Stupid question: what am I supposed to do?

[cozy]

I started playing this game yesterday. I just sort of ran around for an hour, emptied the shop and beat the Fake Knight. But what's the goal of the game? There is no "mission" or whatever and I have no idea what I'm actually supposed to do

[Desticler]

Just keep exploring, unlocking new charms/abilities/etc. Eventually, you will get your answer. You will learn where the final boss is, and you will learn how to open the door to him.
For now, your goal is to collect abilities to open more opportunities to explore the world.

[klimat13]

Explore everywhere you can go, memorize on the map where you can't currently go, collect items that will give you new moves that will allow you to go places you were unable to reach previously, also upgrade your character with more health, more soul, more damage, more charms, more charm slots, etc.
Listen to what various characters/signs have to tell you and assemble the story piece by piece, so close to the end game you will basically know what happened.

[Razzle]

Originally posted by cozy:

I started playing this game yesterday. I just sort of ran around for an hour, emptied the shop and beat the Fake Knight. But what's the goal of the game? There is no "mission" or whatever and I have no idea what I'm actually supposed to do

This isn't like typical platformer games, its not linear there is no ONE PATH you should follow, there are several places you can go to.
However there are "recommended" places to start with

I'll give you some
After beating the False knight you should go and find the witch place "An old woman who teaches you a new spell"
After that go to greenpath.

ofc you should always explore everything because thats always fun to do, keep saving Geo to buy maps from the mapper guy and buy the "Wayward Compass" thing and equip it at the bench so it pinpoints your location in map

[🌌 LetsPlayNintendoITA 🌀]

also raccomended is to unlock lifeblood beta thing so you can place 12 markers (then 24 later) to mark where some stuff you wanna remember are (remember it's bugged as the key to place it on keyboard is enter not x)

[Baldwin]

Originally posted by cozy:

I started playing this game yesterday. I just sort of ran around for an hour, emptied the shop and beat the Fake Knight. But what's the goal of the game? There is no "mission" or whatever and I have no idea what I'm actually supposed to do

I reccommend equiping the Wayward Compass and using the map to go to every place you havent explored yet. Exploration is part of the fun. Also, pay extra attention to walls because there are several secret areas through the world. Not every wall is solid.

[klimat13]

Originally posted by LetsPlayNintendoITA:

also raccomended is to unlock lifeblood beta thing so you can place 12 markers (then 24 later) to mark where some stuff you wanna remember are (remember it's bugged as the key to place it on keyboard is enter not x)

Lifeblood beta in general is pretty buggy at the moment, so I personally would not recommend it. Better to wait for it to hit the wide release instead.

[Razzle]

Originally posted by klimat13:

Originally posted by LetsPlayNintendoITA:

also raccomended is to unlock lifeblood beta thing so you can place 12 markers (then 24 later) to mark where some stuff you wanna remember are (remember it's bugged as the key to place it on keyboard is enter not x)

Lifeblood beta in general is pretty buggy at the moment, so I personally would not recommend it. Better to wait for it to hit the wide release instead.

Yeah dont try the beta just yet
It will be released next week probably anyway so wait till then, too many bugs at the moment.

[Lorax]

You emptied the shop? That's interesting but really not how your suppose to approch the game. You never have to grind for geo in the game in my experience. As stated before once you beat false knight you can find the shamen and get into green path. And after beating green paths boss the game really opens up

[Jouster]

I really like how all of these comments are helpful tips and not spoilers. That being said, there are a couple of places to visit if you wish to learn more of what to do. I suggest finding a way to use the tram system and traveling to the right of Dirtmouth. Not gonna say what happens, but you may get more than you bargined for ;) Good luck and have fun on your adventure!

[cozy]

Originally posted by Lorax:

You emptied the shop? That's interesting but really not how your suppose to approch the game. You never have to grind for geo in the game in my experience. As stated before once you beat false knight you can find the shamen and get into green path. And after beating green paths boss the game really opens up

I didn't grind at all, just killed everything I saw and bought everything. I still had some geo left too lol

7 hours in and I still have no idea what the game is about btw

[Desticler]

Originally posted by cozy:

7 hours in and I still have no idea what the game is about btw

According to your achievements, you beat Soul Master. Yeah, I didn't know what the game is about at this point in time too.
If you saw the fountain with Hollow Knight's statue, which is in City of Tears, you're aware of where the final boss is. Just find where to use Desolate Dive and keep going; you're not far away from finding your goal.

Btw, it's possible to beat the game without realizing what the game is about... But the game does try its best to make sure you learn it.