Hollow Knight

Ok, this is a hard one. This game is gorgeous, evocative, emotional, beautiful, and mechanically, utterly, utterly broken. If you fall within the overlap of the Venn diagram between "love a Dark Souls-esque sense of environmental storytelling" and "has no problem with wasting time on technical player kills", buy this immediately. Most of the game flows smoothly once familirised with the slightly janky initial controlls, and there is not much to complain about for a majority of the game. The problem arises when you run into some of the worst boss design I've ever seen where the fight is, seemingly deliberately, built to randomise you into unwinnable positions. To artificially ramp up difficulty, the game starts to, for instance, throwing randomly spawning ghosts (Forgotten Kin), and randomly falling rocks (Failed Knight), that will put you in a place where escape is simply not mechanically possible. Others have spoken to the importance of learning foes' patterns, something I'm extremely on board with having clocked 200-300 hrs each into Demons Souls, and all of the Dark Souls games, but that is just not a factor when enemies repeatedly literally spawn in your location to health-tax you in the middle of a boss fight. Apart from this, every action has a superfluous end-lag. This combines to make the game seem to desperately try and wrest control of your character out of your hands to artificially inflate the difficulty. I'm about to call it quits, because I really don't have time for that anymore. This makes me sad, as apart from most late-game bosses, this game is fantastic. If you've got the patience and time for that, don't hesitate. Otherwise you might want to watch some videos or try it out before buying. As for the inevitable flood of "lern2ply" sub-morons, we are all very impressed at your "accomplishments" and your empty posturing is not pathetic at all, I promise.

2017 had a lot going for it: System Shock 3: Prey, Nier: Tomatoes, Nier: Irish Samurai, Racist Teacups, Jungian Psychology 101 part 5, Horizon: Zero Dark Thirty and some stuff by Nintendo about a dude not called Zelda - and yet, neither of those got me coming back the same way Hollow Knight did and neither was as enjoyable for me (ok, except for Zelda: Breth of the Wild, because i don't own the Nintendo switchy-swatchy thing. There. My integrity is ruined). Simply put: the game is amazing. It does everything it sets out to do and it does it in style. If you are a fan of metroidvania/dark souls/hack&slash games, it's a must. It's hard, but rewarding. It's design and sound are amazing, it's very atmospheric and can be cute and scary at the same time. It has simple yet surprisingly sophisticated combat. The backstory is intriguing and told by the world itself. Buy it now! To answer some complaints: 1) combat is siple, but is anything but simplistic. The depth is in the execution, not in preparation. There's still a lot of variety (10+ permanent skills to find + upgrades to all + 40 switchable upgrades), though little in terms of different playstyles. 2) The game is hard, but not unforgiving. You need to catch your stride. It's not a question of "git gud", but rather hitting the right tone. Don't rush into things. Blindly mashing attack will get you killed quick. Be respectful, patient and cautious. Prioritize not getting hit over hitting. EVERY enemy has an opening, find it. 3) The save and fast-travel spots are spread out thin (think Dark Souls). Dev's choice. I wasn't bothered, some people are. There's a late game teleport spell to help out. Also: game saves on quit. You don't lose your progress, just start from your last save location. 4) Same with map - dev's choice. I liked that actually but it can get overwhelming early to mid-game. 5) It can be hardware heavy on low-end computers. Mid >>should<< be fine. 6) Get a controller. Keyboard + mouse can be frustrating.

...charm, and goodies. 10/10 Silky smooth game play; charming yet dark graphics and ambiance; brooding, spooky sound track; multiple endings... What's not to like about this game? The only thing I can think of might be the difficulty—you're not in for a cakewalk with this game. You're going to have to earn each boss fight and the multitude of secrets and Easter eggs that you can find in this lovingly crafted game. However, if you're not a hardcore Metroidvania fan (I can't say that I am, myself), don't worry—you'll still have a hauntingly delightful time exploring the world of Hollownest and meeting all sorts of creatures along the way. Team Cherry outdid themselves on this one, and to make things even better, we have a sequel on the way slated for later in 2019! I have sunk over 75 hours into this game and just finally reached the third of five different endings. The scope of this game is mind boggling, and just as soon as you think you've done everything, you'll find that there is more to do. Even after I thought I had completely explored the map, I found that there were still hidden areas that I had missed or had not been able to reach or unlock. Do yourself a favor and get this game and let yourself get lost in its dreary yet hopeful world. You'll be glad you did.

Before I start praising the game and its countless merits one by one, I want to point something out first to get it out of the way: it is not for everyone. Seriously, if you tend to get disappointed and give up easily when you lose and you don't like your games hard, you'd better go play something else. I'm not being elitist here, its really gonna take a lot of time, effort and determination on your behalf to finish, let alone complete. With that settled let's get to the main review. Art: The art of the game deserves to be in a museum, period. Beautifully hand-drawn characters and jaw-dropping environments are all over the place, with incredible attention to detail. Not to mention the haunting, immersive atmosphere. 5/5 Soundtrack: Hollow Knight wouldn't be the same without Christopher Larkin's amazing compositions that totally fit the game's atmosphere and make it even more immersive. I still listen to several of the tracks for the memories, or simply because they're awesome in their own right. 5/5 Gameplay: I've got nothing much to say about this cause I don't want to spoil... Anything you'd expect from a Metroidvania, only tighter, sleeker and fine-tuned to perfection. Engaging exploration of a 2D open world and (a bit more than) challenging boss fights that will push your skills to the edge. 5/5 Story: At first I was like "A game about a kingdom of bugs? Ehh...". I couldn't be any more wrong. It's very well set up and keeps you guessing until the ending(s). Not to mention the awesome concepts it introduces... for example, get ready to learn what a "soul vessel" is. Cool huh? 5/5 Content: Massive. You'll think you've come a long way and you'll still be nowhere near the end. 5/5 Difficulty: Get ready to die, enough said. And some of the craziest (optional) achievents may take you several hundred hours. Like I said, its not for the faint of heart. GIT GUD!!! 5/5 (for me at least) Price: Too low for what you get. Go buy at full price now. No regrets

Hollow Knight is, without a doubt, one of the true milestones of the indie videogame. Everything (Yes, everything) in its art, soundtrack, and gameplay are simply top-notch. Its ability to tell a story within a Mysterious and fascinating setting while keep you hooked with a fast-paced Metroidvania gameplay with its own unique quirks and features is simply astonishing. There's nothing to say (not spoiling the fun to explore and see for yourself all there is to see, which is frankly a lot) if not: buy it., you won't regret it.