Ah, yes, Hollow Knight, a  platformer about a simple wandering explorer, with only his trusty sword, and other things he steals from people by murdering them. Also, it may be one of the most complicated genres of games, as it’s titled as a “Metroidvania with Dark Souls Elements.” In simple words, it’s where you (technically) get the entire world open to you at the beginning of the game. The only problem is that you can’t access every area at the start. You’ll need upgrades, better weapons, or abilities to reach every area of the game. Now that we have the basics, it’s time to take a look into Hollow Knight, and why it’s… Pretty cool.

Hollow Knight takes place in a small town known as Dirtmouth. Or, really it takes place UNDER Dirtmouth, in Hollownest, a kingdom overcome with a strange infection. You can’t recall why, but something draws you into this strange kingdom to explore all it has to offer. While the game is (mostly) limited to the underground ruins, the creators, Team Cherry, still find ways to keep the Kingdom of Hollownest unique and interesting. A large example is the area City of Tears, where the members of Hollownest’s highest council hide from the infection. Of course, however, it didn’t work as they planned. But inside of this town, you can find sewers, a gigantic tower, a ritualistic cathedral, and more.

There’s a wide range of NPCs’, all of life to the empty world of Hollownest. You have Zote the Mighty, an overconfident fallen hero who you can find around Hollownest, or some Mask Maker that… Looks cool I guess? You also have Cornifer the map maker, who is literally the MOST IMPORTANT NPC IN THE ENTIRE GAME. You want to make sure you’ve explored an entire area? Get a map. Do you want to have any hope of getting to a save point? Get a map. Anyway, every NPC is on their own quest with their own motives, and it really brings a connection with everyone you can possibly talk to.

The gameplay in Hollow Knight is simple. jump, slash and heal. Well, I mean, at first. Then you get a spell to cast, then you get a wall jump (of course, right after you get a dash attack first) then you get a “ground pound,” or a different upwards attack, then you get a SUPER dash, or maybe you’ll find a better version of the spell you’ve seen earlier… In other words, you’ll eventually get pretty skilled, but the game gives it to you slowly, so you can learn to master those moves.

Listen, this game is not for the weak. It gets pretty complicated and difficult the more you go on. Nothing else in Hollow Knight better represents this better than the bosses. They each try to train you with one of the special moves told prior, with their battle being centered around it. The boss design in this game is INSANE. There’s a giant crystal guardian that shoots lasers and screams really loudly, there’s a hoard of dead bodies that fireflies possess and attack you, and there’s even a battle between… A giant blob of worm flesh that produces children to attack you? While the bosses are where you’ll be wasting your time and getting the angriest at, they’re also a highlight of the game.

In all, Hollow Knight is a hard, but fun game. The controls are simple, and the platforming is fair. The game requires a lot of backtracking though, so be prepared for a lot of wandering around. The areas progressively give you more abilities but also gets harder at the same time. Hollow Knight also is balanced in a way that makes you know something is possible, just hard, then gives you satisfaction when completing a task. And for all of the things listed in this article… Hollow Knight is a great game, that you should check out.