Aloof characters, secret passages, adorable ‘grubs’ trapped in glass jars: Hollow Knight keeps you coming back to old spots with new powers so that you can explore every hidden nook and cranny. Inferior games rely on the compulsion to collect to keep you staring at the screen: Hollow Knight rewards you for exploring the intricate map with charms that offer new abilities, new combos, and new ways of approaching the game. Slowly the map unfolds into an immense world, with trams and stations traversing the dense, labyrinthine corridors. As you journey through the teeming underworld you listen for the hum of an old cartographer who sells maps to each section. Hollow Knight commands the attention of your eyes and ears as much as your fingers and thumbs. Accompanying it all is one of the most mesmerising scores I’ve ever encountered in a video game, music that so perfectly matches the tone of each section that you can remember from the melody alone whether it’s from Greenpath or Crystal Peak or Kingdom’s Edge.
There are pitch-black passages with screaming, maggot-like mutants there are dreamy, ethereal sections with otherworldly spirits and then there’s the boss fights, some of which are so epic and difficult they could (almost) be from Sekiro. Hallownest is a vast subterranean labyrinth of insects, fungi, fish and plants through which you slash and dash your way as you peel back every beautiful layer of the game.Įach monster looks unique: some share the game’s distinct cutesy charm, others are downright terrifying- as in playing-it-at-night-gave-me-the-creeps terrifying. But beneath your feet lie the ruins of a once-great civilisation, Hallownest, destroyed long ago by a strange ‘Infection’ that threatens to break out again and lay waste to all remaining life. Thrown into a desolate landscape, Hollow Knight’s opening looks deceptively simple: a smattering of buildings dot the murky town, Dirtmouth, where you enter as the diminutive Knight. As Hollow Knight: Silksong, the sequel to Team Cherry’s classic Hollow Knight, looms just around the corner, let’s take a look back on what made the original a platforming masterpiece. Massive price tags get sweeping headline coverage: whether it be for the billion-dollar Avatar sequels or Cyberpunk 2077’s comparably modest $135,000,000, eye-watering expenditure is enough to let the game market itself.īut as open-world games become bigger, flashier, and more ambitious, platformers have been quietly perfecting their art: Celeste, Shovel Knight, Ori and the Will of the Wisps– whilst these polished gems might not grab headlines, they do offer some of the most beautiful and immersive experiences in gaming. The release of big-budget open-world games like Grand Theft Auto V garners as much media attention as blockbuster cinema nowadays. Image Description: Screenshot of the opening to Hollow Knight
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