So yeh, I'm hitting adulthood, graduating at some point soon, moving on to new places, and I can't go one day without hearing about ******* politics. (I DON'T CARE WHO'S RIGHT, JUST STOP FOR 3 MINUTES) Some people vent on the internet every now and then by complaining on facebook, acting like a doof with other people. Some are reasonable enough to look for a trustworthy place to dump their emotions rather than drag everything in a 30 meter vicinity into their abyss of despair. Me? When my mind clouds up I type for 3 hours about what makes me happy. Ladies and gentlemen, that's my hook. I dunno where I went with it, I got the pathos going here pretty clearly... although I would liken it to a Geico commercial in terms of relevance.

Also, this is going to be a unique review because this game doesn't exist in the VG room and I have no idea how to add info about it. Heck, it took me 10 minutes to find a way to start this thread, I dunno what the youngins are used to these days! ... nah I'm 18, that's like a twelve year old calling themselves a teen. I'm sure the lack of an entry for Hollow Knight will change once I'm done here, but for lack of perspective I'll definitely be selling on what to expect from it without a visual set in mind. We have google images for that but... that place scares me...

Alright, enough beating about the bush, Hollow Knight is an amazing flippin game and here's why. I first witnessed the footage from a youtube stream, just a random suggestion pitched my way on a game I never heard of, and apparently only a relative few have, darn shame. I looked at it for 3 minutes, within half that time I asked some other viewers questions about it, and then I stopped watching then and there and bought it for the weekend. True story there, and it managed to succeed expectations. Hollow Knight is at it's heart an open world platformer, think of the likes of Metroid and Cave Story. Speaking of story, the setting of the game is some kind of dark abandoned world where the only life found are bugs (being the generalized un-scientific sense of the word, don't get yer jimmies in a twist). These bugs set up their own society, and in the depths of the underground caves developed a kingdom known as the Hallownest. This kingdom thrived in it's days, but eventually fell apart overtime due to numerous mysterious and unfortunate events. You play as... who knows? You aren't given any background or description or even a name, you're a small cloaked bug traveling the wastes, using your broken nail as a weapon. Now I gotta admit, something in this game really sold me, hit me in a special place right here, everything in this game is hand drawn. Not to mention, animated brilliantly. The artistic style really shines through, with simplistic character designs that still remain interesting, and as for the world, it's been a long time since I found an environment that really blew me away, I was starting to think I'd seen it all. Believe me, this game felt like my own fantasy, a large branching map with all kinds of openable paths and secrets, intuitive gameplay that keeps me in full game playing mode; there weren't times when I started zoning out due to monotony or boredom, and a vast story that gets more and more unraveled the deeper you look in while still hiding many secrets.

Let's talk about gameplay, there's a lot of focus on having various mechanics shine through at certain times as you attempt to navigate areas. Mainly you need to worry about platforming, which may seem simple at first, but you know nothing Jon Snow. You also have to fight off the enemies that appear in your way, and they evolve much in the same way as the platforming. Your character also has unique abilities, which of course aren't explained as to why you have them or what they even are at first. When you fight enemies, you can gain their power in the form of spirit, measured in a vial of white... ectoplasm? You use this spirit for various spells you gain in the game. You start off with focus, which let's you charge a third of your spirit to heal yourself by one point. This focus ability is your godsend, whenever you start messing up on hazards or enemies, you simply charge up spirit to heal yourself back up, meaning you don't have to worry much about finding checkpoints all the time or giving up on exploring somewhere, as you can just keep going if you're smart about it. Although don't get me wrong, you will die, you will slip up plenty of times, and when you do? You burst into a black shade that is left in the spot where you died and you have to get back there and defeat it if you want your spirit meter restored to full size and your currency returned. Basically like Dark Souls. There, Mecha Cack just related this game to Dark Souls. Happy?

I did also relate this to Metroid and Cave Story though, so I'm glad to say it retains that sense of empowerment you get from those titles as well. Over the course of the game, you find plenty of new toys to mess around with. Of course there will be ways to increase health and power, as well as your maximum spirit power in a way where you can store more spirit but just can't spam it all at once, but you also get new skills, spells, and charms as well. The spells generally follow the easy to understand concept of "where are the enemies you want to hit?" As for skills, you will eventually find new ways to traverse terrain, inadvertently allowing you to unlock whole new areas once you come across them. Plenty of paths are like this, if you look at some spot and wonder "how am I meant to reach that", just move on and wait until you find something to let you pass. These aren't just simple scan cards to open a path though, unlike your Zelda spinners and sand rods, these skills will act as luxuries to let you move much more comfortably around. Notably, one example is wall jumping. Hallelujah. Speaking of exploiting terrain, lots of areas will still present you with obstacles you'll have to overcome. Many of these keep you on your toes, like keeping momentum to pass through someplace quickly or making jumps while also fighting off enemies along the way specifically placed to screw with you in an optimal fashion. Then those charms I mentioned earlier. You'll find plenty of charms in your journey, be them rewards or purchasable upgrades. You can equip them in any way that fits under your charm notch limit, and each has unique properties. One good early example is the longnail, which slightly increases your attack range. I used it for a while until I found better alternatives and got a good understanding of my own attacks. Some charms act like enhancements to your abilities like this, and others introduce entirely new abilities for utility. You can change them whenever you rest in a checkpoint, so feel free to mix them up to fit whatever situation you may need them for.

You're far from alone in the ruins of the Hallownest kingdom, many bugs came seeking adventure, exploring the sights, trying to uncover the history of this society, or seeking fortune and glory. A lot of bugs here seem to appreciate that. Although the caverns below the small town of Dirtmouth have a bit of notoriety, as a majority of those who go deep enough never come back out. Probably because of all the aggressive locals there, mostly lesser bugs, yet some corrupted lost souls. It seems many empty husks are being reanimated through a strange force, many people are being influenced by other forces, and some forces that have been forced away are forcing themselves back up at full force. It's not for the faint of heart. The environment being bug based leaves lots of room for creativity. Large acid pools with long legged bugs walking over them, fungus covered zombies spreading spores through the environment, dark places crawling with predators stalking you at all times, and isolated groups who attack trespassers trying to infiltrate their secrets. That, and the world has a strong spiritual presence, ghostly entities who re-manifest themselves, striking at those they consider unworthy. As for the people who AREN'T out to get you... at least not immediately... you'll find all types of arrogant warriors, curious pilgrims, and those kinds of people living in isolation who might provide services or just keep to themselves. Maybe they'll be important later. As for you, well, you aren't exactly a blank canvas of interpretation. The character you control has their own motives, their own reasons for being here, and believe me, you know the storyline is something flippin amazing if I'M going to such lengths to keep it ambiguous.

That's all I can really do to justify the game, it plays amazingly, you always feel that you fail something because you weren't timed well enough, and believe me, the game requires tons of skill that gets more and more advanced as you become more flexible and the enemies get more threatening to accommodate, the style of everything puts you in a special kind of storybook you're free to delve into, with plenty of personality and story to justify it, and did I mention the music is incredible too? It goes from atmospheric when investigating calmer areas, more intense when you're fighting off enemies or maneuvering risky areas, and if you find a place of great magnitude, prepare your ...anchoral lobe (y'know... that thing in your... somewhere that exists...) for epic orchestral justice. If all this appeals to you, just take whatever thoughts you have now and keep them open, because this game definitely held up a valuable moral, NEVER think that you've seen all there is.

... huh, that only took 2 hours. Could've been 2 hours and maybe 15 minutes if I cared about intros.

Mecha Leo : Well, zanderlex added the game to the VGR so I could link this review to the page, but it's still not coming up as a review. If you wanna copy and paste the text into a review for the game's page, lemme know and I'll revoke the Viz and CP and void the words on this one. It might be a good idea to give us a heads-up that a game's missing from the VGR before making a review for it in the future.