Hollow Knight

There's never a low point. Only the desire for more. [Issue #35 – September/October 2018, p. 17]

Its epic story and own mythology, its easy but extremely strategic and meticulous gameplay and its perfectly tied soundtrack with the feelings that the visual style brings up makes Hollow Knight a must-have game for anyone who has a Nintendo Switch.

Hollow Knight is an incredible achievement that combines smart game design, a rich world, and sharp combat, with an enthralling insectoid world and a story just begging for you to find it. Team Cherry’s title is a high watermark for Metroidvanias, as the satisfying abilities and countless collectibles add variety and meaning to exploration, rewarding every discovery. Yet, while the challenge is a rewarding part of the process, I do wish that the title made some concessions and shone a bit of light in the darkness for those first fledgling steps.

Hollow Knight is absolutely a masterpiece. The art style is fantastic, the level designs are outstanding, and battles are challenging and fun. If you enjoy Metroidvania games, don't hesitate trying it.

Hollow Knight is a great adventure action game with essence of the classics metroidvania. Its beautiful art style, the big variety of enemies and epic battles against the final bosses are one of the most important values of the game.

A must play on Switch. It includes all content released post launch for the PC version right from the get go. Team Cherry has done a superb job and once those issues are ironed out, this will be a perfect version of a fantastic game.

Dark and beautiful, you’ll come for Hollow Knight’s visual appeal, but you’ll stay for the challenge and responsive combat.

Hollow Knight is exactly what I want from a Metroidvania. Exploration is my favourite part of these games, and I loved gradually uncovering its world, finding secrets and returning to places with new abilities. The areas feel distinctive and interesting, while opening a shortcut or finding an upgrade makes the time spent exploring feel worthwhile. There's real pleasure in getting to know the map and seeing how everything connects. I like being well equipped before taking on a difficult boss, so having somewhere else to explore when a fight becomes frustrating makes a big difference. Hollow Knight generally strikes that balance beautifully. It can be demanding, but I could usually see myself improving, and finally beating a boss was enormously satisfying. The atmosphere and music are excellent, even for someone like me who tends to skip dialogue and look up the lore afterwards. Silksong is also a 10/10 in my book, but Hollow Knight remains my favourite. Its exploration, rewards and progression come together in a way that kept me wanting to discover absolutely everything.

[SPOILER ALERT: This review contains spoilers.]

Il limite tra difficile e frustrante è spesso superato da questo gioco; ciò detto, artisticamente bellissimo e narrativamente molto evocativo. Bisogna dedicarci molto tempo per apprenderlo, forse troppo.

Sorry, but this game wasted so much potential. Great world, sound and atmosphere. Controls are smooth and it is fun… until you have to walk the same paths dozen of times. There is not teleport or going back to the main city until the game is mostly done. Even then its ver limited. Shopkeeper are scattered on the map. Want to sell something? Walk minutes in boring areas you already know. Worst point: Save points are rare as hell. No save points before the bosses. And they are hard. Think you can explore elsewhere? Forget it. If you die you loose all your money until you return to the exact place again and collect your soul. If you die on the way money is gone. You can put it in a bank, but suprise: The bank is a scam and disappears with all your money. Wow this is so much fun. Want to mark secret places on the map to come back later? Forget it, because you dont have a map. If you are lucky you find the seller, but then you must remember all the special places. Forget it. I missed the map seller several times so I just had to look up the maps online. No fun. Could have been a great game with maps and teleport, but like this I hardly feel like finish it.

Just as any other metroidvanias, it just tries to do its best to waste your time. Empty locations with trivial platforming. Then trivial boss with 3 moves and horrendous hitboxes. Another 10 empty locations with trivial platforming. Three hours of pure slog. Atmosphere is... there. Completely ruined by almost absent gameplay. And no, I won't waste my time beyond first three hours just because "it opens up later". If it needs more than 3 hours, it's not "opening up", it's sunk cost and Stockholm syndrome are kicking in.