This review contains spoilers
Well, beating King of Cards marks the end of my Shovel Knight marathon (I don't have Dig and I got no interest in playing Showdown). Somehow, these DLC campaigns always found a way to surprise me, so it only feels fitting that this campaign was perhaps the biggest surprise of them all for me. I remember King of Cards got delayed and everyone was a bit disappointed, but now that I've finally played through this one for the first time, it definitely feels like something that needed the delay (not in a bad way); the mode overall feels much meatier in content than the others, with every idea included feeling fully realized. We have come a long way from Plague of Shadows mostly reusing the level design of Shovel of Hope. Admittedly, despite how good this was in my opinion, I did take some extended breaks. I kinda tired myself out of Shovel Knight from beating all these campaigns back-to-back, you know? Still, though, I had a great time with the whole thing, and I really think this was the best possible way to end it.
The gameplay of King of Cards tends to get compared to the Wario Land series a lot. I can kinda see why, since King Knight takes a page out of Wario's book by stealing his shoulder bash. King Knight is no Wario clone, though; this pompous blueblood's shoulder bash will also send him upward and make him start spinning in a drill-like fashion just below him. The spin can be used to hit enemies, dirt blocks, dig up dirt mounds, and be used for certain level gimmicks like spinning through tornados to warp to the next one, and King Knight will keep spinning until he touches the ground. If you bounce off an enemy or obstacle at least once, you can then bash again, which is a trick that gets used a lot in the game's platforming. Its nuts just how much this one mechanic adds to the game's feel; literally all King Knight has (aside from Heirlooms which are basically just Relics from Shovel of Hope again) is this one move in his repertoire, yet the game's combat still feels fun and the level design finds many creative ways to make use of it. That being said, I think this one attack is really where the Wario Land comparisons end. The structure of the game or the level design didn't remind me of the Wario Land series, unlike other indies that homage Wario Land much more blatantly like Pizza Tower, and I just had a marathon playing through all those games (except for Shake It and the one on Virtual Boy) this year. Speaking of the game's structure, this one seems to take more after the typical 2D NES era platformer than the other Shovel Knight campaigns did. Shovel of Hope, Plague of Shadows, and especially Specter of Torment were all more akin to a Mega Man game in structure, consisting of just a few levels that always end in a boss (plus maybe some bonus levels or bonus event fights ala Super Mario Bros. 3), whereas King of Cards actually has several levels - a good chunk of which have no bosses - and three different worlds of sorts. Playing through King of Cards reminded me a lot of playing through a 2D Mario game, especially with all the really awesome mechanics the game was constantly introducing to spice things up. Huge potion vials you need to bash into to shoot out corks you can use as platforms, continually spinning on tiny cannonballs, skating on small ice platforms while avoiding annoying wolves, long worm-like axolotls that move and you need to stand on (they reminded me of that one Battletoads level with the snakes)...there's a lot of really enjoyable and also really difficult mechanics thrown your way very often. I didn't think to check, but I would not be surprised at all if I died at least two times more often here in King of Cards than I did in any other campaign. Also, there's a card game called Joustus that the game pushes in both the narrative and in the game. I don't like card games and I am so grateful that I'm not forced to play this one, although admittedly I don't get why it feels like it had so much focus but you can also just completely ignore it. Most of the NPCs you talk to are folks you can play Joustus with.
Here's the obligatory story section here. In comparison to Specter of Torment, this one tones down both the general story tone and presence of plot by a lot, mostly using dialogue to be witty and funny (which it absolutely succeeded at in my opinion) more than anything else. Still, though, we do get a nice look into things just before the Order of No Quarter came to be. Apparently, everyone was obsessed with a card game called Joustus, trying to compete for the Joustus Crown. King Knight, of course, wants to claim that position for himself, so he sets out on a journey to bulldoze over anyone in his way. He must meet with the three Joustus Judges - King Pridemoor, the Troupple King, and a mysterious Birder King - and defeat them in a match of Joustus...or, well, that's what you'd think, but the game instead has you just fight them as bosses (big relief for me). It was pretty interesting that this gives the only opportunity to fight these minor supporting characters that show up in most of the other campaigns. King Pridemoor and the Troupple King eventually join a sizeable cast of all-new characters to make up King Knight's fleet, all looking to help him get the Joustus Crown for...some reason? I'm gonna be real here, King Knight is so unlikeable that it makes you wonder why anyone would want to help him, but that's something to discuss a bit later. As it turns out, the Joustus Crown is a farce. It was invented by the Enchantress to get all the most powerful kings to show up to her while she's disguised so that she can then reveal herself and take their powers for her own nefarious purposes. King Knight unknowingly falls right for the plan, but he could not care less, in typical King Knight fashion. When she creates a powerful monster out of everyone's life force, he does defeat the monster which returns everyone back to normal. The Enchantress gives him a choice: join her and get a lavish kingdom of your own or join back with your newfound friends (including both kings and King Knight's own mother). In an expected but still tragic act of betrayal, King Knight forsakes everyone and takes the king position he believes he so rightfully deserves...only to be defeated by Shovel Knight right after he gets to sit in the Pridemoor throne in the end credits scene. All in all, the story ain't much, but its really entertaining thanks to the funny writing. I think the best part is King Knight himself. I was worried that the King of Cards story would try too hard to make him sympathetic since it's all about him (and as far as we've seen in the other campaigns this guy takes every opportunity he can to be a trash-talking egotistical moron so it wouldn't feel right to make him sympathetic), but King Knight in King of Cards is a pathetic whiny prick with an ego the size of Jupiter the whole way through and I kinda loved it. He doesn't thank anyone, he doesn't say anything nice to anyone, he just barks orders and talks down to literally everyone he meets. I do wish more characters called him out for it, though; as funny as the guy's interactions are, it feels like everyone just joins him because the story says it should happen. Legitimately I find it hard to believe anyone except his saint of a mother (who he ends up spitting in the face of anyway) would want to associate with this man. He does not have anywhere near enough charisma to be getting away with all that. King Knight also does not take anything that happens in the story seriously, even as the other kings are genuinely trying to give him advice on how to be a good ruler. I found his dynamic with Specter Knight especially humorous; pair a overly serious edge-lord up with a petulant egomaniac and you're bound to get some funny results. While the story isn't much, I still think this was great because of how entertaining it was.
Overall, King of Cards is simply an excellent platformer. Throughout the DLC, it really felt like I understood how Yacht Club Games was improving them more and more, and this definitely feels like the triumphant culmination of Shovel Knight. Now, despite its content and the fact that it is completely different structurally from the other campaigns, I do think Specter of Torment is just a tad better. In my opinion, Specter Knight is much more fun to control than King Knight, and I prefer Specter of Torment's more straightforward short campaign over this more content-rich campaign. I will say that I loved how hard this one goes on making interesting platforming challenges. It seems to focus on that more than any other and pulls it off spectacularly. King of Cards earns a 5 star from me, a great send-off to this great indie going strong from 2014 to 2019.
The gameplay of King of Cards tends to get compared to the Wario Land series a lot. I can kinda see why, since King Knight takes a page out of Wario's book by stealing his shoulder bash. King Knight is no Wario clone, though; this pompous blueblood's shoulder bash will also send him upward and make him start spinning in a drill-like fashion just below him. The spin can be used to hit enemies, dirt blocks, dig up dirt mounds, and be used for certain level gimmicks like spinning through tornados to warp to the next one, and King Knight will keep spinning until he touches the ground. If you bounce off an enemy or obstacle at least once, you can then bash again, which is a trick that gets used a lot in the game's platforming. Its nuts just how much this one mechanic adds to the game's feel; literally all King Knight has (aside from Heirlooms which are basically just Relics from Shovel of Hope again) is this one move in his repertoire, yet the game's combat still feels fun and the level design finds many creative ways to make use of it. That being said, I think this one attack is really where the Wario Land comparisons end. The structure of the game or the level design didn't remind me of the Wario Land series, unlike other indies that homage Wario Land much more blatantly like Pizza Tower, and I just had a marathon playing through all those games (except for Shake It and the one on Virtual Boy) this year. Speaking of the game's structure, this one seems to take more after the typical 2D NES era platformer than the other Shovel Knight campaigns did. Shovel of Hope, Plague of Shadows, and especially Specter of Torment were all more akin to a Mega Man game in structure, consisting of just a few levels that always end in a boss (plus maybe some bonus levels or bonus event fights ala Super Mario Bros. 3), whereas King of Cards actually has several levels - a good chunk of which have no bosses - and three different worlds of sorts. Playing through King of Cards reminded me a lot of playing through a 2D Mario game, especially with all the really awesome mechanics the game was constantly introducing to spice things up. Huge potion vials you need to bash into to shoot out corks you can use as platforms, continually spinning on tiny cannonballs, skating on small ice platforms while avoiding annoying wolves, long worm-like axolotls that move and you need to stand on (they reminded me of that one Battletoads level with the snakes)...there's a lot of really enjoyable and also really difficult mechanics thrown your way very often. I didn't think to check, but I would not be surprised at all if I died at least two times more often here in King of Cards than I did in any other campaign. Also, there's a card game called Joustus that the game pushes in both the narrative and in the game. I don't like card games and I am so grateful that I'm not forced to play this one, although admittedly I don't get why it feels like it had so much focus but you can also just completely ignore it. Most of the NPCs you talk to are folks you can play Joustus with.
Here's the obligatory story section here. In comparison to Specter of Torment, this one tones down both the general story tone and presence of plot by a lot, mostly using dialogue to be witty and funny (which it absolutely succeeded at in my opinion) more than anything else. Still, though, we do get a nice look into things just before the Order of No Quarter came to be. Apparently, everyone was obsessed with a card game called Joustus, trying to compete for the Joustus Crown. King Knight, of course, wants to claim that position for himself, so he sets out on a journey to bulldoze over anyone in his way. He must meet with the three Joustus Judges - King Pridemoor, the Troupple King, and a mysterious Birder King - and defeat them in a match of Joustus...or, well, that's what you'd think, but the game instead has you just fight them as bosses (big relief for me). It was pretty interesting that this gives the only opportunity to fight these minor supporting characters that show up in most of the other campaigns. King Pridemoor and the Troupple King eventually join a sizeable cast of all-new characters to make up King Knight's fleet, all looking to help him get the Joustus Crown for...some reason? I'm gonna be real here, King Knight is so unlikeable that it makes you wonder why anyone would want to help him, but that's something to discuss a bit later. As it turns out, the Joustus Crown is a farce. It was invented by the Enchantress to get all the most powerful kings to show up to her while she's disguised so that she can then reveal herself and take their powers for her own nefarious purposes. King Knight unknowingly falls right for the plan, but he could not care less, in typical King Knight fashion. When she creates a powerful monster out of everyone's life force, he does defeat the monster which returns everyone back to normal. The Enchantress gives him a choice: join her and get a lavish kingdom of your own or join back with your newfound friends (including both kings and King Knight's own mother). In an expected but still tragic act of betrayal, King Knight forsakes everyone and takes the king position he believes he so rightfully deserves...only to be defeated by Shovel Knight right after he gets to sit in the Pridemoor throne in the end credits scene. All in all, the story ain't much, but its really entertaining thanks to the funny writing. I think the best part is King Knight himself. I was worried that the King of Cards story would try too hard to make him sympathetic since it's all about him (and as far as we've seen in the other campaigns this guy takes every opportunity he can to be a trash-talking egotistical moron so it wouldn't feel right to make him sympathetic), but King Knight in King of Cards is a pathetic whiny prick with an ego the size of Jupiter the whole way through and I kinda loved it. He doesn't thank anyone, he doesn't say anything nice to anyone, he just barks orders and talks down to literally everyone he meets. I do wish more characters called him out for it, though; as funny as the guy's interactions are, it feels like everyone just joins him because the story says it should happen. Legitimately I find it hard to believe anyone except his saint of a mother (who he ends up spitting in the face of anyway) would want to associate with this man. He does not have anywhere near enough charisma to be getting away with all that. King Knight also does not take anything that happens in the story seriously, even as the other kings are genuinely trying to give him advice on how to be a good ruler. I found his dynamic with Specter Knight especially humorous; pair a overly serious edge-lord up with a petulant egomaniac and you're bound to get some funny results. While the story isn't much, I still think this was great because of how entertaining it was.
Overall, King of Cards is simply an excellent platformer. Throughout the DLC, it really felt like I understood how Yacht Club Games was improving them more and more, and this definitely feels like the triumphant culmination of Shovel Knight. Now, despite its content and the fact that it is completely different structurally from the other campaigns, I do think Specter of Torment is just a tad better. In my opinion, Specter Knight is much more fun to control than King Knight, and I prefer Specter of Torment's more straightforward short campaign over this more content-rich campaign. I will say that I loved how hard this one goes on making interesting platforming challenges. It seems to focus on that more than any other and pulls it off spectacularly. King of Cards earns a 5 star from me, a great send-off to this great indie going strong from 2014 to 2019.