Hollow Knight

This game is absolutely wonderful. The setting, the music, you get this sense of wonder in this dark world, but traces of light are hidden everywhere. But make no mistake, this game looks cute, but can be hard as hell. Like in Dark Souls when you die, you lose all your Geo (Money) unless you find your way back to your corpse, which can be frustrating when you dont have the area map unlocked. Talismans give you a nice depth of gameplay similar to perks in other RPGs. The Bossfights are beautifully designed, challenging but (yet) never unfair. If you read this, get this game now! You won't regret it.

This game does everything right and almost nothing wrong. I was sceptical at first because of the unusual setting and because there are quite a few mediocre Metroidvanias out there, but this might be one of the best, if not the best. Combat is excellent and challenging, story is interesting enough to keep you engaged and the map will make you want to explore this world. If you are a fan of this genre, this is a must have.

If you're a fan of metroidvania style, you need to play this game. If you aren't, you probably also should.

This game is absolutely amazing. Buying this for 15$ or less is an absolute steal. I've bought games for double or triple the price that are not as good as this one, not even close. The attention to detail and the art direction of this game is absolutely staggering. The controls are flawless and the fighting feels fluid, which is a good thing because the game gets tough, of boy. I have never left as much frustration and joy in a game as much as this one. I am sure everyone that plays this game can find something frustrating about it so I won't really get into that since the frustrations in my case came from my own mistakes or impatience. Hollownest is a massive world full of secrets and exploring it at first is daunting but after a while you will appreciate it and see how shallow the other games' world building feel compared to this one. If I were to recommend a game that everyone should play, from this genre, it would be this one. Without a shadow of a doubt, this is a masterpiece that everyone should play at least once.

I love Metroidvanias, and I enjoy the sense of accomplishment that comes with overcoming difficult games, so I had been looking forward to playing Hollow Knight for quite some time. However, I’m a father, and I have a demanding job, so my gaming time is extremely limited. Unfortunately, after roughly five hours of play, I came to the conclusion that the developers of this game have absolutely no respect for the player’s time. The checkpoints are few and far between, the fast travel system is woefully inadequate for such a large game world, the mini-map mechanics are frustrating, and the death penalties are steep and not explained ahead of time. The combination of these things leads to a ridiculous amount of backtracking, which isn’t fun (for me, at least), and which I just wasn’t able to get past, especially since player and story progression happen at a snail’s pace. Sure, the graphics and sound are great, and the controls are tight, but the basic gameplay loop is just that: basic. The combat and platforming are serviceable, but nothing to write home about, and certainly not compelling enough for me to overlook all my frustrations and all my wasted time. I can see why people love this game, but it’s not for everyone, and it’s definitely not for me. If time is your most valuable commodity, look elsewhere.