Happy Saturday people of the internet. This is Game Grind, the place where we dive into the vast and mysterious world of video games. Today I’m going to be raving about the game that has taken up way to much of my life lately.

Shovel Knight: Plague of Shadows 

The latest free DLC for Shovel Knight takes everything that worked in the original game and makes it even more awesome. The game play is faster, the attacks and play style are more customizable, and the characters are even more lovable. Not only does this game stand well on its own, it improves the original game by expanding the Shovel Knight universe and adding more depth to the already bizarre characters.

The main character of this DLC is Plague Knight, a fan favorite boss from the original game. He’s on a quest to create the ultimate potion. To do this he needs to steal the essences of all of the bosses from the original game and the titular Shovel Knight. I’m not quite finished with the game yet, but what exactly the ultimate potion does is never really explained to the player. It is pretty much a mcguffin, but it is not to hard to figure out exactly what the potion is probably going to do.

Helping Plague Knight on his quest is Mona, a minor character from the original game that is also an alchemist. It is pretty clear that these two characters have some chemistry (haha PUN) but it seems like both of them are too unsure of themselves to act on their feelings. Fleshing out the cast is the romantic Hoarse-man Percy, the doting and infatuated Magicist, the weird musically inclined sewer mutant Oolong, and Baz, the derpy guy who’s just trying to fit in.

What I love most about this game is how much it changes while also holding on to the core principles of the original game. Playing the same level as Plague Knight that I played as Shovel Knight, allows me to use my previously gained experience, but also poses new challenges do to how different the playable character is. I also really enjoy how different characters interact with Plague Knight when juxtaposed to how they acted around Shovel Knight. For example, as Plague Knight the guard in the first town I visited would not let me into the town. Which, yeah, that makes total sense. Of course a guard would not let an evil alchemist in a bird mask into his town. Oh, also, you can make Plague Knight dance, which is just……freakin adorable, man.

In short, if you own Shovel Knight, play this new game. If you do not own Shovel Knight, get on that. Then, when your done playing that game, play this DLC. I’ve sincerely enjoyed this game and I imagine that most other people would too.

Alright, that does it for this week’s installment of Game Grind. If you enjoyed this post be sure to like it and leave a comment down below. If you feel so inclined, you can subscribe to BaddaBing BaddaBlog via email in the upper right tab. I would also greatly appreciate it if you liked the official Facebook Page, and followed me on Twitter. I’m @LucasDeRuyter. Have a great Saturday and be sure to come back here tomorrow for Politics, Politalks.

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