Silky-smooth combat and platforming. New gameplay aspects such as Tools used as secondary weapons and Crests add a new dynamic to this series. The music and level design is great, if not a score below the original Hollow Knight, and the map is HUGE with lots of secret to find and areas to explore. For me it's a 9/10 (SotN and HK is a 10).
The Xbox version had it, so why in the world wouldn't this be an option for PC?!
Pros: I love the art style and audio in this game. All the distinguishing sounds that Deadsuite makes when moving, jumping or shutting down...the voice acting and characters, each with their own small piece of story to unravel - it has it's charm. Cons: More Fast Travel options would've been nice, at least one per area (traveling between save points would've made exploring much more enjoyable). Lastly, and these two things are its weakest when combined - combat and platforming. These needed more refinement and are lacking in comparison to other Metroidvania's that name them down.
It absolutely blows my mind that a console port (such as this) is missing controller support - it absolutely ruins the gameplay and immersion. It's really sad because the actual game is one of the best horror experiences ever, with excellent soundscapes, atmosphere and enemy types. The in-game bestiary of encountered foes has a backstory for each creature, and all of them are very dark and fit into the game perfectly. There's even a real-life 15-minute documentary about the history of the prison (Alcatraz) that this games' location is based on, where a famous mob boss (Al Capone) was once incarcerated (unless that was cut from this version, too). Even using 3rd party software to use a controller is wonky because of how the buttons are assigned, and the menu uses the hovering mouse cursor even if you do map everything out. It's such a same...
