Hollow Knight is one of the crowned jewels of the indie game scene. It seems almost everyone loves it, and I'm not entirely sure what I can say about it that hasn't already been said. Team Cherry made an absolutely gargantuan metroidvania with a massive world, tons of bosses, hours worth of content, multiple free DLC expansions, and stunning hand-drawn visuals all for $15. It feels so complete, comprehensive, it's a game that simply does everything right.
Hollow Knight is a metroidvania where you play as the titular Knight as you explore the kingdom of Hallownest and uncover the mysteries surrounding an infection that's destroying the kingdom at this very moment. It's pretty much the perfect kind of story for a metroidvania, primarily driven around exploration. There isn't a grand overarching plot that's going on, instead the story is mostly conveyed through visual storytelling and the conversations you have with the many memorable characters that populate Hallownest. That being said, don't get too attached to any of them because you'll never know who's going to be infected. It's hard not to feel on edge when you're playing Hollow Knight because the infection does not make exceptions, it's cruel and uncompromising, and just when you least expect it, it can pop back up to ruin your day. The infection actually reminds me a lot of the SRX in Metroid Fusion and Dread in how it strengthens enemies and serves as a dangerous and parasitic central threat that affects your surroundings, but it feels even more cranked up to eleven here. The combination of the intricate world-building and oppressive tone really helps Hollow Knight's narrative elements stand out.
As for the gameplay, Hollow Knight is incredibly tight and responsive to play, with your moveset being perfectly served to handle both pixel-perfect platforming (most notably in the White Palace) and tough combat sections. You got a dash, a good wall jump, you can slice downwards to bounce off of enemies and spikes, and you can even heal yourself a limited number of types with juice you get from killing enemies. The combat in Hollow Knight is brutal but it's incredibly deliberate, requiring you to really learn each enemy and boss's attack patterns. I hate to make this comparison, but it is quite a lot like Dark Souls, especially since it has a similar death system. But where Dark Souls is at the very least quite slow-paced, Hollow Knight's combat moves incredibly fast. You'll need to be dashing around, quickly running in to land hits before backing off, making combat feel like a brisk dance a lot of the time. This especially shines in the boss fights which are generally the highlights of the game. There are so many iconic fights in Hollow Knight, from Hornet to Soul Master to the Mantis Lords to the final few battles, they really elevate the game.
But probably my personal favorite thing about Hollow Knight's gameplay is its unique approach to the metroidvania genre. Most metroidvanias are structured deceptively linearly, with you generally having an intended path through the open world you find yourselves in, and the map always keeps track of every room and collectible you discover. That's not a bad approach, of course, but Hollow Knight feels a lot more open. Once you get out of Greenpath, Hollow Knight opens up to an incredible degree, you have no direction for where to go next. You could pretty much go to whatever area you want and fight bosses and get abilities "out of order". Once again, I'm not implying that open games are superior, but where many metroidvanias give off the illusion of nonlinearity, Hollow Knight stands out for being a rare case that genuinely is as open as it claims it is. This lack of hand-holding even applies to the brilliant map system, where instead of having an easily accessible map that fills it as you go, you need to find and buy the map and slowly fill it in with details, often with the charms you collect. Speaking of which, charms are cool too! I praised Paper Mario 64 and TTYD for their badge system and how much customization it offers, and Hollow Knight pretty much does the same thing with its charm system. You can find a whole bunch of charms that you can equip to give you a variety of perks, and as you progress through the game, you'll get more notches so you can equip more badges.
Hollow Knight is also just an absolutely massive game. Where most Metroid games, for example, tend to have around seven areas, Hollow Knight has over double that in its absolute behemoth of a world map. There's a massive amount of collectibles ranging from charms to sidequests to entirely optional bosses, and that's not even getting into the whopping four DLC campaigns which added more quests, more bosses, more charms, more modes, and even some boss rushes for good measure. Keep in mind that Hollow Knight was a game developed entirely by a small indie team and released only for $15, and yet it manages to have not just more content but more meaningful content than many AAA games on the market. There's no padding, no filler, no blatant repetition of objectives, Hollow Knight is genuinely that long, and that just blows me away.
Of course, I also can't talk about Hollow Knight without talking about its gorgeous presentation. Hollow Knights boasts a stunningly and fluid hand drawn artstyle with an incredible use of color. So much of this game is primarily grey scale, with its characters and backgrounds often solely composing of black, white, and grey. But that only means that when colors do pop in, whether the bright greens of Greenpath or the searing orange of the infection, it really leaves an impact on you. The character design in Hollow Knight is also top-tier, with its many varied insect creatures perfectly toeing the line between cute and creepy. And just as a cherry (no pun intended) on top, there's even minor voice acting in a completely fictional language, and if you know me, you know I adore fake languages in video games. Hollow Knight's music is also wonderful, a beautifully melancholic orchestral score by Christopher Larkin that perfectly captures the depressing state of Hollownest. There's a lot of great tracks but the highlights for me are Greenpath, Hornet, Mantis Lords, Sealed Vessel, White Palace, and Dung Defender.
Interestingly enough, Hollow Knight and Ratchet & Clank: Going Commando almost occupy the same space in my eyes, so it makes sense that they'd be ranked right next to each other. Both are incredibly ambitious games with a massive scope that manage to live up to that ambition, and offer a vast and immersive world to explore provided you're in the right headspace for it. And just like Going Commando, Hollow Knight is simply staggering in its achievements. It's an incredibly fluid and deliberately-crafted action platformer offering up a massive kingdom to discover filled with mysteries and secrets, with a ton of room to explore and customize your build and a stunningly polished presentation to tie it all together, all for $15. It's a testament to Hollow Knight's quality that it's one of the only games general audiences seem to almost unanimously agree is underpriced. Can't wait for Silksong.
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