Hollow Knight beats Metroid, Dark Souls at their own brutal game

Enlarge / Giddy up, little insectoid friend. We have fightin' (and learnin') to do. (credit: Team Cherry)

The video game Hollow Knight may look like it has familiar trappings: Ssde-scrolling combat; deadly, hand-animated insects; a massive, explore-and-return world. Another Metroidvania, right?

I made a similar assumption before diving into the 2017 game, which has since spread its insect wings after a PC Early Access debut and flittered all the way to the Nintendo Switch. But I quickly found myself bewildered, humbled, and, quite frankly, eager to learn more. This insect-obsessed game is a full hive of meaningful, show-don't-tell encounters.

Maybe it's a scuttling sound. Maybe it's a rare friendly face that doesn't attack you on sight. More often than not, though, it's some horrible, shrieking thing waiting to ambush you in the dark-its mind rotted by the throbbing infection that felled a supposedly once great kingdom.

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