One of the coolest things that happens to us as individuals is how our opinions and feelings can change over time.

In 2019, I tried playing Hollow Knight for the first time and played quite a bit of the game, almost 10 hours, and although I was enjoying it, I wasn't captivated by the mystique that the game apparently had, like everyone else was. Fast-forward to 2024 and I start a new save from scratch and well... I think I finally understand the commotion...

Hollow Knight is one of the best games I've ever played and largely because an older (and more grumpy and tired, I admit) "me" simply sees games a little differently and has a much bigger baggage than the "me" from 5 years ago.

What I like most about Hollow Knight is how I see in it elements of several games that I love and are in my pantheon of favorites. For the first time, another metroidvania gives me the sensation of exploring the map of Super Metroid, with its twists and turns, with its dense areas, getting lost in the dark tunnels of Deepnest, being overwhelmed by the bees in the Hive, or stunned by the beauty and ambiance of Queen's Garden.

I love the game's slower pace, which demands much more from you but rewards you handsomely with each new boss.

Or even how visually, somehow, the game sometimes just feels like a 2D Bloodborne to me, oozing in visual style even though this style can indeed be somewhat monotonous and monochromatic at times. At least that brings a very unique consistency to the whole game, making all areas somehow part of the same world, regardless of the variations in temperature and height that the areas may have.

Or even how, in gameplay, it's something smooth, enjoyable to play, to move with the character, with a rich palette of tools to face enemies or simply wander through the vast map. Its combat strongly reminds me of a blend of Mega Man X with Mega Man Zero, or rather, the best of the combat from these two series in one game. And its fluid movement clearly reminds me of Alucard from Symphony of the Night.

Even though it brings me this collection of memories, Hollow Knight is still something with a strong, unforgettable identity, and rarely equaled in the genre.

It just doesn't get a perfect score because, in fact, sometimes the game just seems to waste a little of your time, the Stag Stations aren't enough, and sometimes the feeling of visual monotony can hit a bit. There's some flaws in its design too... You shouldnt have to equip a charm to see where you are on the map and you already have a button to use spells, it is RB/R1, Circle/B should be exclusively used to heal. But who knows if the game won't grow even more in my tastes over time? It certainly has the capacity for that. Hollow Knight is simply amazing all around afterall.

That's not as dreadful as people make it out to be. I think most people who play JRPGs either haven't played enough bad JRPGs or simply don't know how to use a gradient scale well and end up confusing "mediocre" with "horrible" more often than not.

That being said, Suikoden IV is a problematic game. Even though it has an interesting premise where this time your castle is a boat and you eventually have a fleet to sail the seas, the game itself is quite anemic, lacking denser content. Visually, it's also a worse game than its predecessor (although the character design still appeals to me), it has a worse story as well, and the decision to only use four characters in battle isn't a good one either. But the new army battles are pretty nice! The ship fights are cool although a tad simplistic.

The lore behind the cursed rune is pretty cool but it's not supported by an especially interesting plot, and the hero's rival is a rather uninteresting character.

The islands could also have more things to explore, the game could have more dungeons... Anyway, Suikoden IV unfortunately ends up going in the opposite direction of Suikoden III, which was bloated and ends up having too little content or developing things too little while the previous game did it in excess.

But the Suikoden loop is still here and it's still fun to explore places and recruit people for your army.

Yes, yes, the random battles have a completely INSANE frequency but avoiding battles is as easy as it gets. And yes, using the boat is not pleasant overall but at least this time you meet Viki within less than 10 hours of gameplay instead of 60 hours like in Suikoden III, cutting down a lot on the excessive backtracking from the previous game.

Anyway, Suikoden IV is a poor game, probably the weakest in the series but by no means one of the worst JRPGs of all time or anything like that. You can have fun with it, and if it happens to be your first Suikoden for some reason, you probably won't find it as bad as those who play it with the baggage of the previous ones (which was my case, but even then I don't think it's a bad game, just mediocre). And indeed, considering it's the first game in the chronology, maybe it would be interesting to start with it after all.

It gets better and better as you progress through the game.

It's a sequel with gorgeous graphics, gameplay better than the first one (it's cool to see them continuing to be inspired by Naughty Dog and keeping up with the wide-linear settings of Uncharted 4 and The Last of Us 2), and an incredible collection of characters. All the characters who help the protagonists are distinct not only in gameplay but also in personality and motivations. Even with such a bleak scenario and story, it's amazing how they made so many lovable and interesting characters. Even the villains are detestable as they should be.

I particularly like that the game is longer but not by much. This allows time for the game to "breathe" and develop the supporting characters better, as well as showcase all its beauty. Rarely have I taken so many screenshots of a game and used the photo mode as much as I did with this game, and the entire battle-free arc of chapter 9 was quite enjoyable due to the variety of visually distinct places you visit.

With that said, it's even difficult to choose which set piece is the best since each one is better than the other. And it's hard not to become attached to the work done in developing Amicia. She's definitely one of the best protagonists in recent years, the kind of character you don't just control but root for to succeed. Which makes the end of the game even more special.

I really hope they're willing to make a third game after all, there is another outbreak of plague in human history, right? Or maybe some additional material about the sixth-century outbreak, which the game also shows.

And if they do come back with the idea one day, I hope they make even more progress in the quality of the battle settings, trying to avoid some of the jank the game has and avoiding scenarios with so many instant failstates. And have ideas for gameplay variety, perhaps a few more twists in the way the rats behave would be quite interesting...