Hollow Knight (NSW) Review

Just can't get enough.

 Did you ever play a game so good that you just regretted not having played it sooner when it came out? That's how it felt when I was recently playing the indie hit, Hollow Knight. Developed by the Australian-based Team Cherry, it's often regarded as among the best games of 2017, and that's saying something as last year housed a plethora of great games. Following a small Knight's venture into the ruins of a fallen kingdom plagued with an unknown infection, Hollow Knight easily won me over as one of the best indie games I've played in a while. Luckily, the game saw a Nintendo Switch release this year, so at least I have the luxury of playing it on the go. What that said, let's find out what makes Hollow Knight so damn good.


 You take the role of an insect-like Knight who goes about exploring the bug-infested kingdom of Hollownest and its ruins below it. Along the way, he'll meet some interesting and colorful characters, some of which are friendly while others are pretty much hostile. The knight will soon notice a mysterious infection taking over the ruins and must find the root of its cause. The narrative takes a cryptic approach as you're not directly handed-out information and instead must really on the small bits of lore given by NPCs. You'll learn of what happened to the residents of Hollownest and the event that transpired while also getting some backstory on the Knight himself. There's also different endings that take place depending on how you approach some of the end-game encounters as well.   

Despite being overly cryptic at first, I enjoyed

piecing out bits of the story by myself.

 Hollow Knight is a 2D action game with Metroidvania elements. You start off relatively under equipped as you only have a nail-like sword to attack enemies. Fortunately, you'll have access to spells over the course of the game such as the likes of a handy cyclone slash to deal with groups of enemies. There are no health items, instead, you must hold down a button (in the Switch's case, the A button) to restore health though it comes at the cost of depleting your Soul Vessel, which is energy gained from fallen enemies. As you keep on exploring Hollownest, you'll come across tough enemies and secret NPCs that will unlock new moves for the Knight to use such as the ability to double-jump, dash, jump on walls, and so on. Later on, shops become accessible and will sell maps that are essential for navigating through the games large areas. They will also sell some upgrades in the form of mask and vessel fragments, which serve as your health and magic, respectively. 

The game controls responsively while managing

to be fairly challenging.

 Hollow Knight is a Metroidvania in the sense that levels are interconnected and some segments are inaccessible until you obtain a certain power-up such as the dashing ability to unlock them. You'll be covering a lot of ground when exploring but the map only ever gets updated in rest spots, so it's best to be weary of your surroundings. Furthermore, some routes will act as shortcuts and take you back to previous areas that you've visited as well, which drastically lowers the chances of making lengthy trips. It was so addictive that I always purposely went out of my way in efforts of finding all of the treasures and secrets tucked nearby. Since the game pts heavy emphasis on exploration, backtracking can become an annoyance at some point. Thankfully, there are several Stag Station in most areas that act as a means of fast travel though finding all of them is a long process.

 Taking cues from the punishing Souls series, all Geo (the game's currency) will be lost upon death and the only way to get it back is by visiting the location you died in. However, the game kicks things up a notch by having beat your "Shade", which is your lost shadow in order to regain your geo. If you die hallway through then your precious geo is gone for good, so bear caution in mind. Luckily, there's a way you can easily earn back those hard-earned geos which involves unlocking a summoner who can summon your fallen shadow for you to beat it. Also, you can even store all excess geo in a bank so that you don't lose them. However, these options are unlocked much later in the game.

Getting reckless will easily result in a quick death.

 What's great about Hollow Knight and games of its kind is that there's a high risk-reward element to them. You never know what might be in the next room. It could be a boss you may be unprepared for, some neat treasure guarded by a tough enemy, or just a relaxing hot spring that'll replenish your health. There were many times where I asked myself "should I risk going further?" knowing that I didn't have a map to get a feel of my surroundings and would risk losing all of the geo I had accumulated, all just to see what the game has in store next. The game encourages you to keep on exploring just one more room in hopes of getting a hefty amount of treasure while also being weary of what lies ahead, it was easily the most enjoyable aspect for me.

 Hollow Knight's bosses require you to carefully memorize their attack patterns quickly while also making use of the skills you learned as they can be tough to overcome. Surprisingly, my favorite boss was the fittingly titled "Dung Defender" found in Hollownest's sewers, who basically throws balls of crap at you. Combine that with his oddball antics and he'll have you giggling throughout the fight, which is something rarely seen in boss fights. By using special accessories known as Charms, you get a helping hand when dealing with threats. Initially, you can only equip up to three of them, with each taking several slots. They come with handy perks such as having extra attack range and health recovery to even emitting a strong odor that will damage nearby enemies. The customization options are plentiful and if you happen to stumble upon a good build, then you can easily breeze through the toughest of encounters, though the beauty of it lies in being able to constantly change your build to see what fits best in a given situation.

Batter up for some tough encounters.

 Hollow Knight looks absolutely gorgeous. I loved the smooth animations and diverse, vibrant look of the environments and found them to be a pleasure for the eyes to gaze at. It's a commendable feat coming from such a small-scale team. Additionally, the game ran well on the Switch, with no technical hiccups during the course of my playthrough. I felt that the sound quality was low despite maxing it out, but that could be just the Switch itself. The soundtrack, courtesy of composer Christopher Larkin, complements the atmospheric tone with soothing, ambient tracks and even a few eerie ones as well. Interestingly, I enjoyed the gibberish sound effects of the NPCs and creatures as they were often unsettling, yet gave life to the rather desolate and quiet areas. I would definitely recommend playing the game with some good headphones for the full immersion.

The dark visuals and excellent lighting nail

the desolate atmosphere of the adventure.

 If you didn't know by now, I loved Hollow Knight and during the course of the 20 hour adventure, I couldn't get enough of it. The story was mysterious and engaging, gameplay remained solid and responsive despite it not adding anything new to the sub-genre, and the presentation is simply outstanding. It's one of those games where I can see myself going back to in the future as I'm currently at 74% completion, so there's still bosses left for me to beat, health and weapon upgrades to chase, and even secret areas to explore. Also, let's not forget the free DLCs Team Cherry's been tirelessly dishing out as well. I may say this a lot but Hollow Knight is seriously one of the best indies in the market and one you should check if you're an avid fan of the ever-growing Metroidvania sub-genre.