Hollow Knight

Graphics: 65% Possibly the weakest aspect of the game in my eyes, Hollow Knight has a cartoonish art style that doesn't look especially bad, but I wish they had done a touch more with. The character design varies pretty wildly too with some characters being really well detailed and evocative and others just kind of... being there. Sound: 80% When I first started the game I was a little worried about the soundtrack. Most of the tracks seemed kind of airy and atmospheric, fitting, but not always my thing. However, I was blown away by some of the later tracks and it really made up for it. The sound effect design was also spot on making interactions feel very solid. Gameplay: 100% Primarily a Metroidvania game, it sees you exploring a deeply interconnected nest of levels unlocking powers to be able to explore radially more of the map as time goes on. One area that Hollow knight shines in is it's non-linear approach to this genre, certainly not the first to allow you to do things in nearly any order, but many Metroidvania's have only one main critical path, and you have to exploit your way off of it if you can at all. However, Hollow Knight has many different paths, with tricks and secrets ensuring that there really isn't a 'right order' to the game. Control: 90% Where most Metroidvania games have very loose floaty controls, Hollow Knight has very tight controls, almost like a precision platformer. Because of this, the bosses and platforming challenges can test a players skill to a much more precise degree without being overly frustrating. Story: 80% The overall story isn't blow me away amazing, although I liked several of the NPC, particularly Hornet. However, the way the story is delivered, through hidden events, bestiary entries, and cryptic dialogue is straight out of Soulsborne. I did find this one a bit easier to piece together since you are directly told certain key events if you find the right thing. Overall: 95% This is the third indie game I've played this year that I consider one of my favorite games of all time, the others being A Hat in Time and Iconoclast. This takes three of my favorite Genres; precision platformers, Metroidvanias, and Soulsborne; and combines them in a wonderful way.

At first I wanted to go in-depth about the game, tell you where it draws its inspiration from, what it has to offer and what you should expect. But, I think you should find out about all of it yourself. What I'm going to do is vaguely describe what you are getting for your money. First of all, it's a metroidvania game. I, personally, love the genre and this is one of it's best representatives. The game's world is pretty dark, so it's, probably, not a best game to play when you are seriously depressed. Best way to describe it is Ori and Dark Sould had a child. This child looks pretty grim, but sometimes it smiles at you and it is the most sincere and hopeful smile you've ever seen. Don't want to spoil anything, so bear with my metaphores. The amount of content you get for 15$ is simply astounding. I'm almost at 30 hours of gameplay time atm and only now I'm getting somewhat near the end. And I haven't even touched the DLCs content (which are, btw, pretty big and totally free, so that's another huge thanks to Team Cherry). I like to explore every little corner of the map, so I was also really pleased and surprised by the amount of mysteries and secrets this game holds. The combat system is pretty basic on the first look, but it has a good amount of depth. Combined with a great learning curve and gradually increasing difficulty it never gets old, so every boss battle feels challenging. Btw, bosses are amazing, they are one of the best parts of the game. And know what makes it even better? There are a ton of them. Visually the game is fantastic, especially later on when you travel deeper and further into the game. Soundtrack is beautiful and completes the whole package perfectly. So, if you are not against platformers or metroidvanias - just buy it. After playing I would spend even 60$ in this game in a blink of an eye. P.S. A little advice. Learn how to use pins (buy them first) and mark all the areas you can't get to. It will be a great help later on.

I bought this game on a sale during summer, but did not play with it for a while. One day I just picked it up and started snowballing through the story, just to find out what a master piece it is. The story, the music, the artwork is simply amazing. The combat is very balanced and fun to experiment with. I would recommend this title to enyone who likes to explore and dive into little details.

Bought this on a whim, because it was on sale and it was looking for a light game that easy to jump in and out of. Ending up binging it every possible free moment since purchase. An insanely satisfying game, not just when it comes to progression and exploration, but also in challenge and achievement. The Charm system (think: equippable perks) is a fantastic way to add to the layer of strategy, when it comes to boss fights. The entire game was down right excellent.

Let me start by saying that I platinumed this game on PS4 (platform of preference for these kind of games) after having played it on PC for some hours. It is one of the around 10 games in my life that I played until I had all the available achievements/trophies. Please note that on PS no speedrun or no death run is required for this feat thus I do not know how much extra time these would take. I think the average player will finish the game in around 30-40 hours. For these hours you expect the classic Metroidvania experience on fantastic world map with a diverse set of enemies, areas and bosses. Upgrade system is very simple and easy to use and great in terms of game design and the charms allow you several builds (spell focus, DPS focus, melee focus, survival focus, HP recovery focus or any mix and match you can imagine with 40+ different charms). To complete the game to 100% will take another 5-10 hours revisiting all areas to find missed items and complete the colosseum, white palace, path of pain etc. For me this was the most tedious part of the game with one particularly annoying side quest that I ended up cheesing; and I only recommend it if you wish 112% the game. If you wish to 112% the game and do the pantheon of Hallownest ask yourself one question: do you like the combat when you finish the game (try colloseum of fools)? If the answer is yes, the most fun part of the game awaits that took me another 45 hours to finish. This includes completing some dlc side quests, but the meat of the game is a boss rush mode with 3 brand new bosses, and several upgraded ones. In my opinion this is the best part of the game and by the end I could beat bosses in seconds that took me several tries at the beginning of the game. At the end whether you are looking to explore a deep well realized world with interesting lore or are looking for a challenging and rewarding combat experience Hollow Knight is the way to go.