Learning enemies’ attack patterns, learning and perfecting your own moves, when to dodge, when to jump, when to dash, is all deeply imbued in Hollow Knight’s core. But as the game moves forward, you’re constantly getting better not through new upgrades or better equipment (though that certainly plays a part as well), but because you just learn. It always keeps you on your toes, not just during boss fights, but during fights against regular enemies as well, and even during many of its more demanding platforming-centric sections. Hollow Knight is defined by a constant sense of tension. This is not a game for the kind of player that lacks patience, or doesn’t appreciate a good test of skill. It’s no secret that this is a very, very challenging game. ' Hollow Knight is a game that constantly grows, a game that is always getting better, a game that incessantly and relentlessly ramps up the quality and intensity of every single one of its mechanics, every single one of its aspects throughout the entirety of its surprisingly long play time.'Īnd natural progression really is the best way to describe it- because that’s exactly what progression is like in Hollow Knight. It all feels like a natural progression, like a large, cohesive whole, as it progressively continues to add layer upon layer upon layer, to ultimately deliver one of the most satisfying, rewarding, and stunning Metroidvania experiences of all time. And it does it all so gradually, so seamlessly, that it never feels abrupt or overwhelming.

Because Hollow Knight is a game that constantly grows, a game that is always getting better, a game that incessantly and relentlessly ramps up the quality and intensity of every single one of its mechanics, every single one of its aspects, throughout the entirety of its surprisingly long play time. The sombre music, the beautiful hand-drawn art, the tense combat, and the precise platforming all pulled me into the experience almost immediately.īut though these things had already given me an impression of the level of quality the game would exhibit going forward, as I played more and more, I realized how little I’d known. Though the game begins with little to no context for what’s going on or why you’re doing what you’re doing, and only starts you off with a very basic move-set that encompasses both, combat and platforming, from the get-go it exudes a sense of polish and confidence that is very rarely seen in most other video games, even ones that are made on a budget that is literally a hundred times that of Hollow Knight’s. It didn’t take me long after beginning my playthrough of Hollow Knight to realize that I’d stumbled onto something truly special.

Hollow knight review