Hollow knight pc
Hollow Knight also follows the genre’s format of gaining new abilities as you explore further into the underground, unlocking new items to travel further, and generally getting stronger as you battle more and more.
With a combat system that makes such a smooth transition from move to move, the rather sudden effect of a screen pause, especially when it results in an uncontrollable fall into spikes, can be extremely frustrating. This momentary pause, while a neat effect at first, can really slowdown the action with a sudden jerk that can be jarring and annoying in boss fights. Every time the knight is hit the screen pauses, the sound dampens, and a point of damage is dealt. Where the frustration may come in is the way the knight reacts to damage. The exploration aspect is great, if a bit frustrating, but the combat felt tight and invigorating when I was able to take down a massive or fast-moving boss with well timed heals and attacks. Managing your focus and knowing when to heal and when to attack became the most interesting part of Hollow Knight for me. Focus can be used to heal as well as shooting off powerful moves that will make fights easier or allow you to progress to new areas. At the same time, the knight gains focus for each hit he connects with. Knowing different enemy attack patterns becomes crucial to surviving and not being knocked off ledges to certain doom. You have a basic melee attack and enemies take a set number of hits to die. The same could be said about the combat as well.Ĭombat in Hollow Knight is fairly straightforward. While this leads to the nostalgic feeling that older games of the genre give off, it will undoubtedly be frustrating for some. That is to say that you will be backtracking as part of the narrative and out of not knowing where to go. To get the point out of the way, Hollow Knight’s biggest issue is the unbelievable amount of backtracking. This mechanic can cause some frustration as you can spend time exploring the same rooms looking for a new route to take before you finally record all of your progress.
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Instead, you must buy a map from a vendor and update it with the rooms you explore whenever you sit down on a bench (which also serves as a place to save and regain health). The knight doesn’t have a constantly updating map as he moves from screen to screen. Hollow Knight doesn’t shy away from its inspirations, but it does add to them. As you murder your way to answers, however ambiguous they may be, you gain new abilities and fight intense bosses. After entering a small town you find out that the residents have gone missing and the ones that reside below the town are a bit nuts.
You play a small knight with a small sword and some basic combat abilities. It’s a side-scrolling action platformer with Metroidvania qualties - you’ve played this game before and know how it goes.
Hollow Knight dumps the player right into the action and doesn’t insult their intelligence with a lot of setup and tutorials. Hollow Knight is all about execution and polish, a Metroidvania that utilizes the tropes of the genre in a near-perfect way while also adding new elements to freshen up the experience. That being said, it’s pretty refreshing when a game comes along and utilizes those concepts in a well thought out manner. The concept of having a giant map to explore, needing power-ups to get to out of reach places, and backtracking to get to those places are nothing new.