So, Hollow Knight is one of these games that were cherished by the creators. It started as a Kickstarter campaign and given a solid promise of becoming something great. Unique characters, atmospheric, but dark world and tons of bugs. Wait, no. Not that kind of bugs. The cute insects, not the game breaking ones. But what's so special about the game? Is it really as good as people say? Let's dive into the world of Hallownest to learn the truth.

Basically Hollow Knight should be analyzed by few categories, i.e. audiovisual style and the ambience, story and its atmosphere and gameplay, including combat, platforming and exploration. Let's start from the end.
From metroidvania standpoint Hollow Knight is one of the three known to me games that has nailed it perfectly. By that I mean how the backtracking system works, how connected the world is and how new skills and abilities feel. The two other games are Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom and Shantae and the Seven Sirens. I do not include both Ori games here, but it doesn't mean they are bad. I generally love exploration in games and backtracking, finding new secrets, but these three games were, in my opinion, the best in that.
What makes exploration so great in Hollow Knight is few things. First, You are not given an objective, You are free to go wherever You want. It also means that You will lose Your way many times, but that's meant to happen. This, in other hand, makes every playthrough unique if You just take a different path, do something first etc. It's really unique in metroidvanias that, usually give You a freedom, but not too much. Hollow Knight elevates this concept to another level. Most of the map is practically open from the start and there are multiple ways to go to certain locations. You are not bound by anything. You go where You want. While doing this You slowly learn the story of the world, as well as uncover many secrets along the way. You are given objectives, but not how You do them. You play the game Your style. And really, unlocking different paths makes You encounter different problems but enables new possibilities.. I never seen something like this before. Usually getting to certain location for the first time requires You to take one specific path. But not in Hollow Knight.
Let's discuss something else. Game focuses more on combat than platforming, but at the same time combat requires the platforming at the same time. It's because there is only a few platforming challenges that require more than just precisely jumping and take some skill to actually finish them. Usually You just jump from platform A to platform B. But combat system is about maneuvering around these platform to reach and defeat Your enemies. You are not given much, but at the same it's more than enough. You use Your Nail, which is equivalent of sword that works as short range weapon. You also have few spells that require souls, which You collect when striking an enemy with a nail. But it's not everything, although I won't reveal more. The idea is that You use precise short range attacks, but also use spells that has different purposes to reach enemies that are too far away or something.
The story is scattered around the whole map by talking to NPCs, read the lore tablets or perform other actions. At first You have no idea what's going on but the more You play, the more it reveals itself. So it's like connecting puzzle pieces. Don't worry if You don't get it at first. Hollow Knight heavily relies on exploration to get the items, as well as uncovering the secrets. Don't expect the answers to just lie before You. They won't. If You want to know the whole story, You have to explore as much as possible and not ignore any NPC that appears.
Music in the game is absolutely stunning. The visual style is simple, but not boring. It's cute cartoon bugs in vast apocalyptic world where something destroyed the Kingdom and You are practically visiting the ruins, the empty shell of what it once was. Every area is unique and You feel it when entering the new location.

The Hollow Knight is a very unique game, full of content. What I described is not even 10% of the greatness. There is tons of content, some of which are hidden. I'm not going to mention every single feature, but rest assured, there is much to do in Hallownest. The game is obviously not perfect, but that's not a bad thing. Perfect things don't exist. There will be probably some elements that You won't like in the game, there are a few I dislike myself, but it won't make the game any less amazing.

Game is a bit challenging at times. It doesn't require enormous amount of skill to just beat it, but has some harder bosses and other things that might become annoying. Take that in mind if You expect walking simulator. It's not one of those games that You simply walk, kill enemies effortlessly and go further into the location. There are these annoying enemies You will die multiple times, there are these bossfights that will be difficult etc. Also, as I mentioned, there is tons of exploration and You will get lost multiple times. If You don't like backtracking, You may consider choosing other genre than metroidvania. But if You like challenges and that kind of exploration, buy it. There is no reason to ignore this game.

I also want to mention something that is not game itself, but makes the game so great outside its boundaries. I mean of course community. Community of this game has made multiple mods and reskins of both player, as well as NPCs, enemies and bosses. There are mods that makes the game easier for those that struggle or... quite the opposite, make the game a real hell, if You like the extreme challenge. There is also speedrunning community, as well as challenge runners, recording stuff from the games, both vanilla, as well as mods. So content is being constantly made even today.

[h1]Intro[/h1] So, [b]Hollow Knight[/b] is one of these games that were cherished by the creators. It started as a Kickstarter campaign and given a solid promise of becoming something great. Unique characters, atmospheric, but dark world and tons of bugs. Wait, no. Not that kind of bugs. The cute insects, not the game breaking ones. But what's so special about the game? Is it really as good as people say? Let's dive into the world of [b]Hallownest[/b] to learn the truth. [h1]Absolute masterpiece[/h1] Basically Hollow Knight should be analyzed by few categories, i.e. audiovisual style and the ambience, story and its atmosphere and gameplay, including combat, platforming and exploration. Let's start from the end. From metroidvania standpoint [b]Hollow Knight[/b] is one of the three known to me games that has [i]nailed it[/i] perfectly. By that I mean how the backtracking system works, how connected the world is and how new skills and abilities feel. The two other games are [i]Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom[/i] and [i]Shantae and the Seven Sirens[/i]. I do not include both [i]Ori[/i] games here, but it doesn't mean they are bad. I generally love exploration in games and backtracking, finding new secrets, but these three games were, in my opinion, the best in that. What makes exploration so great in Hollow Knight is few things. First, You are not given an objective, You are free to go wherever You want. It also means that You will lose Your way many times, but that's meant to happen. This, in other hand, makes every playthrough unique if You just take a different path, do something first etc. It's really unique in metroidvanias that, usually give You a freedom, but not too much. Hollow Knight elevates this concept to another level. Most of the map is practically open from the start and there are multiple ways to go to certain locations. You are not bound by anything. You go where You want. While doing this You slowly learn the story of the world, as well as uncover many secrets along the way. You are given objectives, but not how You do them. You play the game Your style. And really, unlocking different paths makes You encounter different problems but enables new possibilities.. I never seen something like this before. Usually getting to certain location for the first time requires You to take one specific path. But not in Hollow Knight. Let's discuss something else. Game focuses more on combat than platforming, but at the same time combat requires the platforming at the same time. It's because there is only a few platforming challenges that require more than just precisely jumping and take some skill to actually finish them. Usually You just jump from platform A to platform B. But combat system is about maneuvering around these platform to reach and defeat Your enemies. You are not given much, but at the same it's more than enough. You use Your Nail, which is equivalent of sword that works as short range weapon. You also have few spells that require souls, which You collect when striking an enemy with a nail. But it's not everything, although I won't reveal more. The idea is that You use precise short range attacks, but also use spells that has different purposes to reach enemies that are too far away or something. The story is scattered around the whole map by talking to NPCs, read the lore tablets or perform other actions. At first You have no idea what's going on but the more You play, the more it reveals itself. So it's like connecting puzzle pieces. Don't worry if You don't get it at first. Hollow Knight heavily relies on exploration to get the items, as well as uncovering the secrets. Don't expect the answers to just lie before You. They won't. If You want to know the whole story, You have to explore as much as possible and not ignore any NPC that appears. Music in the game is absolutely stunning. The visual style is simple, but not boring. It's cute cartoon bugs in vast apocalyptic world where something destroyed the Kingdom and You are practically visiting the ruins, the empty shell of what it once was. Every area is unique and You feel it when entering the new location. [h1]Pure artwork[/h1] The Hollow Knight is a very unique game, full of content. What I described is not even 10% of the greatness. There is tons of content, some of which are hidden. I'm not going to mention every single feature, but rest assured, there is much to do in Hallownest. The game is obviously not perfect, but that's not a bad thing. Perfect things don't exist. There will be probably some elements that You won't like in the game, there are a few I dislike myself, but it won't make the game any less amazing. [h1]Advise before buying[/h1] Game is a bit challenging at times. It doesn't require enormous amount of skill to just beat it, but has some harder bosses and other things that might become annoying. Take that in mind if You expect walking simulator. It's not one of those games that You simply walk, kill enemies effortlessly and go further into the location. There are these annoying enemies You will die multiple times, there are these bossfights that will be difficult etc. Also, as I mentioned, there is tons of exploration and You [b]will[/b] get lost multiple times. If You don't like backtracking, You may consider choosing other genre than metroidvania. But if You like challenges and that kind of exploration, buy it. There is no reason to ignore this game. [h1]Outro[/h1] I also want to mention something that is not game itself, but makes the game so great outside its boundaries. I mean of course community. Community of this game has made multiple mods and reskins of both player, as well as NPCs, enemies and bosses. There are mods that makes the game easier for those that struggle or... quite the opposite, make the game a real hell, if You like the [b]extreme[/b] challenge. There is also speedrunning community, as well as challenge runners, recording stuff from the games, both vanilla, as well as mods. So content is being constantly made even today.