Hollow Knight

I have very low amounts of time. But this game kept me till 2 O´clock in the morning, Feeling bad today, but dont regret a single minute. The gamepackage (Style, Sound, Visuals,...) i won´t descripe in detail, But me as a whole it´s 6 out of 5 stars. Buy it and enjoy!

if you like DS series you absolutly should play this awsome game its art and challenge and story and all!

Long story short, if there is one flaw the game has got, it's the fact that it's relatively unknown. As someone who played Dark Souls 2 and Bloodborne, both of which I have never finished, comparing the game to either of the two is doing the game a disservice. The game is hard, and it's challenging, but in a fair sort of way. If you mess up, you know why. The boss is too strong (some abilities help a lot with certain boss fights), you jumped too low, etc. To top it off, it's extremely rewarding. As you progress through the game, unlock new abilities, you feel the power. Gaining upgrades, beating bosses, unlocking new areas, it all blends nicely together. A quick tip for anyone who thinks of buying it: Jump>Dash>Attack Down is very useful against most opponents. I wish I had found it sooner, but at the very least Silksong is coming,

Let's remember some of the most legendary 2D games to date, before Hollow Knight: Super Meat Boy, Rayman Origins/Legends, Ori and the Blind Forest, Hyper Light Drifter, etc. Hollow Knight is like the result of every good 2D game ever made channeling all of their energy into a single game, to create the best, most epic, most beautiful 2D game ever. BUY. THIS. GAME.

On the one hand, it's the prime example of a well done Metroidvania. It improves on the clunky controls of Symphony of the Night and especially Super Metroid, resulting in very fluid movement & combat and one of the most responsive games I have ever played. But it also surpasses the rather uninspired level design of Super Metroid and the monotonous castle in SotN, introducing very diverse and memorable areas, while still providing massive amounts of player choice on where to progress and sequence break. Providing this increased level of quality and polish doesn't stop the game from having a gigantic map (for a Metroidvania at least) and a few dozen boss encounters, which, together, lead to a multiple of the game length of Super Metroid and SotN - combined. The game itself is much more challenging, but at the same time it feels fairer if you die due to the precise controls. On the other hand, by incorporating and enhancing many elements from Dark Souls, Hollow Knight also became the pinnacle of the Soulslike genre. Most importantly, getting rid of input queuing as well as input delay, heavily present in Dark Souls (1), elevates Hollow Knight to a less clunky but much more responsive and fluid experience. All combat and movement animations are kept short and responsive and basically begin immediately after the player input. Additionally, you can't be stunned or immobilized at all during combat, meaning control is never taken away from the player. Hitboxes, being inaccurate at times in Dark Souls, are very precise and due to its 2D nature and thoughtful color scheme, a clear visibility is always given, resulting in the most polished Soulslike so far. Backtracking is less frustrating due to easier to evade trash mobs and smartly placed bonfires (benches), but without ever drowning the player in them like in Dark Souls 3. Overall, Hollow Knight is pretty much the best you can get in two genres, something that I haven't seen happening to any other game so far.