Fallen Kingdom

In a game jam, developers Ari Gibson and William Pellen developed Hungry Knight, where a character killed bugs to stave off starvation. While its reception was initially scathing, it would improve after several years. They would work on another game jam with the theme “Beneath the Surface” but missed the deadline. However, the concept would provide the idea to create a game with an underground setting and insect characters. Developer Team Cherry would flesh out this idea with influence from classic games such as Faxanadu, Metroid, Zelda II, and Mega Man X, the final product being Hollow Knight, a Metroidvania with a dark feel and some interesting concepts.

Hollow Knight opens with the eponymous bug-like protagonist arriving in the town of Dirtmouth, which sits upon the remnants of the kingdom of Hallownest. Thence begins his exploration of the underground ruins, where he learns the kingdom’s backstory while encountering other entities. The plot is told decently, with the reward that slaying specific types of enemies enough times unlocks a blurb about them in the game menus, alongside some good backstory. While the narrative never feeling forced down the player’s throat is good, the lack of direction can throw many players off. I also needed to reference the internet to figure out exactly what I needed to do to advance the main plot. Multiple endings exist as well, another element I didn’t know about until referencing the internet, and while the story doesn’t reach brilliance, it doesn’t detract from the experience.

Hollow Knight is a side-scrolling Metroidvania, with the hero able to jump and attack enemies with his Nail, which he can upgrade three times for increased attack power. Mask icons indicate his current life, with one disappearing whenever he receives damage or two in the case of more powerful enemy attacks. As he strikes foes, he acquires energy that fills his Soul Vessel, with Soul allowing him to heal lost life or fire magic at enemies. Collecting four Mask Shards will increase the Hollow Knight’s life by one mask, with three Vessel Fragments granting him an additional node that fills with Soul as he attacks and drains whenever his main Vessel loses its energy.

Sitting on benches scattered throughout the vastly connected world will restore the Knight’s health and record progress. Unfortunately, quitting the game and reloading will leave his Vessel empty, with no suspend save available. One upshot is that the player can save and stop playing anywhere, in which case reloading will bring the Hollow Knight back to the last bench he used. Doing so can sometimes be advantageous if he finds himself stuck in an unfortunate situation like low health. Throughout his adventure, the Knight will encounter special items that grant him additional moves to expand his exploration, such as the Mantis Claw, which allows him to grab onto and jump off walls. 

Most enemies leave behind money known as Geo when defeated, with which the Hollow Knight can purchase items at shops and pay for other things such as his weapon upgrades (which in turn requires a certain amount of Pale Ore). Death results in losing all Geo that the player has, a reduced limit on Soul acquisition, and a trip back to the last visited bench, with the player needing to defeat a Shade that appears at the location of their demise to recover their money and repair their Soul Vessel. Death again without vanquishing the Shade costs the player all Geo they had lost, but a safeguard exists in the form of a bank where the player can store and safeguard their currency. 

The Hollow Knight can also equip various Charms he finds or purchases throughout the game. The number he can wear depends upon how many notches he has, with this limit increasable to eleven. Charms can have effects such as increasing the speed of healing or lengthening the Knight’s Nail for better attack range, and many killer combinations exist that can be the difference between life and death. The hero faces bosses at points whom he must defeat to advance the game, with players needing to be careful about their attack patterns, which can be predictable yet random. The window for healing can be incredibly narrow in these encounters and was perhaps the most common source of my demise during the game.

While Hollow Knight takes inspiration from the Soulsborne subgenre of RPGs regarding its death system, I never had any problem recovering whatever money I consequentially lost (and fair warning: you lose access to the mentioned bank later in the game), and in fact towards the end found myself with an excess of Geo I couldn’t use at all. Those who wish not to return to where they died can use Rancid Eggs, sporadically found in the gameplay world, at a facility in Dirtmouth to recover their Geo and repair their Soul Vessel. The gameplay has its moments, although, towards the end, I needed to reference the internet to determine the location of specific item types since there is no in-game tracking of them in each area. Alongside the difficulty of healing during boss battles, the game can be off-putting to those seeking a more accessible gameplay experience.

Although the Metroidvania exploration can be enjoyable at times, the game is pausable, and the maps can be helpful, issues still exist that make Hollow Knight user-unfriendly. The save system, for instance, is flawed, since while the player can quit and simultaneously record their progress, they must restart at the last bench at which they rested and consequentially need to retrace their steps and reacquire the Soul they lose. The level designs can also be annoying, particularly areas with spikes that both cause the Knight to lose health and restart at the last “safe” platform. Moreover, late in the game, I had to consult the internet to discover what I needed to accomplish to access the final boss. Other issues abound, and the game doesn’t interact with players as well as it could have.

The soundtrack, however, is one of the better elements of Hollow Knight, with composer Christopher Larkin doing a decent job with many well-instrumented pieces that fit the dark milieu, although many areas exist that over-rely upon ambiance. However, the sound effects are never out of place, and the game doesn’t disappoint aurally.

The visual style near approaches perfection, also fitting the dark atmosphere, with superb use of shadowy hues, unique designs for the various insectoid characters and adversaries, and beautiful environments. The sole handicap is the misleading environmental breakage effects that accompany the Hollow Knight’s attacks yet lead not to secret passages.

Finally, the game is lengthier than average for a Metroidvania, with a playtime of somewhere from twenty-four to forty-eight hours, lasting appeal theoretically existing as Steam Achievements, exploring every corner of the interconnected world, different endings, and the higher difficulty unlocked upon completing the game. However, the above-average challenge will deter many players from wishing to devote additional time.

Overall, Hollow Knight has strong potential as a Metroidvania, given its occasional fun exploration, engaging lore, great sound, and excellent sight. However, it stumbles in many aspects, with boss fights made harder by the difficulty of healing during them, the need to reference the internet to get the most out of the game, and the frequent scarceness of the story. Although most of my top games of all time are Metroidvanias, Hollow Knight often didn’t scratch that itch pleasantly. While it has a sequel forthcoming subtitled Silksong, I can easily say that I likely will not play it regardless of how well it is received unless Team Cherry addresses the issues I mention in my review.

This review is based on a playthrough of a digtial copy purchased by and downloaded to the reviewer’s Steam Deck.