Another Souls-like might have let me grind my way to a high enough level, so I could grit my teeth through the worm’s charging attacks. Advertisementįurther Reading “Prepare to die” in Dark Souls: The Board GameAnother Metroidvania might have made the boss immune to anything but a special kind of laser. Instead, it added knowledge to my inventory: a new way to think about one of my limited existing moves. The lesson didn’t leave me with a new upgrade, or experience points to muscle past future such encounters. But the larger form made it perfect for chaining together those pogo stick pounces-whittling away its HP while extending my own air time. Boss-worm came and went too quickly for me to reasonably damage it with normal strikes. Later, though, when a boss-sized version of these same enemies appeared, jumping wasn’t enough. I learned to anticipate the bushwhackers and leap over them with ease, or else take a shot to my preciously limited life bar. But the beauty of Hollow Knight is how nearly every inch of the game teaches you how to use them.īurrowing worms burst from the Earth of one stage. You acquire most of these skills through exploration, of course. The knight can also channel its inner Scrooge McDuck and pogo off enemies with a well-timed downward strike. You have a double-jump, a dash that can also be performed mid-air, and the ability to cling to walls.

The more hidden and powerful the boss, the more lessons you'll have to employ to win.

It’s a single, solid foothold on the enormous, dying world of Hallownest-and your first lesson on how to conquer it.

You’ll still have to chart most of the zone yourself, but the bespectacled bug gives you a place to start. For just a few Geo (the game’s currency), Cornifer will sell you the skeleton of a map for the dangerous land you’ve found yourself in. He’s a talking insect, like every other NPC in Hollow Knight, but a friendly one. That tumultuous opening smooths out quickly, however, when you've explored enough of the game’s first main zone to meet someone (er, something) named Cornifer. Everything else you’ll need to beat the 40+ hour game-even your map, that most basic of gaming conventions-must be scavenged, bought, stolen, or learned the hard way. The part-Metroidvania, part- Dark Souls platformer drops you into dirt and darkness with nothing but your basic weapon: your masked avatar’s trusty nail. The first few minutes of Hollow Knight set a remarkably turbulent tone. Various NPCs offer different services, or just add to the eerie atmosphere.

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