels like they dropped a feature due to time.

Speaking of time, this game is a lot shorter than both Shovel and Plague. It took me about six hours to beat the game, where Shovel and Plague took me ten and twelve hours, respectively. This is a quick game that you can beat in a day.

Another thing that I felt that Yacht Club Games scaled back on is story. Both Shovel of Torment and Plague of Shadows had great stories and characters. Specter of Torment does not have as grand of a story. This leads me to care less for the characters than in previous games.

The one thing that Yacht Club Games does nail is level design and controls. They are tight. The mechanics of Specter Knight are really cool with his wall scale, the ability to jump off walls, and the ability to do what I will call a "lunge attack" in air. I cannot tell if they reused previous levels from the other games, but it does not really matter, they are still great. I actually finished this game a while back, and then played it again for this review and I still had a lot of fun.

The boss battles in this game range from really easy to moderate difficulty, kind of inline with the previous releases of Shovel Knight games. I found that I could beat all bosses with some ground attacks and in-air lunge attacks. I was not really surprised by this given the difficulty of the boss battles in the previous games.

Secondary items, called Curios, were neat but not really needed to beat the game. The only one that I used all the time was the healing item. The rest were fun to get and try out but were barely needed to solve the puzzles and beat enemies.

Overall I enjoyed this game, and will play it again. The story wasn't quite there for me, but the level design and controls were top notch. Overall, I would rank it as my least favorite in the series, but still fun.

The review for this game came from the Switch version. Specter of Torment is also available on the PC, Wii U, 3DS, PS4, Vita, PS3, Xbox One and Fire TV.

Yacht Club Games provided Cheerful Ghost with a Switch download key for Shovel Knight: Treasure Trove, which Specter of Torment is part of.

Azurephile Super Member wrote on 09/12/2017 at 03:55am

Cool review. I have it installed, but haven't tried it out yet. I haven't played Shovel Knight either.

Will_Ball Game Mod Super Member Post Author wrote on 09/12/2017 at 03:36pm

You should give them a go. They are awesome.

jdodson Admin wrote on 09/12/2017 at 03:44pm

I never beat Shovel Knight. I'm adding it back to my games to play based on your reviews. And because I had so much fun playing Mega Man 2.

Will_Ball Game Mod Super Member Post Author wrote on 09/12/2017 at 03:46pm

I would say Plague Knight is my favorite, followed by Shovel and then Specter. Plague Knight is best played after Shovel though as there are some cool subtle story points of things that happened in Shovel Knight.

jdodson Admin wrote on 09/12/2017 at 03:48pm

Cool, i'll make sure I check them out in order then. The new King Knight game looks interesting. I wonder if that card game will be fun? I guess if it's not there is plenty to like in the base game still

Will_Ball Game Mod Super Member Post Author wrote on 09/12/2017 at 04:03pm

I think I get that with Treasure Trove, right? If so I will have to review it when it comes out.

jdodson Admin wrote on 09/12/2017 at 10:10pm

Yep. Treasure Trove means you get all the content updates included.

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PortsCenter Reviews Marble Madness on Game Boy Advance

Ben Paddon reviews a very specific port of Marble Madness packed in with Klax on the Game Boy Advance. As always the video drops some history on Game Boy Advance and several others games ported to it. Oh yeah and Ben doesn't actually recommend you get Marble Madness on the GBA as it's ... terrible. I can vouch for the NES port though, that one seems quite good and that's the one i've played the most as my cousin had in on Nintendo and we played it a lot.

The NES Classic Is Incredible & I Just Beat Mega Man 2

jdodson gives this an astounding "Must Play" on the Ghost Scale

This achieves something special, and it would be a shame to miss it.

jdodson gives this a "Must Play" on the Ghost Scale

This achieves something special, and it would be a shame to miss it.

Recently I picked up an NES Classic and have been playing it a lot. I'm a huge fan of retro games and the NES Classic is a fun nod to Nintendo's past. The hardware, Operating System and choice of games are all top notch and I decided to dive in an focus on games I haven't played much before. I also have been playing all the two player games that have the ability for two players to play at the same time. Most 2 player games have each player take turns playing, one after another like in Super Mario Brothers 3 and the like. But I prefer two player games where we can play at the same time like Dr. Mario, Mario Bros. and Bubble Bobble. In fact, i'd say two player gaming is... Read All Recently I picked up an NES Classic and have been playing it a lot. I'm a huge fan of retro games and the NES Classic is a fun nod to Nintendo's past. The hardware, Operating System and choice of games are all top notch and I decided to dive in an focus on games I haven't played much before. I also have been playing all the two player games that have the ability for two players to play at the same time. Most 2 player games have each player take turns playing, one after another like in Super Mario Brothers 3 and the like. But I prefer two player games where we can play at the same time like Dr. Mario, Mario Bros. and Bubble Bobble. In fact, i'd say two player gaming is where the NES Classic shines. I plan on reviewing each game on the NES Classic separately but nothing says "frantic couch co-op fun" like Mario Bros. and trying to beat those levels with a friend.

All that to say, the NES Classic is one of the best things i've got in gaming recently and I can't wait to get to each of the games, which given how many there are should take me quite a bit to do.

One single player game I decided to focus on first was a game I played a bit in middle school called Mega Man 2. I'd say Mega Man 2 is one of the more enjoyable Mega Man games i've played and also very very challenging. It doesn't feel too punishing once you figure out how to beat a boss or complete a level but it's really unforgiving and if you don't time a jump just so or learn a particular way a boss attacks you will die. A lot. Which is one of the biggest strengths of Mega Man 2, it's really hard but balances it so well as to be an amazing amount of fun.

Oh and I beat it the other night for the first time. Completing the game gave me a really high sense of accomplishment but to do it I used the save/load feature of the NES Classic. It's a nice feature that doesn't punish you for dying and allows you to replay sections over and over until you get it just right. After beating it using save/load my current play through is using the normal lives and continue system. So far i'm getting through some stages a bit faster than my first playthrough but one penalty of using a continue is that you lose your energy tanks. It's a pretty negative consequence of using up all your lives but at some point you get so good at the game that using energy tanks isn't needed anymore. I'm not quite to that point yet but I don't need energy tanks to complete the normal boss stages anymore.

Mega Man 2 is rightly considered one of the stand out games of the Mega Man series and i'd say holds up incredibly well today. I respect that each boss stage isn't too long and Dr Wiley's boss stages amp up the difficulty to make the final confrontation seem much more menacing. If you haven't played Mega Man 2 you can get it on Steam XBox One or PS4 as part of the Mega Man Legacy Collection. The Legacy Collection comes with Mega Man 1 - 6 which is a great value at $15 if you haven't played any of these games yet. That said, expect a challenge because Mega Man doesn't hold your hand at all.

Final SGDQ 2017 Wrap Up

Summer Games Done Quick was an amazing event this year packed with so many runs I couldn't watch them all. I've been slowly watching the remaining runs I missed over time and have the last "best of" batch to share.

Zelda 2: The Adventure of Link by Error72 in 49:31 is embedded above. Adventures of Link is a great game but an odd one out compared to the more traditional top down retro Zelda games. 49.31 is Error72's personal best and a minute away from the world record for Any % No Scroll lock.

Luigi's Mansion by HDlax1 in 57:25 is a great run to watch if you've never actually played the game before like me. Luigi's Mansion was a GameCube launch title and gets a lot of... Read All

Watch Nine Minutes of Cuphead

Game Informer has posted some demo footage of Cuphead, the upcoming indie platformer styled after 1930s cartoons. The art style is amazing-- as someone who grew up watching all the Looney Tunes and older cartoons I could get my hands on, this looks like tight, difficult, and satisfying gameplay wrapped up in charming bit of nostalgia.

The game is coming in a few weeks on September 29 to Xbox One and PC.

jdodson Admin wrote on 09/07/2017 at 04:10am

I wonder if the you can turn off the "fuzz" effect? It's not really a fuzz, kind of a blur / 30mm scratches effect?

They've really nailed the style of the game though but i've never looked at it and wanted to play it. Watch it sure, but maybe this is one of those games you have to try?

Are you getting it on PC?

Will_Ball Game Mod Super Member wrote on 09/07/2017 at 05:03pm

No switch version?

jdodson Admin wrote on 09/07/2017 at 05:12pm

Nope.

https://www.polygon.com/2017/7/4/15919210/cuphead-ps4-version

Will_Ball Game Mod Super Member wrote on 09/07/2017 at 05:20pm

Good thing I have all the platforms. :P

Travis Admin Post Author wrote on 09/07/2017 at 09:58pm

Yep, I'm totally getting it on PC. I've been wanting to play it since the first E3 trailer a couple years back. The levels are done interestingly, with platforming segments and bosses separately, but the gameplay reminds me of some hybrid of Mega Man and a Metal Slug/Contra type of game.

jdodson Admin wrote on 09/07/2017 at 10:32pm

That comparison seems apt. With that it's so unique that I really want to try it before I get it.

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No Man's Sky Review, One Year Later: It's All About Depth

Travis gives this a solid "Rad" on the Ghost Scale

This is fun, with very few issues, and is well worth your time.

Travis gives this a "Rad" on the Ghost Scale

This is fun, with very few issues, and is well worth your time.

(This review does not contain spoilers past what the release announcement discusses. If you want to go in totally blind about new features, please consider skipping this one.)

After the third major update, Atlas Rises, No Man's Sky is what it was meant to be.

A common criticism of the game was that it's as wide as the ocean and as deep as a puddle. I never thought it was that dire, but the depth has improved dramatically. A game with "Mostly Negative" reviews on Steam has achieved "Very Positive" recent reviews for the first time.

So what makes things different now?

First, there's a new main story, separate from the Atlas Path (which has also been tweaked). The fourth... Read All

Azurephile Super Member wrote on 09/05/2017 at 12:52am

I often remembered that depth quote as I played the game, it felt too fitting. However, just as you say, the game got deeper. I liked it to begin with, but some things got old, like trying to scan every fauna on a planet. I don't worry about those scans as much. I like that now there is plenty to do and reasons behind many of them.

I recently deleted the game that I had going and created a new one, mostly because of your warning regarding Atlas Rises and old saved games. I'm ok with it and I think it's a great time to start over from the beginning. I'd still like to be able to use freighters to transport my exocraft to different planets instead of having to build an exobay on planets I want to ride around on. I'd also like to see Nanite Clusters not take up a space in the inventory. Other than that, I can't think of much more I want from this game. I'm not too concerned with multiplayer, but it does sound interesting. Thanks for reporting on that.

In the end, the game has grown quite well in the last year. I think it's a better game now.

Travis Admin Post Author wrote on 09/05/2017 at 02:40am

> I'd also like to see Nanite Clusters not take up a space in the inventory.

Oh man, you and me both. There's still plenty of interface tweaks they could make to make things more comfortable to use, and that's on the top of my list.

Azurephile Super Member wrote on 09/12/2017 at 03:53am

I should try to remember my minor current complaints about the game. I had a bug upon trying to exit my Nomad, I was placed some distance away. I did establish a base, but wasn't happy with the planet, due to the weather and lack of land mass. Luckily, I found a much better planet and moved.

I previously had an issue, when I first tried out the Missions Board. I accepted multiple missions and had trouble finding where I was supposed to go for of them.There was no icon for it on my map. I created a new save since then and decided to accept missions one at a time and haven't run into the issue again.

I have progressed a bit into the story and I can see how deep the game got. It's like they released a somewhat incomplete game. This year they have made a lot of progress in adding some of the finishing touches, especially the story. Really, I think things are a lot more "polished" now.

The game has crashed on me at two or three times recently. Otherwise, it's pretty stable.

GeForce Experience optimizes my AA settings to Ultra-SSAA x4, but the game seems to often change it to something else. I don't even see that setting in-game, the AA options don't include that one. I guess it doesn't matter too much, I'm not sure if I've seen a difference.

Travis Admin Post Author wrote on 09/12/2017 at 01:10pm

Don't use GeForce experience for this one (or like... most games). With NMS they are using old settings. It'll try to "optimize" your game to settings that don't exist.

Azurephile Super Member wrote on 09/12/2017 at 05:24pm

Yeah, that seems to be what it's doing.

I progressed even more into the story. I know the significance of "16" or what it means. I made it to the point where you decide which path to take; Atlas, center, or free exploration. So, I feel like I've gone through the major changes of Atlas Rises and am now back to the game as it was before. I know my old save was about a year old and even after multiple trips through black holes, I don't think I was even close to the center. How about you? Have you made it to the center?

I don't like the new terrain manipulator. I prefer the old one. I tried the new one out, but wasn't successful at it, maybe I need to get more serious with it and figure it out.

I really do like a lot of what they've done to the game in the last year. I might not be able to think of them all at the moment. I do feel like I'm spending a lot less time switching to new ships. After my first ship, I found a really big class B ship and I've had it since. It has a lot of slots, even if I haven't repaired all of them, which is another new feature I like.

Travis Admin Post Author wrote on 09/12/2017 at 08:18pm

What do you mean new terrain manipulator? It was brand new with 1.3. Before that you could chuck grenades to blow up the ground (you still can). Unless I'm not sure what you mean. But I don't love the terrain manipulator. Its charge runs out so fast and it's faster to grenade things to remove ground, and adding ground is tedious.

And yeah I made a mad dash for the center once I felt like I was basically done with 1.0. So you finished the Artemis path, you got the choice at the end. I won't spoil what happens at the center but I will say it's similar to that.

Azurephile Super Member wrote on 09/12/2017 at 11:26pm

Yeah, I miss the grenades and yeah I finished the Artemis path.

Travis Admin Post Author wrote on 09/13/2017 at 02:22am

You still have grenades!

Travis Admin Post Author wrote on 09/13/2017 at 03:17am

To clarify, you may not have them if you've replaced your multitool and didn't install them in the new one. I *think* my first few multi-tools back in the day had them already built but I could be making that up.

But every time I switch I forget to install stuff until I really need it.

Azurephile Super Member wrote on 09/13/2017 at 05:21am

Cool, thanks. I probably just haven't found that tech yet.

AdamPFarnsworth wrote on 09/13/2017 at 04:12pm

I miss the grenades as well! Now that Nanites are a thing, it's take a lot longer to find new tech. It used to be almost every waypoint with buildings had some blueprint in it. It's probably better balanced now, but was much easier before :)

Travis Admin Post Author wrote on 09/13/2017 at 04:13pm

I'd be shocked if you haven't, they have those plans weighted so that you get the tech for the base components early. But, if you've been focusing on Artemis and haven't done a lot of exploring and found those buildings that give you the tech, that could be why.

AdamPFarnsworth wrote on 09/13/2017 at 05:44pm

I'm pretty sure I've not found a grenade blueprint yet (I restarted my game after the newest update). I believe back in the day, you could simply find blueprints everywhere, but now where I used to find blueprints, I'm finding Nanite Clusters, and I don't think to trade them in at the trade stations often, but that seems to be the main source of blueprints now.

Travis Admin Post Author wrote on 09/13/2017 at 07:14pm

Mm yes. It seems like a lot of times those in the space station don't have the basic ones when you need them. "Those buildings that give you tech" should have been more specific: the buildings with NPCs that give you tech.

The outposts and things with NPCs that do a speech check give you the blueprints like they used to. Sometimes you'll only get standing, sometimes credits, but it seems it's the same rotation of blueprints for the ones that do. I got a lot of blueprints that way.

And Nada and Polo still give them to you as well.

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NES Classic Complete: I Have The Box

I've wanted an NES Classic for quite some time and recently picked one up used. It was fortunate that I actually found one but it didn't come with the original box. I know some people immediately discard the boxes when they buy consoles and games but I've been keeping them all for years now. I was going to buy a box online but recently Will got a NES Classic and let me have his box!

Really excited to finally get this and I want to thank Will for hooking me up!

Ark: Survival Evolved Early Access Exit and Second DLC Announced

It’s been two years in the making, but after a few delays, Ark: Survival Evolved has finally come out of Early Access. Since I’ve been following this game’s development from the beginning, I think I’ve been on an interesting journey. Now it’s available on PC and consoles, which gives it a wide audience. Included in this release is the new $60 price tag. Luckily, I paid about half of that during Early Access, but I still think it’s worth it. There is a season pass available, too, which seems to be $30 at the moment.

Ark has always had something to look forward to, especially monthly content updates. Last year, Studio Wildcard announced Ark’s first DLC, Scorched Earth,... Read All It’s been two years in the making, but after a few delays, Ark: Survival Evolved has finally come out of Early Access. Since I’ve been following this game’s development from the beginning, I think I’ve been on an interesting journey. Now it’s available on PC and consoles, which gives it a wide audience. Included in this release is the new $60 price tag. Luckily, I paid about half of that during Early Access, but I still think it’s worth it. There is a season pass available, too, which seems to be $30 at the moment.

Ark has always had something to look forward to, especially monthly content updates. Last year, Studio Wildcard announced Ark’s first DLC, Scorched Earth, for about $20. This drew criticism because the core game was still in Early Access. Ark was originally supposed to exit Early Access last year, about the time of Scorched Earth’s release, but it got delayed.

This year, Stuido Wildcard has announced the second DLC, Aberration. It will cost about $20, without the season pass. Apparently, you’re on a faulty Ark in space and have to survive in extreme environmental hazards such as radiation. There are mutated creatures on this Ark. One such creature is show in the trailer that can fly and camouflage itself, it’s like a flying chameleon. There seems to be a vast underground and caverns. It looks interesting and is due to come out next month.

I’ve spent over 2,300 hours playing Ark. I started out on my own, then got invited to an official server. I met friends in the tribe and enjoyed my time there, but I ended up coming back to the single player game. I’ve been loving it since the beginning and more content is definitely something I look forward to. I remember how exciting it was to get all those new content updates, which were more frequent early on, but slowed down to once a month.

One of the things I’ve been looking forward to most is the game’s optimization. This game helped me learn more about my graphics card, the GTX 690. I learned that it was a dual-GPU card that worked by using SLI. Unfortunately some games are only able to use one of those GPUs, until they become SLI compatible. So, I had to research the game’s various video settings and figure out what would work best. I had to downgrade DirectX to double my frame rate and get some sense of stability, which came at a huge cost to image quality. In the end, I decided to buy a GTX 980 Ti and I finally got to experience those high quality graphics for myself. Optimizations have come, even GeForce Experience has updated and can now optimize the game’s settings based on your hardware. Those settings work well for me, although I had to make a slight adjustment.

Part of what I love most about this game is that it shares some aspects of games I’ve enjoyed in recent years, such as Terraria and Minecraft. You can craft a lot of items, upgrade armor, build, and tame creatures to help you. It can be scary and fun. There is lore or a story, but it’s not extremely apparent or in your face. You can find out about it by finding the various Explorer Notes left around the maps.

If you play online on an official server, it can take a long time to build up and tame creatures, which is why being part of a bigger tribe can be important. But, if you play on an unofficial server or single player mode, you can customize a huge variety of options that can help make your game play more pleasant.

Aberration news source:
https://survivetheark.com/index.php?/articles.html/ark-aberration-expansion-pack-announced-r542/

Ark official launch trailer:
https://youtu.be/5fIAPcVdZO8

Blitzmensch Is Every Nazi's Hero!

I think Bethesda might be the kings and queens of next level video game advertising that border on satirical art. With the recent protests of actual Nazi's in the US (can't believe that shit is real and happening) Wolfenstein II is verging into eerily real territory. In an earlier trailer for Wolf II Nazi's and the KKK stand side by side in an American street as buddies. With all that's happening in the US and the story iD Software wants to tell with Wolfenstein II it's just an interesting intersection where art imitates life but in the words of everyone favorite Nazi hunter BJ Blazkowicz...

"I got kids on the way and i'll be damed if i'm gonna raise them in a world... Read All

Strap In For The Most Technical Explanation of The Game Genie Ever!

Retro Game Mechanics Explained is a YouTube channel that goes over some of the most highly technical explanations of retro games and systems i've ever seen. In the video i've linked above he talks about the Game Genie which I never really thought about but the explanation of how it works makes sense and it's such an elegant solution to the problem I tip my hat to the developers of it. Bit of a warning though, it's highly technical and discusses some pretty low level computer concepts such as registers and op codes.

Enjoy!