Shovel Knight: Shovel of Hope - Episode 3: The Plague Doctor's in

In today's episode of the "Shovel Knight" playthrough, we complete the Explodatorium and check out the armory. While all of the levels in a particular set are about on par in terms of difficulty, there's always one that's a bit harder than the others for one reason or another. However, for completing those levels, the player gets a nice reward, whether in the form of gaining access to a great relic (as seen in the Lich Yard) or access to a nice bonus area (as seen with the Explodatorium, which will be the focus of the next episode). As such, these levels offer a good amount of risk vs. reward- the sooner you complete them, the sooner you gain access to the relic or bonus, which can be used to help you with the other levels, but chances are, if you're playing the game for the first time, you'll find yourself struggling if you start the section off with those stages. To put things into perspective, with the Lich Yard, which is arguably the hardest stage in the first portion of the map, the most difficult parts about it are the weighted platforms, the lightning portions, and the fight against Specter Knight, where the biggest challenge is adapting to his warping and not being to reckless. Meanwhile, with the Explodatorium, the place feels like it has more bottomless pits and flamethrowers than actual ground. Not to mention, the enemies that you encounter here are some of the most annoying in the game- exploding rats, crows that drop explosives from above, and those weird, flying things that can go through walls and pretty much only spawn over bottomless pits. In addition, Plague Knight himself is a step up from the other bosses that you've encountered so far, with him constantly jumping around and throwing projectiles at you, with some of them spawning fire that sweeps along the ground. Though while the Explodatorium's not my favorite level in the game, it'll always hold a special place in my heart because if it wasn't for some horrible drawing of Plague Knight that I posted to Miiverse back when this game first came out, this channel wouldn't exist. Not to mention, the Explodatorium's theme was the first song that I ever truly remixed instead of modifying the tempo and pitch with Audacity.