Hollow Knight is an award-winning 2D Metroidvania action and adventure game released by Team Cherry in 2017. The game features beautiful hand-drawn graphics, striking soundtrack, as well as accurate and challenging gameplay, and is free for PS + subscribers in November 2020. Check out some tips on how to play Hollow Knight and how to better explore the mysterious depths of Hallownest.
How to play Hollow Knight
Hollow Knight is a challenging game that rewards the player’s precision and patience with lush settings and many hours of gameplay.
Armed only with his needle-shaped sword, the Knight must explore the countless tunnels and caves that form the domains of the ancient kingdom of Hallownest, while facing various types of enemies and “bosses” dominated by the Infection (a kind of orange goo that dominates the insects’ mind).
History and gameplay
At first, there are no defined goals in Hollow Knight. The player must explore each corner of the scenario to acquire new skills that give access to new areas or help to face more difficult enemies. The story is told little by little through dialogues with other characters and items found in the game.
The gameplay mixes elements of platform games with a combat style “Dark Souls“, that is, that requires skill and patience from the player to understand the attack patterns of enemies, especially the “bosses”.
The Knight makes attacks with his “needle sword”, and some special moves cost “SOUL”, obtained by defeating enemies. It also serves to recover a little of the Knight’s life.
Upon death, the Knight momentarily loses all “geos” (the game currency), in addition to half his energy bar. Upon returning to the place of death, you must defeat a ghost of the Knight to recover everything. If you die again before killing the ghost, all the money is permanently lost.
Get a piece of the map and remember the banks
There is a character who sells maps of the Hallownest areas. When you find a new location, try to find it first and use your geos to acquire the map – which also displays the location of the nearest banks, where you can save your progress, recover energy, update the map and equip new amulets.
Another tip is to use the custom pins to mark places of interest on the map. Hollownest is huge, with several areas that you will only be able to access when you get a certain skill. Knowing where (and how) to return can save a few hours of walking.
Play with headphones and chat with the characters
Despite being challenging, Hollow Knight is an extremely enjoyable game to explore. Each new area discovered is different, with its own history, visuals, dangers and enemies to be faced and discovered. Discovering a secret passageway that leads to a previously unreachable location is perhaps as rewarding as defeating a difficult boss.
In addition to the beautiful hand-drawn graphics, the game has a very well-made ambience and sound design. It is worth playing using headphones not only for the fantastic soundtrack, but also to take advantage of the tips given by the ambient sound, such as an enemy that is about to attack or a cry in the background that can reveal a hidden character.
Be patient
The main tip for new Hollow Knight players is: be patient. Even for the most experienced, the game is really difficult in the early hours. You will die a lot, but don’t despair. Focus on getting used to the movement, paying attention to the details of the scenery, and exploring each corner of the map.
As you progress through the game, you acquire new amulets and new mechanics for the Knight, such as more life masks, double jump, and other skills that help you better navigate the dangers of Hallownest tunnels and caves. However, it is worth remembering that the game remains challenging, and each battle against a boss is a new opportunity to test your limits.
Hollow Knight is available for PC, Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch. On consoles, the Voidheart Edition comes with the game’s 4 DLCS. On the PC, the requirements are:
Minimum configurations:
- Processor : Intel Core 2 Duo E5200;
- Memory : 4 GB of RAM ;
- Graphics: GeForce 9800GTX + (1GB);
- Disk space: 9 GB;
- OS: Windows 7.
Recommended settings:
- Processor: Intel Core i5;
- Memory: 8 GB of RAM;
- Graphics: GeForce GTX 560;
- Disk space: 9 GB;
- OS: Windows 10.