Shovel Knight: Specter of Torment and Emotional Storytelling

NES games were a major step ahead from the previous generation. More processing power and higher resolution graphics meant that developers could actually tell stories in their games, and not just rely on a brief blurb in the game’s manual. But by today’s standards, the stories in NES games are lacking. Without cutscenes and the like, there’s only so much emotion you can convey. But developer Yacht Club Games has already shown the level of emotion that can come out of an 8-bit style game that still follows NES traditions, as anyone who has played Shovel Knight can tell you. But if Shovel Knight is a proof of concept, its expansion Specter of Torment is the finished product.

Specter of Torment is actually a prequel to the original game. It has players control Specter Knight, one of the original game’s bosses, as he goes on a quest to gather the infamous Order of No Quarter for the evil Enchantress. There are some changes to the gameplay that come from this too, of course. Specter Knight can run on walls and propel himself diagonally by slashing enemies and objects with his scythe, which means the levels are all completely different and the gameplay changes quite a bit. Fortunately it’s not as jarring a change as the last expansion, though. But while there’s no question that the game is a lot of fun and a worthy follower to the original, it’s the game’s story that really makes it something special.

Through sepia-toned flashbacks, players are given the history of a man named Donovan. A traveling thief and adventurer, he sets off with his friend Luan to the Tower of Fate, where a powerful treasure is said to lie. Donovan and Luan seek this treasure to protect Luan’s young son. But once they reach the tower, Donovan becomes corrupted by his greed. Even when it becomes clear that going after the treasure is too dangerous, Donovan continues on, fighting off Shield Knight and even Luan when they try to stop him.

When the dust settles, Luan is dead, both from his injuries at the hand of Donovan and the collapse of the tower. He is revived as an undead being by the Enchantress, and forced to do her bidding before she will restore his life. But while he plays the role of the obedient servant at first, he also atones for his mistakes.

About halfway through the game, Luan’s son (a character named Reize who appeared in the original game) is corrupted by the Enchantress. Specter Knight does his best to dissuade her, but ultimately he sacrifices his own life and his free will in order to save Reize from becoming another member of the Order of No Quarter. It’s a level of sacrifice that ultimately defines the character, as it’s very different from the selfish treasure hunter we see in the flashbacks.

I won’t go into more detail about the plot because I don’t want to spoil too much. Suffice to say, though, it does an amazing job of turning Specter Knight into the most sympathetic character in the series. That’s made even more impressive by the fact that he was one of hte least sympathetic villains in the original. The backstory is told in playable snippets peppered throughout the game, letting players experience Donovan’s fall directly. As more elements of the plot are revealed, both in the present and through the flashbacks, an immensely tragic story unfolds.

Specter of Torment is a short game, and its storytelling is limited to text and sprites, but it manages a level of emotion that few games can match, even cinematic ones. And it’s not just the fall of Donovan; key parts of the game let us see the downfall of the world as a whole between this game and the original Shovel Knight. For example, in the original, Specter Knight’s stage (the Lich Yard) is a desolate, haunted area in the ruins of a town. In this prequel, the town is alive, and Specter Knight himself is forced to wipe it out. Even the music of the stage is slightly more upbeat
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Yacht Club Games has outdone itself with Specter of Torment, and I can’t wait to see what new depths the next expansion will hold. They have their work cut out for them; the next expansion will be focused on King Knight, who is not a particularly well-liked character. But I have faith in them, and I have a feeling that when all is said and done, they’ll be able to craft something that casts him in a completely new light, just as they did with Specter Knight and Plague Knight. This is especially noteworthy because I don’t think many people came into Shovel Knight, let alone its free expansions, expecting much of a story at all. So if nobody is expecting much from King Knight, I’m confident that Yacht Club will knock our socks off.