While the titular Shovel Knight in the beloved Shovel Knight franchise has officially ended his storied run in the game, he refuses to lay down his gear and seemed to be getting on a tour. He just made an appearance in the upcoming Yooka-Laylee game, appearing as a guest in its latest trailer. This guesting will be probably his sixth in the gaming circuit so far.

The blue shovel-wielding crusader momentarily lost his pixels and appropriately came in his new 3D self. Details are yet sketchy at this point, but it appears that the hero is not included in the trailer by accident. He seems to be part of the game itself, and based on the released clip, he will be doing so in the capacity of an, well, NPC.

To burnish his credentials, he introduced himself by citing how grand his adventure was and that he ended up in the wrong game in the process. Watch him do this in the latter part of the video.

Certainly, being a member of the game's NPC would be an unexpected and disappointing role to be frank. The Shovel Knight's ego, however, may have been momentarily appeased, as the native characters seemed to welcome him with open arms. One, for instance, lobbed praises, intimating he has been a long-awaited NPC, one they could work with quite effectively.

Game developers at Playtonic could also be auditioning him for a major or minor role. Whatever the case is, fans should be assured that he will not be in the game as a mere wallflower.

Yooka-Laylee, which succeeded the popular Banjo-Kazooie game, is expected to be released early next year. Some are more specific, citing that it will roll out sometime in March. A previous Tech Times report cited the slight delay of release is attributed to the large scale of the game.

Regardless of the schedule, players are eagerly anticipating the game since, as the trailer shows, it features some unique and bizarre characters, rounding an array of friends that will accompany Yooka and Laylee in a whimsical adventure platforming video game. Some members of the gaming public have already seen the gameplay when it was shown during Gamescom.

It is also important to note that Yooka-Laylee is crowd-funded and was quite successful in its campaign to raise money. It asked Kickstarter for $227,000 dollars last year and ended up with more than $2.7 million funding. This staggering amount, including the huge number of its backers, should be an indication of its viability when it finally hits the market.

Yooka-Laylee will be available in PS4, Xbox One, Wii U and PC.