Book Review: Shovel Knight: Official Design Works

Submitted by  Teoh Yi Chie on  September 17, 2017 - 9:28 pm

Shovel Knight: Official Design Works - 01


I like games that try to be different so that people can have something to remember them by. Shovel Knight has just the fun dose of silliness injected. I mean, a knight with a shovel? Not just that, there's also a Propeller Knight. If that's not enough, there's Propeller Rat, Horse Scholar, Horse Person and Rooster Gent among other characters.

This 184-page paperback artbook is packed with the concept art for the game. You'll get to see character designs, full page illustrations, environments, sprite sheets, plenty of sketches and an interview with Yacht Club Games. Brief captions appear alongside the artworks.

Even though the game is in 8-bit retro aesthetic, the character artworks are beautifully drawn with clean anime style, such as the cover art. The main characters have different poses included. I really enjoyed looking at the more quirky characters. There are also redesigns for Kratos from God of War and Battletoads for their cameo in the game.

This is a fun and enjoyable artbook. Highly recommended to fans of the game.

Shovel Knight: Official Design Works is available at Amazon (US | CA | UK | DE | FR | IT | ES | JP | CN)

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Here are direct links to the book:
Amazon.com | Amazon.ca | Amazon.co.uk | Amazon.de | Amazon.fr | Amazon.it | Amazon.es | Amazon.co.jp | Amazon.cn

Tags
art book reviews
shovel knight
udon entertainment
video game art
yacht club games

Comments

Ish Ot Jr. (not verified) Tue, 19 Sep 2017 - 12:42

I'm just curious: how did you get your hands on this? I pre-ordered it from Amazon on the day it was released, but they told me my order has been delayed and that the book is not yet in production?? :-o

Teoh Yi Chie Tue, 19 Sep 2017 - 17:29

@Ish Ot Jr.
This is a review copy from Udon. Book release dates depends on on the region. Some regions will release the book early, some later. E.g. If the book is printed in Asia, then the book may be released earlier there since it takes more time to ship out of Asia.

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