Much like Outer Wilds, it took me a few tries for me to really appreciate this game. And, as much as I don't care for how the internet compares every new metroidvania to this game, Hollow Knight is a masterpiece in this genre.

I distinctly recall when I played this game originally, that I didn't particularly care for fumbling around blindly in a new area searching for Cornifer for the map. After this playthrough, I think I still feel this way. I feel that the new Prince of Persia really took a good middle ground between giving the player a base outline for the area and purchasing the map filling in the area. With that being said, the way Hollow Knight approaches exploration did lead to cool discoveries and harrowing moments of stress...I still don't particularly care for how much this game relies on hidden walls though.

Combined with the exploration is a combat / traversal system that really expands that further you get into the game. With the combined efforts of a wealth of permanent upgrades and now-very-famous charm system, the complexity of the combat really shines in the late-game and optional high difficulty content. Hollow Knight also contain a variety of bosses that are often thrilling to fight against. You can expect some duds in there with the number that they have (Relying on throwing-garbage-all-over-the-screen attacks or periods where you cannot damage the boss)...but the quality of the majority of the bosses, especially the story-related ones, are second to none.

Speaking of the narrative, it is very opaque and obtuse. Much like the way the narrative in Dark Souls is told, it relies heavily on context clues and descriptions of abilities and items to provide flavor to the world. However, I found the world to be endlessly engrossing and the narrative cap, especially with the original true ending, to be a strong finish to this tale.

I think the thing I appreciated the most about this playthrough of Hollow Knight is how high the quality the content was for the 30 ish hours I played to get > 100%. I found it wildly refreshing in today's gaming landscape where games are getting longer and longer where you really begin to see the point of diminishing return. With a launch title of $15 supported by multiple free content updates, I don't know if I will encounter a game that is this high quality for the time and money spent. Consider me a fan and very much looking forward to Silksong (whenever that day is).

I’m not sure where to even start with this one. I try not to throw this term around, but Hollow Knight is a masterpiece and a real triumph of video game design. While this type of game isn’t for everyone, it’s exactly what I’m looking for in a single-player experience. I was never bored in this world, never so hopelessly lost that I was close to giving up, and never too frustrated. There was always that idea of something to go back to, something to try, and while quite difficult at times, it was extremely fair and not punishing for the sake of being punishing. Even during backtracking I was enjoying myself, poking around, pushing what initially looked to be possible. I can’t imagine how difficult it is to design a game that flows this well. Combine that with stunning visuals, a beautiful soundtrack, and great controls, and you can see why so many people love it.

Just give it a go. Get lost in the world, soak up the atmosphere, listen to the comments and thoughts of your fellow creatures, and enjoy one of the best gaming experiences out there.

Having played only a couple games in my life, I started this game in 2018 and loved it, but couldn't get past the first boss. I then proceeded to train my skills and patience with more forgiving platformers and metroidvanias. I honed my abilities until two years later I was ready to throw myself at the mantis lords for 2 hours, and take twice as long as the HLTB time for the main story.

This is the game that made me want to get good. Hollow knight exists in a beautiful and sprawling world whose creators don't care if you don't see half of it. The fact that so many of my friends have ended up playing totally different routes in casual playthroughs is incredible, not to mention the more secret shortcuts and skips possible for speedrunning. I only wish I could erase this game from my mind to experience it for the first time again.

I generally enjoyed the game, but the gameplay loop did begin to get a bit stale towards the latter half of the game.

The atmosphere is great, the music is great, and slowly upgrading your car and base is fun. The story is just kinda there and the ending left a lot to be desired.

A pretty good first game for a studio, if a little rough around the edges.

This game is fine and I think thats what disappoints me the most - I reaaaally wanted to like this game but I was bored by the back half of the game, mainly because the levels are pretty similar. They tend to mesh together so I was going through the motions and while they did get slightly more difficult, it still felt relatively safe. The mechanics are good enough, I liked the unique concept behind the yo-yo but the levels never really push you to “master” them, you can get by just taking your time. And for a game built around speed, there’s a lot of start-stopping so I didn’t feel an incentive to combo my movements. The side missions are pointless, as they’re the same 3-5 types of missions repeated over and over for every level. The art direction, character design, and soundtrack are fantastic though

Are we so gullible? Do we as an audience not demand anything from our art? There's no story, no new mechanics, no real characters, no interesting or enjoyable visuals, no compelling gameplay, no original ideas at all in fact. Is a faceless strawman to antagonise really enough to get millions of people to play an Unreal Engine asset flip made as artlessly as possible? Is no one else actively disturbed by how blatantly and gracelessly this rips mechanics from every popular game of the last 2 decades, without integrating any of them together whatsoever? Has art ever felt this cynical before?

Feel free to discount my opinion. I am a 'salty Pokemon fanboy' after all, and I only gave this game an hour or so of my not particularly highly valued time. I personally just prefer the art I engage with to care for the art form it sits within, even a little bit. Palworld hates video games. It sees nothing more within them than a collection of things to do and hopes that by shovelling a flaccid farcical version of as many of them as possible into your mouth it will somehow constitute a 'video game' when all is said and done. It doesn't. I'm deeply saddened that so many gamers think so lowly of our art form that they genuinely think this is acceptable.