Hollow Knight really came out of nowhere back in 2017, and left its mark on the gaming world in an impactful way that's still felt to this day. The artstyle is beautiful and the world is filled with variety and intricate detail, such as all of the environmental objects you can slice up or even use as pogo platforms for increased movement options with your nail. The boss fights are just as varied and challenging in a way that never comes across as overbearing or annoying. It was also nice to finally have an indie Metroidvania that felt much more 'Vania than it did Metroid, although admittedly with a lot of Dark Souls inspiration as well. Hollow Knight definitely has a ton of content to sink your teeth into, and it's a combination of all of these factors that made me absolutely adore this game from 2017-2020. Some of you probably remember when I had this game in my favourites list on Backloggd.
Since then I have become increasingly disillusioned with Hollow Knight. I still think this is a good, even great game, it executes the vibes and gameplay styles it's going for with a great confidence and even introduces new mechanics that shake up the standard Metroidvania formula such as not having an autofilling-map on the get go, encouraging more specific memorisation of the myriad areas in Hollow Knight.
However, every time I go back to this game on either my PC or Switch, I enjoy it a little bit less each time. Much of this game really is a complete nothing burger, with too many areas that are intentionally sparse for the sake of "atmosphere", or boss fights that don't feel like a unique test of your moveset or skills. This is further exacerbated by the fact that it simply takes way too long to unlock your full moveset in Hollow Knight, which severely restricts the limits to which this game can push its mechanics, especially in the first half. Hollow Knight is a bloated game, and this even makes parts of the main game progression or story feel anticlimatic in subsequent playthroughs.
Since then I have become increasingly disillusioned with Hollow Knight. I still think this is a good, even great game, it executes the vibes and gameplay styles it's going for with a great confidence and even introduces new mechanics that shake up the standard Metroidvania formula such as not having an autofilling-map on the get go, encouraging more specific memorisation of the myriad areas in Hollow Knight.
However, every time I go back to this game on either my PC or Switch, I enjoy it a little bit less each time. Much of this game really is a complete nothing burger, with too many areas that are intentionally sparse for the sake of "atmosphere", or boss fights that don't feel like a unique test of your moveset or skills. This is further exacerbated by the fact that it simply takes way too long to unlock your full moveset in Hollow Knight, which severely restricts the limits to which this game can push its mechanics, especially in the first half. Hollow Knight is a bloated game, and this even makes parts of the main game progression or story feel anticlimatic in subsequent playthroughs.