Shovel Knight: Specter of Torment

Shovel Knight: Specter of Torment is a 2D retro platformer in the Shovel Knight world, set several months before Shovel of Hope and Plague of Shadows, with its own mechanics, levels, and story. Yacht Club’s Mina the Hollower is out, so this is another pass through the Treasure Trove campaigns.

You play the Dreaded Specter Knight under the Enchantress, tasked with recruiting powerful knights into her Order and helping conquer the land. Clear stages, force rivals to submit, and charge a special locket she gave you. Defeat and recruit the eight members and you restore lost humanity and your old life. Between missions you flash back to the life you lost and the path that led here. Can you tighten the Enchantress’s grip and still claw your way back to being human?

Like Plague of Shadows, this campaign runs in the same engine and world with a wholly new playstyle. Movement is the star. Your scythe cuts enemies and terrain; jump near a valid target and you slash through on a diagonal arc, which opens combat and platforming both. Hit something and you bounce with a beat of hangtime to line up the next slice and keep the combo alive. Wall climbing helps set those air slashes, with a limited climb before you drop. Levels are rebuilt around the kit: lanterns for platforming (slime and water variants in specific stages), rails to grind with the scythe. Because this is a prequel, stages look different from their later versions, before the Enchantress locked the Order in place, with remixes of the old themes. Same boss cast, new movesets, so the fights feel like their own game. Instead of a world map, the tower hub is home base for curios, cloaks, and missed health and mana. Curio upgrades are a fun new layer.

Of the Shovel Knight DLC campaigns, Specter of Torment is the best. The new kit is superb. Using the slash for combat and traversal is clean and satisfying. Most stages settle into a fast rhythm of tearing through to the boss. Levels run longer with more checkpoints, so a platforming death is not a long hike back. Fun, challenging, satisfying.

Specter Knight’s story goes deeper. The lighthearted Yacht Club tone is still there, turned down for a more serious mood. Like the catcher sequences in Shovel of Hope, playable flashbacks of how you became Specter Knight add real context. Spaced across the campaign, they start somber: reminiscing with a trusted friend, a sense of yearning. As you learn what actually happened and who Specter blames, tension builds into the finale. Cool addition. It pays off.

I really like this story. Most fleshed out of the campaigns. Personal preference still edges Plague Knight a little, mostly for that ending.

There is a learning curve. Not unapproachable, not impossible, but air-slash timing and direction take reps. Early on you will eat pitfalls. Give it patience. Worth it.