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Nuvendil on 04 April 2015
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spemanig said:
Nuvendil said:

Well, with the theme of gaming history, having a representative for indies in general would make sense given their rapid growth in the industry.  Shovel Knight is a good fit for that position.  He's not the *only* one that could fit that position, but I think he would fit right in with the cast quite well.


But why? How does he represent any part of gaming history? Shovel Knight isn't the only indie game. It isn't the most important indie game. It isn't the first Nintendo indie game. It was only a timed console-exclusive. There was only one game. It wasn't the first successful kickstarted indie game. It was only released a year ago.

Shovel Knight might be a good game, and he might "fit in" design-wise, but there's no good reason he should be in the game when you consider his pedigree. People are applying first party selection logic to third party characters. Megaman was iconic to the NES, the console that saved gaming in the US, and kickstarted Nintendo's gaming carrier. Shovel Knight has nothing on that and, to me, only 3rd party characters with that kind of importance deserve to get in.

I would say he is one of the more recognizable indie characters in gaming right now.  I mean, Shovel Knight got a lot of mainstream praise and attention compared to other indies.  I think that's a legitimate reason he would be fitting.  I mean yes, there are older indies and bigger indies that are full franchises.  However, Shovel Knight is one of the first I've seen that was just covered by what seemed like everyone.  So I would say that in a way, he is a good icon of the recent indie rise to more mainstream status.  There are other indies that could be considered, but I think Shovel Knight's recognizability makes him quite a nice fit. 

And like I said, I was thinking of him as being a rep for indies in general, which I think is a cool idea.  For 3rd party characters in general, yes there are other worthy candidates.