All Articles: Shovel Knight: Specter of Torment

Shovel Knight and FAST RMX will be available to download for the Switch on March 3

One of the strangest complaints about Nintendo’s marketing strategy for the Switch has been, “Will the eShop be ready on March 3?” Square Enix announced a launch day digital release for I Am Setsuna a month ago, and Tomorrow Corporation followed that up with a similar announcement for World of Goo, Human Resource Machine, and Little Inferno.

Today, Nintendo added three more titles to the Switch’s launch day lineup of digital titles including Yacht Club’s Shovel Knight: Treasure Trove and Shovel Knight: Specter of Torment, as well as Shin’en Multimedia’s FAST RMX:

  • FAST RMX (Shin’en Multimedia): Challenge your friends to local split-screen competition or take part in online races against players from all over the world. This lightning-fast anti-gravity racer is exclusive to Nintendo Switch.
  • Shovel Knight: Specter of Torment (Yacht Club Games) The latest DLC for the critically acclaimed hit Shovel Knight is a full-featured game starring Specter Knight, one of the enemies from the original game. The massive campaign includes even more content than the last DLC, Plague of Shadows. Shovel Knight: Specter of Torment is exclusive to Nintendo Switch for a limited time.
  • Shovel Knight: Treasure Trove (Yacht Club Games): For Shovel Knight’s biggest fans, Shovel Knight: Treasure Trove includes the original Shovel Knight game, as well as all previously released DLC – even Shovel Knight: Specter of Torment! Shovel Knight: Treasure Trove will be exclusive to Nintendo Switch for a limited time.

In other Nintendo eShop news, the consolemaker has confirmed that they’re won’t be any Virtual Console titles ready on launch day. But they will host a Nindies Showcase on Tuesday, February 28, at 12:00 noon (Eastern Time) to “celebrate many of these upcoming Nindie creations before launch.” Fans can tune in to the livestream at live.nintendo.com to watch.

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Shovel Knight: Specter of Torment is finished; Coming to Switch in March and other platforms in April

Yacht Club Games has announced (via Twitter) that they’ve completed development on Shovel Knight: Specter of Torment, the latest expansion to their NES-inspired platformer, Shovel Knight. The developer expects to launch Specter of Torment first for the Nintendo Switch in March. It’ll later be available as a free update on all other platforms (3DS, PC, PS3, PS4, Vita, Wii U, Xbox One) in April.

The Shovel Knight: Treasure Trove compilation (as well as the Shovel of Hope and Plague of Shadows standalone campaigns) should also be available for the Switch in March, with additional platforms to follow a month later.

Specter Knight’s campaign will actually take place before the events of Shovel Knight, and will depict how The Enchantress was able to recruit the evil Order of No Quarter. If you’re interested in learning how it all went down, Yacht Club Games will be attending this year’s PAX East expo to give fans a taste of Specter of Torment before it launches. The Boston-based convention kicks off on March 10.

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Shovel Knight: Specter of Torment will be released in April

Yacht Club Games has confirmed (via the PlayStation Blog) that Shovel Knight: Specter of Torment will be available in April.

The Specter of Torment expansion will serve as a prequel to the entire Shovel Knight saga, and will actually turn the game into an acrobatic platformer reminiscent of Ninja Gaiden. Body Swap Mode, Two-Player Co-Op, and a Sound Test Mode will also be available as part of the free update.

Fans who want to give Specter of Torment a shot before its Spring debut should find a way to travel down to San Antonio next weekend, because the developer is going to demo the expansion at this year’s PAX South expo.

However, if you’ve never played Shovel Knight before, you’ll be able to dig into the series in a new way this April. New fans will be able to pick up Specter of Torment as a standalone game, and Yacht Club also plans to re-release the original campaign (rechristened Shovel of Hope) and the Plague of Shadows expansions separately as well. Current owners of Shovel Knight will be upgraded to the Treasure Trove bundle, which will also be available in April, and will include access to all future Shovel Knight content.

The Specter of Torment expansion will be available in April for all owners of Shovel Knight on the 3DS, PC, PS3, PS4, Vita, Wii U, and Xbox One.

The standalone re-releases (Shovel Knight: Shovel of Hope, Shovel Knight: Plague of Shadows, and Shovel Knight: Specter of Torment) will also be available in April for the PC, PS4, Xbox One, and Switch.

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Shovel Knight is officially coming to Nintendo Switch; Yacht Club also plans to re-release the expansions as standalone games

Followers of the Code of Shovelry have quite a bit to celebrate today as Yacht Club Games uncovered a massive amount of new information about Shovel Knight on the game’s official site… including confirmation that it’ll be released for the Nintendo Switch.

Yes, the side-scrolling masterpiece will make its way to the Nintendo Switch sometime this year, along with each expansion and all the bonus content like Body Swap Mode and Co-Op Mode. Oh, speaking of Body Swap Mode, it’s finished and will be released alongside the Specter Knight expansion this Spring. And in the spirit of sharing, Co-Op Mode will no longer be exclusive to the Wii U (and the Shovel Knight Amiibo). According to the developer, it will soon be available for all consoles and the PC (but not the 3DS or the Vita) as a free update.

Here’s where it gets interesting.

Shovel Knight’s release structure will soon be undergoing some changes, though Kickstarter backers and other current owners won’t notice anything different. Yacht Club has decided to upgrade the game for current owners to the Shovel Knight: Treasure Trove on all platforms. Available this Spring, the Treasure Trove will include free access to all updates and expansions. But because the expansions have grown beyond being simple character swaps, Yacht Club has decided to raise the price of the Treasure Trove for newcomers once its available. The game’s new price has yet to be announced, but the current $14.99 price (and its promise of free updates and expansions) will remain in place until the Treasure Trove is released.

For everyone who has yet to purchase Shovel Knight (or for those who might want to rebuy the game on a new platform), Yacht Club has decided to split each of the expansions off into its own standalone game. So the original Shovel Knight campaign will receive a new subtitle (Shovel of Hope), and the expansions (Plague of Shadows, Specter of Torment, the King Knight campaign, and Battle Mode) will all be available as individual downloads (and for a lower price) on the PC, PS4, Xbox One, and Switch.

Finally, Yacht Club has begun to think about life after Shovel Knight, and will soon begin work on their “second” game (depending on how you count the Shovel Knight expansions). Writing in a new Q&A, the developer said, “[I]f you want something new outside of Shovel Knight… we have vowed to begin work on a new project this year!”

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Game Awards 2016 Trailer: Shovel Knight: Specter of Torment

During tonight’s Game Awards ceremony, Yacht Club games presented the next DLC update to their wildly popular game, Shovel Knight. The add-on, titled Shovel Knight: Specter of Torment, tells an entirely new story as seen through the eyes of Specter Knight, the first member of The Order of No Quarter. If the Plague of Shadows chapter is any indication, this expansion will breathe new life into the already-addicting retro title.

In a Kickstarter update, Yacht Club promised that players will find “new areas, new music, new enemies, new objects, new boss fights, new weapons, new armors, and way, way more than ever before” in Specter of Torment. They also revealed that the add-on will serve as a prequel to Shovel Knight’s main storyline.

No release date was given, but we should expect to see the update sometime in Spring 2017.

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First Shovel Knight: Specter of Torment trailer will premiere tonight during The Game Awards

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Host Geoff Keighley has promised plenty of surprises for this year’s Game Awards, but another eager developer has spilled the beans on a World Premiere trailer we’ll get a peak at tonight. In a short tweet, Yacht Club Games confirmed they’ll debut a new trailer for their next project during the show:

While it’s possible that Yacht Club will unveil something brand new, the pun-loving developers are most likely referring to Shovel Knight: Specter of Torment with that “reap what we show” line. Specter of Torment will be the second (of three) planned expansions for Shovel Knight, and it’s currently on track for a Spring 2017 launch on the 3DS, PC, PS3, PS4, Vita, Wii U, and Xbox One.

The 2016 Game Awards will be held tonight at 8:30 PM (Eastern Time), and you can watch the show at TheGameAwards.com.

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Shovel Knight: Specter of Torment expansion will be available in Spring 2017

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Yacht Club Games had previously expected to launch the Shovel Knight expansions starring Specter Knight and King Knight by the end of the year. However, that’s no longer in the cards as the release of both add-ons has been pushed into 2017.

But to make up for this scheduling snafu, Yacht Club unveiled an amazing new logo for Specter Knight’s campaign, which is now officially known as Shovel Knight: Specter of Torment. In a blog post on their official website, the developer confirmed the free expansion will be released in Spring 2017 and that it is, “a HUGE game with even more new content than Plague of Shadows.”

Shovel Knight, and the Plague of Shadows expansion, is currently available for the 3DS, PC, PS3, PS4, Vita, Wii U, and Xbox One.

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Yacht Club sails in with an update on Shovel Knight’s Specter Knight campaign

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Yacht Club Games is still toiling away at Shovel Knight‘s heaping helping of post-launch content, and after giving us a quick glimpse at the King Knight campaign a few weeks ago, the developer has returned with an extended profile of Specter Knight’s upcoming adventure.

Using a series of GIFs to illustrate Specter Knight’s moveset on their official website, Yacht Club Games seems to be mining another 8-bit classic, Ninja Gaiden, for inspiration. Specter Knight can slash with his trusty scythe, be he also has a lightning quick dash that can be performed on the ground or in the air. The character’s nimble form will also allow him to wall run to reach greater heights.

Yacht Club Games is developing the add-on campaigns for Specter Knight and King Knight simultaneously, though Specter Knight’s will launch first. The team isn’t ready to talk release dates just yet, but both campaigns will be available for free, alongside the also in-development Body Swap Mode and Battle Mode.

Finally, Yacht Club announced that Shovel Knight will be available on store shelves for the Vita soon. The limited physical version is in production at FanGamer and will be released in early October.

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