Hollow Knight

Blog #1 A Game I Took Too Long to Play

The 2017 indie darling about bugs in a decayed kingdom has often popped up in nearly every gaming conversation since its release one way or another. Yet as a fan of bugs and a fan of tight, fast, satisfying to control games, Hollow Knight has largely sat on my periphery. I knew it more for the fanatic hype its sister game, Silksong, generated over the years. After finally giving the game its due diligence and my attention, I understand why so many praise the game.

I did know a few things going in. The general back-of-the-box setting, the metroidvania gameplay, and above all, its difficulty. The primary praise I can give this game is that very difficulty. While there are certain bosses and platforming sections that are quite difficult—and without the use of a guide I’m sure navigating would be tough—the game is incredibly fair with a very natural difficulty curve.

What impressed me most about this game was the clean execution it took to pull off that curve.

The enemy AI patterns being so clean to be learned honestly makes the game work and without that perfection in game design, a large section of the experience would fall apart. Every jump and slash of your nail is instant and precise. Every enemy leap, every monster’s swipe, every knight’s blade moves in turn with the same precision. As such I found it hard to be frustrated with the difficulty I encountered during my journey through Hallownest with one mechanical exception I will discuss soon. I felt more eager to get back into the fight and keep going, keep learning, and so throughly explore the corners that the game would bloom into something more beautiful. The pure satisfaction of overcoming a challenge was my reward and it was given to me at every step of the way.

Even the art and world design encouraged me to keep going. I wanted to discover more secrets and the history that made up the land. The detail of the mantis tribe bowing before you after your display of strength against their lords was such a lovely touch of world building to me. I know it’s not groundbreaking, but what a detail especially when it’s in conversation with the traitor mantis lord and his followers. Allowing the strength of the infection to take over to be a true ruthless counter to the initial appearance of the mantis tribe, which was seen as insular to the Pale King’s domination over the land. Each system in the game works to draw you deeper into its own world’s mysteries and keep trying to fight to find more.

The largest downside I struggled with was the balance of your shade and money. I understand the purpose. Plain and simple it gives a pretty heavy cost to death with the fortunate chance at retrieving your goods upon learning from your mistakes. The issue is that it made exploring much more costly and frustrating. Falling into Deep Nest through a trap floor with no way out and the bugs eating me alive was sweat inducing and a very memorable moment, but it’s a bit tainted by my frustration with my new money issue. Luckily the big costs of the game outside the lantern are benches, maps, and stag stations. Key tools of exploration which are often balanced by the money gained from the road leading up to these points of interest. Still, the cost of goods grows exponential and one fumble or unfortunate death in a hard to reach place could mean money grinding. It’s a harsh downside, but I think a necessary one to give more weight to exploration—the other half of this game.

Additionally, this money issue only occurred at one major point midway through the game. After that point I had no money issues again. I also should come clean about the fact I used a guide. (It was this Steam 112% Completion Walkthrough by Almech Alfarion.) I love using guides for games, I never feel it lessens my enjoyment of the game though I do feel I might’ve stuck too close to this guide despite the few intentional open ends, allowing me to explore. There’s plenty of lore I know I missed and after checking out a few popular YouTube lore videos—I’m not sure if I have the desire to go further into that pond. I got my back scratched by the gameplay and the lore I’ve discovered myself, but I’ll leave the dirty secrets to the professionals. Though by the looks of the (popular) video essayists on this subject, maybe not so professional.

I beat the true final boss, Radiance, January 10th of 2026 but little by little I’ve been chipping away at earning the golden 114% through the gauntlet. As I write, I still have two pantheons to finish up, a bestiary nearly completed, and working on conquering the path of pain. I really don’t mind getting it an hour or two on a random night when I’m not interested in other things. It’s nearly been a month, but I like sipping at this project of completion before I move on from this game.

Hollow Knight gave me an incredible experience and it’s worth trying for any players looking for an action platformer—assuming you haven’t played it already. Even if you end up dropping it from difficulty, or frustration, or boredom, I find it valuable to give it a try anyway. The pure joy I got from the responsive combat and platforming was well worth it.