Hollow Knight Review - One of the best Metroidvanias?

usually when you sit down and play a game you want to get sucked into its world there are a lot of games out there by now that are great but it's rare for a game to really nail everything just right from the music and sound design to the atmospheric level design and all the way down to the movement and combat mechanics everything about Halle Knight screams brilliance Halle Knight is a 2d action adventure platformer with a large interconnected world and a focus on exploration and combat also colloquially known as a Metroidvania personally this is one of my favorite types of games to play because it combines all the best aspects of power progression and world design in a single cohesive experience but what's so brilliant about Halle Knight specifically well hopefully by the end of this review you'll know and if you're as big of a Metroidvania fan as I am you'll have a new obsession for the next week or so and don't worry I'll be keeping this review as spoiler free as possible from the second you begin the game you're met with an animated cutscene that shows off hollow knights cartoony aesthetic and dark atmosphere it does a wonderful job of setting the game's mood and lets you know exactly what to expect from hollowness the game setting in a masterful stroke of artistry the game blends adorable and creepy in the same motion with character and enemy design that is easy to recognize at a glance and can make you go ah one moment and then shudder with discomfort in the next but the best part is that it all perfectly fits in the world that the developers have crafted the art style is incredibly clean as well making the whole game feel like it was an animated cartoon rather than a game you're playing which helps immerse you in the game's world how long nights use of colors some of the best I've seen in a long time as well the beginning of the game is covered in dark and somber looking shades of blue and white that set the scene of a lost and forgotten world but as you explore further you're treated with different palettes and splashes of color that evoke the nature and in some cases the danger of any given area some of the notable areas near the beginning include the lush vegetation of green paths and the pink crystalline glow of the crystal cavern and the unique ambience and color palette of each of the games areas ensure that once you discover and explore any area you know exactly where you're at and what you're in for in addition to all of that the games use of lighting while not most technically impressive or even fully featured like nothing really cast a shadow or anything it does exactly what it sets out to do dark areas are dimly lit with a limited view distance and bright areas are bright and simple to navigate it craps an ambience that makes everything flow together so perfectly well and helps tell the story of hollowness incredible art can only go so far by itself though to really balance the audio-visual equation of aesthetic and atmosphere you really need some stellar music and sound design Paula Knight goes above and beyond with the music and the sound the game's soundtrack ranges from a fast and loud arrangement that will play during a particularly challenging section Oh [Music] to a soft and slow ambient track that fills you with the fear of the dangers that lurk in the darkness our night soundtrack even includes the lonely and somber track of dead silence in some areas that simultaneously creates a feeling of worry and intrigue as you press further and continue to uncover not only the secrets of hollowness but your mission in this game's world the ambience is complete with the game's use of sound it really seems like they thought of everything the characters footsteps the flutter of an enemies wings the familiar call of a friend in need and the screeching pain of death cried out by the enemies as you slice them down with your nail over all hollow nights sound design is wonderfully done to the point where if you're the kind of person who tries to multitask by watching Netflix or YouTube or something while playing the game you will miss many of the disturbing sounds and necessary cues and gorgeous tracks that this game has to offer hollow nest is a lie with such thoughtful sounds and tracks that keep you immersed in the world and invested in its lore and in its future but that's not the real strength of this game the real strength is in its gameplay and it's designed now I may be a bit biased when I say this since well-crafted Metroidvania czar by far my favourite genre to really sink my teeth into but hollow nights true strength really lies in its stellar gameplay and map design answer this question is honestly as you can imagine you buy hollow night and launch it for the first time you see these adorable graphics the initially limited color palette and understated music how long would you expect to spend in this world in a casual run for your first playthrough four hours maybe 10 hours these are pretty reasonable numbers it's about the amount of time I spend in or I in guacamelee two other fantastic Metroidvania that I would recommend and those were 100% runs for those games but no hollow Knights size simply Dwarfs that of many of its peers the world is huge and interconnected in the most unexpected ways and just when you think you've uncovered everything it surprises you with a discovery that says this feeling hit me not just once during my playthrough but many times overall I believe the average play time to finish the game is about 20 to 30 hours a long time but I think that the reason hollow Knight is able to pull off this vibe so masterfully is because there's a whole lot of completely optional content hidden in the game if you're not thorough enough with your exploration or curious enough about what that mysterious thing that you can't interact with yet is then chances are pretty high that you'll end up beating the game while completely missing out on entire zones of content that include more bosses more challenges more upgrades and more items and overall more fun and I don't think I'm using the word masterfully lightly here I truly believe that what team cherry has done with this game's world and the way they handle the optional content is truly a masterstroke of design that is worth studying by any hopeful Metroidvania developers in the future one of the reasons that this sub-genre works so well is the way that it rewards exploration you go off the beaten path and you're rewarded with either a new power more health more resources or something otherwise very interesting at least most of the time but it's rare for a game to go so far as to make so much completely optional such that a majority of players will probably never ever see it and that's what makes it feel special it makes you feel like you're truly rewarded for being thorough and invested in a way that most other titles all short of the moment-to-moment gameplay is relatively simple however you move you jump to swing your weapon to attack enemies as you progress you'll unlock various permanent upgrades that increase your power mobility and health as you would expect from this kind of title and many charms which is a unique feature with various effects that you can mix and match to your own personal play style the mechanical aspects of the game aren't anything truly innovative or unique but they're responsive easy to learn and most of all completely fair it feels good mechanically and doesn't ever get in your way which allows you to truly get lost in the experience now doesn't mean however that the game is easy simple to learn controls allow a great deal of flexibility in the game's combat design and that's best shown up in a game's various and imaginative boss fights of which there are very many and a great deal of those are completely optional as well and you will die to these bosses a lot holo Knight takes a lot of cues from the dark souls series when it comes to iterative learning through death while never feeling like it cheated you out of anything except for one very specific teleporting you'll know who I'm talking about if you've played this game or if you play this game in the future you'll know you'll know you know who you are [Music] I absolutely fell in love with Halle Knight from the moment I turned it on and I only grew to love it more as I uncovered more of its deep interconnected world and met more of its horrifying and sometimes innocent denizens and conquered more of its imaginative and satisfying challenges I think that I can say without a doubt that Hollow Knight has secured the spot of my favorite Metroidvania title ever dethroning even Super Metroid it's a game that carries one of my highest recommendations ever so if you're a Metroidvania fan don't even wait for a sale buy this game because it's very much worth your money and it will be an incredibly memorable experience alternatively you can go watch my 35 episode along 100% playthrough over on my let's play channel or do both I don't mind and the final thing worth noting by the way is that there is a DLC in the works where you can play as a completely different character and I suspect a new possibly parallel story to the games main line along with new areas and challenges I cannot wait thank you so much for watching to the end of this video if you liked or disliked the video you know what to do and don't forget to follow me on Twitter at ingenious clown and hit that subscribe button for more awesome gaming content here in the future and I will see you next time [Music] [Music] Oh

Channel: ingeniousclown Gaming

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Keywords: ingeniousclown, ingenious clown, gaming, hollow knight, hollow knight review, review, hollow knight gameplay, hollow knight steam, metroidvania review, best metroidvania, metroidvania 2017, best metroidvania 2017, ingenious review, ingeniousclown reviews, hollow knight game review, best metroidvanias

Id: S19czO9fGqw

Length: 10min 21sec (621 seconds)

Published: Mon Apr 24 2017