A fun Metroidvania adventure
Traverse the depths of the abandoned kingdom of Hallownest in the free-to-play, mobile version of Hollow Knight. An evocative, hand-crafted world brought to life in vivid 2D detail, this action-adventure side-scrolling game puts players into the shoes of the titular Hollow Knight, who’s out to get to the bottom of the mystery surrounding Dirtmouth and Hallownest underneath it.
After a few quick runs, the movement finally clicked—chaining pogo hops over spikes and bouncing off bugs felt great. On my Android phone via cloud play, short sessions work: quick restarts make failures painless, so I kept pushing to hit my first milestone, a clean room and a chunky geo haul. I strike foes to build up energy for mid-boss heals, and smacking sketchy walls sometimes opens sneaky routes. The difficulty curve feels fair, encouraging cleaner runs.
Encouraging the exploration of interconnected areas in Metroidvania style, Hollow Knight plunges players into twisting caverns, ancient cities, and deadly wastes, while battling tainted creatures and befriending insectoid NPCs and merchants. The Knight can even evolve with potent new skills and abilities, and different endings can be achieved.
Lots of enemies to slay
Set beneath the fading town of Dirtmouth, in a forgotten ancient kingdom called Hallownest, Hollow Knight features tightly tuned, easy-to-learn controls and an expansive, interconnected world of forgotten highways, overgrown wilds, and ruined cities. An enormous cast of cute and creepy characters, all brought to life with traditional 2D frame-by-frame animation, fill this gothic world. With over 130 enemies and 30 bosses, players are sure to encounter a variety of foes.
Interestingly, the massive labyrinth of interconnected regions boasts a distinct and immersive theme. Such a design aligns with the game’s nonlinear Metroidvania-style gameplay, where players are not constrained to a single path. The game doesn’t necessitate the exploration of the entire world — there are whole areas that players may miss during play-throughs. However, progression is occasionally impeded by barriers that require specific abilities, skills, items, or advancements in the game’s narrative to be overcome.
The Knight must face and defeat sub-bosses or bosses as a test of their skills and a gateway to progress further. Furthermore, enemies that are killed yield Geo, the in-game currency that can be spent on various items from shopkeepers. Also, complementing the gameplay, a haunting, intimate score composed by Christopher Larkin resonates throughout the journey, echoing the grandeur and melancholy of a civilization in ruin.
Immersive and truly worth a try
In conclusion, Hollow Knight offers an immersive Metroidvania adventure that combines challenging gameplay with a captivating narrative. Set in the ruins of Hallownest, it invites players to explore vast, interconnected regions, battle against a host of formidable foes, and unravel the mysteries of a fallen civilization. The game’s intricately crafted world, populated by a fascinating cast of characters, is matched by its nonlinear gameplay that encourages exploration and player agency.
