Truly masterful. A challenging game dripping with atmosphere, full of varied environments, and absolutely packed with content for its price. The combat is simple but tight, there’s plenty of interesting boss fights, and the world-building is excellent.

What Hollow Knight does especially well is its sense of exploration and unique map system. It’s easy to set off in any direction and end up in huge new areas you can just get lost in. It does take some time for it to open up in its early hours, but the level design is top notch.

The platforming was a bit less precise than I would’ve liked though. The positioning of obstacles could be frustrating at times, and movement felt a bit stiff to start. But it does improve with better traversal abilities later on so it’s a minor complaint.