Board 8 > Hollow Knight is a pretty fun game so far

Topic List
Page List: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 ... 6
RoseChevalier
12/05/22 12:59:06 AM
#1:


no spoilers please!

I started Hollow Knight yesterday and I think I played about three hours? It felt great to get the dash (and that duel with Hornet was the best part of the game up to that point) and then it was a RUSH to finally get wall jumping with the mantis claw. That's about where I stopped for the day.

Early on I felt stymied by just how limited the movement felt. But then I would notice these really clever rooms designed to teach you mechanics. Oh, enemies can shoot at you. Oh, sometimes you can't beat someone and have to come back later. There was a bundle of geo on the ground in the perfect place that when you attack it, you'll hit the wall and start to reveal a secret. Awesome way to teach about breakable walls! (I'd already found one before that because this ain't my first metroidvania rodeo) Then it teaches you to bounce by downslashing on spikes and suddenly the movement is feeling better. And then my breakthrough moment was a jump you're supposed to have wall jumping (or high jump? double jump?) later, but I thought "wait if I drag a flying enemy over here and bounce..." and sure enough! I got up there! okay, now I'm sold on the game.

It's hard though. For sure.

I wouldn't be surprised if, in the end, I still prefer Rabi Ribi overall, but I can already tell I'm gonna love this.

---
I'm Rose Coldsteel, from Legend of Coldsteel
... Copied to Clipboard!
Kenri
12/05/22 1:35:20 AM
#2:


Rabi Ribi is good but HK is on another level. It took me almost a full playthrough before I started really really liking it though

---
Congrats to BKSheikah, who knows more about years than anyone else.
... Copied to Clipboard!
paperwarior
12/05/22 1:48:32 AM
#3:


Did you start because of Playstation Stars? I downloaded it the other day for that but haven't actually started a new playthrough.

---
"God Hand is the ultimate expression of the joy of humanity, specifically the punching part of the joy of humanity."-Shigeru Miyamoto
... Copied to Clipboard!
Lolo_Guru
12/05/22 1:48:58 AM
#4:


Keep having fun with it, it's one of my faves, and also one of my faves to randomize. :)

---
Lolo
... Copied to Clipboard!
RoseChevalier
12/05/22 1:57:55 AM
#5:


paperwarior posted...
Did you start because of Playstation Stars? I downloaded it the other day for that but haven't actually started a new playthrough.
nah, I started cause of Archipelago randomizer. I wanted to have an idea how the game is laid out so the items I send make more sense to me / so I know "oh my thing is locked behind THAT? they won't get there til endgame"

---
I'm Rose Coldsteel, from Legend of Coldsteel
... Copied to Clipboard!
RoseChevalier
12/05/22 1:59:17 AM
#6:


Kenri posted...
Rabi Ribi is good but HK is on another level. It took me almost a full playthrough before I started really really liking it though

Rabi Ribi has those 0% movement mechanics and the map is set up to accomodate those sequence breaks and that really endeared me to it. But we'll see!!

---
I'm Rose Coldsteel, from Legend of Coldsteel
... Copied to Clipboard!
MZero
12/05/22 2:03:27 AM
#7:


Easily my favorite Metroidvania and one of my favorite games of all time

---
MZero, to the extreme
https://www.twitch.tv/kabazame
... Copied to Clipboard!
Zigzagoon
12/05/22 2:27:39 AM
#8:


Dropped the game about 4 hours in. Just wasn't really feeling it. Ori is much much better.

---
~Silver_Ermine~
http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m9r5hhXQbJ1rbct63o1_500.gif
... Copied to Clipboard!
tcaz2
12/05/22 2:33:16 AM
#9:


I agree that both Ori games are better. Hollow Knight is fun though.
... Copied to Clipboard!
RoseChevalier
12/05/22 3:32:31 AM
#10:


i bounced off ori iirc. I don't remember why. I can't even remember anything about it actually

---
I'm Rose Coldsteel, from Legend of Coldsteel
... Copied to Clipboard!
_Blur_
12/05/22 3:44:38 AM
#11:


Yeah it's one of the greatest games of all time. Have fun!

Also now I suddenly want to replay the Ori games (though I don't quite think they're on Hollow Knight's level). I think I will! Really just want to replay Will of the Wisps, since it actually learns a lot from HK in the gameplay department, but Ori 1 is so short.

---
Feel the sadnesss of the Earth, and I close my eyes. And I'm beyond time now.
... Copied to Clipboard!
Aecioo
12/05/22 7:42:06 AM
#12:


I have tried so many times to play this game all the way through and I always bounce off. I've even gotten to pretty much the last few hours of story and just... stopped playing.

Ori is so much more my style

---
http://28.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lcb35gGx0t1qailr4o1_500.gif
http://www.megavideo.com/?v=57N0YAEJ
... Copied to Clipboard!
htaeD
12/05/22 7:55:20 AM
#13:


I couldnt stop plating this myself. So I guess its just a subjective thing rather than a quality thing.

---
Sword IGN: Pandora, Brilliant Diamond IGN: Aurora
Home: Pandorian/JBURSQAVTAGA
... Copied to Clipboard!
RoseChevalier
12/05/22 8:03:24 AM
#14:


https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/5/8/1/AAdzGwAAD9El.jpg welp it appears I did, in fact, play through Ori? I was thinking about it for hours since I made that post and I vaguely remembered something with a big bird, and maybe a volcano...?

anyway it clearly didn't make too big of an impression on me

---
I'm Rose Coldsteel, from Legend of Coldsteel
... Copied to Clipboard!
RoseChevalier
12/05/22 8:06:04 AM
#15:


anyway tonight I only had an hour. I made it back into the Mantis Village and descended into the depths. I tried the challenge and oh boy, it's hard! I finally started to get the hang of it but I got sloppy in the 2v1 and died. My bench was very, VERY far away.

next time!

---
I'm Rose Coldsteel, from Legend of Coldsteel
... Copied to Clipboard!
andylt
12/05/22 8:12:31 AM
#16:


Tag, terrific game

---
Very very slowly becoming a Final Fantasy aficionado.
... Copied to Clipboard!
masterplum
12/05/22 8:28:37 AM
#17:


I hated Ori. Was way too linear for a Metroidvania

Hollow Knight really sold me when I realized there were branching item paths necessary to beat the game the first time and you could really carve out your own path. Unlike most bad metroidvanias which are linear except powerups, or good metroidvanias where you can sequence break but eventually you do need to come back for everything in some order, in Hollow knight you really can just go different places and end up at the end of the game.

I thought that was fantastic. Funny enough its also one of the things I like most about Elden Ring

---
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BdWiElvIQAAQpBt.jpg
... Copied to Clipboard!
tcaz2
12/05/22 8:36:40 AM
#18:


I personally really don't care for 'completely open exploration where you can go anywhere' in Metroidvania's. Hollow Knight has better combat than the first Ori but not the second, Ori beats it there too. But in terms of story, graphics, music, platforming challenges, feel of movement, etc I'd pick both Ori games over Hollow Knight any day of the week.

Hollow Knight also gets much too hard in the end game to be fun and frankly is just frustrating imo

I still enjoyed it enough to finish it though.
... Copied to Clipboard!
Aecioo
12/05/22 8:53:52 AM
#19:


plum is this one of the first things we disagree on

---
http://28.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lcb35gGx0t1qailr4o1_500.gif
http://www.megavideo.com/?v=57N0YAEJ
... Copied to Clipboard!
masterplum
12/05/22 8:55:14 AM
#20:


Aecioo posted...
plum is this one of the first things we disagree on

:O

---
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BdWiElvIQAAQpBt.jpg
... Copied to Clipboard!
Aecioo
12/05/22 8:56:24 AM
#21:


masterplum posted...
:O

Tagging you as "terrible taste in metroidvanias"

---
http://28.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lcb35gGx0t1qailr4o1_500.gif
http://www.megavideo.com/?v=57N0YAEJ
... Copied to Clipboard!
masterplum
12/05/22 8:57:42 AM
#22:


The funny thing is when the second Ori came out it got great reviews and so I thought maybe that one would be better!

No, even worse. Was like the first Ori except had overly long chase sequences.

Maybe it's a matter of expectations but I didn't feel like Ori was a metroidvania at all. It felt closer to a pure action game.

Which if that's what you like then go for it, but I've never been a big fan of games like Bayonetta. They always get boring for me after a while

---
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BdWiElvIQAAQpBt.jpg
... Copied to Clipboard!
Aecioo
12/05/22 8:58:41 AM
#23:


The second is even better!

---
http://28.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lcb35gGx0t1qailr4o1_500.gif
http://www.megavideo.com/?v=57N0YAEJ
... Copied to Clipboard!
paperwarior
12/05/22 7:27:49 PM
#24:


No, I don't love Ori. I'm still bitter that it had missables everywhere and then charged extra for QoL changes. Combat is bleh. I did finish it but I understood why some people didn't bother.

---
"God Hand is the ultimate expression of the joy of humanity, specifically the punching part of the joy of humanity."-Shigeru Miyamoto
... Copied to Clipboard!
skullbone
12/05/22 7:37:05 PM
#25:


The combat in the first Ori game is very bad and the 2nd game is only a minor improvement for combat.

---
skull
... Copied to Clipboard!
RoseChevalier
12/05/22 7:48:36 PM
#26:


oh I also got my 4th mask shard so I finally have more life

the uh... what are they called. the badge point things to equip things? are so limited! I wanna experiment more with my badges but I can basically only equip two at a time.

---
I'm Rose Coldsteel, from Legend of Coldsteel
... Copied to Clipboard!
azuarc
12/05/22 7:49:20 PM
#27:


Things in this topic I don't understand:
* People who feel the need to come into Hollow Knight threads to say how much better they liked Ori.
* People who like Ori better than Hollow Knight.
* People who give up on Hollow Knight after the two-hour mark, past the one lull in the game.
* People who say HK is hard (besides the Watcher Knights. Fuck those guys.)

There are definitely things about HK that you could legitimately complain about, like the death runbacks, the quasi-linearity of the very beginning, the very subdued story development that forces you to figure it out for yourself, or Primal Aspids. But nobody's complaining about those. Meanwhile, I could fill up a list at least as long for Ori and Ori 2. To me, the one thing that Hollow Knight gets absolutely perfect, though, which is critical for this style of game, is the movement. Everything just feels right. Animations are clean. Controls are crisp. Mechanics are involved enough to offer options without overwhelming you with buttons you've forgotten you had. And the sense of exploration is unparalleled.

To Rose, good luck, enjoy. And when you get lost, I promise the thing you're looking for is there, in a direction you probably forgot to look. I somehow managed to completely miss the Mantis Lords fight until I was over a dozen hours into the game because I didn't drop down the hole and then just never came back to that part of the Fungal Wastes. Finding the area on the other side by a different route is a very different experience than most people have. But the fact that such a route exists is one of the things that makes the game intriguing.

---
Only the exceptions can be exceptional.
... Copied to Clipboard!
Aecioo
12/05/22 7:52:47 PM
#28:


Ori and Hollow Knight are forever linked as they are both top tier indie metroidvanias released within a year or two of each other.

Don't know why you wouldn't understand why they are always brought up together in the same topic.

---
http://28.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lcb35gGx0t1qailr4o1_500.gif
http://www.megavideo.com/?v=57N0YAEJ
... Copied to Clipboard!
Seanchan
12/05/22 8:02:08 PM
#29:


I love how this topic (playing Hollow Knight for the first time) comes up every 6 months like clockwork. Makes me happy because its such a damn good game. Yes, it does start a little slow but when it hits its stridejust amazing.

Cant wait for Silksong!

---
"That was unnecessarily dramatic". - NY Mets motto (courtesy of InnerTubeHero)
Congratulations to azuarc, the guru of gurus and winner of GotD 2020!
... Copied to Clipboard!
azuarc
12/05/22 8:04:51 PM
#30:


Aecioo posted...
Don't know why you wouldn't understand why they are always brought up together in the same topic.

You're missing my point. Yes, they're linked, but do people who don't like HK need to come into a HK thread to say "I don't like this. You should play this other game instead."? Or is it just that nobody starts Ori threads, so people who prefer Ori use this as their chance to gush about the game?

Anyway, Ori has a much better up-front story. The MC is very cute. The game is very colorful...although a bit too much so. The bloom starts to get to me after a while. But I enjoyed exploring in Ori far less, the platforming was far less forgiving, and some of the puzzle elements they expected you to figure out went right over my head. I also did not have a good time with Bash, which is basically the marquee Ori ability, and I quit out of Ori 2 after one of the most harrowing video game experiences I've ever had. (Which was on me, but the fact that I had it at all was dubious.)

And as for if they should be linked? Eh, I feel like they each have better games to be compared to. I know they're both popular and from around the same time, but that's the extent of the connection IMO, unless they're literally the only metroidvanias you've played.

---
Only the exceptions can be exceptional.
... Copied to Clipboard!
Kenri
12/05/22 8:06:33 PM
#31:


azuarc posted...
Things in this topic I don't understand:
* People who feel the need to come into Hollow Knight threads to say how much better they liked Ori.
Video game equivalent of people who compare every book/movie to Harry Potter

---
Congrats to BKSheikah, who knows more about years than anyone else.
... Copied to Clipboard!
masterplum
12/05/22 8:07:37 PM
#32:


This seems like a good time to say that Astalon Tears of the Earth is awesome

---
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BdWiElvIQAAQpBt.jpg
... Copied to Clipboard!
azuarc
12/05/22 8:20:41 PM
#33:


masterplum posted...
This seems like a good time to say that Astalon Tears of the Earth is awesome

That is a sentiment I can get behind.

---
Only the exceptions can be exceptional.
... Copied to Clipboard!
pyresword
12/05/22 8:33:25 PM
#34:


azuarc posted...
or Primal Aspids. But nobody's complaining about those.

i can fix this fuck primal aspids.

(I love Hollow Knight but don't have much to add)

---
I didn't do guru this year but azuarc can be in my sig anyways.
... Copied to Clipboard!
paperwarior
12/05/22 8:34:54 PM
#35:


masterplum posted...
This seems like a good time to say that Astalon Tears of the Earth is awesome
Facts

---
"God Hand is the ultimate expression of the joy of humanity, specifically the punching part of the joy of humanity."-Shigeru Miyamoto
... Copied to Clipboard!
Mobilezoid
12/05/22 8:35:43 PM
#36:


I've played through HK probably twenty times this year due to multiplayer randomizers. Primal Aspids still somehow always manage to hit me and I don't understand how. It's like they can predict where I'm going even before I make the decision myself!

---
**R.O.B.A.Z.O.I.D** (On mobile)
... Copied to Clipboard!
skullbone
12/05/22 8:43:12 PM
#37:


I just played Astalon last week and it was indeed very good! But getting 100% of the items and map progress was a pain in the ass honestly.

---
skull
... Copied to Clipboard!
Peace___Frog
12/05/22 9:05:28 PM
#38:


azuarc posted...
platforming was far less forgiving
We must have played different games. Ori has way more forgiving timings than hk does.

I prefer hk but that's not a reason why for me

---
~Peaf~
... Copied to Clipboard!
masterplum
12/05/22 9:33:09 PM
#39:


skullbone posted...
I just played Astalon last week and it was indeed very good! But getting 100% of the items and map progress was a pain in the ass honestly.

I don't recall 100% map being too troublesome outside of the secret dev room.

I don't think I cheated? I may have cheated after beating the game and that's why. Idk

---
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BdWiElvIQAAQpBt.jpg
... Copied to Clipboard!
colliding
12/05/22 9:50:24 PM
#40:


I disagree that Ori has a better up-front story than HK

Only played Ori 2 (because that's the good one apparently) and didn't find it very compelling

HK meanwhile I absolutely loved

---
while you slept, the world changed
... Copied to Clipboard!
skullbone
12/05/22 10:18:12 PM
#41:


masterplum posted...
I don't recall 100% map being too troublesome outside of the secret dev room.

I don't think I cheated? I may have cheated after beating the game and that's why. Idk

Secret dev room doesn't even count toward the map! It was mostly annoying because the fast travel system sucks.

Also I'm not sure I've ever played a Metroidvania with so many optional movement skills and unlockables. I got to the final boss is like 4 hours and then it took me another 6 hours to finish the map and unlock everything. Not exactly a critique but just odd you can skip so much of the game.

---
skull
... Copied to Clipboard!
RoseChevalier
12/05/22 10:41:59 PM
#42:


I still love the visual language in which HK teaches you mechanics. I'll walk into a room and be like, oh wow, you must be able to dash off a wall you're sliding down without jumping first! Because there's no other way through, and sure enough it works.

Oh, this is a puzzle to practice wall jump and dash with spikes everywhere? Cool let's do it

Then there's the big enemies that teach you what to expect from whatever the next boss is gonna be.

---
I'm Rose Coldsteel, from Legend of Coldsteel
... Copied to Clipboard!
azuarc
12/06/22 1:33:04 AM
#43:


skullbone posted...
Also I'm not sure I've ever played a Metroidvania with so many optional movement skills and unlockables. I got to the final boss is like 4 hours and then it took me another 6 hours to finish the map and unlock everything. Not exactly a critique but just odd you can skip so much of the game.

Not to mention two entire side characters in areas I never visited.

I mean, I did eventually, but not until after getting the basic ending. Even then, there were a lot of places I was only able to find with help from an online map.

---
Only the exceptions can be exceptional.
... Copied to Clipboard!
ZeldaTPLink
12/06/22 4:50:14 AM
#44:


I've been playing it too and dropped it right after getting the mantis claw. I think metroidvanias aren't for me.

I don't enjoy the lack of direction, especially if you fail to run into the map NPC the first time you enter a new area. I'm stuck in god knows where with no way of knowing how to leave the fungus region (except that I came from up-ish) and I also forgot how to get back to where I last died. Boss combat is fun but enemy combat can get annoying pretty fast though, like I'm constantly being swarmed by things and stopping to heal every 10 seconds.

I don't think the game is too hard, but imo it feels oppressive, which is how metroidvanias usually make me feel. Like the game doesn't want to be played.

Either way, hope you enjoy it.
... Copied to Clipboard!
RoseChevalier
12/06/22 6:11:23 AM
#45:


thanks! some of the enemies are frustrating (the big jellyfish omg) but the movement gravity and speed feels so good, I don't mind fighting enemies!

---
I'm Rose Coldsteel, from Legend of Coldsteel
... Copied to Clipboard!
masterplum
12/06/22 7:54:28 AM
#46:


ZeldaTPLink posted...
I've been playing it too and dropped it right after getting the mantis claw. I think metroidvanias aren't for me.

I don't enjoy the lack of direction, especially if you fail to run into the map NPC the first time you enter a new area. I'm stuck in god knows where with no way of knowing how to leave the fungus region (except that I came from up-ish) and I also forgot how to get back to where I last died. Boss combat is fun but enemy combat can get annoying pretty fast though, like I'm constantly being swarmed by things and stopping to heal every 10 seconds.

I don't think the game is too hard, but imo it feels oppressive, which is how metroidvanias usually make me feel. Like the game doesn't want to be played.

Either way, hope you enjoy it.

This is totally fair. I dont play pure open world games because they arent my thing so I get just not enjoying a genre.

To me thats what makes metroidvanias actually interesting. If Im playing a linear game I prefer having a tight curated experience, which is what bugged me so much about Ori. It felt like it was trying to be both linear and a metroidvania and ended up doing both badly

---
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BdWiElvIQAAQpBt.jpg
... Copied to Clipboard!
azuarc
12/06/22 10:37:41 AM
#47:


The runback after death is maybe the thing I like least about Hollow Knight. That's one thing Ori definitely has over it since you can make save points everywhere.

---
Only the exceptions can be exceptional.
... Copied to Clipboard!
htaeD
12/06/22 11:33:55 AM
#48:


Oh god Traitor Lord

---
Sword IGN: Pandora, Brilliant Diamond IGN: Aurora
Home: Pandorian/JBURSQAVTAGA
... Copied to Clipboard!
pyresword
12/06/22 11:38:26 AM
#49:


I generally didn't mind the runback after death but the lack of benches near that one particular boss was definitely rough.

I think Hollow Knight difficulty is a bit of a mixed bag. If you're talking about just the content you need to get to the basic ending for the game then it presents a challenge but is ultimately not that hard (with the exception of possibly Watcher Knights, as az pointed out), but the difficulty for some of the stuff involved in what I'll call the "true" ending is amped up, and then some of the optional other stuff is brutally difficult.

---
I didn't do guru this year but azuarc can be in my sig anyways.
... Copied to Clipboard!
masterplum
12/06/22 12:00:59 PM
#50:


pyresword posted...
I generally didn't mind the runback after death but the lack of benches near that one particular boss was definitely rough.

I think Hollow Knight difficulty is a bit of a mixed bag. If you're talking about just the content you need to get to the basic ending for the game then it presents a challenge but is ultimately not that hard (with the exception of possibly Watcher Knights, as az pointed out), but the difficulty for some of the stuff involved in what I'll call the "true" ending is amped up, and then some of the optional other stuff is brutally difficult.

Which is great. More games need brutally difficult optional content

I would probably play pokemon again if I couldn't beat everything in my sleep. I would kill for actually tactical team decisions

---
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BdWiElvIQAAQpBt.jpg
... Copied to Clipboard!
Topic List
Page List: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 ... 6