Hollow Knight is an excellent game that follows a bug that explores the ruins of a civilization. As the knight traverses the land, you can find out more about the story and what happened to the once great kingdom. The kingdom had fallen to a plague that was created by a forgotten god that corrupts the mind of the bugs that are infected by it. Throughout the game, the player can collect an array of items such as pale ore, charms, relics, and more. Some of these are between the many nooks and crannies that are waiting to be discovered throughout the map. These collectables reward the player for finding them since they all provide buffs (pale ore that enhances your sword also called a ‘nail’), the charms can aid with unique perks, relics can be sold for money called geo, and more. As the game progresses, parts of the map become harder to traverse because enemies become increasingly strong. Finally, based on how much work is done towards the end of the game, the achieved ending is changed.
Collectables are scattered across the entire map with some requiring that the player goes out of the planned path or fight some bosses. Charms help customize how you play the game since there are charms that give you more health, charms that make you deal more damage with either spells or the nail, and charms that increase the speed you can dash and walk. Nail upgrades boost the damage that is dealt to enemies using your nail but also raises the amount of health each enemy has. Spell upgrades increase the amount of damage that they deal while giving you invincibility for a small amount of time.
With Hollow Knight being a metroidvania the transitions between each of the multiple environments leads to the new area with its new art style to have a sense of invitation. The Forgotten Crossroads brings a somber tone to the beginning of the game with a simplistic background that is quite dull and lacks importance. Towards the end of the game, Forgotten Crossroads transforms to signify the progression that is made by the player and the effects that progress has caused.
Hollow Knight consists of a metroidvania that requires plenty of investigation to find the lost texts hidden across the world and all the plentiful resources that can be collected to aid on your quest. As you explore the world, the music and the graphics are a pleasant surprise that creates different small sanctuaries among the world. This article does not go into much detail about the story, the places that can be found, enemies that are encountered, and more since the best aspects of the game must be experienced first hand. I rate this 8.4/10 because of the creative environments generated, the music that creates the tone, and endings that change depending on the actions chosen. So for $14.99 on Steam, Hollow Knight is a great game to pick if you are looking for a different game to play.
