Info about Crypt of the NecroDancer: Shovel Knight Character DLC:

Official game description:
Delve into the depths of the Crypt of the NecroDancer as the noble Shovel Knight! Use any shovel at hand to spring from enemy to enemy, unearth treasure, and dig shortcuts deeper into the dungeon. Bring every foe to justice... shovel justice!
KEY FEATURES:
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*   Play as Shovel Knight -- attack with Shovel Knight's signature Shovel Drop move, leaping from enemy to enemy and even walls
*   Move in all 8 directions
*   No need for weapons: use stronger shovels to boost your power
*   Create shortcuts to deeper floors by building Shovel Drop combos
*   Dig up Treasure Piles for glorious loot
SONGS INCLUDED IN THE DLC:
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*   La Danse Macabre (Lich Yard) - Jake Kaufman
*   An Underlying Problem (Lost City) - Jake Kaufman
*   In the Halls of the Usurper - Jake Kaufman
*   The Buzz in the Grotto (Troupple Pond) - Jake Kaufman
*   The Betrayer (Enchantress Final) - Jake Kaufman
*   The Defender (Black Knight Battle) - Jake Kaufman
*   Main Theme - Jake Kaufman
*   High Above the Land (Flying Machine) - Jake Kaufman
*   The Rival (Black Knight - First Battle) - Jake Kaufman
*   Flowers of Antimony (Explodatorium) - Manami Matsumae
*   A Thousand Leagues Below (Iron Whale) - Manami Matsumae
*   Strike the Earth! (Plains of Passage) - Jake Kaufman
*   Of Devious Machinations (Clockwork Tower) - Jake Kaufman
*   The Vital Vitriol (Plague Knight) - Jake Kaufman
*   Fighting with All of Our Might - Jake Kaufman

Release date: Oct 30, 2025

Categories: Rhythm Game, Roguelike, Dungeon Crawler, DLC Content, Crossover Content, Guest Character, Soundtrack Addition, Metroidvania


- Hardware Profile: No data
Feature extractions:
- Community Price: No data
- Playtime Metrics:
  - Game completion: N/A
  - Story completion: N/A
  - Session length: N/A
  - Endgame: N/A
  - Reasoning: The only time-related statement is 'Played for two days to clear All Zones Mode,' but it reports elapsed days rather than an hour-based playtime and cannot be reliably converted into hours. The other quotes mention gameplay impressions, difficulty, or enjoyment but provide no completion, story, session, or endgame hour figures. Therefore all playtime metrics are unsupported and set to null.
- Time-to-fun: No data
- Player Archetypes:
  - NecroDancer Veteran Purist (buy)
    - Motivation: Nostalgia for Crypt of the NecroDancer and a desire to experience its characters and music in a new rhythm game.
    - Playstyle: Plays rhythm stages with customized albums, replacing the default BGM with the original Crypt of the NecroDancer soundtrack and using BPM matching for multiplayer.
    - Experience: veteran
    - Purchase stance: buy
    - Labels: old fan of Crypt of the NecroDancer
    - Reference games: Crypt of the NecroDancer
  - Online Co-op Social Player (no buy)
    - Motivation: Playing cooperative runs with friends online, especially using guest characters like Shovel Knight.
    - Playstyle: Organizes online and local co-op sessions, choosing specific characters and expecting full feature parity across modes.
    - Experience: familiar
    - Purchase stance: no buy
    - Labels: N/A
    - Reference games: Shovel Knight


Below are summaries of things people say about the game per category.
Each point is assigned a weight that represents how often it is mentioned across all reviews.
What players like:
- Fun Shovel Knight mechanics (weight 0.97): Shovel Knight's moveset, including bounce attacks, combos, and floor digging, is repeatedly praised as fun and engaging. The character's unique mechanics make him enjoyable to play and master.
- Unique and fresh gameplay (weight 0.73): Shovel Knight introduces a distinct playstyle that changes how the game is approached, with mechanics like riding enemies and digging through floors. Many find it a refreshing and interesting addition to the roster.
- Accessible but deep character (weight 0.61): Shovel Knight is easy to pick up and play, with straightforward controls and high mobility, yet offers depth for mastery. Some note it requires less positioning skill than other characters like Hatsune Miku.
- Great music and collaboration (weight 0.38): The soundtrack, featuring nostalgic Shovel Knight tunes and strong collaboration with VIRT, enhances the experience and excites players. The music is a highlight of the DLC.
- Valuable and cute DLC (weight 0.25): The DLC is considered high quality, affordable, and cute, providing good value for players. It adds enjoyable content without being overpriced.
- Voice acting adds character (weight 0.09): Shovel Knight's voice acting is noted, adding personality to the character and making him more engaging. It contributes to the overall charm.
- Damage from shovel quality (weight 0.09): Players appreciate that damage output is tied to the quality of the shovel, adding a layer of depth. This mechanic is well-received.
- All-zone mode cleared (weight 0.09): Some players have completed the all-zone mode, indicating a challenging but achievable goal. This shows the mode's appeal.

Common complaints:
- Fast music impedes rhythm tracking (weight 0.5): The high BPM and offbeat patterns make it difficult for players to keep the beat, often causing them to lose track and fall behind. This is especially problematic for average players who have little time to react.
- Music tempo increases later zones (weight 0.45): Players report that songs in later zones become progressively faster, with some tracks feeling faster than Death Metal. This tempo increase is noticeable from area 3 onward and peaks in zones 4 and 5.
- Tempo makes game too difficult (weight 0.19): Many players feel the increased tempo raises the overall difficulty, with some only able to reach specific zones due to the speed. The music is often matched by BPM without considering playability, leading to frustration.
- Shovel Knight music hard to get used to (weight 0.18): Some players find Shovel Knight's soundtrack initially difficult to adjust to, particularly because it wasn't slowed down. This adds to the challenge of syncing with the rhythm.
- Character unusable in multiplayer (weight 0.18): The character does not function properly in multiplayer modes, including online co-op, rendering it ineffective for cooperative play.
- Shovel bounce is tricky (weight 0.1): Performing the shovel bounce maneuver is reported to be very tricky, requiring precise timing that is further complicated by the fast music.
- Blood shovel underpowered (weight 0.1): The blood shovel fails to heal or deal significant damage at low health like other blood weapons, making it less viable in combat.
- Troublesome enemies mid-game (weight 0.1): From the mid-game onward, players encounter many enemies that are particularly troublesome, adding to the difficulty curve.
- Weapon range too short (weight 0.1): The weapon range is limited to 1, preventing any long-range attacks and forcing players into close-quarters combat.
- Lack of boss music (weight 0.09): The soundtrack does not include special music during boss encounters, which players find disappointing and detracts from the overall experience.
- Shovel variety could be better (weight 0.09): Players feel that the game could have offered more diversity in shovel types, suggesting that the current selection is limited.

Gameplay feedback:
- Shovel riding combat (weight 0.26): The shovel weapon cannot damage enemies from the front; instead, players ride on top of them. Moving to an adjacent tile while riding deals damage based on the shovel, and chaining rides on adjacent enemies grants +1 attack each time.
- Riding enemies and walls (weight 0.18): Players can ride on enemies and walls, gaining invincibility while riding. This mechanic allows for strategic positioning and traversal.
- Shovel determines attack power (weight 0.18): The damage output of the shovel weapon is directly determined by its quality or strength. Upgrading the shovel increases attack power.
- Floor digging utility (weight 0.18): Floor digging allows destroying traps by landing on them while riding, and creating floor cracks and holes to move to the next floor for speedrunning.
- Wall riding with digging (weight 0.18): Players can ride walls if the shovel is capable of digging them. When not riding, players can dig walls normally.
- Diagonal movement like Diamond (weight 0.17): The character can move diagonally, similar to Diamond, but lacks items 2 and magic 1&2.
- Combo digging special terrain (weight 0.11): Accumulating combos allows players to dig through special terrain that is otherwise impassable.
- Eight-directional movement (weight 0.11): The game features eight-directional movement, allowing for more precise navigation and combat.
- Down-thrust attack (weight 0.1): Players can perform a down-thrust attack on enemies, likely by pressing down while attacking.
- Jumping on enemy heads (weight 0.1): Jumping on enemies' heads deals damage, reminiscent of classic platformers like Mario.
- Combo chains on enemies (weight 0.1): Players can perform combo chains on small enemies, likely for increased damage or score.
- Local co-op support (weight 0.1): Local co-op with the character is possible, enabling multiplayer gameplay.
- Many strategic options (weight 0.1): The game offers many options and things to consider, adding depth to gameplay.
- Stunlock counter ability (weight 0.09): The character has a stunlock counter against enemies, possibly allowing escape from stunlocks.
- Higher BPM songs (weight 0.09): The music features higher BPM songs with less time to think, increasing the pace and challenge.
- Only one weapon type (weight 0.09): Only one weapon type is available, limiting combat variety but focusing on mastery.

Performance notes:
No performancepoints

Recommendations:
- Strong overall player satisfaction (weight 0.31): Multiple reviewers express that the game is heavily worth the purchase, highly recommended, and thoroughly enjoyable. They would buy it again without hesitation.
- Recommended for NecroDancer veterans (weight 0.24): Players who have prior experience with Crypt of the NecroDancer find this game thoroughly enjoyable and worth recommending. The challenge and mechanics resonate strongly with veterans of the original title.
- Swap soundtrack for beginners (weight 0.17): Using the original Crypt of the NecroDancer soundtrack instead of the new album makes the game more approachable for less experienced players. It reduces the initial difficulty spike significantly.
- Demand for continued DLC support (weight 0.09): At least one player explicitly requests that the developers never stop making DLC for this game. This suggests a strong desire for ongoing content updates.

Other player notes:
- Virt soundtrack used for bosses (weight 0.16): The Virt soundtrack is featured during boss fights according to reviewer feedback. This highlights the composer's contribution to the DLC's audio experience.
- Request for more DLC content (weight 0.1): There is a clear request from reviewers for additional DLC content. This indicates strong engagement and a desire for continued support.
- Collaboration DLC includes character and album (weight 0.1): The collaboration DLC bundles both a playable character and an album set. This combined offering provides both gameplay and musical content for players.
- DLC compared to Rift of the NecroDancer (weight 0.09): Reviewers compare this DLC to Rift of the NecroDancer's DLC, which they find overpriced and unimpressive. This comparison suggests value expectations may be higher for the current DLC.
- Boss music features chiptune remixes (weight 0.09): Boss battle music consists of chiptune remix versions according to the feedback. This stylistic choice ties into the retro-inspired aesthetic of the crossover.
- DLC drives original game interest (weight 0.09): The Shovel Knight DLC motivated at least one reviewer to try the original Shovel Knight game. This suggests the collaboration DLC can attract new players to the base title.
- Character requires less positioning skill (weight 0.09): Compared to Hatsune Miku, this crossover character demands less positioning skill. This may make the character more accessible to a broader range of players.
- Virt crossover across both games (weight 0.09): Virt worked on both the Necrodancer remix and Shovel Knight, underlining the crossover nature of this collaboration. This connection reinforces the shared musical identity between the two franchises.
- Cracked floors yield items or gold (weight 0.09): The map contains pre-existing cracked floors that can be dug for items or gold. This hidden interaction adds exploration incentive for players.

Emotions:
- Frustration (weight 0.2): Players struggle to keep up with the fast tempo of Shovel Knight's music, especially from area 3 onward where high BPM leaves no time to think. Songs with wacky BPM and mid-game enemies further complicate rhythm maintenance, making the first level unreadable.
- Fun (weight 0.16): The pogoing and floor digging mechanics provide engaging gameplay, and playing the unique character adds to the enjoyment. Moving around with the character and the overall play style contribute to a fun experience.
- Enjoyment (weight 0.12): Chaining combos on small enemies is satisfying, and the moveset is easy to learn but hard to master. Riding on enemies is fun and easy to understand, adding to the enjoyment.
- Satisfaction (weight 0.08): Players feel satisfied when pulling off the tricky shovel bounce and chaining together shovel hits, rewarding skillful play.
- Disappointment (weight 0.08): The character not working in multiplayer and a friend being unusable in online co-op lead to disappointment.
- Excitement (weight 0.08): VIRT's Shovel Knight BGM and boss soundtrack generate excitement, along with the surprise release on Thursday morning.
- Appreciation (weight 0.08): Players appreciate the unique character that changes how you play the game, as it is easy to handle and fun to play.
- Interest (weight 0.04): The music from the Shovel Knight soundtrack sparks interest in the game.
- Nostalgia (weight 0.04): The Shovel Knight soundtrack evokes nostalgic feelings.
- Caution (weight 0.04): The album increases difficulty due to fast song tempo, prompting caution.
- Liking (weight 0.04): Players like that damage comes from shovel quality, adding a unique mechanic.
- Surprise (weight 0.04): Surprise arises from wondering why the game didn't come out earlier.}