Reviews

My name is Emilio (Grade 10) and Hollow Knight is a 5/5 game because it fleshes out its combat, artwork, lore, and enemy variety to its maximum potential. It keeps you entertained and excited as it gives you the sense of progression to keep moving forward even if there is no established plotline. Hollow Knight is a Metroidvania and action-adventure game created by Team Cherry and released in 2017, but this review focuses on the Nintendo Switch version, which came out in 2018. You wake up as a knight who retains no memories, and you seek to find out more about yourself in the ancient kingdom of Hallownest. Hallownest has fallen by the disease known as the “Infection” which controls the broken minds of creatures, and you are opted to end it. This game heavily relies on exploration, which means there are many interconnected paths, secret rooms/items, and even new characters. Since there is no established plotline to the game, the lore is hidden through dialogue between characters and relics, which shows the development of the supporting characters. But this also means that most dialogue options and lore can easily be missed on your first playthrough, making the game more replayable. The difficulty in this game lies in the combat and the enemies/bosses around you. There is an enormous catalog of enemies meaning that there is a different way to approach every single one. The boss fights are difficult but are balanced out by telegraphed attacks, giving you more time to react. It makes you feel that you outsmarted the opponent by learning the attack patterns and finding the right opportunities to hit them. Although, with the use of power-ups, these bosses become easier. The combat of this game makes the game fun, and it allows you to become creative with your approach to enemies. Your nail is a close-range, but a strong attack that can bounce off enemies. Your spells deal a massive amount of damage and can hit multiple times at a long range. Your summons can attack enemies from a long range. There are also upgrades to these capabilities and are found through fighting bosses and sometimes even secrets. Combine this excellent combat system with the dark and amazing artwork, and the orchestral soundtrack, and you have got one of the best Metroidvania. I would recommend this to people interested in Metroidvanias and platformers but would suggest that everyone should give this a try.