Bring peace to a dilapidated kingdom as you learn its secrets
An enormous quest in a small world created by an even smaller studio, Team Cherry, “Hollow Knight” will have you exploring the ruins of Hallownest as a small yet shockingly strong bug knight. Your character doesn’t do any speaking but the world is bustling with interesting critters, characters and enemies.
“Hollow Knight” is a game in the metroidvania genre. Metroidvanias are adventure platformers that let the player explore a large 2D world space that has interconnected points and areas meant for backtracking (returning to areas previously visited but with newly acquired abilities to overcome new obstacles).
The Knight’s moveset is rudimentary at first with only directional swings, the ability to heal and a single jump but within a few hours of playing, you should have a far more robust set of tools and powers to choose from.
The world of Hallownest carries a beautifully somber tone throughout every area you visit and it’s a feeling that you can immediately pick up from the music, the art style and the color palettes chosen. The music when exploring is mellow and that even goes for the combat situations. Boss fights are where you’ll hear the soundtrack pick up yet the music doesn’t make an effort to distract you from the often-difficult battles you’ll be forced to face.
The color choice for the kingdom bathes it in melancholic hues and heavy shadows. Somehow even the lights feel dark in these environments despite their gentle glow. The games hand drawn art style has dense lines to separate the colors and break up designs, which in turn makes the world easier to read for the player while also providing a unique visual style to make it stand out from other games in the same genre.
For as compelling as the world is, much of the game’s shortcomings come from the traveling and navigation, since doing either feels more like a chore than a convenience. It’s not engaging to run a third of the way across a maze-like map to reach a fast travel station and having your character be visible on the map shouldn’t require an equipment slot.
The plot is more read than told for “Hollow Knight” but I don’t think that’s a bad thing since it’s not necessary to know every story beat. However, if the player decides to pursue the written history sprinkled throughout the map, they’ll find interesting mysteries and hidden locations.
“Hollow Knight” is an incredibly solid experience and I recommend it to anyone looking for a metroidvania with a decent challenge.