Plague of Shadows is terrible

[macmac]

Hey!

I just finished King of Cards, which was incredibly awesome. I also loved how you could cheat if you weren't really into the card game.

So now I'm replaying the game and I started out with Plague of Shadows but it's.. man.. it's such an abysmal experience. I'd much rather have my ballsack removed with a rusty razor. What were the devs thinking? Did they even playtest the game?

First off, why is there no designated button to boost around? Then, the levels. I mean it's okay to use the same levels as it is kinda interesting to play through them from a different perspective, but you immediately see how the levels weren't designed to play as the plague knight.

Then, the upgrades. There's so few of them. And none really make a big difference as to making you more powerful, they simply change how you can play the game.

And let's talk about the enemies. The most simple enemies become a huge hazard because you can only throw stuff. And the pushback when you get hit is waaaay to huge. I actually died thrice on the very first level because of this. Bosses are actually the easiest enemies in the game.

In my opinion, this needs some work so people can enjoy it. Back then, Plague of Shadows was the reason I uninstalled the game. And now I will do so again.

[Desticler]

This. I may not like Shovel of Hope but at least I can play it and still have some fun, Plague of Shadows however - I can't have fun for reasons you listed.

[Paranoia]

Different strokes for different folks.

For me personally, Plague knight's campaign is hands down the best of the lot. His moveset is my favorite, as you can blast through any level at breakneck speeds like a madman once you get used to his mobility options. The fact that the bombs are customizable is pretty great too.

Agreed on the lack of a dedicated button for boosting, though.

[Tat011]

Plague of shadows recicles so much from the main game it's unbearable, you can count with your fingers the things that are not the same. his move set is really good but since the levels are designed for a completely diferent character you are barely required to actually get good at it. bosses are the same as in shovel knight with only 2 actually unique ones and since the bosses are designed for another character the difficulty is all over the place, some late game bosses are a joke and some early game ones are ridiculusly hard. the story is the same as shovel knight but replacing shield knight with a potion (so even more boring) and it's not even cannon since it conflicts with the events of the main game. Plague knights character is just one liners that try to be funny by being random so he manages to be even more boring than shovel knights character.

Originally posted by SergioPM:

For me it's an outstanding DLC with a fast-paced, OP when you get the hang of it, unique moveset revisiting the levels of the more conventional Shovel of Hope.
it just simply didn't click with you and may be too difficult for your current skills (git gud) but stop whining like a baby...

You disagree with OP so you claim he's bad at the game and say he is whining? i don't think he's the one whining here...

[UNCLEWOKIAN DANEBOT MIND-VIRUS]

greatly agreeing with op here on the level design aspect. very missed opportunity especially for one of the very few, if only characters who can jump so far

[The Snopingasusual]

for me my main issue with this dlc are the bosses. Because you can spam projecile on them, they became incredibly easy. They fixed that on Specter of Torment because each boss has changed depending of new Specter movement mechanics. It's not the case for Plage.

[geraq]

I agree with the OP, Plague of Shadows is really disappointing as it is just a rehashing of the original (which is great, I can't understand how could anyone dislike it) with terrible controls. Spectre of Torment is superior in every single aspect.

[Dude Guyman]

Originally posted by iddqd:

The most simple enemies become a huge hazard because you can only throw stuff.

Are you throwing bombs on the ground? You should pretty much always be throwing bombs while in the air- it's like shovel knight's pogo jump, it keeps you out of range of most attacks and is the safest and best option whenever possible. Also, if you're a filthy casual that wants to take easy street to getting gud (like me), always use the float jump. The other jumps are more powerful and are faster but the float jump is by far the easiest and safest to use. When you combine it with the vat in the air that you get later, you basically become immune to pits and spikes, and knockback shouldn't be an issue since you should always be throwing bombs while jumping so that you're out of range of enemies.

Originally posted by iddqd:

Then, the upgrades. There's so few of them. And none really make a big difference as to making you more powerful, they simply change how you can play the game.

Plague knight isn't really about 'upgrades' since all of his bombs are extremely conditional. You should be switching the kind of bomb you're throwing nearly constantly. Is an enemy above you? Float casing or lob casing. Is the enemy moving erratically? Proximity fuse. Is the enemy tough? Cluster bomb, or the flame bomb. Are there a bunch of enemies all at once? Component bombs. Seemingly useless upgrades like drop casing and impact fuse can be extremely useful in certain situations, once you've experimented a bit. So, once you have all the bomb upgrades, there's always the perfect bomb for every possible situation, you just need to be creative.

Originally posted by iddqd:

Then, the levels. I mean it's okay to use the same levels as it is kinda interesting to play through them from a different perspective, but you immediately see how the levels weren't designed to play as the plague knight.

You're right, and that's part of the fun. When you have float jump and the vat trinket, the game becomes completely broken and it's like you're god. You can easily just skip entire sections that poor dumb shovel idiot had to pogo through.

[IMPERSONATED_STAFF]

I love Plague's campaign. However it doesn't have the same mind set as the other games in Treasure Trove. While all the other playable knights a have sharp and crisp design philosophies, Plague does not. Shovel Knight pogos and reflects projectiles. Specter dive kicks and wall runs. King dashes and bounces off surfaces.

Plague chucks bombs. And his health is way different. He's got a triple jumps too. Oh and those bombs have three layers of customization to them. His resource regenerates, unlike everyone else. Its just this grab bag of concepts that screams “inventive alchemist” but doesn't fit into the simple play style of the other games. In Plague you constantly have to switch back and forth between bombs as well as items to take advantage of the environment and enemy positions. It's just a lot of tabbing in and out of the menu screen and the flow of the game is interrupted to do this. There are solutions, like allocating different bomb combinations to the up and down buttons (and more), but that's not what this thread is about.

The opening stage doesn't help either, as some jumps are tough when getting to know how the bomb jump feature works and how that interacts with Plague's double jump, bombs, and items.

While I think Plague's campaign is cool and a delight to play it is clunky and chunky- and that's a major turn off for some players. I hope Yacht Club comes back to the "weapon customization" idea to expand and smooth it out in a future game.

[Shucks]

Plague of shadows is by far the best one.. the movement in it is incredible and it has a ton of gameplay options. I absolutely love it.

Thebombs jumps are fun to master and it was by far the easiest one to beat in an hour and a half.

[richie_bireley]

I agree with impersonated stuff. They could redo Plague Knight's campaign in the form of making one for Mona. She could just focus on throwing potions. I didn't consider her as a viable campaign protagonist until now.

A lot of the showdown roster would make for good campaigns. Dark Knight could make for a good rehash of Shovel Knight's playstyle in the distant future.

[HeraldOfOpera]

Remember: far less time was spent on Plague of Shadows than on the other expansions or the original game, and it shows. That said, Shovel of Hope was the last of the campaigns I managed to finish because Shovel Knight has objectively the worst tools for platforming by a mile. There are actually quite a few minor changes that would have made the stages impossible for Shovel but are helpful for Plague, like removing basically every bubble that didn't come from a Dozedrake. Plague Knights mobility and attacks are weird and different, but once you take the time to learn them properly you'll find that they aren't bad; he's the only character whose mobility never requires enemies to be present, and he's probably the best in the game at making sure that they aren't.

Originally posted by richie_bireley:

I agree with impersonated stuff. They could redo Plague Knight's campaign in the form of making one for Mona. She could just focus on throwing potions. I didn't consider her as a viable campaign protagonist until now.

A lot of the showdown roster would make for good campaigns. Dark Knight could make for a good rehash of Shovel Knight's playstyle in the distant future.

Honestly, just having a "Plague of Shadows Remastered" that gives it the same amount of development time as the other campaigns would be enough. Just giving him the Specter of Torment versions of the bosses would be a start; Specter Knight can get an inverted version of his KoC rematch where he starts as his original SoH version and then uses the actually-more-difficult player emulation as a second phase. (Seriously, did anyone else notice that that fight is basically a redux of the PoS Shovel Knight battle, with him using items he shouldn't even have yet and using them very effectively?)

[Hotel Security]

I just think the added knockback on Plague Knight really turned people off. It can lead to a lot of frustrations. I know there's armor to reduce it but it seemed like a bit too much, especially with how volatile his movements can be.

At the same time I loved some aspects like hovering while firing and the awesome variety of weapons you can switch. The game has a lot of cool ideas.

And, yes, it was the "earliest" so it definitely isn't as polished as the other two. I'm okay with that given that Cards and Spectre were so great.

[Business Lemur]

I was incredibly frustrated with Plague of Shadows. I played Shovel of Hope and the Spectre Knight one first. I loved both games, Shovel of hope is great. Spectre is just amazing to play as, It handles amazing, The jumping puzzles and challenges feel amazing even if you miss and die and the rail parts are incredibly fun. On top of that the story and the characters are well developed and you get hooked right from the start.
Plague of Shadows was the opposite. Plague Knight handles terrible, it feels sluggish and you are never sure how high or how low you can jump, which is a big thing when every single stage is design with accuracy and timing in mind. The charge jump is fine but is the same button as the attack, which means that in some cases you need to be extra careful or you'll end up blowing up something important (like the floor or a boulder you needed for later). It also means you have to plan your jumps two screens ahead because, unless you already had the special jump charged up, you are more likely than not going to fall in a pit and die. On top of that the plot is kinda silly, which would be fine if the gameplay was fun or engaging, but after dying 5 times in the same spot you just give up.

[klader3000]

I have to disagree.
At first i was frustrated with how different plague knight plays from shovel knight but once I got acquainted to his move set, he is quite enjoyable character to play with.

[Tat011]

The last comment was made in january, can we not necro this?