Should I Be Waiting for this Game to Get Better?

[Lord McSmith]

It was one of my most anticipated games this year, but so far it's been more frustrating than fun. I don't know if it's the lack of clear goals or the backtracking imposed by the dark souls elements, or any other number of things. The game is so good, but somehow it's not clicking with me.

Does it simply take time to become more engaging? Does the repetitiveness go away after awhile?

[jabberwok]

Originally posted by Darc Vader:

Originally posted by jabberwok:

I don't really understand why so many people have had issues with the mapping system. The game tells you which rooms you've been to and which you haven't. All you have to do is fully explore each of them if you don't want to miss things. Besides, if someone is so unfamiliar with the area that they keep getting lost, then it shouldn't really feel like backtracking. If we take away the map, would they even know that they've been there before?

This issue isn’t with people not knowing what rooms they’ve been to, it’s them having nothing to remind them what they can do with a new ability. Say they buy the lantern. Now they either have to go back to all the empty spaces on the map to check if they were dark before, or keep notes of everywhere they find that is dark as they play and go back when they get the lantern. Now extend that to every new ability in the game, with some letting you progress a bit and then blocking you with a new obstacle so you have to come back again once you get a new ability.

I see what you mean. I guess I just kept track of major blocks in my head, if I knew what I needed. The only one that gave me too many to remember was desolate dive, but I enjoyed rediscovering those. And that's mostly just secrets that aren't necessary to progress. Actual unexplored areas are still pretty easy to spot just by looking at the map. The lantern, I bought as soon as I tried to go into Crystal Peak for the first time. Maybe that was more annoying for players who waited a long time.

[Darc Vader]

Originally posted by jabberwok:

Originally posted by Darc Vader:

This issue isn’t with people not knowing what rooms they’ve been to, it’s them having nothing to remind them what they can do with a new ability. Say they buy the lantern. Now they either have to go back to all the empty spaces on the map to check if they were dark before, or keep notes of everywhere they find that is dark as they play and go back when they get the lantern. Now extend that to every new ability in the game, with some letting you progress a bit and then blocking you with a new obstacle so you have to come back again once you get a new ability.

I see what you mean. I guess I just kept track of major blocks in my head, if I knew what I needed. The only one that gave me too many to remember was desolate dive, but I enjoyed rediscovering those. And that's mostly just secrets that aren't necessary to progress. Actual unexplored areas are still pretty easy to spot just by looking at the map. The lantern, I bought as soon as I tried to go into Crystal Peak for the first time. Maybe that was more annoying for players who waited a long time.

I agree that most of the backtracking spots are just secrets, but there's no way to know if something will be a secret or progression until after you explore it. As for the latern, I think a lot of people see the price on it and think that it is meant to be purchased later on when geo is more plentiful, rather than potentially blocking access to easily accessible areas from the get-go.

[natsu_T]

If your memory is bad enough that you can't remember what each room looked like and why you couldn't progress there, then you honestly should be writing down notes as to why you couldn't progress at every point. Maybe you're taking too long to play the game and are forgetting a lot of things. I think Hollow Knight should be played in a marathon fashion. Just sit down and play it for a couple 10 hour gaming sessions. Everything will flow so much better that way than if you try to come back to it after not playing for a day or so.

[Darc Vader]

I take the opposite stance: if your memory is good enough to remember exactly what is in each room based on the outline of it then you have a better memory than most people. If you explore everywhere before you get the upgrades then you will have a lot of different places to go through based on nothing more than room outlines. It’s also fairly easy to miss places where there’s a door in the middle of an area, and there are lots of places that, even after you discover the secret, still show a wall there.

[TheBrightKing]

Originally posted by Darc Vader:

Originally posted by jabberwok:

I don't really understand why so many people have had issues with the mapping system. The game tells you which rooms you've been to and which you haven't. All you have to do is fully explore each of them if you don't want to miss things. Besides, if someone is so unfamiliar with the area that they keep getting lost, then it shouldn't really feel like backtracking. If we take away the map, would they even know that they've been there before?

This issue isn’t with people not knowing what rooms they’ve been to, it’s them having nothing to remind them what they can do with a new ability. Say they buy the lantern. Now they either have to go back to all the empty spaces on the map to check if they were dark before, or keep notes of everywhere they find that is dark as they play and go back when they get the lantern. Now extend that to every new ability in the game, with some letting you progress a bit and then blocking you with a new obstacle so you have to come back again once you get a new ability.

Custom map markers are coming with the grimm troupe update so... that shouldnt be a problem anymore

[jabberwok]

Originally posted by natsu_T:

If your memory is bad enough that you can't remember what each room looked like and why you couldn't progress there, then you honestly should be writing down notes as to why you couldn't progress at every point. Maybe you're taking too long to play the game and are forgetting a lot of things. I think Hollow Knight should be played in a marathon fashion. Just sit down and play it for a couple 10 hour gaming sessions. Everything will flow so much better that way than if you try to come back to it after not playing for a day or so.

Yeah, that's definitely not possible for everyone. Personally, I got so addicted that I spent several weeks doing nothing but play Hollow Knight when I wasn't working. But at busier times, or when I'm not neglecting real life, I often go days or weeks before going back to a game. Then I can understand some people's issue more. Then again, I also take notes for games like that.

[Syllabilus]

You have to read the lore to find your purpose. That's part of the game. It's a mystery, a puzzle. What happened to the kingdom? what was it's history? What do I need to do to fix it?

Write down important facts from encounters. Some NPCs (elder bug, relic seeker, mask-maker) basically only exist to provide you lore. Unless you're interrested in the story, and are willing to actively engage in it you won't get any satisfaction from them.

[TheBrightKing]

Originally posted by Syllabilus:

You have to read the lore to find your purpose. That's part of the game. It's a mystery, a puzzle. What happened to the kingdom? what was it's history? What do I need to do to fix it?

Write down important facts from encounters. Some NPCs (elder bug, relic seeker, mask-maker) basically only exist to provide you lore. Unless you're interrested in the story, and are willing to actively engage in it you won't get any satisfaction from them.

This, expecting the world to tell you his story is not realistic; if you are in a world that crumbled down you need to find out by yourself what happened, no one is going to search you to tell you the story.