Hollow knight is a beautiful game. It's truly indescribable as it evokes such a wonderful plethora of action adventure and yet tragedy. I personally think as an overall opinion that this game is actually poetry and a story that unfolds the more you love it. If you ever decide to buy this game, make sure you enjoy it for the games sake and not just for completing the game. It is one of the best games I have ever played (and I have played over a couple hundred games). If you ever get the chance, i'll just let you know that this game is definitely worth £15. It's worth a lifetime.

*WARNING. THIS POINT OF THE REVIEW INCLUDES SPOILERS, CONTINUE AT YOUR WILL*







STORY:
let's start one of the best parts of the game. The story. This game is crammed with so much lore it becomes so rich in what a story-based game should be like. It is truly beautiful how enticing the story is. though it depicts a mournful tragedy of a knight that was banished by his father/ king and chooses a purer vessel instead, it does shine. I think that this story has somehow changed me in someway and truly has an impact on you. Though you have to fight through challenges, venture through mobs and creatures of Hallownest, it does feel like a story is laid out on EVERY bit of the way. Every cut-scene shows a crucial part of the story (even the introductory one). The story is one you should experience for yourself as it doesn't come off in the same way when you try to describe it (evidentally). I just don't think some people have the patience to truly discover and love hollow knight for what it is because they say, "it's too difficult", "it's too confusing", "it's too dark" but in actuality, the game loves you all the time (except when fighting the pantheon of hallownest (all bindings)).

COMBAT:
The combat in this game is actually quite hard to master. I don't think it's on a dark souls level of difficulty but I think it's varied enough so that the player can choose their own way to fight, whether it's using their nail, their nailarts, their spells, or their charms. the game really does give you a lot of freedom in which way you need to fight (excluding the beginning section). Yet, I still don't see the combat as the hardest or most interesting part of the game. Though the boss battles really engage you in combat, I think the main game doesn't try to focus on this factor.

PLATFORMING:
Know i've seen discussions proclaiming that controllers are the ideal input for this game but I have completed the entire game (including all DLC's) on PC. Perhaps this is a challenge to some and maybe I completed it due to my further knowledge on playing on my PC. Now, the actual platforming in this game contrasts a lot. One second your jumping through the forgotten crossroads carefree, and another, your dashing through the buzzsaws in white palace (a fantastic area i'll get onto later). But the point stands that Hollow knight's platforming is a challenging experience that many have to overcome, yet it deals a great lot of pleasure when these challenges are overcome.

MUSIC:
The music in this game is phenomenal. I've never heard a soundtrack that resonates SO much with the games and the areas inside it, so well. Christopher Larkin did a great job at evoking such a great sense of music. The soundtrack used for the different areas and even sub-locations creates a FANTASTIC music compilation. Heck, you could just sit and listen to the OST and you would still be overwhelmed by the beauty of the soundtrack. I could go on for hours about every areas music and how it correlates to the surroundings but just as an overview, dark areas have ominous music (such as deepnest) and calm areas (like hot springs) have gentle music. It truly is magical how dependant the game is on it's sensational music. places like path of pain use the sealed vessel music (WHICH IS FREAKING MAGNIFICENT) and it actually juxtaposes the insanely difficult minefield of bussaws that is path of pain.

AREAS:
Every area in this game is quite unique in it's own regard. It almost reminds me of Spelunky in the sense that, every cavern you delve into, the more different it gets. Though Greenpath and Queen's gardens look similar, they have different enemies, different traps, different eromas of exploration. It is has different bosses, different benches, different sub-areas. Everything looks similar when you first look at it with a glance, but really, they are unique in their own regard. That is one of the reasons why I love this game. It tricks you into thinking it's safe and easy but it really isn't.

COMPLETING THE ENTIRE GAME:
From a standpoint, after completing the base game, there are couple of things to do after, BUT there aren't as much things to do. First off, you have to finish collecting all the grubs (the collector's map is handy in this case), next you have to make sure you have all nail upgrades by checking if you have the pure nail in your inventory,completing all the trials, fighting grimm (and nightmare king grimm or banish the grimm troupe), defeating all pantheons, completing the hunter's journal, getting all collectibles like charm notches, charms, abilities etc..., and killing the hollow knight once more.

MODDING/ COMMUNITY:
The Modding in Hollow knight is actually quite simple to use. Follow Fireborn's video about modding to find out how to install the modinstaller and get started. Eventhough these mods can include game-breaking cheats, most of them are fun and just for pleasure. I suggest installing customknight as i's one of my favourite mods in the game. Also, the community of hollow knight is actually not that bad. Their quite kind and their mostly helpful at times. They all share the pet peeve of the primal aspid (as I do) and you'll find that their actually quite nice. sometimes though, they like to brag about the bosses they've killed with one hp, blindfolded with no sound cues so just keep that in mind.

I hope that after reading this review, I've made you appreciate this game even more and help you understand my personal opinion of what makes this game so great. and why you should either buy it now or play it again (minding or excusing the spoilers if you've scrolled this far). It's truly a game that is worth thousands and has so much love put into it that it's indescribable. I hope you love this game as much as I did and make sure soak it all up on your first playthrough because it's a one in a million experience. Enjoy :)