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Everyone has that game that you can never stop coming back to. Even though you have put in the hours and hit the 100%, you just want to play it again. Perhaps it has an addictive gameplay loop that tempts you to have one last try. Maybe it is set in a world that you want to explore for another hour to uncover any secrets. It could be that it stars an unforgettable character that you simply love adventuring with. Hollow Knight is one of those games.
Hollow Knight will grab you. It is apt, then, that the protagonist is a stag beetle. From the very beginning, this 2-D action-adventure will sink its claws into you – and contrary to its name, it has a lot of heart.
Little Big Adventure
Welcome to Hallownest – the kingdom of insects. Buried underground, the home of all number of bugs and grubs has long fallen from its glory days. Now, the protagonist, a military outsider, arrives on a mission to delve below and discover what led to the land’s downfall. Ultimately, he must go on a journey to defeat the mysterious Hollow Knight and restore the world to its former majesty.
The art style of Hollow Knight is immediately visually arresting. On the one hand, our hero looks like a character straight out of a cartoon animation – all big eyes and cute features. However, designer Team Cherry’s use of lighting, shadows and colour palettes create a world that is unsettling, strange, and surreal.
A Small, Small World
Hallownest is a labyrinthine realm in which to lose yourself. It’s a place that rewards you for exploration. The game begins in the fading town of Dirtmouth, a dusky hamlet of little remark. However, jumping down the well, you enter a fantastical realm of fungal forests, crystallized mines, ever-raining cities, and wild gardens. For every step you take further below ground, you are recompensed with another unexpected vista, another hidden passage, more adventure.
It is this sense of adventure that drives the player’s desire to delve into the game. Where should you go? What should you do? The game tells you little. Instead, the design is based on the premise of environmental storytelling. The player is told little through cutscenes. Instead, the player arrives without so much as a map and learns about the world through exploration. At the start, said exploration is predominantly through simple platforming. However, your careful probing of the environment swiftly rewards you with new methods of traversal in the style of a Metroidvania. Soon you are bouncing across mushrooms, sprinting up walls, and flying through the air propelled by crystals.
A Bug’s Life
Of course, navigation would be easy were it not for the hordes of creepy-crawlies determined to stop you in your path. And these are not the usual spiders and cockroaches found behind the fridge and underneath the bath mat. Instead, Team Cherry transforms your favourite minibeasts into massive ones. Armies of armoured woodlice roll at you like boulders. Fireflies spit larva that singes and melts. Samurai mantises slice and stab their sword-like hands. Each enemy requires careful thought. These insects may look cute – but this is in many ways a Soulsbourne game; brutally difficult. Don’t let those comic-book critters fool you – they mean business!
Much of your adventure is spent solo; just a Knight and faithful needle-sword in hand, making the journey feel all the more epic. However, there is a cast of strange companions that you encounter on your way through Hallownest that further bring the world to life. Elderbug gives hints about secret places to go through mysterious riddles. Zote the Mighty seeks to be the greatest warrior in the world – contrary to his tiny proportions. Cloth, a cicada, will come to your aid if you inspire her with your brave deeds. Each one adds more flavour, more lore, and another memorable encounter on your voyage.
Big Challenge
Overall, Hollow Knight is an unforgettable adventure that reminds me of an age-old idiom. It’s about the journey and not the adventure. Don’t get me wrong: completing Hollow Knight is a challenging achievement in its own right. One I am proud to have attained.
But it’s Hallownest that keeps calling me back for another visit. I have collected every charm, completed every side quest, and battled every secret boss. Still, I return – just to be in that world, with those characters, one more time. Perhaps it’s time to start yet another playthrough…
