The Perfect Video Game | Hollow Knight Review
A masterful must-play video game for anyone and everyone.
A masterful must-play video game for anyone and everyone.
Hollow Knight will leave you gobsmacked with its wonder, polish, and intrigue at every turn. One of the best Metroidvanias. Combat is simple, but the skill ceiling is high. I too, weep for these bugs. NameBrand
This review marks my second play through of Hollow Knight on my second purchase of the game, and I have to say that it still is an incredibly enriching video game experience. Gobsmacked is the right word for it. Environments are beyond beautiful and atmospheric, owing to the strong art design mixed with a perfect soundtrack. Combat is intense, but never impossible. The bugs you meet across your journey are lovable, and the Lore is rich, should you choose to find and follow it. Build-crafting with the charms is remarkably fun and intuitive. Exploring is divine. Beating the game gives you an overwhelming sense of victory and accomplishment.
It’s almost a perfect video game. In fact, maybe it’s the closest we will ever get to a ‘perfect video game’. The only gripe I have against it, is that I wish there was a way, in game, to find some of those expertly hidden secret areas. We’re talking entire zones with optional bosses that can be so easy to miss… You might have opinions on this inclusion, and here’s mine: I want everyone to be able to experience this game in its entirety. I find that to be nearly impossible without outside resources like a community made map. Key areas that help you progress can take hours to find if you miss that one small detail. My first play through on Nintendo Switch took me over 50 hours. This time, I’m barely under 30, because I used a community map when I didn’t know where to go or what to do. Those extra 20 hours of getting lost around Hallownest for my first time are a joy, don’t get me wrong. But there are some optimizations that could be done to reduce the frustration you might have with that aspect of the game.
Beyond this though, like I said, a near perfect game. The bosses are incredibly well-designed, from how they look, to how they’re animated and how they attack. The areas are themed incredibly thoughtfully and are different enough from each other that you can easily remember where they’re at. It’s all super impressive.
Within the first few hours of play time, Hollow Knight hooks you, and from there out it’s nothing but Hollow Knight in your schedule until you’ve beat it. And then you think about the optional side quests, and you go back and beat those (or try to anyway). You collect all the charms. You collect all the grubs. Have I completely filled out the map? Time to do that. My desire to stay in this game world is so strong that I’m making up reasons to stay within it… until it all fades away like a dream… and I’m left weeping for these bugs and the tragedy of their world.
Ultimately, you’ll know pretty quick if this is the game for you. It’s been said many times by many players that it’s a masterpiece, and I’m not going to say any different. In fact, I think so highly of it, that I can’t possibly think of anything more to add to my thoughts. But, if you need the nudge to buy and play it, I recommend that you get off that fence, and dive headfirst into Hollow Knight. I’m not exaggerating when I say that it has the potential to be one of the best gaming experiences you’ll ever have.
Originally published at https://backloggd.com.