INITIAL THOUGHTS I had watched this game on multiple Twitch streams, including that of Griffos11 and Meowemc. It was a fun game to watch, but I always feared trying it out because I have never been a metroidvania fan and I was worried about the lack of direction in the game. Upon starting the game, my fears were confirmed. You are meant to dive aimlessly in to the abyss and figure out where you are supposed to go. The serious saving grace of this game is the near perfect platforming and gameplay.
For me, as a lover of stories in games or short platforming levels(a la Mario), this game is not quite for me, but given the amazing controls, I may continue to fool around in this world in between long adventures of other games.
GAMEPLAY
The gameplay in Hollow Knight is absolutely amazing. It is a tight platforming metroidvania-style game that keeps the player guessing on what is coming next. There are very few cheap deaths. Usually if you die, you know why…and I died A LOT. The game handles nicely, and I cannot stress that enough.
There are two negatives that need to be discussed. The first being the serious lack of direction in the game. If you are looking for a story or a game that gives you hints on where to go, steer clear of this game. It rewards you for exploring, and sometimes can lead you into unfortunate boss battles you are no where near equipped to handle. The second negative is there is no audible warning that you are low on health. This means you can die in weird places because you weren’t concentrating on the upper left hand corner of the screen. And easy fix to this would be to put in a faint beeping sound that lets players know that you better heal or expect death.
REPLAYABILITY This game has tons to do, including trying the deathless challenge. Even each replay will be different based on the areas you can go and abilities you can use. Considering the price point of this game, you will definitely get your money’s worth, even if you go for the more expensive physical version. RATING 4.7 Antlers out of 5. Even though it is not my style of game, I can see how amazing this game truly is.