Shovel Knight: Treasure Trove (NSP, XCI) ROM + v4.2 Update

The game received critical acclaim, with critics considering it one of the greatest video games ever made. With the release of additional campaigns, the original story received the retronym Shovel of Hope. The full game was released in December 2019 as Shovel Knight: Treasure Trove, which includes three other campaigns Plague of Shadows, Specter of Torment, and King of Cards, along with multiplayer fighting game Shovel Knight Showdown.

A spin-off dungeon crawler puzzle game, Shovel Knight Pocket Dungeon, was co-developed with Vine and released on December 13, 2021, for macOS, Windows, Nintendo Switch, and PlayStation 4. Another spin-off, the roguelike Shovel Knight Dig, was co-developed with Nitrome and released on September 23, 2022, for Windows, Nintendo Switch, and Apple Arcade.

GAMEPLAY

Shovel Knight is a 2D side-scrolling platform game with an 8-bit graphical style. In the base campaign retroactively titled Shovel of Hope, players control the eponymous adventurer as he goes on a journey to rescue his partner Shield Knight while fighting the Enchantress and her Order of No Quarter. Shovel Knight can attack with his shovel, dig through dirt blocks, unearth treasure, or use this tool to bounce upon enemies and objects.

Levels are themed around the individual knights of the Order of No Quarter, feature several checkpoints, and end with a boss fight against one of the order’s eight members. Each section of the world map contains three knights, and the player must defeat all of them to progress to the next area. Aside from the main quest, players are encouraged to collect treasure inside levels to improve Shovel Knight’s abilities.

By finding a salesman named Chester hidden inside levels, the player can purchase items called Relics with treasure. These Relics provide helpful effects and are powered using a resource called magic. Examples of Relics include a magical locket that grants temporary invulnerability, or a wand that shoots fireballs. The player can further use the treasure to buy useful upgrades for Shovel Knight’s health, magic capacity, armor, or shovel. For example, an upgrade for the shovel allows it to shoot out damaging projectiles whenever Shovel Knight is at maximum hit points. Some levels contain hidden music sheets that the player can grant to a non-player character called the bard; trading these sheets awards the player treasure and the ability to sound test each of the game’s music tracks.

Dying in Shovel Knight will cause the player to a portion of their treasure at the location of death, and the player can return to this location to recover their lost gold. However, if the player dies again before claiming this treasure, it is lost forever. As an optional challenge, players have the choice of destroying checkpoints to be awarded treasure, at the risk of being sent back to an earlier location in the level should they die. Completing the game unlocks a more difficult New Game Plus mode, which reduces the number of available checkpoints and increases the damage Shovel Knight takes.

PLOT

Shovel Knight and his partner Shield Knight are renowned and successful adventurers, but while exploring the Tower of Fate, an amulet curses Shield Knight and leaves Shovel Knight stranded outside of the sealed tower. Grieving for his friend, Shovel Knight gives up adventuring and goes into self-imposed exile. During his absence, a powerful being known as the Enchantress rises to power, spreading evil across the land. Upon hearing that the Enchantress has unsealed the Tower of Fate, Shovel Knight resolves to journey back to it, hoping to find and rescue Shield Knight. To reach the tower, Shovel Knight confronts and defeats the members of the Order of No Quarter, a group of knights serving the Enchantress.

Along his journey toward the Tower of Fate, Shovel Knight continuously battles with his old rival Black Knight. After he defeats Black Knight for a final time at the outskirts of the tower, Black Knight reveals that the Enchantress is Shield Knight, who is possessed by an evil spirit that inhabits the amulet. Shovel Knight ascends the tower and defeats the Order of No Quarter again, before battling the Enchantress. He manages to exorcise the evil spirit, turning her back into Shield Knight.

The amulet transforms into a powerful monster known as the Remnant of Fate, which Shovel Knight and Shield Knight defeat together. Shield Knight holds back the Remnant of Fate as the tower collapses, while Black Knight carries an unconscious Shovel Knight to safety. He leaves Shovel Knight by his campfire and departs. A post-credits scene shows Shield Knight, who managed to escape the collapsing tower, lying next to Shovel Knight as he sleeps.