Shovel Knight Developers React to 42 Minute Speedrun

Yacht Club Games' Sean Velasco and Nick Wozniak are no stranger to Shovel Knight speedruns. Even still, it seems that speedrunner Applesauc still had a few tricks they've yet to see.
Check out more from Applesauc here:
/ applesauc_
/ aapplesauc
/ @applesauc_
#ign

[@MrToxicB1izzard]

Doesn't the guy who created "Devs react to speedrun's" back hurt from carrying this channel so hard?

[@TheMrpendertuga]

Lol exactly, only redeeming thing here

[@RepublicOfUs]

Nah, they just watched the one that Double Fine did years ago. Not complaining; I love having more videos like this to watch.

[@boringsupernova4836]

Yeah, he actually broke 3 vertebrae, and is now paralyzed from the waist down 😞

[@deleted4913]

@@boringsupernova4836 fr?

[@christomanci]

@@deleted4913 yes

[@RaiOuArt]

"We knew about this skip and decided to keep it in" "For the quick kill on Black Knight, we didn't want it to be annoying" Yacht club is proving again to be my favorite devs

[@hankpeterschmidt8626]

42:34 Oh, come on, you're not even gonna use Shield Knight? That's the whole point of the GAME!

[@toto_feather8732]

I'm confident enough to assume that "devs reacting to speedruns" honestly made the channel really popular again ^^

[@M0torsagmannen]

it is legit the only thing i watch here, and i watched all of them so far.

[@FraserSouris]

Their reviews get several times more views

[@SevenQs]

Trygator Yeah I have no clue what else is posted on ign I got recommended a devs react video and have been binging the playlist

[@andrewmurphy5310]

After a day it 60k views which is not that much especially as they 13M subs

[@ShouldOfStudiedForTheTest]

@@FraserSouris Really? The Outer Worlds speedrun reaction got over 8 million views.

[@joshcanfield8906]

these are some of the most wholesome and appreciative devs. really neat to hear their enjoyment in watching this.

[@dibsuperb0t463]

Josh Canfield and then theres Todd Howard lol

[@carbonbeaker409]

Along with doom eternal devs

[@jinkisaragi874]

These guys are exactly how i thought they would be from playing the game.

[@garrettk7166]

@@carbonbeaker409 The Doom Eternal devs definitely enjoyed seeing Xamide destroy their game.

[@MercuryA2000]

@@garrettk7166 I felt like it hurt their pride just a bit watching all the things they didn't fix, but they still enjoyed watching it. Might just be me projecting though.

[@unseenasymptote4976]

The best thing about this run is that it’s labeled “first time blind playthrough”

[@lethauntic]

same I was hoping that they would notice it, but it got a chuckle out of me nonetheless.

[@areeb9789]

what does that mean?

[@unseenasymptote4976]

Areeb This is a speed run, so obviously he’s played this game many times in order to learn and optimize it. By labeling it “first time blind play through,” he’s saying that it’s his first time playing the game and that he’s never seen gameplay before

[@Sjnaka]

@@unseenasymptote4976 how can he play the game and then didn't play the game? what? I thought it means like random seed now I'm more confused...

[@DukeOfJam7591]

@@Sjnaka Its either something he forgot to remove from a previous stream or its a joke

[@Gohrek]

""Oh come on you aren't even gonna use Shield Knight? That's the whole point of the GAAME!!!"

[@hankpeterschmidt8626]

42:34

[@hankpeterschmidt8626]

"She's your friend!"

[@bensoncheung2801]

He punched the remnant's face off with those knuckle dusters!

[@gregjenkins8120]

The initial appeal of the series might be to see developers, who may have never seen a speedrun before, react to game breaking glitches and perfect executions. But, I'm also loving when developers really _get_ speedruns like these devs do. It's fun when they end up discussing and appreciating the strategies and the decision making of the runners.

[@SebiBubble]

It's 2020, you cannot be a game developer and don't know that speedruns exist or have never seen one. 99% of developers know that speedruns and exist and have already seen one - maybe just not about their own game

[@draaxus2969]

And then there's the Doom Eternal devs, who in their video tried to tell speedrunners that beating the whole game as fast as possible the way it was intended would be more impressive. I love Doom but I instantly clicked off of that video when I heard that. Edit: I get it guys, I was a bit too quick to judge them based off of one sentence early in the video. I've since watched the whole video.

[@garrettk7166]

@@draaxus2969 They warmed up to his speedrun shortly after that. It's worth watching the rest of the video. I do agree that it wasn't the best sentence for them to say.

[@Morkelfan]

@@draaxus2969 It's a great vid and they are funny devs. I encourage you to just ignore that sentence and watch the rest of it.

[@draaxus2969]

@@Morkelfan eh alright. Fair enough.

[@thisiszisan]

It's great to hear how one of the developers constantly giggling. His laugh is so contagious and feels so innocent

[@williamhernandez2531]

Md Mamun Kaiser Zisan dude right?! Lol it’s so oddly sweet

[@SCORP1ONF1RE]

I honestly could not stand it

[@gman6055]

Dunno, wasn't keen myself

[@alkaupadhyay7650]

Like this:- (Plague knight) Hee Hee Hee

[@btlckr]

Almost like Butthead

[@KiKiStarling]

Appreciate IGN taking the feedback and cutting back the teaser at the beginning. Definitely felt better.

[@tyrannicalthesaurus4672]

As a speedrunner myself, hearing devs talk so appreciatively abput speedrunning as a whole is incredibly touching. I like that many devs (like the celeste devs) are incredibly supportive of their speedrun communities.

[@Agent-ic1pe]

Normal people: "the past tense of speedrun is speedrunned or speedran" *SPEDRUN*

[@arcaneghost2459]

Agent 008 this has me howling with laughter LOL

[@zekeram129]

*S P E D R A N*

[@insertsomethingrelatable2494]

@@zekeram129 spedrannnd

[@Hoodlet]

I like how all the dreams are just optimally dying

[@NOGINT]

Imagine being the holder of this speedrun. You knocked it out of the park, pulled off so many stunts and have succesfully gotten through the game quicker than anyone else Other speedrunners seeing that one death in Propeller Knight's level: MOVE IN FOR THE KILL

[@McGeet]

it has already been killed

[@NOGINT]

@@McGeet Tragic

[@andychua2766]

First time blind play through

[@LilShrimp01]

Watching a speedrunner absolutely destroy bosses you had trouble with before is so satisfying, looking at you Hollow Knight.

[@3ngag3]

What's great about this is that the Yacht Club devs were into the speedrunning aspect of the game very early on, so much so to the point where a lot of patches for the game involved removing certain aspects of RNG (map enounters, primarily) making the speedrun go much faster.

[@Dinguskhan5003]

Shield knight: my parents aren’t home Shovel knight:

[@Showsni]

Imagine getting world record on a first time blind playthrough.

[@ColloseusXReturns]

definitely not a first time blind playthrough

[@McGeet]

@@ColloseusXReturns imagine missing the joke by THAT much

[@nepunepu5894]

@@McGeet missthejoke%

[@alephnole7009]

Well when a game is new I'm sure that technically happens often.

[@enchantedorange3141]

@@ColloseusXReturns Man got ratio'd by 103 likes

[@-TheFacelessGamer-]

I love how the devs are like we knew that skip was there but kept it in because it was cool. I love that they have the mind set that these skips are for dedicated fans who want to beat the game as fast as possible and not want to make sure it's flawless.

[@gmoddude12]

If i was a developer i would probably look at stuff like this and go Is this bug/skip a somewhat easy thing to do that could happen for regular or casual gamers ? In that case we might need to check on it so they dont get bummed out over something breaking or not working the Way it should Or is it something that takes time and dedikation to pull off ? In which case we Can leave it in since only people actively looking for it Will come across it I feel like thats how devs like these might look at breaks or skips in their game since there is no reason to fix something if only a small part of the community is gonna find it

[@Edd_Harr]

42:42 "we built in so many things to make it impossible to stay up there." _glances at Propeller Dagger_

[@turtlelover1477]

Next video idea: IGN's employees react to how the Dev's react serie single-handedly safe the whole company's reputation

[@Drexix]

I think IGN content is best when their employees have no hand in it

[@5000Seabass]

ArtificialAndrew when only their game loving employees have a hand in it. And go solely off of their love for the hobby instead of trying to create in wanted drama for attention

[@JK-gm6kk]

When companies exist like whichever one that made that terrible pc build video, the bar is set pretty low

[@thuperkris]

I love how they appreciate the hard work that goes into speed running their own game

[@enderteimant740]

The Devs should have said before starting the speedrun : "Let's dig in!"

[@hugiehun1392]

At least they did around the start

[@DrPepper776]

ya they did say it at the start

[@ToyokaX]

When the devs talk about that Bionic Commando: Rearmed speedrun glitch at 26:40, I just think of PJ's runs of BC:R. I'm glad they think about things like that hahahaha

[@M0torsagmannen]

i am pretty sure that is the run they talked about, hypemode engaged! PJ is my favourite speedrunner, always great commentary. defintiely recommend people to check out his GDQ runs

[@vir042]

@@M0torsagmannen Same, PJ is always so damn entertaining to watch. PJ and mario-romhacks are the only runs I 100% cant miss every gdq. I of course watch a lot more but yeah you know, some things you just cant miss :)

[@Drakshl]

The Devs being so speedrun concious is amazing. Lovely to see them supporting the community with QoL changes for runners

[@sliceofsparta8985]

These devs have the perfect balance of awe, appreciation, technical input/explanation, game history and humor. One of my favorites!

[@skyroreacts5986]

Great video!! really hope we get an Ori and the Will of the Wisps speedrun dev react soon

[@m1n1m00se]

The longer this video goes on the more insane that guys laugh becomes

[@normalrachael]

wonderful series. Keep up these videos, they're a treat

[@andrewpowell2730]

I love it when Devs enjoy watching people crush their games and appreciate how much most speedrunners love the games they run.

[@Heartache2491]

I learned so many things watching this. Like the 1st level skip and the Tinker Knight one shot thing. So cool!

[@lucentlacuna]

I absolutely adore the Devs React to Speedruns. Keep it up!

[@castlesandwich]

Love these speedrun vids. Thanks!

[@rosejuliette9180]

I feel like these are the goodest of guys for supporting their fans. I can't wait for their next projects.

[@OscarGeronimo]

I always love seeing the developers like "I mean, I know WE made it do this... but how did he took it this far?"

[@andysmallz407]

Can’t believe that was his first time blind play through. So much talent

[@ssbuds3804]

the devs made me smile and its been a while. thanks for the content guys

[@MidnightSt]

the "big deal" meaning of "getting decimated" comes from the fact that it was a punishment that roman legions got for failing important task - the commander would make the legion stand in one line, walk along the line, and pick every tenth soldier he walked by, and then all those picked ones would be executed.

[@Czesnek]

Developers react to TAS speedruns.

[@blazen123]

yeah i was wondering how come this wasn't done already

[@destinyvoltaire]

"Tool Assisted Speedrun Speedruns"

[@Czesnek]

TAS also means "Tool Assisted Superplay"

[@krobusstardew4139]

If you can manage, do you think next time it can be these same devs reacting to the Plague of shadows speedrun instead? I think there are a lot more things to see with that one.

[@Fresh_Knight]

Just have them react to all 4 campaigns

[@krobusstardew4139]

@@Fresh_Knight That would be cool, but plague of shadows has the best-looking speedrun.

[@Fresh_Knight]

bob shadowblade Eh I like SoT more tbh

[@Shalakor]

No, they should do King of Cards 100% speedrun if they do even just one more of these. I could really stand to hear them talk for 2 hours straight.

[@claiminglight]

It's so nice to listen to people who make games AND *like them*. This was great. Great run, too.

[@djt3rrv875]

Thank you IGN for listening to all of your subscribers and adding more quality content to this series! This is my favorite series on your channel. Thank you!

[@bencolter1117]

Honestly love these videos. Devs react to speed runs is amazing

[@maxidiaz0889]

Thanks IGN for these series!!! They are the best!!! You earned a new subscriber and im sure that many more think alike.

[@saikeshi]

Its great that these devs were fans of speed runs in general and had a lot of general knowledge about it.

[@Vorundor]

I love these Devs React to Speed Runs. More Please!

[@theduhj]

You knew that the shovel knight devs were gonna be more giddy about this. Tis the beauty for being a gamer making games vs a corporation of programmers making games. Their attitudes towards speedrunners is almost universally positive and appreciative of the effort they know that goes behind speedrunning.

[@jaymann6047]

Love these developer reacts videos

[@riquta44]

21:57 Clip from the Intro.

[@vent9409]

ty

[@gameblast5696]

Hello from 2090

[@RainbowDemon]

One of the things I’m excited for as a game arts major is to one day help create a game and watch the speeedruns.

[@williamhernandez2531]

The one developer that keeps giggling sounded so familiar and I finally realized, he sounds like Bert Kreicher

[@OFNDKing]

Great comedian

[@Pateeboy95]

Is it possible to get a video like this with the devs reacting but the speedrunner also being in the chat so they could ask eachother questions etc ? I think that would be a amazing video

[@joshuastein1888]

making polar knight one of the first 4 because of the instant kill spikes is the definition of fun-first and polish. Most people will never find out.. Love you guys so much

[@marvinthemartian2001]

This is a great series, great job IGN!

[@santawarrior9]

I really like this series. Keep it up IGN!

[@buzzbuzzluke]

19:20 I am SO happy to hear someone who knows the proper definition of decimate :) Maybe people confuse "decimate" for "devastate"? I wonder where the misunderstanding of that word originates!

[@seabassthegamer6644]

Another comment said it was related to a punishment for Roman legions. Supposedly, upon failing an important task, the legion would line up and every 10th person would be killed.

[@MrGermanpiano]

Would be cool to have the speedrunner as guest too so that he can answer questions of the devs

[@iMarzie]

This is easily the best reaction on this series.

[@gaiathegoddess3104]

I missed the first day this come out jesus 😔 Anyway please do more Dev React Speedrun. Many of us here waiting

[@maddoxgrechenig2365]

I really love shovel knight's ending, they didn't think that "a tragic ending would be better" like A LOT of other games that do so just because, it's really rare to see stories with happy ending that become so popular

[@Koogai]

i wish i could experience as much serotonin as this man

[@tbektas]

This series needs its own playlist man

[@bwaindead5539]

This is my favorite series on the internet

[@Raminator243]

It's amazing how Yacht club took speedrunning into consideration!

[@juanescarcena]

It's soooo cool that they made this gamr thinking of speedrunner and ways to help them go faster

[@poltergijstt]

They've made such a masterpiece

[@ExceederDj]

I love Shovel Knight and I love Super Metroid, this was a great watch!

[@ss11111ss]

there is so much zelda and mario influence in this game

[@EX0ART]

And mega man

[@Smoove_J]

@@EX0ART Just mega man really. This game is mega man with a shovel. With a Mario 3 overworld.

[@EX0ART]

@@Smoove_J I know that you dirt

[@rbaleksandar]

Unbelievable...So many actually legal techniques that I didn't know of. Btw indeed playing with a keyboard seems to be a faster way of doing things. Especially the shoveling - difference between controller (I have a simple Logitech one) and a keyboard is like between night and day.

[@1981stonemonkey]

Anyone remember Tom Thumb? One of the first DOS platform games, run on a music cassette on a P2000 or Commodore16 I think. You were playing for something like 40 minutes until this part where you'd fail over and over again... without the possibility to save a game. My dad did succeed one night. Bless the mid-80s...

[@tomknight3841]

I love wozniaks laugh, so much joy wrapped in it

[@KindOfHero]

Really?! I had to watch the video on mute because of it.

[@redshell9205]

The speedrun which is shown here is so cool

[@dillonthevillon3719]

I love how these devs are speed runners themselves and talk about old glitches and speed runs they have done in separate game series

[@SpunkyDunk]

Every vid in this series: “Alright, so this is where he --oh he beat it already.”

[@nikolassepos1640]

This series is awesome

[@potterheadproductions5526]

I love shovel knigh too :) I know a channel called "Brothers Theory Productions" They make awesome theories about games and movies alike. They already made 2 theories about Shovel Knight. As a subscriber, I am telling you that you should defintily subscribe to the channel :) Personally, i am a big fan of their theories, mostly the shovel knight theories and I think they deserve more appreciation and more subscribers as well. Besides, if you are subscribed to the channel, you get the power to decide what game or movie they will analyse next. You just have to comment your suggestion in their comment section :) I hope you enjoy :)

[@minorfffanatic]

26:30 BCR2 - HYPE MODE!! Bid war was $600+ dollars for hype, a PENNY for silence. PJ DiCesare outdid himself that run.

[@rhyboy1]

this is by far my fav one

[@TheIMMORTALKAHNHD]

EASILY the best series ign has done in YEARS.

[@astromkarl]

"Getting decimated isn't even a big deal"... correct. Except for the part where each group of 10 soldiers have to kill one of the group.

[@Smoove_J]

Plus, when that term was invented there were only a few thousand people on earth, so every life was precious.

[@walterbardel1403]

i really loooove this videos.

[@potterheadproductions5526]

I love shovel knigh too :) I know a channel called "Brothers Theory Productions" They make awesome theories about games and movies alike. They already made 2 theories about Shovel Knight. As a subscriber, I am telling you that you should defintily subscribe to the channel :) Personally, i am a big fan of their theories, mostly the shovel knight theories and I think they deserve more appreciation and more subscribers as well. Besides, if you are subscribed to the channel, you get the power to decide what game or movie they will analyse next. You just have to comment your suggestion in their comment section :) I hope you enjoy :)

[@valenciagagaming4504]

Favorite series

[@YayapLives]

this series is great

[@rezthemediaruler3768]

I knew these guys were a really nice bunch!^^

[@oumtjackawillie]

I love when the devs embrace the concept of speedruns like these guys instead of being all bitter about it. :)

[@rdh288]

They were right, that is a pretty game to speedrun. Lots of fancy play with little skipped.

[@anthonyiodice]

The black knight stunlock is the same way you stunlock iron knuckles in Zelda 2

[@daniellewasdelayed8921]

Their laughs honestly give me life

[@Rime_Di_Michelangelo]

Binge watching these devs react AGAIN 🤭

[@arlwiss5110]

Terrifying precision and timing

[@Ender_Onryo]

41:25 "Plague Knight has a hard time with those things." Berserker Brew: Am I a joke to you?

[@Mammon997]

awesome i love this series

[@PotatoToon]

Always great to hear devs saying speedrunning terms like ''pace'' ''glitches'' ''tricks'' ''AGDQ'' ''RNG'' Usually devs are clueless about these terms but some stands out and have deep speedrunning knowledge.

[@kkeithf]

It's more fun when they are clueless

[@erikamyers2261]

The ultimate playthrough

[@johncoe3778]

I like how enthusiastic they are lol

[@noraa1991]

the origins of the word decimate are from rome, the roman legion refer to a group of 100 soldiers, if someone in your squad was found guilty of a severe crime everyone in that legion was put in a line and regardless of guilt or innocence or if they were a part of the crime they went down the line and every 10th soldier in line was put to death, the word deci meaning one tenth

[@ln5321]

I like the comment about decimation (killing one in every 10 soldiers as punishment) not even being a big deal. The way the word is used today, most people will be surprised to hear that it actually means "to destroy a tenth of" rather than "to completely destroy"

[@THouse66]

I loved it when they said, "Oh it's even that big of a deal." Except, you know, when your commanding officer decides your cohort didn't perform adequately and therefore must be decimated and you have to draw lots to see who gets beaten to death by his peers.

[@AlexAlex-ij3mz]

Shield Knight: *Needs help* Shovel Knight: I'll make it quick

[@wufo1238]

On the top left theres the Shovel Knight - Any% and the numbers of atempts - 1652

[@CuminDragon]

Smaugy actually returned to running shovel knight a few months ago, hes going for sub-42!

[@AlexJade]

Smaugy now is destroying every old Shovel Knight character record

[@pfitz9346]

Devs definitely genuinely watch a fair bit of speedrunning. Talking about all kinds of speedrun tech for other games throughout.

[@Dutch972]

3:30 one of my favorite video game themes ever

[@darknessdevours5827]

Pridemoor Keep is a great one. Flying Machine is one of my favorites too.