Well, boy howdy, this may as well have been its own game. Playing through the game from the perspective of a villain was a huge change of pace. From the minute you're ousted from the Village after the Plains of Passage, you can instantly tell what the rest of your adventure will be like. Even so, it manages to strike a fine balance of humor and storytelling, and it genuinely kept me guessing in most places.
The first thing one notices is the radically different handling. While Shovel Knight is butter smooth and a very simple character to pick up and play, Plague Knight is a case of easy to learn and difficult to master. The Plains of Passage had me dying repeatedly due to ill-timed burst jumps that landed me either in spikes or bottomless pits, and on the occasion I stuck the landing, that satisfaction was short-lived as Plague Knight takes practically double the knockback from enemy attacks and I would be cast into the depths regardless. However, after learning of these shortcomings, I began using height to my advantage and avoid getting too close to my targets. The battle against Black Knight saw me leaping around like a deranged lunatic and slinging bombs like pansy little snowballs. Being able to go nuts felt great.
In the Order stages, Plague Knight will find Relics on exclusive alternate paths (more like detours, actually), which he can trade to Chester in the traditional locations for new Arcanas. The two Arcanas I always defaulted to were the Staff of Surging and the Vat, which are extremely helpful in gaining extra height or saving yourself from disaster. The rest of them, while interesting, were extremely situational and I never got much use out of them except when necessary.
Throughout stages, Plague Knight can find up to 30 Cipher Coins, which are necessary to expand Mona's selection of upgrades or to access the Armor Outpost. Only rarely did I find them troublesome to locate, and in those instances, it was on account of underhanded placement (I'm looking at you, Tower 1). Beyond that, they were a joy to collect, and made for nice incentive to take greater risks. Collecting all 420 of them (yes, that's right) nets you a unique armor, the Pandemonium Cloak, which randomizes your bomb, burst, and Arcana combinations every few seconds. Impractical, but hilarious.
Not a whole lot else to say. Invading the Armor Outpost and Hall of Champions was hilarious, fighting Shovel Knight in the Explodatorium was largely amusing, and Plague Knight's final bosses, though really easy, threw me for a loop. I had a blast playing through and collecting everything and I'm currently on New Game+, having a much harder time. If they go on to make additional characters beyond the promised stretch goals, I sure as hell wouldn't think twice about paying for them.
Fuck Propeller Knight. Fuck him 6 ways to Sunday and then again for good measure.