Why do we seek that place? That land of wonders, of promise, of dreams.

Hallownest

The wastes howl wild. Sand beats my shell, clouds my mind. The path is dark

But the wind I trust. The wind too seeks the kingdom. It shall carry me there.

Weird and Wonderful

A quick glance at my profile will reveal the obvious: I adore Hollow Knight. I will keep my outmost personal thoughts for last, but I can’t in any shape or form start this review off without stating how much of a personal impact this game left on me, in so many ways it defined my views not only in videogames, but in art as a whole, and I’m happy this game is recognized as such, as all games should be (except The Guy Game, that one… no, just no).

This is not the first time I’ve talked about this game; some months ago, before I started writing the longer ‘’analysis’’ I do now, I did a mini review in which I stated that ‘’Putting in words how I feel about this game it's borderline impossible for me…’’, and that might be true, I may not be able to write a review that will fully express the extend of what I feel or even just a good review…

I’ve got to at least try. Now it’s not time for elegies. But for odes.

Shining Orange
I believe that the highest achievement a creator of any form of art could ever accomplish is to make the world they create feel alive, something impossibly challenging, but even in hardship there’s gonna be some absolute mad lads that are going to try to go against the impossible and shoot for the stars. To excel at making incredible ambience, visual storytelling and interconnected level design is something that only a few games have managed to this day, and in the world of Metroidvanias, most will point out at the likes of Super Metroid or Castlevania: Symphony of the Night as the supreme leaders and the absolute winners in every regard mentioned, and while I’m not in any shape or form implying that exploring the conquered depths of Brinstar is nothing short of immersive, a work of art has still yet to evoke in my the same feeling of wander that the dying kingdom of Hallownest.

Traversing the King’s Path and arriving at Dirtmouth are incredible moments, accompanied by the quiet sounds of the small mindless critters walking over the rest of shells and dirt and the notes of a lonely piano, but it is at the precise moment that you descend down the well… that wind too arrives at the kingdom.

Arriving at the main kingdom lays down a ton of questions; the initial cinematic doesn’t really present us with any king of objective , nor does it after we take control of the strange little protagonist, but we advance across the tutorial and we are presented little by little the most basic mechanics of the game, and perhaps most importantly, how we may take advantage of them to their absolute limit, and once we arrived at the desolate town of Dirtmouth, only really populated by a nameless old bug and a bench, a quick conversation with said bug reveals us that we are far from the best to arrive at the remains of these lands, many adventures have arrived, going down the wretched well, only to never come out. ‘’Perhaps dreams aren't such great things after all...’’ says the bug. Even so, we do go down… This is how Hollow Knight will present its objectives going forward, and pardon me the vulgar expression, but it is absolutely fucking genius.

Once a game starts, we are immediately presented with a clear objective, this is true from the most basic of platformers to the most complex of Sandbox or RPG’S; even games that sell themselves as open-ended and with limitless possibilities start off with an objective with an objective that may or may not change as the adventure goes on, and it’s usually like that because… well, because that’s how stories function. Even in a game like Dark Souls, regarded as a work in which we ourselves need to look for the story, tells you about a prophecy and that you need to ring two bells. Yet Hollow Knight doesn’t really tell you anything… or at least that’s what it seems like; descending to the grounds bellow to a world full of areas left for us to explore, is immediately clear that these lands have a lot to tell without saying a word. There are still lots of dialogue and text with a lot of insight, coming from the picturesque and lovable weirdos (and Zote) you come across and old tablets of information, and all works together to form the purest feeling of progression: there are no wrong choices here, every path you take might the one you need. The sounds may guide you, as might do the lightning and small showings of nearby areas; you may notice the green bushes emerging across the blue crossroads, or the black fumes of the void sipping from the deepest part of the sewers of a ever-crying city. The hums of Cornifer mapping the area, the melody of a unknown bug, the incessant moans of pain of the hidden enemies crawling above you or just the wind, howling inside an cave inhabited by a lamp that calls a long forgotten carnival, all accompanied by the silence or the absolute beautiful pieces of music that just make add so much to each areas, as they do the many different variations in the different sections. It all results in producing this incessant feeling of wonder, and the fact hat a ‘’true’’ objective is not presented to us until almost half-way through the game just makes it perfect: there’s no true pressure, no feeling of you losing time, every step is a new challenge, a new sound, a new piece to which learn how this world was or used to work long ago. I understand well that this way of structure and incentivizing exploration will not be everyone’s cup of tea at first, but it only takes a while and giving it an opportunity for it just… clicking. It invites you to get lost, something that only a few videogames are brave enough to encourage.

But this invitation would be worth jackshit if the level design itself was… well, if it was jackshit. Luckily, that is far, FAR from the case. 2D games, especially platformers, are bound to feel artificial in places; this is far from being a bad thing, but when you want to be completely immersed in a world, seeing flying platforms floating around can be a bit weird. This same problem affects 2D Metroidvanias, and in a way, it too should affect Hollow Knight, and yet, despite having pieces of land levitating around in some places, it still feels natural, this still manages to give off the feeling of being a coherent ecosystem or places that bugs would inhabit at the same time it presents incredible fun and interesting challenges, and the way all of these places are connected just adds to the sheer sensation of magnitude and naturality. Entire populated areas could be hidden in the most remote of places, but it still makes sense; even in somewhere like Deepnest, where mazes are the norm, it still believable that such a harsh environment would be so incredibly challenging to navigate as it is menacing. Hallownest needed to be a believable place in its context if it wanted to hit as hard as it does, and the fact it manages to feel so logical while at the same time being well designed is something that I really believe can only be performed through some kind of soul magic.

The traditional Metroidvania structure is also present, with paths and areas locked until you get a new ability, but everything rolls extremely natural, there’s no door that requires a specific power up, and with the exceptions of gates that need certain keys, almost every time progress is cut comes off not through artificial methods, but because maybe there’s just a wall that’s too high or a pit too deep. Even those that you could consider as more ‘’fake’’, like the void walls, maintain cohesion with the overall picture of world, and is fascinating to obtain more and more new abilities as it goes on; progression is slow yet steady, and it makes each change all the more impactful, and you arrive to point that you began to interact to the environment in such ways that would feel impossible by the end of the adventure.

But not everything is about interacting with the would around you, ‘cause this place can be extremely harsh, and you sometimes you need to pick you nail up… and fight!

Stingy Foes

Is it fear, I wonder, or something else that holds me back?

I’ll admit that dividing this review into sections, while practical (and gives opportunities for wordplays, that’s always nice), is a but dumb considering how well every part of this game works with each other, and in many ways combat is in itself a bug part of exploration an platforming too.

Your Nail, the most basic of attacks, is both a tool to repel enemies as it is to assist in your platforming endeavors, like maybe helping you do a pogo-jump over spikes or help you reach and free the Grubs! Which is something that won’t end in a terrible demise at all!

On top of that, add he ability to heal, which is basically the entire backbone of the combat system: you only get soul when you hit enemies, and you can only heal yourself using souls, so managing it , especially once the souls spells are introduced, becomes key, and innavertedly encourages a more aggressive oriented play-style while also leaving room for defensive strategies, and the combination of the two makes the challenging encounters even more hectic.

Under all pretenses, this is a hard game, and this plus the lack of any accessibilities options will sadly turn off a chunk of players, and absolutely understandably so, but (Dark Souls fan moment incoming ) the challenge curve is not only perfectly defined, but also the challenge ramping up doesn’t hide the fact that as you go progress, you become more and more stronger, not only in terms of the many charms, new abilities and upgrades you get, but also from what you learn. Each enemy from each area from each zone feels like its unique puzzle for you to solve, both in terms of the story and how it connects to the world of course, but it also in how you overcome it; the game may throw you at incredibly menacing situations, but is the sensation that you conquered it, you finally learned something about that enemy or that boss, about their patterns, or even something about your move set and find your preferred play style, that is what makes each encounter the more rewarding (on top of the amazing visual, animation and OST… have I already mentioned that the soundtrack is ABSOLUTELY LEGENDARY??? )

The challenge has also another purpose tho, it also tells something along with the environments and enemies, it tells a story…

Of Bugs and Kings

Twice I’ve seen this world and though my service may have stripped the first from me, I’m thankful I could see witness it’s beauty again

Down from where these words are muttered, lies a forgotten city, once the capital of a proud kingdom, now a barren wasteland only inhabited by the husks taken by the plague and those brave enough to explore it and obtain its secrets and riches, all enveloped in a never-ending rain. A depressing sight, and yet, as if the beauty of what’s just right up above were seeping into it, a wonderful song is listened through all the streets and heights), and even with the dark truth that lies within the walls of the souls sanctum and the feeling of helplessness that the plague prophesies deplorable state… it’s beautiful.

Hollow Knight it’s the story about the hubris and sins of a king, about how his desire of creating an eternal promised land only brought suffering for everyone, especially in those that believed in him the most, and every single sacrifice and cost ended up in nothing, and how the once proud kingdom now lies in absolute ruin, the eyes of those that still limper on it colored in bright orange… but it’s also a story about bugs, a story about siblings, a story about a knight.

Hallownest is a profoundly sad sight to behold, especially when knowing all the context behind it’s decline, but it’s also this absolute beauty that I have yet to see replicated in another piece of art. The term ‘’quiet beauty’’ is thrown around these days and while it you could say that the kingdom has this kind of silent pettiness to it, I think an even better term to define it would be ‘’teary beauty’’. From Greenpath to the Resting Grounds and even the unfiltered gross of the sewers, there’s this sensation of that you are staring at something that even tho it does retain something of it, it’s true beauty is long gone, the aura of forever undone mistakes plaguing the air, but even tho is that is lost and now you can only witness the wild and epidemy… it’s still beautiful, and I think most of that beauty comes across not only in some outstanding and special moments, but also in the little times you share with the other characters. Hallownest is more fucked than it has even been but despite that, you encounter with some whacky and optimistic fellas, people that have come to this kingdom in search for answer only for the beasts and plague to spit in on their faces, and it’s still sad ‘cause most characters won’t get a happy ending at the end of this story, but they still go on, they still smile and search for a light, as small it could be, finding beauty in the impossible. Of course there’s still the ones full of ego and hubris, those maddened by the solitude and the decay, those one have lost everything and it’s sad to see that you are too late to even help them… but you still can help the others, and in those small victories alongside Cloth, making a blacksmith find a new purpose and love alongside a new nail master for both to pursue art, or even gifting a flower to a lonely old bug… there’s an indescribable beauty in that, and it makes you see this ant-sized world with a brand new perspective, a more hopeful look, even at the gates of the inevitable.

Hollow Knight is not just a game about persevering against hardship, it does tackle that but it’s far from being the only thing: it’s a game about the inevitability of defeat, of mistakes, of being left at the hands of the powerful without being able to stop it… and still finding hope in that. Is a game not only finding purpose, but someone to share it with, to learn that victories are never the end, that end is never really the end, that such small actions can result in other finding the peace they longed for so long, of going against Gods and Void, and still reaching that final goal, of smiling… even without a mask with a mouth.

...Incredible…
All of these to say that I really like the silly insect game… I should really limit myself in the narrative department.

Hollow Knight left an immeasurable impact in my I think I could never fully express, ‘cause yeah, believe it or not I could say even more stuff about this game, I’ve officially lost my marbles! It’s truly amazing how a title made by so few people could make me feel things that I didn’t think any book, movie or even videogame could make me feel, ‘cause I had played and experienced works that touched me to my very core and I still do to this day, but this one is on a whole other level, from its lands to its characters (yes, even Zote), to this day I still look at it in awe, and feel lucky to have had such a marvelous experience with it… and I know very well most won’t even come close to feeling what I felt, and… that’s more than fine, what do I say? That’s marvelous! Seeing so many opinions about it it’s one of the big reason I love the community so much, it’s always amazing to see others readings, and some will think that the game is not that good and I’m maybe too over melodramatic, but that’s what in a way sparks a lot of life into it. A work like this is going to have a lot of different points of view, and even if you don’t end up adoring it as much as I, I invite you to play with all good-will that my heart can give.
It’s an amazing work of art, a tale about sadness and hope that I really think everyone should give a chance, and one that in a way, as small as it could be, changed me, one that I hold extremely dearly to my heart, as I do the memories I gained while playing it… and the words of a friendly tall bug…

All tragedy erased. I see only wonders…

Fucking phenomenal.
A absolute masterclass in atmosphere, story, and acting.
This is an underrated masterpiece and is my favorite fnaf game by far.
Now yes, I may have some sentimental feelings toward this game because I played this game so much in my childhood, and I thought it was the coolest shit ever. It was my first fnaf game, and god I’m so glad it was.
Now okay, there are problems, and I’m not going to ignore that. I understand that the gameplay is less than stimulating, and is nothing like the traditional fnaf formula, but in my opinion sister location is not a game. It is an experience. The gameplay is nothing but an interactive element to it, and yes, it can be annoying at times, but you have to admit that it still crafts a perfect chilling atmosphere. This is a scary game, the voice acting is chilling, the color palette, and the limited vision is all really great stuff. But not only that, the game is also funny as HELL. Scott has a genuinely great sense of humor, and this film balances its tone perfectly.
The lore behind sister location is frightening stuff, and it is genius. The scooper ending is absolute perfection. Its tension goes so fucking hard and Ennard in the background is the scariest thing in the world. When the scooper finally scoops you, it is the biggest jump scare in the world, and is shocking. All the endings are fantastic, but this and the spring trap ending are the best.
Also the piano in the background in the spring trap ending is actually fantastic. Genuinely brilliant.
I could rant about how this is a masterpiece in every way, but I feel I’ve written enough. I understand why people hate this game (the gameplay isn’t the best ik) but everything else is a masterclass.

Listen, I don’t care if this game is too easy, or if it’s too long, or if it has too many walking missions, this game is one of my favorite games of all time.
Every single episode captures the essence of the music perfectly (revenge of the is some of the best shit I’ve played in a while), and being the biggest Star Wars fan, I got every reference and every meme. It was pure joy.
Also, this game combines Mario Odyssey (my favorite game of all time), and Star Wars (my favorite franchise of all time). What more could I ask for?!
The two best parts of this game are the boss battles and the planets. The boss fights are a fever dream and are so exhilirating. Seriously, I replay them on a daily basis.
And the planets are gorgeous. So much effort oozes from every single corner of the planets. They have so much effort and detail in them and the results are stunning. They are truly a joy to play.
If you are a star wars fan, then play this game RIGHT NOW. It is some of the funnest stuff I have ever played.