Hollow Knight - A Bugger of a Metroidvania

I think I've skipped ahead further than the "intended" path, but I honestly don't know for sure. It didn't feel like a sequence break...

Spoiler:

Im not sure this is quite grabbing me, theres something there and a certain desire to keep playing but I dont feel like I know what Im supposed to be doing. At the moment Im just wandering around and occasionally getting my ass kicked by a monster I cant handle. Ill give it another go tonight and see if unlocking the compass helps any bit but Im hoping it opens up a bit more pretty soon.

I'm bloody loving this. I've been a little addicted to Fortnite and Spl82n, and they make more sense when I've just got time for a quick bash of a game before work or in the evening before I go to bed. Tonight, though, I've found myself with a house to myself so I'm just sitting in front of the TV with the lights down, the sound up and getting stuck in. I've only pulld myself away to grab dinner and send an important email. I can't wait to get back to it!

JayMoyles wrote:

I think I've skipped ahead further than the "intended" path, but I honestly don't know for sure. It didn't feel like a sequence break...

Spoiler:

I actually didn't find the merchant you're talking about until I went all the way around and came up under him, so I'm only now saving for the item!
I had my first real run-in with the death system. I died and then got cocky going back for my money and died again. I learned nothing from Dark Souls! That said, I've put most of my Geos in a bank so it wasn't as bad as it might have been.

Raxicori wrote:

Im not sure this is quite grabbing me, theres something there and a certain desire to keep playing but I dont feel like I know what Im supposed to be doing.

That's another thing it has in common with Dark Souls- the vague early section means if you don't have that curiosity and impetus to explore, you won't go far. You get out what you put in, essentially.
I'd definitely stay to stick with it. Even though I still have many more questions than answers about this world and story, I am absolutely adoring exploring it all.

Raxicori wrote:

Ill give it another go tonight and see if unlocking the compass helps any bit but Im hoping it opens up a bit more pretty soon.

I must admit to feeling a wee bit lost until I bought some of the mapping items, so I think it'll pick up once you buy the quill and the compass along with some of the markers.

Cool, I only just got the quill so I havent really seen it work, got to a bench to fill in the map and havent played it since. Ill get through some more of it at the weekend and hopefully it will pick up a bit.

I got to a really tough boss, which I've been chatting to Andy about.

Spoiler:

It was the perfect boss fight. Last night I was swearing, kicking my chair, getting absolutely rekt again and again. I slept on it, had a few attempts this morning and the time I finally beat it I didn't even take a hit. Absolutely spot-on combat.
It was followed by another pretty tense and tough section, which is a shame. On the other hand, the way the boss fight changes the area it takes place in is really wonderful and smartly done.

Spoiler:

I've not died against any bosses yet, but they've been brilliantly tense considering how vulnerable you are when healing.

Again, I feel like I've missed a few things...

Spoiler:

Well, having said that, it's not really missing things in Hollow Knight. It's more akin to taking a different route to most, which is a testament to the brilliance of the exploration in this game.

Double post, but I've had heaps of progress and I reckon I'm nearing the end. The only low point of the game so far was a pretty miserable boss battle that felt similar to Four Kings from Dark Souls. Beyond that, the game is still bloody phenomenal and is easily my GOTY so far this year.

I bought this yesterday but I probably won't start it until I've beaten a few more Switch games, the biggest issue is I need to stop myself playing MP/online only stuff likes Rocket League, R6Siege & MH World so I can actually beat some single player games.

Im still kinds struggling with this if I honest, Ive head too many cases of not knowing what to do or where to go. I really dont want to use a FAQ to get through this but I think I might have to, just for the sake of my sanity.

What powerups do you have? I can give you a rough idea of where to go if you'd like.

I'm playing this game in such a stupid order. I just absolutely demolished what was clearly intended as an early area!

Where was that Drunka?

I'm now in mop up mode. I can go do what I can only assume is the final boss, but there's a couple of areas I've yet to go through. I reckon there's going to be a true ending or something judging by the fact I've found a couple of really important looking areas yet I can do the final boss just now.

JayMoyles wrote:

Double post, but I've had heaps of progress and I reckon I'm nearing the end. The only low point of the game so far was a pretty miserable boss battle that felt similar to Four Kings from Dark Souls. Beyond that, the game is still bloody phenomenal and is easily my GOTY so far this year.

It's one of those games that won't win many GOTY awards but I reckon peeps that do play it will love it, sort fall in-line with likes of Celeste, Subsurface etc

JayMoyles wrote:

Where was that Drunka?

The Crystal Caverns. I touched base in there briefly before but never fully explored.
Anyway, in recent nights I've:

Spoiler:

I've got most of the maps now, and the options for where I can poke at the boundaries are limited, so I reckon I'm teasing out the final parts of the game.

I LOVE IT.

I can only think of one power that you're missing from the list you've given there.

If you're struggling, I'll give you a nudge in the right direction.

Right, lads - let's gooooooo!

I'm not sure I like what they've done with the map mechanics, or the 'lose all treasure when you die if you can't get back there', but everything else is nice so far. It's a rare example of bleakness that I can get behind. The little fella feels lovely as well.

You'll get a map system that's identical to Metroid's once you buy a couple of upgrades from the map shop. I don't think I've unequipped the compass for most of the game for that reason.

I'm guessing compass shows you the objective?

No, it shows you where you are on the map. You don't get to see that by default - the map system works in that you find an incomplete map in each area and map the rest out automatically thanks to a few items you need to buy from the mapping shop. Once you've got those items, you're good to go for exploration.

Good bloody videogame, this. I hope you stick with it, Balls Man!
What a year for indie stuff on the Switch. If last year it was easy to do a top five GOTYEs with just Nintendo first-party stuff, this year I reckon I could do it with indie bits and bobs!

I'm thinking I will, unless it gets really tough. The way it mixes its grimness with being really quite cute... Only thing is, I sometimes feel bad killing the enemies. Those poor mossy wotsits...

I felt that way at first too until the real monstrosities starting unveiling themselves.

As for it getting too tough, I wouldn't worry. Anything that's brutally difficult is optional. I'm referring to things such as this bullshit which took me nearly 2 hours last night. I didn't expect something akin to Celeste's B-Sides to turn up in this, but there we go! The video is spoiler free by the way for the reward for completing the Path of Pain, but I'd advise only going for it if you're up for the platforming challenge and/or want some extra lore. I ventured into this area wanting exactly neither of these, but I fell victim to the sunk cost fallacy through and through.

I got all the grubs last night

This game is so damn good

OrangeRakoon wrote:

I got all the grubs last night

Between this and Jay in the Last Game You Finished thread, I am feeling a desire to do a 100% run but there's other stuff I want to play first.
This is a damn good game though.