While not a playthrough in a traditional sense, rather just an excuse to experience Hollow Knight to gather select footage for my video, I can't help but still be amazed with every bit of lore and gameplay polish they packed in here. I swear to God someone at Team Cherry took all the elements I really love about video games and packed them in what simultaneously feels like a "best-hits" compilation but entirely fresh and unique in its own way. It's the ultimate Soulslike metroidvania that doesn't feel the need to reinvent what it is and just focuses on being a damn good video game in all respects. I'd almost say this is the most clear-cut example of my taste in video games minus the fact that it doesn't have cute anime chics and isn't a 100% character driven JRPG story as to what's been appealing to me more recently (Trails in the Sky SC comes to mind as the magnum opus of that subset of my tastes). The environmental storytelling and character arcs integrated into Hollow Knight's depressing kingdom are just as gut-punching as they were when I first experienced them.
One thing I feel has been completely flipped on its head in some spaces of video game discussion is that combat has to be inherently complex to understand to be "deep" or "worthwhile." Playing Dark Souls for the first time back in 2018 really shattered that belief in my eyes as that game's combat is also simple to grasp, even though it's often hailed as the magnum opus of complex game design due to the sheer difficulty. Hollow Knight runs with this concept taken from a deceptively simple combat system and pushes the player to their limits using the simple mechanics that it never feels like the combat is simple and stagnant. Every action carries excellent weight to it despite only having one style of nail swing with directional input at the start of the game and it's no thanks to the godly nail clinking noise. Parrying, spells, nail arts, and charms all add flavor to the combat that varied weapon choice and stats would normally determine in a typical Dark Souls playthrough. It's easy to assume that there's not a whole lot of replayability since you can't technically build your character in the same way you would in typical Souls titles and can easily change equippable charms on the fly, but the amount of crazy and inventive builds you can pull makes it hard not to want to go back and defeat bosses in different ways. They even added a crazy amount of secret charm combinations, so experimenting is all part of the fun and is actively encouraged. What's crazy is that the most fun of this game's combat can be found in the endgame of all times; the point in which so many other games begin to fall apart and become a repetitive grind (cough Genshin Impact cough). Hollow Knight is brutal in some areas but never feels like it asks too much of the player to really get the most out of the endgame content. I felt like I was allowed to get a taste and play around with exactly what I wanted and never like I had to immediately complete a specific challenge to start having fun again.
Seeing as this is mainly the endgame I've been discussing, how does everything leading up to it hold up? Well, it's pretty okay...... if you ignore the incredible score, gorgeous artsyle, creative boss/enemy design and variety, beautifully interconnected world, satisfying exploration loop, the glorious feeling of getting lost, and absolutely every fucking great thing I could say about this game. What really strikes me above all else is that there's no general area of the game I'd consider to be bad or even weak. Despute being made by a small indie team, nothing feels half baked or rushed in any way. Even areas that aren't as awestriking to me as the City of Tears or Kingdom's Edge are so jam packed with lore, creative design, and purpose that it feels like removing any of them would take out something significant from the experience. That's something I can't really say about the first Dark Souls as I'm sure many of you are aware how much better that game would be without the Lost Izalith/Bed of Chaos shit combo (and half the stuff in the lord souls quest tbh). It definitely helps that these areas are all interwoven brilliantly, but even ignoring that, the level design itself is just great enough on its own to stand toe to toe with some of the most memorable levels and moments in video games. The characters you meet in these locations and arcs they go through only adds to the memorability inherently connected to each of these areas. And not getting each area map until you find a specific NPC, for as potentially off-putting as it may be for some players, is a design choice I absolutely adore since it reinforces a loop of getting lost and finding salvation for every major area in the game and gives incentive to pay extra attention to environmental cues that lead to this NPC. The feeling of just starting out in a metroidvania game and feeling completely lost for the first time is somehow constantly re-created on a smaller scale for every new area, and the game just keeps that up for the entire journey
Really thinking back this game is like two parts of gaming that I love dearly but for different reasons. The more slow-paced, atmospheric exploration you'll find when exploring new areas is some of the best feelings of getting lost in a game I have ever felt and makes each area incredibly memorable. Character arcs and environmental storytelling are both used to incredible effect as the stories interwoven with these areas ultimately form a part of their identity and give areas a deeper level of clarity besides the visual differences. On the other hand, you have the endgame with every beefed-up superboss and a plethora of equippable builds at your disposal to create for a frantic and fast yet strategic combat loop of defeating old and new foes alike. And holy shit there are so many secrets in this game. Beginning to end it doesn't matter, there's hidden stuff I didn't know until a few months ago when I started researching for my video. As absolutely corny and cliche as this stupid ending is gonna be, I'm gonna say it no matter what: Hollow Knight reminds me why I love video games.
Bapanada
One thing I feel has been completely flipped on its head in some spaces of video game discussion is that combat has to be inherently complex to understand to be "deep" or "worthwhile." Playing Dark Souls for the first time back in 2018 really shattered that belief in my eyes as that game's combat is also simple to grasp, even though it's often hailed as the magnum opus of complex game design due to the sheer difficulty. Hollow Knight runs with this concept taken from a deceptively simple combat system and pushes the player to their limits using the simple mechanics that it never feels like the combat is simple and stagnant. Every action carries excellent weight to it despite only having one style of nail swing with directional input at the start of the game and it's no thanks to the godly nail clinking noise. Parrying, spells, nail arts, and charms all add flavor to the combat that varied weapon choice and stats would normally determine in a typical Dark Souls playthrough. It's easy to assume that there's not a whole lot of replayability since you can't technically build your character in the same way you would in typical Souls titles and can easily change equippable charms on the fly, but the amount of crazy and inventive builds you can pull makes it hard not to want to go back and defeat bosses in different ways. They even added a crazy amount of secret charm combinations, so experimenting is all part of the fun and is actively encouraged. What's crazy is that the most fun of this game's combat can be found in the endgame of all times; the point in which so many other games begin to fall apart and become a repetitive grind (cough Genshin Impact cough). Hollow Knight is brutal in some areas but never feels like it asks too much of the player to really get the most out of the endgame content. I felt like I was allowed to get a taste and play around with exactly what I wanted and never like I had to immediately complete a specific challenge to start having fun again.
Seeing as this is mainly the endgame I've been discussing, how does everything leading up to it hold up? Well, it's pretty okay...... if you ignore the incredible score, gorgeous artsyle, creative boss/enemy design and variety, beautifully interconnected world, satisfying exploration loop, the glorious feeling of getting lost, and absolutely every fucking great thing I could say about this game. What really strikes me above all else is that there's no general area of the game I'd consider to be bad or even weak. Despute being made by a small indie team, nothing feels half baked or rushed in any way. Even areas that aren't as awestriking to me as the City of Tears or Kingdom's Edge are so jam packed with lore, creative design, and purpose that it feels like removing any of them would take out something significant from the experience. That's something I can't really say about the first Dark Souls as I'm sure many of you are aware how much better that game would be without the Lost Izalith/Bed of Chaos shit combo (and half the stuff in the lord souls quest tbh). It definitely helps that these areas are all interwoven brilliantly, but even ignoring that, the level design itself is just great enough on its own to stand toe to toe with some of the most memorable levels and moments in video games. The characters you meet in these locations and arcs they go through only adds to the memorability inherently connected to each of these areas. And not getting each area map until you find a specific NPC, for as potentially off-putting as it may be for some players, is a design choice I absolutely adore since it reinforces a loop of getting lost and finding salvation for every major area in the game and gives incentive to pay extra attention to environmental cues that lead to this NPC. The feeling of just starting out in a metroidvania game and feeling completely lost for the first time is somehow constantly re-created on a smaller scale for every new area, and the game just keeps that up for the entire journey
Really thinking back this game is like two parts of gaming that I love dearly but for different reasons. The more slow-paced, atmospheric exploration you'll find when exploring new areas is some of the best feelings of getting lost in a game I have ever felt and makes each area incredibly memorable. Character arcs and environmental storytelling are both used to incredible effect as the stories interwoven with these areas ultimately form a part of their identity and give areas a deeper level of clarity besides the visual differences. On the other hand, you have the endgame with every beefed-up superboss and a plethora of equippable builds at your disposal to create for a frantic and fast yet strategic combat loop of defeating old and new foes alike. And holy shit there are so many secrets in this game. Beginning to end it doesn't matter, there's hidden stuff I didn't know until a few months ago when I started researching for my video. As absolutely corny and cliche as this stupid ending is gonna be, I'm gonna say it no matter what: Hollow Knight reminds me why I love video games.
Bapanada
NOWITSREYNTIME17
1 year ago