Hollow Knight was released as just another indie title. And thus, people didn’t have very big hopes for it. But to everyone’s surprise, the game was one of the best in its genre. What seemed like another metroidvania turned out to be a masterpiece by Team Cherry.
With it’s sequel almost here, Hollow Knight is still to this date one of the best platformer soulslikes in the market. The game is a work of art in every way. The dark atmosphere of the world, the melodious soundtrack, and of course, the very fun and adrenaline-fueled combat. This game was nothing short of extraordinary.
Hollow Knight quickly gained recognition with its amazing boss fights. With players dying more than dozens of times just to beat a boss, the game became another great addition to the soulslike genre. The game taught about getting better through failures in every step.
Hollow Knight and the Soulslike element
Like any other soulslike game, the combat of Hollow Knight is punishing. You’ll have no room to make mistakes. You’ll get better with practice or succumb to failure. Every move you make should be well calculated, timed, and made sure of with patience.
On death, you’ll lose geo(Hollow Knight’s currency). To recover the lost geo, you must traverse your way to where you died. And unlike other souls games, you have to fight your lost soul to reclaim it, adding to the challenge.
The dying kingdom of Hallownest tells its stories through the environment. Broken palaces, hidden stag stations(fast travel mechanic of the game), structures covered in moss, and much more. NPC dialogues and subtle hints also grow curiosity about this world’s past.
The big bugs of Hallownest
The bosses are challenging, unforgiving, and unique. Each boss has an attack pattern of their own and a uniquely amazing design. No boss can be overcome with brute force.
The game forces you to learn the moveset to perfect your attempt at the bosses. Every move you make has consequences, either good or bad. Jump too late, attack at the wrong time, dash too far, and any other slip-up comes with a cost.
Every mistake comes with a punishment, but all this only makes the fruit of victory even sweeter. Mastering a boss with repeated attempts to defeat him with minimum or no mistakes in the last try. This satisfaction is unmatched.
Failure as a teacher
At the heart of your deaths in Hollow knight is a teacher. Your failures and death teach you to remain patient and be persistent in your attempt. Every death is an opportunity to reflect on your mistakes.
Like other Souls games, where the difficulty can be overcome in different ways. Either leveling up or exploiting a weakness. Hollow Knight doesn’t do this. It embraces its difficulty.
Even then, this difficulty doesn’t feel unfair. Most roadblocks require only two things: good timing and persistence. As long as you can master these, you can overcome Hollow Knight with ease.
The routine towards persistence
From the very beginning, you’ll fail at obstacles and die. Sometimes you’ll lose large amounts of geo or keep dying for hours.
Then you’ll reflect on your mistakes. Maybe the charms weren’t right. You’ll start remembering which attack comes after which one. You’ll get rid of recklessness and be more careful during traversal.
The next time you’ll have better timing, better charms, and stay more vigilant for what’ll happen next. And eventuall,y with repeated attempts, you’ll reach victory.
How does Hollow Knight’s way of overcoming obstacles resonate with real life?
The reason it’s so satisfying to overcome an obstacle in the game is that it’s relatable to real-life situations. A thing that might’ve looked impossible and too difficult once was learned and overcome with constant practice and time.
The persistence to defeat a challenge is what makes the victory even more rewarding. Every success you gain was earned through patience and resilience.
And having one challenge after another shows how in order to survive we have to keep adapting. And in order to adapt we have to stay strong in our will and be persistent towards our goal. Very few games deliver this message so powerfully.
What impact does the atmosphere of the game have?
Hollow Knight’s atmosphere has to be one of the most calming and visually aesthetic designs for a soulslike platformer. Beautiful scenes can be found throughout Hallownest.
The soothing tunes of music, the ruins of the past, a broader view of Hallownest in the background, and very interesting NPCs all make the experience calming when you’re not fighting difficult enemies or traversing through spikes and lasers.
This calm and beauty in the rest of the game helps in keeping the mind cool and at peace in times of frustration. While some other souls like to focus on despair and misery, Hollow Knight balances both beauty and despair.
