Hollow Knight - A Bugger of a Metroidvania

I just played the first half an hour or so of Hollow Knight. I've been interested in this game since they raved about it on Bonfireside Chat. Between that, and seeing the sumptuous art in trailers, I was sold.

Well, they announced yesterday during the direct that it would be dropping and I had it downloading before I went to bed. With use of some gold points, it only cost me £6. I turned it on this morning and it's got me already.

The hand drawn art and the piano music are melancholy and beautiful. The platforming is tight, the combat is satisfyingly chunky. The bug characters and enemies are a wonderful mix of cute but still kinda gross. The Metroidvania "ooh I'll come back here" feeling has hit me hard already.

Are many people getting this? I know Mas said he backed it on Kickstarter. If I can tempt a few more of you to give it a go, I might even be tempted to give this a whole thread!

Yeah, I was one of the 2000 odd backers of the game and got my code yesterday.

Like you say it's beautiful and plays really well, I could see this being a huge indie hit on Switch and could see Jay, Jas loving it and worthy of a thread more so than some games.

Myself though never been big on Metroidvania and not sure if I will get on with as I'm already lost and even the ones I have played like SteamWorld Dig 2, I know where I have to go it's figuring out how to get there was the thing.

Could see a few decent drops on the eShop this week worth checking out be it free to play Fallout Shelter, Crazy Justice an Overwatch x PUBG game with more modes then just Battle Royale, Octopatch Demo with save date stuff for the main game and more

How Metroidvania-ey is Hallow Knight? I like stuff like SteamWorld Dig and Shantae, which are definitely of that genre but accessable enough for someone like me. Someone like me, who can't be arsed with getting lost in massive worlds, backtracking through places that look the same, or having to use a guide for absolutely everything.

I've got no idea where I'm going and I played it during most of Treehouse, maybe when I can buy a compass I know where I'm going but at the moment I'm wandering through a beautiful game world and soaking up the atmosphere.

I think it's the sort of game where every now and then you need to let yourself get lost. The compass definitely helps, but this game is all about going out and exploring on your own initiative.

Oh god, you're gonna hate it, aren't you?

I don't know if I'll hate it as I already love some aspects of it, I think it would be a game I'd enjoy watching someone play than play it myself.

I'll definitely be picking this up but it'll be alongside Mario Tennis at the end of this month.

Drunkalilly wrote:

I think it's the sort of game where every now and then you need to let yourself get lost. The compass definitely helps, but this game is all about going out and exploring on your own initiative.

Oh gawd.

This looks really nice, but I should probably give Sushi Striker and Yoku's Island Express their dues before moving onto... well, probably Mario Tennis Aces to be honest.  Ho hum.

I saw pub encounter when I went on the eShop the other day!

As for Hollow Knight, I played some more yesterday. I've seen a few more areas now, expanding the colour palette, I've fought my first boss and I've played on the TV in glorious big-o-vision.

This game is genuinely very special. The map design is tight for a Metroidvania so far, so please don't be put off by what I said earlier. After half an hour or so, I was equipped with a very effective map system. If one of the admins would be so kind, I'd love it if you could move our chat so far into it's own thread?

K THX BYE

Cheers for the update. Thinking about it, I might hold fire for a few reviews. That's not because I doubt it's any good, but because I'll either move on to Celeste, Yoku's Island Express or Hallow Knight soon, and I'll want to weigh up what sounds most interesting and what I'll be likeliest to stick in at.

That's fair. At the moment, I'm not ready to say which I prefer out of Celeste and Hollow Knight. The former is absolute gold as a pure platformer, which is probably more your jam. And I've not played Roku yet, but by all accounts that's a great Metroidvania and obviously it has the distinction of a seriously unique system.

Hollow Knight was well received when it came to PC it has a 86 on Metacritic and wouldn't see why the Switch version wouldn't be as good or might even be better as the Switch version has all the content.

But that's a hard choice of 3 games as all have similarities but also very different and all similar well received critically.

Drunkalilly wrote:

That's fair. At the moment, I'm not ready to say which I prefer out of Celeste and Hollow Knight.

That good!? Man alive. Or, er, small bug thing alive. Anyway, I too thank you for the update: that makes it more palatable!

(backlog creaks ominously in background)

Drunkalilly wrote:

. If one of the admins would be so kind, I'd love it if you could move our chat so far into it's own thread?

K THX BYE

Done and dusted.

Yeah, I'm well up for this. I might check it out once I'm done with Yakuza 0 actually - I know I'd love it.

I am very much intending to pick this up at some point, good to see some thoughts here

JayMoyles wrote:

Drunkalilly wrote:

. If one of the admins would be so kind, I'd love it if you could move our chat so far into it's own thread?

K THX BYE

Done and dusted.

Sorry, I missed this. Well done Jay! It looks like it's deserving of a thread.

This, of course, can only mean one thing: BATTLE OF THE BUG METROIDVANIAS. Which is better, this or Yoku?

If you chuck Thumper in there as well, Switch has somehow become the home of beetle-based videogaming. If that's what you're into . . .

Beetle Adventure Racing was where that genre peaked.

I started this the other night in handheld mode - I reckon it's one I want to try out on the telly as my initial thoughts were about how wonderfully atmospheric it all felt.

Without wanting to draw the ire of that Twitter account that draws attention to anybody comparing anything to Dark Souls, the opening of this has given me real flashbacks to the first time I played DS1 - not really knowing where you're headed (although that's quickly changing now that I've discovered the cartographer), the desolate yet entrancing mood and the NPCs been dotted about the game world to shed some light on what's going on.

I'm looking forward to start unlocking abilities and powers.

I think when I backed it Team Cherry themselves said about Dark Souls.

The reason I became aware of it in the first place was because it often gets discussed in the same breath as Dark Souls. The general consensus seems to be that it's one of the few games that actually replicates the feeling of DS, rather than just the combat mechanics and a general trend for firm difficulty. I'd definitely say it nails that so far, though it has plenty to make it unique.

@Jay, it's well worth sticking on the telly if you've got a room to yourself, with the lights down low and the sound up high. Gorgeous stuff.

It's interesting that y'all mention the TV - I've felt 0 temptation to dock this. Maybe it's the fact there simply aren't enough plugs near my tv for me to be arsed setting a Switch up, but I think it plays great on the Switch screen. I've even had the sound on and that's worked more than well enough.

I think having the sound on is a must - there's little sound cues for collectables as you traverse each area and you can hear enemies approach before you see them. Top marks for sound design.

I'm plugging onwards through Hallownest and I've beaten what feels like a recurring boss and unlocked a new ability. I love Metroidvanias so much - thinking about where this new powerup will let you traverse is a treat.

I'm quite a bit further along but can only echo your sentiments. The world is just the right size and so nicely designed that exploration feels incredible.