Is the emphasis on platforming or combat?

[「Choobs」]

I want to know if this game is more of a platformer, or more of a combat oriented game. The reason I ask is becuase I generally don't like platforming heavy action platformers, for me it's all about the combat.

Something that has roughly equal parts platforming and combat like the Megaman X series is fine, as long as the platforming is fast and not overly precise. Games like Shovel Knight though where the emphasis is clearly on the platforming are not my cup of tea. Mostly-combat games like SOTN, Momodora, Odallus, etc are great, as long as the game still retains some fun movement options.

So before I buy this, what am I in for?

[.//slayer]

I'd say platforming is a priority, but the main difficulty still comes from combat, if that makes sense. You have a lot of movement options in HK, and plenty of places will require you to do some precision jumping, but there aren't really any insta-kill options (like Megaman spikes) or high-skill rooms akin to Super Meat Boy or N++. Worst case scenario, you lose one hit point and are teleported to the start of the room, then try again.

Combat, however, is rather simplistic, featuring only a limited number of attacks and a single upgradable weapon, but bosses and enemies quickly become very harsh on you, requiring both to learn patterns and to master your dodge skills. There aren't many tools available to you to deal with bosses, so you'll have to make do with what limited abilities and upgrades you have. It definitely adds challenge to the game, and most of the really difficult bosses are optional, but beating them is what I enjoy the most about HK. That, and awesome exploration.

Hope this helps.

[「Choobs」]

Are the movement options useable during the boss fights? I'm assuming you would need to use dash abilities and such to get out of the way of attacks.

Simplistic combat is fine as long as it feels smooth and responsive. Do you have a 1-2-3 combo with your weapon, or is there only one kind of attack? Can you attack right after a dash or right after landing from a jump?

[AuburnRDM]

Originally posted by 「SUPER EUROBEAT」:

Are the movement options useable during the boss fights? I'm assuming you would need to use dash abilities and such to get out of the way of attacks.

Simplistic combat is fine as long as it feels smooth and responsive. Do you have a 1-2-3 combo with your weapon, or is there only one kind of attack? Can you attack right after a dash or right after landing from a jump?

Movement options are definitely useful during boss fights (and there are a lot of boss fights). There is only a single attack in your combo, but you can swing up/down/left/right. Along the way you do earn some skills and magical abilities to add a bit more depth, as well as equippable charms that can affect the way you fight. There is a small delay to attack after a dash, but none for jumping and attacking. I'd say the controls in this game are much tighter than many games I've played in this genre. And dare I say, but this might be might also be my favorite.

[Kyutaru]

Your sword only has directional slashes and special abilities like cyclone that you can learn. Boss fights are basically movement spam and waiting for an opportunity to strike them. The final final FINAL boss (true ending) is just a laser light show of things to avoid. Not much combat or skill use matters, just tons and tons of dodging/platforming.

If you're looking for Mega Man, this isn't it. You won't be swapping attacks to suit the target. You'll be dodging and striking them in the face with a nail.

[Celery]

I'm not sure how to answer because of how you worded your question. I found Shovel Knight to be easy as far as platforming goes, and the boss battles were reminiscent of Megaman era NES bosses. If you find the platforming in Shovel Knight to be a challenge, this game might not be for you. Hollow Knight has many boss battles and controls similarly to PS2 games of the MMX series. Once you get the skills there is more variety for what you can do in combat, but it will probably take a while to find them. There is even one I didn't find until after completing the game. There isn't any weapon switching like you'd do in Megaman, but you can modify your character with charms. There is a small amount of challenging platforming in Hollow Knight and it's in a single optional area.

Edit: If you're especially concerned about platforming, you may want to wait to pick it up. It's a great game, but apparently has not been optimized at all. If you look around you'll see tons of people with FPS issues. Random frame drops can lead to taking damage where you otherwise might not have. You may fall off platforms and onto spikes as well. I only experienced some issues with it, but other individuals have claimed the game is unplayable for them. It's the only major flaw in the game, and I really hope they fix it.

[Zeretrelle]

Platforming gets pretty extreme mid late game. If your reflexes are not good then you will be infuriated quite often especially considering that save points are scarce. And if you are playing it on a KB... It will be quite difficult in certain areas.

As for combat... If fighting bosses where you have to constantly jump\dash\superdash like crazy and waving left and right what looks like a toothpick is not your forte then you are in for a world of pain. I'm talking about bosses , of course.

[Mister Veeg]

's more super metroid than MMX. IMO.

[「Choobs」]

Thanks for the responses guys.

To clarify, I'm looking for a game in the style of SOTN, Momodora 4, or Odallus. Admittedly those games are rather slow paced compared to what you guys are saying about this game.

I drew a parallel with MMX because I was thinking that the game might be similar to X4/X5 where you can play as Zero with fast paced platforming and sword combat. Not sure how accurate of as assumption that is, but I don't think it's entirely off the mark either.

I was just mainly wondering if most of my deaths will be caused by falling into a pit or by getting smashed/shot by enemies.

[Mister Veeg]

Originally posted by 「SUPER EUROBEAT」:

Thanks for the responses guys.

To clarify, I'm looking for a game in the style of SOTN, Momodora 4, or Odallus. Admittedly those games are rather slow paced compared to what you guys are saying about this game.

I drew a parallel with MMX because I was thinking that the game might be similar to X4/X5 where you can play as Zero with fast paced platforming and sword combat. Not sure how accurate of as assumption that is, but I don't think it's entirely off the mark either.

I was just mainly wondering if most of my deaths will be caused by falling into a pit or by getting smashed/shot by enemies.

in all honesty most of your deaths will probably be explosion-related. With a couple to some of the trickier optional platforming segments.

[「Choobs」]

Originally posted by Space King Veeg:

Originally posted by 「SUPER EUROBEAT」:

Thanks for the responses guys.

To clarify, I'm looking for a game in the style of SOTN, Momodora 4, or Odallus. Admittedly those games are rather slow paced compared to what you guys are saying about this game.

I drew a parallel with MMX because I was thinking that the game might be similar to X4/X5 where you can play as Zero with fast paced platforming and sword combat. Not sure how accurate of as assumption that is, but I don't think it's entirely off the mark either.

I was just mainly wondering if most of my deaths will be caused by falling into a pit or by getting smashed/shot by enemies.

in all honesty most of your deaths will probably be explosion-related. With a couple to some of the trickier optional platforming segments.

Can you expand on this? What is the context behind these deaths by explosion?

[Mister Veeg]

Originally posted by 「SUPER EUROBEAT」:

Originally posted by Space King Veeg:

in all honesty most of your deaths will probably be explosion-related. With a couple to some of the trickier optional platforming segments.

Can you expand on this? What is the context behind these deaths by explosion?

they hurt more than standard attacks. There's a couple other enemies that do two pips of damage but most of it is explosives of various kinds.

You have essentially limitless healing for one-on-one combat situations given time to charge it up. So it's unlikely you'll die to standard enemies unless you're very bad at dodging. Bosses give less time to charge but telegraph their attack patterns pretty hard, so death is again unlikely (barring failure) outside of a few specific fights that are just punishing by design.

[Dandy]

It's a Metroidvania. The answer is both.

Both platforming and combat are interwoven in a way that you can't really look at them separately, and you have to be good at both to progress. If you are bad at platforming you will die a lot, and if you are bad at combat (even if you manage to run away from most encounters) the bosses will eat you alive and you won't be able to progress.

[ProfessorElz]

Both. But combat takes a slight front seat. If you like SOTN this is a no brainer.