Story and Characters
-The story of Hollow Knight is a difficult one to discuss because it is very much put on the backburner for most of the game. There is a story and the game is full of lore, but it can definitely be hard to follow what is going on unless you look up certain things outside of the game. While I do wish that a bit more of the story would have been more obvious, I also did like some of the mystery that the game creates where you are really discovering this new land filled with all of these interesting inhabitants. So having the story be less important than the gameplay did not bother me as much here as it perhaps would in another game because this is a Metroidvania and the gameplay will always be what is most important.

-Similarly, the characters are given very minimal characterization as the character you play as never speaks and most of the side characters are not given much to do other than tell you a few lines of dialogue.

Gameplay
-The gameplay is the main strength of the game as there is a big emphasis on platforming and combat, with both of them being rather challenging at certain times. The gameplay is very simple at first with a very basic jump and attack, but as you keep playing, you unlock new abilities and tools to help you on your quest through Hollownest. The gaining of abilities over time keeps the gameplay constantly engaging as you are then able to go back and explore areas that you couldn’t access before or gain the skills needed to beat a boss that was previously too difficult.

-There are a ton of different enemy types in every region that you go to which is great because it keeps the game constantly challenging and keeps the player from ever getting too comfortable. Some of the enemies can be quite difficult at first, but as you play more you realize how to beat them more easily. This makes every enemy and boss almost like a puzzle in their own way as finding the weaknesses of the enemies is like solving that puzzle.

-The game is very challenging and certain bosses will kill you a lot. The challenge could be frustrating but it was also satisfying to finally defeat an enemy that you had been struggling with. There were some of the bosses that I found particularly frustrating because the save point where you would respawn was far away from the boss. This meant you had to travel a ways to get back to where you died which was sometimes annoying when you were dying over and over again.

Side Content
-The game has a decent amount of side content although sometimes it can be hard to tell what is optional and what you need to do to progress the story. The side content usually consists of getting additional money from hidden areas or unlocking new spells or charms that will allow you to change the way you play the game. It was very fun to discover new areas and new helpful items as the exploration in the game is very good and the side content helped you get more powerful.

-You also have the option to replay many of the boss fights or different variants of the boss fights that are even more difficult. There is an arena which is another place where you can test your skills through waves of different enemies and that is also very challenging. I am glad they have so much optional content and tough bosses for people who want to fight them, but I am also glad that much of it is not required if the player does not want to.

World/Level Design
-The world of Hollow Knight is gorgeous and I was very impressed how every section of the map was unique and detailed. Even though the game is a 2D style Metroidvania, they managed to make a really cool world that was very fun to discover. Every region was unique and the level design allowed for all sorts of hidden pathways and shortcuts you could find.

Graphics, Music and Glitches
-The graphics are obviously very stylized and hard to compare to a traditional AAA game, but everything in the game looks great and holds up very well.

-The music in the game is fantastic and every region has its own themes that play while you are exploring them. The music really adds to the atmosphere and elevates the game.

-I did not encounter any glitches while I played the game.

Main Positives of the Game
-Addictive gameplay and level design made me want to keep playing and wanting to discover all the secrets that the game offered. The game really has a skill curve that keeps you wanting to play because you want to get better and you do improve as you play. Bosses that were hard at first can be easily beaten as you become far better at the game.

-The large number of enemy types kept the game feeling fresh and the combat was very fun, despite the fact it can also be very difficult.

-The map and the world in Hollow Knight are gorgeous and every part of the map was unique and amplified by the music. The levels were all designed very well and made traversal constantly fun and interesting.

-The game manages to stay consistently good and never has what feels like a weak moment. I played for over 30 hours and still had a lot more stuff I could do which is a long time for a game like this.

Main Negatives of the Game
-The story is not bad, but it is hard to follow at times and while I like the mystery of discovering what is going on in Hallow Nest, I also wish a bit more of the story would have been focused on.

-There were some annoying bench placement areas where you had to travel for a while to get back to a tough boss and that got frustrating after dying many times.

-This is a minor thing, but the game gives you a lot of charms as you play that give you abilities to help you in the game, but you only have very limited charm slots. This forces you to choose from your collection what you want to use which makes sense, but I wish you had more charm slots as I really only was able to use two or three at a time for most of my play through. When you have roughly 40 charms to pick from, I wish we could use a bit more at one time.

Overall Score: 8.5/10