Specter of Torment sheds the whimsy for a more sinister story about sacrifice, death, and the dark side.
Just a heads, up I will be discussing minor spoilers.
When I say dark side, I mean this would’ve probably made for a better story than Anakin’s. Better story or not, they do share certain similarities. For one, Specter of Torment is a prequel to the original Shovel Knight. It covers the events that led to fall of Shield Knight and the rise of the Enchantress and the Order of No Quarter. Our main character in this expansion is Specter Knight and as it turns out, he’s the first member of the Order. How this came to be and why he serves the Enchantress is the mystery of the entire expansion.
When I first heard about Specter of Torment I was excited, just as much as any other Shovel Knight fan would be. I have lovingly played Treasure Trove, the main game, and was absolutely charmed by Plague of Shadows, its first DLC. That said, I had high expectations for Specter of Torment. Yacht Club Games has always managed this beautiful mix of music, pixel charm, and amazing retro style gameplay. Then I heard that I could play it early on the Nintendo Switch and I lost my flippin mind. I had to have it.
Tackling the “Switch” aspect first, there is nothing that the console particularly enhances when it comes to Specter of Torment unfortunately. It’s temporary console exclusivity just seems more like a means to show some Indie love than anything else. Nintendo making a move to bolster its catalog with a great name under its belt. Currently Treasure Trove is available for purchase at $24.99 which comes with all current content and all DLC. On the other hand, you can buy Specter of Torment alone for $9.99, which is what I did. Obviously, prices will vary in your region.
Now I am not going to cover graphics or sound too much. These are aspects that are already phenomenal from the onset because of Shovel Knight, but there was a strange thing I noticed on my Switch. The colors would shift and blur on as you moved across the screen. While not distracting to the point of making it unplayable, it was very noticeable. If this is because of the Switch or because of the game I can’t say until Specter of Torment is released on the PC. Hopefully this gets patched out but that covers the Switch.
When you start up the game everything is as you would expect it to be if you just got done with Treasure Trove. The Specter Knight campaign is there and ready for you. Starting in a customary level we have all learned to love. The Plains serve as a tutorial for you to grasp new mechanics and understand how Specter Knight moves and will take on all platforming challenges in later levels. Unlike Shovel Knight, who could bounce off objects or Plague Knight, who could use potions to make platforms. Specter Knight is far more direct and feels like an utter bad ass.
Specter’s reaper is his primary way to cover large distances by slashing through targets. Targets can be enemies, bubbles, or specific candles that have been placed in levels for this campaign. The angle you approach these objects determines the way you will slash. Basically imagine an X and you have the idea of how the reaper slash mechanic works. Specter can also run up walls a short distance and reach the top of platforms this way.
At first it felt very haphazard to play Specter Knight.
It’s completely different from either of the campaigns, obviously. After an hour or so you do feel more in control but there are still moments that the slashing through targets feels very chaotic and not as precise as you would like it to be. Even in later levels where precision is required it may still take several attempts because you slashed down instead of up. There a couple of item abilities that do alleviate this a bit but you don’t get those until much later in the game.
Speaking of items, I absolutely loved them but they were more or less useless. The reason is that one of the first items you receive is called the Will Skull. The Will Skull is an item that restores a big chunk of hit points in exchange for your Darkness meter. So what is the big deal you ask? Darkness can be gained easily by repetitively hitting enemies or finding it laying around the levels. It takes the entire game and puts it on easy mode. Between this item and Specter’s ability to infinitely slash bounce, I found the bosses extremely easy. I would recommend anyone looking for a real challenge do away with this item.
Specter Knight in general feels very over powered, if this is intended or not I am not sure. Comparatively to the other two playable characters, I never had to come up with a strategy as Specter Knight. I just spammed jump and slash and called it a day. Its by far my biggest gripe with this expansion. That said the items I did love was Judgement Rush which has you flying through the level to the nearest enemy. Shadow Mirror reminded me of Ninja Gaiden(Old SNES) which creates a shadow version of Specter Knight. It’s super cool.
Another key difference in Specter of Torment is your base of operations.
There is no map in this expansion much to my dismay. The Tower of Fate is where you buy items, gain armors and go from level to level. You gain items by collecting Red skulls and trading them in. This is familiar and akin to the Alchemist coins from Plague of Shadows. Vendors are present throughout the Tower of Fate for Specter and it’s business as usual. There are a couple of secrets hidden throughout your base but nothing that blew my mind.
One thing I loved is that the denizens of the tower begin to grow as you add to the order, giving you more insights into the bad guys and some rather fun and silly dialogue. It’s a welcome thing in the rather dark and sad story of Specter Knight. While some will enjoy the more serious tone, I missed the whimsy of the other two character’s campaigns. Then again it’s called Specter of Torment for a reason.
Last but not least is the amount of time I got out of Specter of Torment. I completed the expansion in about five hours total. This to me felt rather short compared to the other characters. Primary reason being that Specter Knight only traverses the tower and levels. There are no town or item challenge levels. The item challenge levels to me by far were the thing I missed the most. Instead, you get this little tutorial every time you buy an item. This and things like the Hall of Champions is missing and it really shows in Specter Knight’s campaign. They cut too much for the sake of getting it out, in my opinion.
Was I expecting too much? Was there too little? I feel like Specter of Torment could’ve been in the oven a bit longer. The tone is fine and cutting the whimsy I can accept, but lack of content is definite. The content that is there, is pretty awesome though and playing as Specter Knight always feels amazing and brutal. Yacht Club’s signature retro graphics, music and sound are, as always, top notch. For that alone, Specter of Torment is a welcome addition. I had an incredible blast during those five hours and don’t regret my purchase. Just wish there was more.
Oh, and Horace’s challenge’s reward, is nothing special. Just an FYI.
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