Just beat the game, here are my thoughts

Just beat the game after 18 hours and with 62% completion, wanted to share my thoughts about the game.

The exploration aspect was great, the find an area, explore the area, unlock new ability loop was amazingly handled every area is unique and the world avoids feeling like a massive maze like in other metroidvanias. The various movement abilities and how they were spaced out lets you get used to them without being overwhelmed.

The difficulty was just fine, it wasn't incredibly hard like many reviews were saying and even when it got harder it never became infuriating, I liked that the challenge didn't just come from the bosses but also from platforming sections and small arenas with enemies. The hardest part was the Beetle Knights boss fight, that being the only boss in the game I had to leave and get stronger before finally defeating them (finding the chandelier also helped), the Nosk and the Broken Vessel were also exceptionally hard fights.

The Mantis Lords were without a doubt my favourite part of the game, the music, the context of the fight and the mechanics of the fight itself combined in what is now one of my favourite boss fights and I'm seriously excited at the prospect of rechallenging them at Godhome. I liked this boss fight so much I found myself comparing the attack patterns and moves of many bosses and enemies with those of the Mantis Lords. Now we get to the part of the game I liked the least.

The Hollow Knight, that's the final boss, really? There isn't a single boss I would consider easy but this one, most of it's attacks were easy to dodge and it had massive gaps where you could easily heal to full and remember how I said I started comparing some enemies attacks to those of the Mantis Lords, well The Hollow Knight just felt like an easier and slower repeat of that fight, most moves being almost direct copies and those that weren't like, the two ranged ones, being even easier to dodge. While I was fighting it I kept thinking about how I there had to be a second phase started or how maybe the game is even bigger and defeating this boss would unlock a new area were the real final boss was, when the credits started rolling I just felt hollow.

The masks were a mixed bag, the one in the City of Tears was the best one because you actually had a goal you were striving for and as you defeated each enemy you were getting closer to the mask, the one in the Fog Canyon boss was fine, it had an amazing atmosphere and having Quirrel helping you with the boss made it a very unique experience but the boss itself just felt like playing red light green light with a giant jellyfish instead of an actual fight, this absolutely beautiful area lacked some challenge. Deepnest was boring, the nearly unkillable spider things felt like a chore not an enemy and the mask area having you fight a bunch of them instead of a boss makes it the worst one by far.

Now for some specific moments and thoughts about my experience with the game. Finding the Howling Cliffs while playing arround with the super dash and the mimic grubs who terrified me to the point of being scared any grub could be a mimic were my favourite parts of the game alongside the Mantis Lords. The Last Stag was my favourite character and I'm sad the Stag Nest was just a small area with collectibles instead of a fully fledged area with atleast one boss, to be honest I just like the design of the Stag and wanted to fight a boss that looked like him.

With only 62% completion there are definitely some things I missed like getting all the grubs (only have about 10 left to get), I got an upgraded version of the groundpound spell but I assume there are upgraded versions of the other spells, only got two of the nail arts but I think an NPC said that there were three, there's atleast one or two areas I didn't explore because I couldn't find how to enter them, only got 300 essence with the dream nail and I still don't have every charm.

Overall I really enjoyed the game despite it getting boring and easy towards the latter sections, will definitely play more in the future, still have some hope for that Stag fight.

Submitted September 27, 2019 at 07:38PM by Tiggas https://ift.tt/2mdaGkb