There's not many games out there where you can break down a single seemingly insignificant wall and stumble upon a whole new area of the world. Hollow Knight's exploration is its best feature, but that exploration would be much less impactful if its setting wasn't as compelling as it is. Traversing a lost civilization completely submerged under the earth is a fantastic concept for a non-linear platformer, and Hollow Knight's level layouts, character designs, and artwork all do an excellent job at making Hallownest come to (after) life. The game is also great at piquing the player's curiosity, the best example of this being Hornet. She's the first character in the game who seems to recognize who you are, and pursuing her really makes it seem like you're on the verge of a huge discovery- just need to dig a little deeper.
At this point in time Hollow Knight is largely being considered as the successor to Super Metroid. While I'm not Super Metroid's biggest fan, I feel as though Hollow Knight has several gameplay downgrades compared to it and several other non-linear platformers (not going to use the M-word). Hollow Knight never really gives you a sense of power progression. Even at the end of the game you'll still be using that get one hit in -> get out of an enemy's range combat loop that you've been using since hour one. The mandatory upgrades are also possibly the game's weakest aspect. They range from completely situational (the wall boost that is unlocked at the Crystal Peak comes to mind) to completely predictable staples of the genre (a double jump, an air dash, a wall jump). None of them force the player to view the world from a different perspective in order to determine how they can be used to progress, and none of them really make traversing the world more interesting. This last point in particular stings due to how much backtracking is in the game- most of it doesn't feel justified due to how boring your moveset is.
While I don't consider Hollow Knight to be among my favorite indie games or my favorite non-linear platformers, I'm still very thankful that it exists. It's a shining achievement in the realm of indie gaming in terms of visuals, atmosphere, and worldbuilding, and I'm really glad the team behind it is getting the recognition they deserve, even if I don't think their game is the greatest thing since sliced bread. These guys have earned my complete faith- I think they're going to knock Silksong out of the park.
At this point in time Hollow Knight is largely being considered as the successor to Super Metroid. While I'm not Super Metroid's biggest fan, I feel as though Hollow Knight has several gameplay downgrades compared to it and several other non-linear platformers (not going to use the M-word). Hollow Knight never really gives you a sense of power progression. Even at the end of the game you'll still be using that get one hit in -> get out of an enemy's range combat loop that you've been using since hour one. The mandatory upgrades are also possibly the game's weakest aspect. They range from completely situational (the wall boost that is unlocked at the Crystal Peak comes to mind) to completely predictable staples of the genre (a double jump, an air dash, a wall jump). None of them force the player to view the world from a different perspective in order to determine how they can be used to progress, and none of them really make traversing the world more interesting. This last point in particular stings due to how much backtracking is in the game- most of it doesn't feel justified due to how boring your moveset is.
While I don't consider Hollow Knight to be among my favorite indie games or my favorite non-linear platformers, I'm still very thankful that it exists. It's a shining achievement in the realm of indie gaming in terms of visuals, atmosphere, and worldbuilding, and I'm really glad the team behind it is getting the recognition they deserve, even if I don't think their game is the greatest thing since sliced bread. These guys have earned my complete faith- I think they're going to knock Silksong out of the park.