Hollow Knight is a perfect masterpiece of an indie action platformer developed by Team Cherry. In this episode, we talk about the game, it's history, and why it is perhaps one of the best games of all time. Through our discussion, we hope you notice that it's an extraordinarily low price for such a dense, high value video game. Please go out and play it!
Shoutouts: Hollow Knight Lore - Mossbag, Hollow Knight Challenges - Fireb0rn , Zach - Twitter / Instagram , Brando - Twitter , YouTube
Show Outline
Structure Overview
Welcome. WELCOME.
Game History
First 10(?) Minutes of the game
Basics of Combat
Favorite areas / exploration
Best bosses (excluding final boss)
Favorite new ability/s + Nail master skills etc.
Charms overview
Advanced combat & build crafting w/ charms?
Final boss
“DLC” activities & light discussion
Best NPC
Lore if we got time
Final remarks
Social media plugs
End
Expanded Notes
Welcome. WELCOME.
Welcome back to VOID ARCADE
Game History
Developed by Team Cherry: A team of two(maybe four?), Ari Gibson & William Pellen, with help from David Kazi (Technical Director) and Christopher Larkin (Composer; also known for Risk of Rain 2’s OST)
Hollow Knight appeared on Kickstarter in November 2014, with the goal of $35,000(Australian). The game passed this goal, and raised more than $57,000(Australian) from 2,158 backers.
Hollow Knight was officially released for Windows on the 24th of February 2017, with versions for macOS and Linux being released on 11 April of the same year, the Switch port released on 12 June 2018, and the PS4 and XbOne got a release on those platforms 25 September 2018.
Receiver of several awards:
Australian Screen Sound Guild - Best Sound For Interactive Media
Australian Games Awards - Independent Game of the Year, Australian Developed Game of the Year
National Academy of Video Game Trade Reviewers Awards - Design, New IP
First 10(?) Minutes of the game
What is Hollow Knight?
Metroidvania - Explore a large 2D world that you gain greater access to as you collect new abilities
“Souls-Like” - Lose all of your money on death, maybe permanently if you don’t retrieve your soul in time
Action Platformer - Combat is largely based around hitting dudes and not getting hit by being nimble on the ground and in the air; can attack in only 4 directions (can’t really do diagonals kind of?)
So first ten minutes —
Wake up
Walk around the world for a bit (and realize how harsh it all is)
Get some crumbs of lore
Find the town in Dirtmouth
Then they pretty much set you free to explore Hallownest at your own pace.
Up to this point will probably be pretty similar for most people (which is why I feel like the rest of the podcast we can just focus on the parts of the game that we liked the most, since that’ll focus on our own personalized experiences)… You don’t really have much of a goal, you just kinda… go. Right?
Basics of Combat
Can attack in the 4 cardinal directions (Left, Right, Up, Down) using your nail, and spells. Spells have a greater reach, and your nail “bounces” off of enemies, so if you attack down, you can get into a rhythm of bouncing off of an enemies skull until they die.
Really simple combat that’s easy to understand within the first few minutes of the game. Mastery comes from memorizing enemy attack patterns and understanding the Knights mobility.
Charms overview
Alter gameplay mechanics (alternate spells, more attack reach or knockback, more soul from attacks, etc.)
Favorite charms conversation? (https://hollowknight.fandom.com/wiki/Category:Charms)
Brandon
Hiveblood w/o question
Wayward compass
gathering swarm
used Quick focus for a lot of early game
Heavy blow
Nailmaster’s Glory
Shape of Unn for The Radiance
Advanced combat & build crafting w/ charms?
Probably don’t have to go too deep here? Maybe just a brief aside that there are limitless possibilities and maybe mention community builds if you know of any? I know that speedrunners use Heavy Blow (stun bosses faster) & Flukenest (breaks the game in many many ways) specifically
Favorite new Spells/abilities/Nail master skills etc.
https://hollowknight.fandom.com/wiki/Category:Spells_and_Abilities_(Hollow_Knight)
Brandon
Spells
Abyss shriek for bookoo damage sometimes
The “galaga” problem I have with soul
Abilities
Shade cloak for sure. Passing through enemies and projectiles completely changed how I played the game, could be more aggressive
But the first time I picked up the Crystal Heart… I just sat there for a few minutes thinking about all the places I wanted to try using it at. Cool metroidvania moment. I guess they all kind of have that lol. But that one in particular for me I felt the map really open up.
Nail Master Arts
Was always using the dash slash (which would often be reduced slash with my poor timing) Didn’t find cyclone to be as useful though.
Short break #ad
Favorite areas / exploration / Etc.
Areas
all the areas are insanely beautiful
Brandon’s top 3
Queens Gardens - SO PRETTY
Crystal Peak - Enjoyed the vibes
Ancient Basin - Secrets and lore go BRRRRRR
Exploration is a huge part of the game
Collectable goodies conversation
Charms, Health & Soul upgrades, Grubs, Pale ore, etc.
Secrets (Walls, Floors, uh, anything else)
Some necessary for progression (Brandon’s biggest gripe)
Best Bosses / Final boss
Nosk fight is cool, but it gave me so much trouble the first time I played the game.
Absolutely love the Dung Knight fight lol. Good stuff.
The Hollow Knight fight + Radiance is a wicked good (and challenging) time
Nightmare Grimm (is this even possible lol)
“DLC” activities discussion
Dreamnail adventure, collecting essence, additional boss fights, etc.
Grimm Troupe and that maddness
Nightmare grimm… one difficult boy.
Best NPC / NPC Discussion
Hornet best girl
Dung Knight is a pretty cool guy
Worst character is the banker that stole all my money both play throughs because I forgot the second time
Lore if we got time
Not sure how long or deep the lore goes because I haven’t looked into it… yet. But I’m more than happy to spend as much time as it takes to get it in here if you guys know more than me.
I got somewhat prepared for this section by watching/listening to:
