Hollow Knight

Played my version of the game on the Switch, but am leaving a review here since I'm able to and this game deserves all the praise it's gotten. It's simply a masterful metroidvania that does an excellent job with both fluid combat and tight, responsive platforming and movement. It starts simple and slow enough so that new players can get into it without too much frustration, but much like Dark Souls which the game draws some inspiration from it gets quite challenging. All of the game's various challenges are excellently designed to be difficult but fair, and are always satisfying to overcome. The atmosphere is top notch with beautiful art and music which is just cheery enough to fit the somewhat cutesy art style, but also melancholic to match the game's overall dreary and dark tone. It also has an excellently designed world that is open enough to allow for exploration while still guiding new players through a recommended route. Each area is distinct in terms of both the visuals and enemies/hazards, with most being very memorable. It also does an excellent job telling its story through the environment as well as the moderate cast of characters you meet along the way. To top it all off, the game is absolutely massive for its minimal budget. Unlike certain AAA titles it's not just busywork doing generic tasks dotted around an overworld that's mostly the same. There's constant discovery, unique items and upgrades, secrets, and enticing new content hidden around virtually every corner which means the game rarely gets repetitive or unengaging. It's quality over quantity, but the game still has content in spades. My playthrough took me 60 hours to reach the "true" ending, and then there's post-game content on top of that which will put your skills to the ultimate test. Even if you aren't a big fan of 2D platformers, if you like soulslikes you should at least give the game a try. It's incredibly cheap for what's on offer, especially on sale.

got some annoying lags while playing it with the gtx860.. sigh but nice game

This is a very good Metroidvania game. Your character handles well, the art is great, good atmosphere, good combat system.... And then there are some flaws that just didn't need to be. When you die, you lose all your money and you have to collect it at the place you die, similar to Dark Souls. But sometimes your spectre (or whatever your shadowy mirror image is supposed to be) appears in places other than where you died. Mostly where they are easier to reach, i appreciate that. But sometimes it appears at an even more difficult to reach place. WHY? It doesn't seem intentional, so i guess its just sloppy programming. And given that this game is a 2D Metroidvania, "use of a controller is highly recommended", as the loading screen warns you. It seems that Hollow Knight does not recognize half the controllers on the market. For example, it works with my XBOX 360 controller just fine (if you disregard the fact that this has a shitty d-pad) but will not acknowledge that my 8BitDo even exists. Programs converting your inputs to keyboard inputs usually help, but for me, they have issues, so i am stuck with the 360 and its D-Pad had me curse humanity thricefold already. It is completely beyond me, how a game in 2017 has such issues (looking at you too, Street Fighter V), especially since they are still unresolved, so long after the game's launch. It's like Ford brought out a new car but forgot windshield wipers and a door lock.

This game is great. The art and music is amazing, creating a very melancholic and meaningful world. It taps into the great feeling of exploration and discovery like no other game can. The non-linear nature of the game is very interesting, creating many branching paths to find and explore. It has a lot of areas and a lot of content, and it's very immersive. The combination of a couple of glaring flaws are what's keeping it from masterpiece status in my book. The backtracking is a bit much, the checkpoints are too scant, and the death system is very irritating, time consuming, and too harsh. Some sections tend towards the "tedious and irritating" kind of difficult than the "challenging and engaging" kind of difficult, which does not compound with the previously mentioned flaws very well. Still, it's overall a recommendation from me. Give it a go.

I saw the game on YouTube and instantly fell in love with it. The art is incredible and the athmosphere is amazing. Sadly, the checkpoints are farely rare and I have to admit, that it might seem a little confusing in the beggining, since you´re not really told what to do and where to go, what makes it kind of difficult. But overall it´s a pretty nice game which reminds me of Ori and the Blind forest.