GAME CLEAR No. 293 -- Hollow Knight

Hollow Knight (2017, Multiplatform)

Developer: Team Cherry
Publisher: Team Cherry
Clear Version: PS5
Clear Platform: PS5
Clear Date: 4/15/26

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Why should I care?
Simply one of the finest games of its type ever made. Genius and love in every corner.

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A Bug’s Strife

What is there to say about Hollow Knight? It’s among the most adored games of the past ten years. It would benefit very little from my endorsement.

It did take me nearly a decade to get around to it, though. That’s because I wasn’t so sure I’d like it as much as everyone else. Well, I did. So what I’d like to talk about are a couple of points that perhaps could’ve pushed me to finally try this one sooner.

First, it controls like a dream. The little player character just feels great. Running and jumping around is perfectly responsive, and his standard attack is lightning-fast, as it should be. The trickle of new movement abilities is such that each new move feels like a revelation. There is a notorious (optional) platforming section in the game called the Path of Pain. Well, if you ask me, it’s more like the Path of Pleasure because the feeling of navigating that little bug around with razor-sharp precision is the type of shit video games exist to allow us to experience. I only wish there were more sections like that. The combat and boss designs are excellent too. They benefit from the already strong character movement, and hitting enemies with sword attacks imparts the perfect punch, hitstun, hitlag, knockback, and sound effects. Magical.

Second, the world of the game is enchanting. It is at once grim and delightful. Every character in the game is adorable in design, disposition, and voice. The world you explore is mostly hostile and void of intelligent life, but its pockets of civilization (and lone, hermit-like hangers on) offer little weirdos you will love to meet and revisit. Even many of its bosses have charm to spare (murderous intent notwithstanding). I have spent most of my life more used to the worlds of Metroid and Castlevania, those two series that form that loathsome portmanteau. Those tend to feature far more solitary and moody environments. There’s no doubt that’s effective as well, but Hollow Knight’s mix is just so strong. The Hallownest is mostly a vast labyrinth of dark, desolate, and often challenging corridors, but it’s easy to approach them with a strong will when you know a new friend may be waiting around the corner.

It’s funny, I saw a bit of this type of world in Shadow Labyrinth, but I didn’t find it nearly as effective. Really, having now played Hollow Knight, I can see that Bandai Namco’s search action title was in fact very heavily inspired by Team Cherry’s. Imitation, flattery, and all that.

Anyway, that’s my piece on Hollow Knight. It’s the type of game that for years was pitched to me (directly or indirectly) more or less as “a great Metroidvania with some light Dark Souls mechanics,” which I must say is a rather dire set of words for a handful of reasons. I’d crystalize it more as “it earns its place as an all-time great action-platformer on the strength of perfect controls and a deeply lovable world.” Idk, that sounds kinda lame too, but imagine I really mean every word of it. Maybe that will speak to someone in a way the way I’d been hearing about it did not speak to me.