Everybody has a favourite thing to do or game they like to play for fun or to pass the time. Each person has a favourite game, whether it’s Call of Duty, Minecraft, or something more difficult like the Fair Go gambling bonus.
While games are fun, there are times when they become more than that. Like any other art, video games can be works of art. Video games are art in the same way that music, painting, and movies are.
That’s what Hollow Knight is. At first glance, it looks like a hard game, but it’s really a beautiful work of art. From the beautiful graphics to the great sound design to the music, the whole experience is beautiful.
The story and lore come next. There is a complicated story running through the whole world of the game that players have to go find. As soon as you start to explore the story of this game, you’ll want to dive right into it. You can talk to faraway NPCs and look into the minds of every creature you meet.
Summary of the plot
I’m going to start by giving you a big spoiler alert. This review will talk about most of the story and go into more detail about the game’s history. If you’d rather not have that spoilt for you, you can go straight to the part that comes after all the plot-related stuff.
The game starts in a place called King’s Pass with our hero character, “The Night.” You will have to fight enemies and avoid natural traps as you make your way through these caves to get to the surface.
You will get to a town called Dirt Mouth after you get out of King’s Pass. In a way, this is your character’s “home,” and you will often come back here to buy things from the two shops, rest on the bench, or talk to one of the NPCs in Dirtmouth.
To move forward in the game, you should find your way to the Forgotten Crossroads. After King’s Pass, this is the first dangerous place in the game. From here, you can go to the rest of the game’s world, which is called Hallownest.
As you fight your way through the Forgotten Crossroads and fight enemies, you will eventually meet the game’s first boss. The name of this boss is “False Knight,” and he’s not too hard to beat.
After this, you’ll need to find the Snail Shaman and learn your first spell, which is called “Vengeful Spirit.” After the tutorial, there is a short task because the Snail Shaman locked you up to get rid of some pests.
The second part of the game is called “Greenpath,” and it’s reached from here. You will go through this area and finally face another boss called “Hornet.” It turns out that Hornet is the Knight’s half-sister.
Once you beat her, you’ll be able to get the Mothwing Cloak, which lets you run. This is what you’ll use to get to the next part of the game, which is called “Fungal Wastes.”
The Fungal Wastes are a place with a lot of mushrooms that leads to your next boss fights. The first is the “Dung Defender,” from whom you get a City Crest. The second is the “Mantis Lords,” an extra boss.
The person then goes to the “City of Tears.” They can go to a number of places from here. Here, the player’s path can change a lot depending on who is playing. You don’t have to go to “Kingdom’s Edge” first. You can go somewhere else.
Eventually, though, you need to find your way to the Resting Grounds. Here, some of the plots start to become clear. You find out that the kingdom is infected with something bad, and to stop it, you need to kill three people known as “Dreamers.”
That means you need to go to the Kingdom. You have to defeat bosses and collect items in order to get to where all three Dreamers are sitting down. But this is a very hard task that is also very dangerous.
When you get to the Kingdom’s Edge, the story takes a third big turn. You can get the “King’s Brand” and find out more about the Knight’s past here. You have to fight Hornet again and learn more about her before you can get to it.
When you get to the “Abyss,” that’s the third big change in the story. You need the King’s Brand to get to this place, which is the lowest in all of Hallownest. This is where the Knight learns about his past. This is also where the Knight gets the Shade Cloak, which lets him go to new places.
The Knight has to go back up to the Forgotten Crossroads and find the “Black Egg” after killing the last dreamer. The Knight meets the game’s final boss inside.
The Black Egg has chains around the Hollow Knight’s neck. You need to fight him and cut his chains. The game is over after a tough fight. You take in the Infection that the Hollow Knight was meant to protect and hold it inside you.
Here is the last cutscene, and the Knight is locked up in chains. The game is over. It’s over, and the Kingdom is safe!
Or is it…?
You can get a second ending to Hollow Knight besides the first one. It will take some exploring to find this one because it is very hard to get. But it’s well worth it, and the ending is one of the best I’ve ever seen in a video game.
You will need to get a certain charm first in order to get this ending. There are two different parts to this charm. The Knight’s mother, who is called the “White Lady,” gives the first piece.
You can find her in the “Queen’s Garden” part of the game. She will give you the first half of the charm. The second half is much harder to get, so the players will have to put in a lot of work.
First, the Seer will give you something called the “Dream Nail” when you find her. This will let you see into people’s dreams and can be used to find out their secrets and thoughts.
To “charge” the Dream Nail, you will need to gather essence from this point on. It will get stronger over time and let you get into thoughts that are farther away.
And getting to a safe mind is exactly what you want to do! You need to go to the “Ancient Basin” from here to get to the “Palace Grounds.”
There is what looks like a dead soldier knight on the ground in the Palace Grounds. You can Dream Nail the soldier and get to the “White Palace” if you have enough essence.
You can get the second half of the charm you need in the white house. In order to do that, you will have to finish a very hard platforming challenge. In some cases, this can feel very hard and upsetting.
But if you make it to the end, you’ll find the “Pale King,” the Knight’s father’s body. He will fall over and drop the second half of the charm if you hit him with your sword.
You now have the finished charm, but you’re not done yet. You need to go back down to the Abyss from here. Now, though, a secret door will open to a spot known as the “Birthplace.”
You can find what you think is the egg from which the Knight hatched here. You can see the Knight’s reflection on the egg’s surface. Dream: Hit the mirror, and a memory will start.
To get out of this place, you have to climb to the top of the Abyss. Text keeps coming up on the screen, and you learn why the Knight was made. The Knight was made to hold the sickness.
The sickness, on the other hand, is a mental illness. So what made the Knight unique? He doesn’t think. Not going to. It can’t make him crazy or change him in any way. As long as he doesn’t feel anything.
The Knight sees the Pale King and the Hollow Knight as children when he gets to the top of the Abyss. You fall into the Abyss as the Hollow Knight looks back at you.
There’s no more magic left. It’s now known as the Void Heart. You don’t get the same finish if you fight the Hollow Knight again.
At first, you fight him normally, but Hornet takes over and ties him up. From this point, you can Dream Nail him and get to the real boss.
Here comes the Radiance. She looks like a big white moth and might also be the sun. You have to fight her and kill her. This gets rid of the infection for good. The last cutscene is now different. The Knight is no longer there; all that’s left is his broken skull.
Picture
For those who are interested in the details, Hollow Knight is a truly beautiful game! It looks very different because the graphics were drawn by hand, and I think it’s one of the most beautiful platform games I’ve ever played.
It’s always very smooth with movements; nothing looks or feels jerky or jumpy. For some reason, the game feels more like a real place than a 2D model of one.
I will always remember the view from where I sat in “Blue Lake.” In that scene, you spend one last moment with an NPC before he dies, and the way it looks is absolutely beautiful.
Everything looked nice, from the bright blue water to the sand on the shore. The light even makes a soft glow that is just right!
Sounds
Hollow Knight is a pretty great piece of music. The main theme song from Hollow Knight is used as a wonderful theme song throughout the whole game, which tells a wonderful story.
The music from Hollow Knights is so good that I’ve put it on my regular playlist. There is no way you could not enjoy the music in this game; it sounds absolutely stunning.
When it comes to other sounds, they are also very well done. The sound of swords hitting, the echo in the caves, and the rasps of foes. You really feel like you’re in a world that is alive and well.
A Look at the Gameplay
It’s mostly like a “Souls-like” adventure to play Hollow Knight. What does this mean? In this case, it means that it is a two-dimensional platform game that plays a bit like the “Dark Souls” games.
Here are the main parts of the game: the bench system and the boss fights. The player can save the game by sitting down on a bench, just like in Dark Souls. There are bonfires in Dark Souls, but they do the same thing.
Also, the world kind of starts over after you rest, just like in Dark Souls. The monsters come back, and your life starts over. This is one of the big things about the game that makes it like Souls.
The second is, of course, how the game is built around the bosses. To move forward in the game, you have to kill the bosses. Of course, that’s only from a gameplay point of view. It’s still a classic part of a Souls-like game, though.
Charms
There is a perk system in the game that I think is pretty cool. I haven’t seen that in any other game.
“Charms” are things that you can find in Hollow Knight. You can put these things in your charm slots to get different skills or benefits.
One might speed you up, another might make your sword longer, and still another might boost the power of your magic. You can make any combinations you want, and sometimes they can work in ways you didn’t expect!
Defeat
The main way to fight is to swing your sword around. This sword is called a “nail” in the game. Its damage, range, or speed can be increased with charms, but the idea is the same. Kill the enemy by attacking them.
You may face some difficulties at first, and it is recommended that you learn how an enemy attacks. However, the main goal is to hit them and avoid getting hit yourself. But you can always heal when you have the chance if you need to.
The game has more than just your sword. It also has magic. There is a ground pound, an energy blast, and an attack up move that can be used. They are all very useful in battle, and none of them will feel like it doesn’t fit.
But to cast magic, you need something called “Soul.” Soul is like mana. You can only use it to strengthen your skills. When you attack enemies, you get more.
Like I said before, charms can change your magic just like they can change your sword. This can either do more damage or cost less mana. Or maybe both.
In conclusion
One of my all-time favourite games is Hollow Knight. This book is definitely worth getting, from the great story to the great music.
Because the game is hard for some people, it might not be right for them. That being said, Hollow Knight is the game for you if you want a fun and difficult time.
