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Short Review

Read this if you just want to hear what I think about the game.
Hollow Knight is simply one of the most unique Metroidvania titles on the market. It features a combat system that isn't very complex, but still incredibly satisfying. The art style is charming and filled with dread at the same time, making it one of the most visually appealing. The interwoven areas of Hallownest are as rewarding to explore as they're exciting, with each area offering something new, both visually and mechanically. Even the few bugs can't ruin the momentum of this masterpiece of a game.

Pros and Cons


+ Satisfying combat with incredible enemy variety
+ Absolutely stunning art style unlike anything you've seen before
+ Rewarding exploration and interwoven areas
+ Beautifully sad soundtrack with a unique track for almost each area in the game
- Some rare bugs with the controls

RATING: Exceptional

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Full Review

Read this if you want all the details.
Hollow Knight is a 2D Metroidvania set in Hallownest, a land of bugs hidden beneath the surface of the earth.
Simple, yet complex
Hollow Knight's combat system is without a doubt not one of the more complex ones. You start with only one normal attack and one spell, functioning as your special move. As you progress through the game, you'll slowly get more special moves, known as Nail Arts, but I didn't find myself using them very often since you first had to charge them before being able to unleash them upon your foes. Yet, somehow Hollow Knight manages to pull off the near-impossible: to make its combat simple, yet complex. While this term is quite contradictory, It's how I would best describe the combat. I'm going to compare it to Dark Souls. If you've played any of those games, you'll know that the range of attacks you can perform is very limited. Where these games get their complexity from lies in the moves of the enemies, all of which have unique movesets, with each move being telegraphed, allowing for the player to counter it before it's too late. The same can be said for Hollow Knight. I was impressed at the sheer number of different enemies since I went in knowing that the game was made by a very small team of people. According to the game itself, there are over 100 different enemy types. Sure, some of them are different variations of one kind, but most of them are unique. This creates an experience that never gets tiresome, even though the game isn't that complex. There are still some possibilities for those who want to specialize in certain character builds. The game offers you a set of Charms that you can equip to get different bonuses. These could be extra range for your weapon or a shield that protects you while you're healing yourself. Charms can be found by exploring the environments of Hallownest. There's a lot of them, and this causes the exploration to be rewarding and worth your time.
It's challenging, and that's a good thing
It's not a Souls-like if it isn't challenging. The game truly lives up to this requirement, with bosses that will absolutely test your patience. The satisfaction once you beat that boss you've been stuck on for the last few hours is, like always, incomparable to anything else. I found the bosses to be surprisingly consistent. I expected that there would be your usual irritating and unfair bosses, but I didn't feel like I encountered any of that kind during my entire playthrough. Every single boss felt fair, with telegraphed moves and a moveset that wasn't too hard to master.
The combat isn't the only thing you'll find yourself struggling with. There's a lot of platforming sequences in the game, some of which are easy, others brutally hard, requiring high precision and well-planned moves. I'm not one who've got a big knack for platformers, so I did sometimes find myself challenged by these sequences, but they never seemed unfair.
The beauty of desolation
If you've ever heard anything about Hollow Knight, you should be familiar with its charming art style. It's visually breathtaking and unique, distinguishing Hollow Knight from any other game. It gives the game a feel of dread while also having a soothing, almost cozy feeling to it. I adored the design of the characters; friend and foe alike. Instead of featuring humans, Hollow Knight takes a unique turn, having bugs serve as the main race of the game. The game fully takes advantage of this, with character designs that can only be described as exceptionally creative. Everything is simply so beautiful, and it makes you want to stop up just to look at every little detail put into the world. Each animation feels precise and just as weighty as it needs to be. Everything from the attacks of you and your enemies to the movement looks incredible. Combine this with an almost depressingly sad soundtrack, including a unique theme for almost every area in the game, and you've got a game that nails everything to do with presentation.
Worthwhile exploration
Hallownest consists of a wide range of both visually and mechanically unique areas. Each area feels refreshingly unique, with their individual enemy types, color schemes and platforming mechanics. All of the areas are intertwoven into one complete world, with a Metroidvania level design. There's multiple ways to access each area, and they're all satisfyingly connected. Inspired by the bonfires of Dark Souls, resting at a bench will fully replenish your health, and allow you to equip and unequip your charms. These benches are far and few between, and it's reliefing whenever you find one. Some places also require special abilities to be accessed. These are often found later in the game off the beaten path, forcing you to take your time exploring carefully, if you want to see everything the game has to offer. It's always satisfying when you finally find the ability you needed to get to an unaccesible area in one of the earlier locations you've visited. You can also upgrade both your health, amount of SOUL (the essence you use to perform special moves and heal yourself), and the damage of your weapon. This is done by finding a specific number of the required item needed to upgrade them. Just like charms, these items are hidden throughout all of Hallownest, and are often easy to miss.
While I have completed the game, there's still a lot left for me to do. I still need to defeat the bosses I missed, fully upgrade my equipment, and uncover the remaining secrets of the game. I look forward to continuing my journey, as Hollow Knight simply is incredible.
The bugs of Hallownest
Unfortunately, Hollow Knight doesn't come without some rare, yet irritating bugs. (Yes, that header pun was intentional). I encountered a bug where moving the joystick would open the map and begin scrolling to the left. This happened a total of 2 times throughout a 60-hour playthrough, so it was very rare, but still annoying. The game also happened to not register my jumps a few times, but I'm not sure if it was a problem with my controller, or the game. These are the only two cases of bugs and glitches I remember. They didn't ruin the experience at all, but they were still irritating to encounter.

For this review, I tried experimenting with giving each section a header to make the review easier to read. Please let me know what you think.
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