Hollow Knight

The world is incredible, a game that takes place in the insect kingdom? I've always wanted that, but it's mythical in this case, so that's nice. Problem really stems from the actual gameplay and design, the map is deliberately obtuse and obscured so you keep finding a beetle that sells you map pieces and pins; I get the developers were trying to make you feel lost, but... I don't enjoy it. The combat is good, but extremely simplistic, you jump, you hit, and after getting the rhythm for it, it turns into a bit of a slog, mainly because of how repetitive it gets, some of the bosses become more of an exercise in repeating patterns, than in experimenting with the game mechanics. The story is fine, your usual Zelda like kind of thing, there's a lot of evil, you're supposed to cleanse it, the really good part is meeting the characters that the game has, that's what's nice about the tale, not the actual premise but the details in it. Overall, I think it's a fine game, just a tad bit overrated, people treat it as if it's the second coming, when in reality is just alright.

Not much to say that hasn't been said. It's great in every single aspect of its design. It doesn't have the most complex combat mechanics but they are very well implemented and enjoyable to use. Maybe weapon arts could be a bit more incentivised as they tend to be a forgotten mechanic. The game has no real flaw. It understands how a great world enhances the joy of playing through it, and it understands how a challenging gameplay makes the player more interested in that great world. The art is stellar, the music is amazing, the gameplay is fun, the level design is great, the progression is perfect for the world in question... There isn't much of a downside to the game.

Game looks amazin but feels unresponsive and dull at least early game when you only have only 1 jump and basic attack.

This was a really cool game in the beginning, but then after ten hours or so it started to show it's actual face. And it's a face that will appeal only to truly hardcore gamers with either lightning-quick reflexes, or a lot of free time on their hands. Basically, it's artificially made hard, unforgiving and frustrating instead of being challenging and fun. Just imagine: you progress through a relatively challenging level, fight foes, avoid spikes, find a bench that is a checkpoint... The controls are really good, visual style and music are pleasantly dark, everything oozes this Dark Souls vibe. Pure bliss, right? And then you continue moving forward, and do so for minutes and minutes, and then! oh horror! you encounter a boss! It's big and scary and relentless. You barely glimpse its attack patterns in those few seconds it kills you. Do you really, really want to just get back in the fight and show it who can evade attacks like a dodge master and deal tons of damage with their sword? I know I did. But you find yourself right at that bench again, minutes and minutes before the fight. And so you go there again. And again. And again. After about fifth attempt you start to ask yourself whether it's the best use of your time. You could have been playing something story-driven and enjoying something new. You could have been learning how to play a guitar or how to pronounce 'I'm being kidnapped, help' in Latin. You could have been writing that book you always wanted to write, or playing with your cat, or your kid, or just talking to your friends. But no, you just sit there and repeat the same stretch of a level over and over and over. Why would you? If overcoming such things brings enjoyment to you, well, don't miss this game for anything. But if you want something more productive, than avoid it like it's the avoidance company and you're an employee of the month. Good luck.

Until they fix the button latency for the xbox360 controller i cannot give this game higher than 3, i will actually recommend that people with similar controller to re-evalutate to purchase this unless they want play on M/K(the developer recommends a controller though). It is a wonderful game, very beautiful to look at and a immersive universe, the sound design is also top notch. They game has a semi-punishing rogue-lite mechanic where you lose xp/currency/progress with to many deaths(2 in a row) this combined with the mentioned button latency is a game greaking mechanic and should be fixed as soon as possible. I will update this review if they patch the problem out.