Hollow Knight (PC, 2017)
Graphics-9 Sound-8.5 Control-7.5 Challenge-7.5/8* Story-6.5?
Level Design-7.5 Frustration-8/8.5* Fun-7.5 Originality-6
Overall Score-7.5
*Good ending
+
Super Metroid/Monster World/Aria of Sorrow/MMX-style gameplay (ARPG/platform adventure, breakable walls, up- and downstab (can pogo jump/bounce on enemies), wall jumping, ground- and air dashing, charge attacks, fast movement)
Great art direction and animation overall
Some nice visuals effects (lighting)
Great mid-air control
Good clues for most hidden paths (some audio cues such as from the imprisoned larva kids)
Teleporters/quick travel system (1-2 per area, placeable warp point gained later on)
Pretty good writing in terms of dialogue
Very good bosses overall (mantis lords!, the radiance, most have a second phase or some sort of escalation, fight alongside an NPC vs the fog canyon boss)
Mini-bosses (can escape from some of these (they regenerate) but not regular bosses)
Does a pretty good job of making you feel vulnerable despite the nimble avatar (but rarely alone thanks to a variety of friendly NPCs)
Arena/colosseum (good for grinding)
Well made gothic insect theme (many insects are anthropomorphized)
Very large game world for the genre
Unlockable challenge mode (Steel Soul mode, see below)
Optional bosses
Bestiary (have to grind a bit to get the full info on most enemies though)
Basic bank feature (some ways into the game though, can only store 4.5k, no interest?, can't borrow money)
Some interesting enemy design (the small bugs that disguise as larger ones, the retaliating jellyfish, )
Have to consider which charms to equip for a given situation as you only have a few active slots/notches for them (generally good but it's annoying how pretty much necessary items like the compass take up slots, can only switch at benches as well) - this and the slot system itself is similar to FF7 and Bastion
Some nice worldbuilding touches (mantis enemies won't attack unless provoked after you beat the mantis lords), some items make certain enemies passive (hiveblood, void heart)), mind reading with the dream nail (NPCs, enemies (excluding Warrior Dreams), some statues and corpses; generally not that interesting though) - when used on ghost NPCs it extracts essence from them which is used to unlock various things
Some interesting items/charms (some crazy combos - see vid below, defender - cloud that can kill tiny enemies (situational) and be combined with a hatchling spawning item (cpu allies), fury of the fallen - do more damage while low on HP, some charms affect each other (see a guide), lifeblood - temporary extra HP (like the cocoons), grubsong - gain MP/soul from taking damage, shape of unn - temporary mini form (can't jump or use other movement abilities though), hiveblood/kingsoul - HP and MP regen respectively, elegy - fire sword beams while at full HP (Zelda)
Some nice (but short) cutscenes
Unlockable placeable warp point (dream gate - 900 essence required and each warp consumes 1 essence though; similar to Exile (AMI/C64))
Made up language for NPCs (they tend to speak a few words but the rest is just text - good for flavor and doesn't get annoying save for a few situations (the charm shop and using the bench outside of it for example))
Some sequence breaking possibilities (can jump a bit further by using the recoil from the projectile spell, can bounce on spikes with your sword/nail, can bounce on a projectile and its explosion to reach the mantis village sooner - advanced, can use your ghost to get to the blue lake sooner - advanced, etc.)
Having to hit enemies to restore MP keeps the intensity pretty high overall (can restore it in with items later on (as well as at springs but those are very rare))
Mostly rewarding optional exploration (can sometimes be hard to tell which paths are optional though)
Some dynamic music transitions to accentuate the mood for a certain part of an area (in most cases the game just fades pieces in/out between areas though)
Partial world change (area 1/crossroads gradually gets more corrupted as you break the seals to the final area and two NPCs end up corrupted)
Some good platforming puzzles (the game is generally more combat focused)
Can hit some enemy projectiles and make them fly in the direction you hit them in (can't damage the enemy with them though)
Risk and reward "overcharm" mechanic (can equip an item which takes up more slots than you have left by attempting it several times but you'll also take double damage until going back to using just the slots you have)
Can get a small discount from one shopkeeper by equipping the defender item (not explained by the game)
Nice visual transitions between areas, multiple endings (but no happy endings in the traditional sense)
Some memorable characters (the last stag, ogrim/dung defender, hornet, quirrel, cornifer)
+/-
More open-ended and less guided than Super Metroid for example (some soft gating via difficult bosses/enemies and expensive items (the first key and a mascot which also lights up your immediate surroundings - grinding instead of proceeding as intended and beating bosses is pretty slow and boring though)
Some one way paths in the short beginning area and later on
Save points (benches - these also restore HP (and MP as well if you collect all charms and buy the blessing)) and a few MP restoring springs - can actually save your current progress anywhere but you'll respawn at the last bench you sat on
Starts out relatively tough (harder than SM/SotN/Cave Story - a bit more handholding so you don't go die to the first mini-boss instead of finding the first map and the quick travel system would've been good, the somewhat slow attack speed makes just regular enemies early on relatively tricky to fight - can't be upgraded until mid-game, not much HP regained from the first couple of mini-bosses, can take only 5 hits at first (can use a heal spell almost from the get go but it's a bit clunky))
Silent protagonist and the premise is rather similar to Dark Souls
Falling into spikes or lethal liquids makes you respawn near them and only lose 1 hp
Only one save slot per game
Your avatar can't run while in towns (only makes a slight difference for your movement speed though)
Can't see bosses' HP
Temporary hit point mechanic (gained from cocoons which there are about 1 per area of) - two issues with it are that you sometimes (first area for example) can't carry the extra HP to another area and if you save they are lost as well so they're not worth going back for (you also find a purchaseable item that has the same effect after a while though it takes up two slots)
Upgradeable weapon length (takes up a slot)
Can't jump nor attack while dashing (see MMX) - can turn the dash into an attack with an item in the late-game
Void Heart item replaces Kingsoul and can't be unequipped (unlocks 4 endings and has some other useful effects, doesn't use any slots/notches)
Can hit several enemies from safety through walls
Can't duck (your avatar is rather short though)
Heavily based on Super Metroid and the Alien movies in some ways (crystal heart=easier to pull off but less flexible shine spark, greenpath=brinstar, certain enemies act the same, use some enemies as platforms / aesthetics and atmosphere in some areas)
Optional collectathon elements (2400 essence pieces for the dream nail/sword - unlocks a placeable warp point (dream gate - 900 required)+bosses+void heart (unlocks 4 alternate endings)+lore from some NPCs+white palace and godhome areas+grimm troupe DLC content, 46 grubs/larva kids - money and a couple of items, finding Mr. Mushroom in 7 spots with the spore charm equipped - additional ending scene)
The game doesn't pause when viewing the map via the menu screen
A lot of the story and lore is told through short notes on tablets and in the bestiary given by an NPC - you'll have to be very thorough to find enough to make sense of it and even then there are several things left unexplained (although leaving some things open for interpretation is good the developers themselves seem unsure about various things which makes it seem a bit unfinished in addition to being vague; how was hornet made?, what is the protagonist knight's motivation and real nature (and isn't it "impure" like the other vessels)?, is the seer trying to help you or the radiance?, is the void ending good or bad?, etc.)
You'll perform euthanasia at three points in the game to break a seal and reach the final area (then the nailsmith asks you to kill him as well after fully upgrading the nail for some reason but you can at least choose not to)
No penalty for killing neutral creatures like the birds or the servants in the white palace
Optional escort mission of sorts (carry a flower without being hit or using quick travel across half the world for 1/3 of a HP - hard)
Can't move through enemies during invincibility time and you'll take another hit if being knocked into spikes by an enemy
Can only sell one sellable item at a time (kind of makes sense since the historian comments on each one but sometimes the comments are identical)
No slopes in the level design besides some very steep walls which you can't stand on or grab onto (while it looks like there's a couple minor ones near the Blue Lake on the map they aren't there in-game)
Mostly static difficulty (can make some segments a lot easier or harder depending on the order you do things in and if you fully upgrade your sword/spells and health (takes some effort though, especially health) then most late game bosses become kind of easy)**
Can't talk the banker into giving back the money she stole or make her apologize (only slowly knock it out of her at the pleasure house which takes a while if she stole a lot, you do get some extra money as well though)
The protagonist is a genderless vessel made for sealing the main villain (inside it is a ghost of sorts (a "shade" made of a substance called "void" which is implied to have been combined with something else outside of the kingdom of the game world before the game starts))
Charge attacks are tricky to use against bosses without the charge speed upgrade charm which you get in the late game
Upgraded nails/swords look and sound the same in-game
No sword combos
Can parry sword attacks with your sword by attacking at the same time as an enemy but it doesn't give you an advantage in combat (can be used with the MP mod to reach higher however)
Abyss shriek is pretty OP (optional late game ability though)
-
Grinding (lose all money when killed and you can't quit without saving (to reload from before you died) plus the small money stashes spread around the world don't respawn - you can go back to where you died and regain some of it from defeating your ghost/shade at least (similar to Diablo and it's easy to take out - can also be summoned by a certain NPC in exchange for a fairly common item) but if you die again you've lost all the money you had previously since there can only be one at a time (discourages more risky and fast playing early on), expensive and pretty much necessary items early on - lame things to have to grind for like a compass (shows your position - default or free in other similar games)+a quill (for updating the map as you explore (only updates when using benches/save points) - default feature and more flexible in other similar games)+save point and other point of interest markers+user placed map markers (default feature in various games and here you can't use the keyboard to write down your own notes either)+an item that pulls money towards you - money can fall into spikes for example where you can't reach it and even with this item you'll lose money that falls into lethal liquids, have to buy/find all available early game items to be able to buy later ones) - later on you can get +20-60% money with the greed charm/item so it's not as much of an issue but it can still break if you die and you then have to pay to repair it (later on you can make it unbreakable but that costs quite a bit of money... sigh)
Some control/interface issues (some item descriptions are pretty vague in shops (the cocoon one is downright confusing and both worse and different from the one in the menu after you've bought it), no map markers for the various barriers, have to find the cartographer and buy additional maps for each area before you can even see roughly where you are on the map and the game doesn't guide you towards the room he's in (only once you're in the room), annoying audiovisual effect+quick pause when hit and while the effect for hitting enemies is satisfying it can also be a bit distracting at times (the killing blow also causes a quick pause), get knocked back a bit when hitting enemies which can be annoying in some platforming heavy rooms (there's an item that removes it but it takes up a slot), have to stand still on the ground and hold a button to heal via the soul vessel - basically a clunky MP-based healing potion and sometimes pressing the button while in mid-air means it won't even trigger when landing (can be sped up a bit at least but the item takes up 3 slots), can't play normally while viewing the map or at least part of it - unnecessary realism, no quest log/journal feature for reviewing dialogue or other text, the maps don't show detailed room architecture and a room can look like it's been fully explored when it hasn't been - can lead to the player missing certain items since their locations also aren't shown like in SM for example, shop menus don't wrap around, can't lower ambient sfx individually (the continuous noise in Greenpath is kind of annoying)),
Backtracking (breaking a seal makes a few paths in area 1/crossroads become blocked off, a few too many ability gated areas which you won't be able to access until mid-late game (before that they work like minor dead ends) and you can't ask NPCs about specific abilities or obstacles, the one way path in Greenpath, for your ghost; doesn't introduce new challenges as you move through previously visited rooms besides in crossroads)
Some trial & error (Mr. Mushroom, getting the abyss shriek (have to use the upward spell at the "voices" location - no good hint?), various boss patterns, white palace, the dive/slam move counts as a spell when equipping the shaman stone, one missable sellable item (for the historian - lifeblood challenge in the abyss) and some missable achievements plus one NPC encounter (cloth can help you during the traitor lord fight), hard to tell what the royal waterways switch does - apparently it opens the way to the tear upgrade (lets you swim in acid water), bigger enemies tend not to respawn until you use a bench/save while smaller ones do as you leave a room (useful for one side quest though the reward isn't quite worth it for the main game) - sometimes makes grinding slower as well, can bounce on spikes with your sword/nail, hitting one of the ghost heroes in the hall of heroes area with the dream nail makes one of them attack you until you're dead and you can't kill her plus it's hard to get out, spikes hurt from the side as well, surprise boss at a save point in the crystal caves after a fairly tough part (earlier on there's a surprise NPC which seems like a boss fight and other NPCs sitting on benches so you're made to think that this could be one too) - would've been OK if you could just escape from it, one way path into Deepnest below queen's station until you get double jump? - tough area for when I first got to it, can't stand on fallen stalactites even though they're solid when hit, some hazards and enemies blend in with the background)
Dropped money from enemies and stashes spreads around a bit - breaks flow until you buy the item that pulls it towards you
The first shopkeep is always annoyed to see you!
Pointless destructible debris all over the place (at first you'll think that you can find money or HP in some of these)
Eventually you'll get to a point where you have too much geo/money and nothing to spend it on - losing all money from repeated deaths is also a lot more punishing early on when it's harder to come by
Minor scripting issues (even if you met the cartographer he'll leave a note as if you didn't later on saying you can buy an area's map in town, the elder in town tends to talk about areas that you've already explored and his tips stops updating around mid-game)
Unskippable boot up screens
Some dead space and unrewarding detours/red herrings
A bit too long (the kingdom's edge area in particular feels samey and too drawn out, essence gathering from the small trees is pointlessly drawn out by the game spreading out each piece across the area)
Too far between some save points and quick travel points (mantis village, traitor mantis lord, crystal caverns until you get the crystal heart, )
Some enemies are just minor variations on earlier ones but with a different look
One invisible wall of sorts (can't shinespark from the mountain above the crystal caves (hallownest's crown) and end up in town or at the howling cliffs - after a few screens you end up back in the crystal caves instead)
You don't fight nor interact with the queen bee in the hive (the bee knight you fight instead is also a bit too similar to some other bosses)
The regular ending explains almost nothing and the others not much more either
Most characters are pretty one dimensional
A couple of surprisingly easy bosses (jellyfish, flukemarm, gorb (dream), elder hu (dream), no eyes (dream), )
The baldur shell isn't particularly useful after the early game (breaks too easily, can only use it if you have enough MP to heal (which is also wasted if you had full HP) - can't use it effectively as a regular shield))
Heavy blow kinda sucks (you pretty much always want enemies to stay close until you kill them)
Notes:
-97% completion (awoken dream nail, lvl 5 nail, no sharp shadow attack, no abyss shriek, missing 4 charms)
-Had to enable "Native Controller Input" in the options to make an XB360 controller work with the game
-The Failed Tramway area in northern Deepnest (after you get wall-grapple+dash+either greed charm) is very good (best?) for money grinding and the southeastern City of Tears area with either greed charm is also pretty good
-Steel Soul mode: https://hollowknight.fandom.com/wiki/Steel_Soul_Mode
-Charm combos: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XMzS2Fra-WE
-Possible routes: https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/boards/204582-hollow-knight/77961073#6
-More sequence breaking possibilities: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ITtPPE-pXE&t=17m56s
-**https://hollowknight.fandom.com/wiki/Damage_Values_and_Enemy_Health_(Hollow_Knight)
-Multiplayer mod: https://github.com/Extremelyd1/HKMP
Bugs:
-The mini-boss music keeps playing after you've won near the baldur shell charm
Level Design-7.5 Frustration-8/8.5* Fun-7.5 Originality-6
Overall Score-7.5
*Good ending
+
Super Metroid/Monster World/Aria of Sorrow/MMX-style gameplay (ARPG/platform adventure, breakable walls, up- and downstab (can pogo jump/bounce on enemies), wall jumping, ground- and air dashing, charge attacks, fast movement)
Great art direction and animation overall
Some nice visuals effects (lighting)
Great mid-air control
Good clues for most hidden paths (some audio cues such as from the imprisoned larva kids)
Teleporters/quick travel system (1-2 per area, placeable warp point gained later on)
Pretty good writing in terms of dialogue
Very good bosses overall (mantis lords!, the radiance, most have a second phase or some sort of escalation, fight alongside an NPC vs the fog canyon boss)
Mini-bosses (can escape from some of these (they regenerate) but not regular bosses)
Does a pretty good job of making you feel vulnerable despite the nimble avatar (but rarely alone thanks to a variety of friendly NPCs)
Arena/colosseum (good for grinding)
Well made gothic insect theme (many insects are anthropomorphized)
Very large game world for the genre
Unlockable challenge mode (Steel Soul mode, see below)
Optional bosses
Bestiary (have to grind a bit to get the full info on most enemies though)
Basic bank feature (some ways into the game though, can only store 4.5k, no interest?, can't borrow money)
Some interesting enemy design (the small bugs that disguise as larger ones, the retaliating jellyfish, )
Have to consider which charms to equip for a given situation as you only have a few active slots/notches for them (generally good but it's annoying how pretty much necessary items like the compass take up slots, can only switch at benches as well) - this and the slot system itself is similar to FF7 and Bastion
Some nice worldbuilding touches (mantis enemies won't attack unless provoked after you beat the mantis lords), some items make certain enemies passive (hiveblood, void heart)), mind reading with the dream nail (NPCs, enemies (excluding Warrior Dreams), some statues and corpses; generally not that interesting though) - when used on ghost NPCs it extracts essence from them which is used to unlock various things
Some interesting items/charms (some crazy combos - see vid below, defender - cloud that can kill tiny enemies (situational) and be combined with a hatchling spawning item (cpu allies), fury of the fallen - do more damage while low on HP, some charms affect each other (see a guide), lifeblood - temporary extra HP (like the cocoons), grubsong - gain MP/soul from taking damage, shape of unn - temporary mini form (can't jump or use other movement abilities though), hiveblood/kingsoul - HP and MP regen respectively, elegy - fire sword beams while at full HP (Zelda)
Some nice (but short) cutscenes
Unlockable placeable warp point (dream gate - 900 essence required and each warp consumes 1 essence though; similar to Exile (AMI/C64))
Made up language for NPCs (they tend to speak a few words but the rest is just text - good for flavor and doesn't get annoying save for a few situations (the charm shop and using the bench outside of it for example))
Some sequence breaking possibilities (can jump a bit further by using the recoil from the projectile spell, can bounce on spikes with your sword/nail, can bounce on a projectile and its explosion to reach the mantis village sooner - advanced, can use your ghost to get to the blue lake sooner - advanced, etc.)
Having to hit enemies to restore MP keeps the intensity pretty high overall (can restore it in with items later on (as well as at springs but those are very rare))
Mostly rewarding optional exploration (can sometimes be hard to tell which paths are optional though)
Some dynamic music transitions to accentuate the mood for a certain part of an area (in most cases the game just fades pieces in/out between areas though)
Partial world change (area 1/crossroads gradually gets more corrupted as you break the seals to the final area and two NPCs end up corrupted)
Some good platforming puzzles (the game is generally more combat focused)
Can hit some enemy projectiles and make them fly in the direction you hit them in (can't damage the enemy with them though)
Risk and reward "overcharm" mechanic (can equip an item which takes up more slots than you have left by attempting it several times but you'll also take double damage until going back to using just the slots you have)
Can get a small discount from one shopkeeper by equipping the defender item (not explained by the game)
Nice visual transitions between areas, multiple endings (but no happy endings in the traditional sense)
Some memorable characters (the last stag, ogrim/dung defender, hornet, quirrel, cornifer)
+/-
More open-ended and less guided than Super Metroid for example (some soft gating via difficult bosses/enemies and expensive items (the first key and a mascot which also lights up your immediate surroundings - grinding instead of proceeding as intended and beating bosses is pretty slow and boring though)
Some one way paths in the short beginning area and later on
Save points (benches - these also restore HP (and MP as well if you collect all charms and buy the blessing)) and a few MP restoring springs - can actually save your current progress anywhere but you'll respawn at the last bench you sat on
Starts out relatively tough (harder than SM/SotN/Cave Story - a bit more handholding so you don't go die to the first mini-boss instead of finding the first map and the quick travel system would've been good, the somewhat slow attack speed makes just regular enemies early on relatively tricky to fight - can't be upgraded until mid-game, not much HP regained from the first couple of mini-bosses, can take only 5 hits at first (can use a heal spell almost from the get go but it's a bit clunky))
Silent protagonist and the premise is rather similar to Dark Souls
Falling into spikes or lethal liquids makes you respawn near them and only lose 1 hp
Only one save slot per game
Your avatar can't run while in towns (only makes a slight difference for your movement speed though)
Can't see bosses' HP
Temporary hit point mechanic (gained from cocoons which there are about 1 per area of) - two issues with it are that you sometimes (first area for example) can't carry the extra HP to another area and if you save they are lost as well so they're not worth going back for (you also find a purchaseable item that has the same effect after a while though it takes up two slots)
Upgradeable weapon length (takes up a slot)
Can't jump nor attack while dashing (see MMX) - can turn the dash into an attack with an item in the late-game
Void Heart item replaces Kingsoul and can't be unequipped (unlocks 4 endings and has some other useful effects, doesn't use any slots/notches)
Can hit several enemies from safety through walls
Can't duck (your avatar is rather short though)
Heavily based on Super Metroid and the Alien movies in some ways (crystal heart=easier to pull off but less flexible shine spark, greenpath=brinstar, certain enemies act the same, use some enemies as platforms / aesthetics and atmosphere in some areas)
Optional collectathon elements (2400 essence pieces for the dream nail/sword - unlocks a placeable warp point (dream gate - 900 required)+bosses+void heart (unlocks 4 alternate endings)+lore from some NPCs+white palace and godhome areas+grimm troupe DLC content, 46 grubs/larva kids - money and a couple of items, finding Mr. Mushroom in 7 spots with the spore charm equipped - additional ending scene)
The game doesn't pause when viewing the map via the menu screen
A lot of the story and lore is told through short notes on tablets and in the bestiary given by an NPC - you'll have to be very thorough to find enough to make sense of it and even then there are several things left unexplained (although leaving some things open for interpretation is good the developers themselves seem unsure about various things which makes it seem a bit unfinished in addition to being vague; how was hornet made?, what is the protagonist knight's motivation and real nature (and isn't it "impure" like the other vessels)?, is the seer trying to help you or the radiance?, is the void ending good or bad?, etc.)
You'll perform euthanasia at three points in the game to break a seal and reach the final area (then the nailsmith asks you to kill him as well after fully upgrading the nail for some reason but you can at least choose not to)
No penalty for killing neutral creatures like the birds or the servants in the white palace
Optional escort mission of sorts (carry a flower without being hit or using quick travel across half the world for 1/3 of a HP - hard)
Can't move through enemies during invincibility time and you'll take another hit if being knocked into spikes by an enemy
Can only sell one sellable item at a time (kind of makes sense since the historian comments on each one but sometimes the comments are identical)
No slopes in the level design besides some very steep walls which you can't stand on or grab onto (while it looks like there's a couple minor ones near the Blue Lake on the map they aren't there in-game)
Mostly static difficulty (can make some segments a lot easier or harder depending on the order you do things in and if you fully upgrade your sword/spells and health (takes some effort though, especially health) then most late game bosses become kind of easy)**
Can't talk the banker into giving back the money she stole or make her apologize (only slowly knock it out of her at the pleasure house which takes a while if she stole a lot, you do get some extra money as well though)
The protagonist is a genderless vessel made for sealing the main villain (inside it is a ghost of sorts (a "shade" made of a substance called "void" which is implied to have been combined with something else outside of the kingdom of the game world before the game starts))
Charge attacks are tricky to use against bosses without the charge speed upgrade charm which you get in the late game
Upgraded nails/swords look and sound the same in-game
No sword combos
Can parry sword attacks with your sword by attacking at the same time as an enemy but it doesn't give you an advantage in combat (can be used with the MP mod to reach higher however)
Abyss shriek is pretty OP (optional late game ability though)
-
Grinding (lose all money when killed and you can't quit without saving (to reload from before you died) plus the small money stashes spread around the world don't respawn - you can go back to where you died and regain some of it from defeating your ghost/shade at least (similar to Diablo and it's easy to take out - can also be summoned by a certain NPC in exchange for a fairly common item) but if you die again you've lost all the money you had previously since there can only be one at a time (discourages more risky and fast playing early on), expensive and pretty much necessary items early on - lame things to have to grind for like a compass (shows your position - default or free in other similar games)+a quill (for updating the map as you explore (only updates when using benches/save points) - default feature and more flexible in other similar games)+save point and other point of interest markers+user placed map markers (default feature in various games and here you can't use the keyboard to write down your own notes either)+an item that pulls money towards you - money can fall into spikes for example where you can't reach it and even with this item you'll lose money that falls into lethal liquids, have to buy/find all available early game items to be able to buy later ones) - later on you can get +20-60% money with the greed charm/item so it's not as much of an issue but it can still break if you die and you then have to pay to repair it (later on you can make it unbreakable but that costs quite a bit of money... sigh)
Some control/interface issues (some item descriptions are pretty vague in shops (the cocoon one is downright confusing and both worse and different from the one in the menu after you've bought it), no map markers for the various barriers, have to find the cartographer and buy additional maps for each area before you can even see roughly where you are on the map and the game doesn't guide you towards the room he's in (only once you're in the room), annoying audiovisual effect+quick pause when hit and while the effect for hitting enemies is satisfying it can also be a bit distracting at times (the killing blow also causes a quick pause), get knocked back a bit when hitting enemies which can be annoying in some platforming heavy rooms (there's an item that removes it but it takes up a slot), have to stand still on the ground and hold a button to heal via the soul vessel - basically a clunky MP-based healing potion and sometimes pressing the button while in mid-air means it won't even trigger when landing (can be sped up a bit at least but the item takes up 3 slots), can't play normally while viewing the map or at least part of it - unnecessary realism, no quest log/journal feature for reviewing dialogue or other text, the maps don't show detailed room architecture and a room can look like it's been fully explored when it hasn't been - can lead to the player missing certain items since their locations also aren't shown like in SM for example, shop menus don't wrap around, can't lower ambient sfx individually (the continuous noise in Greenpath is kind of annoying)),
Backtracking (breaking a seal makes a few paths in area 1/crossroads become blocked off, a few too many ability gated areas which you won't be able to access until mid-late game (before that they work like minor dead ends) and you can't ask NPCs about specific abilities or obstacles, the one way path in Greenpath, for your ghost; doesn't introduce new challenges as you move through previously visited rooms besides in crossroads)
Some trial & error (Mr. Mushroom, getting the abyss shriek (have to use the upward spell at the "voices" location - no good hint?), various boss patterns, white palace, the dive/slam move counts as a spell when equipping the shaman stone, one missable sellable item (for the historian - lifeblood challenge in the abyss) and some missable achievements plus one NPC encounter (cloth can help you during the traitor lord fight), hard to tell what the royal waterways switch does - apparently it opens the way to the tear upgrade (lets you swim in acid water), bigger enemies tend not to respawn until you use a bench/save while smaller ones do as you leave a room (useful for one side quest though the reward isn't quite worth it for the main game) - sometimes makes grinding slower as well, can bounce on spikes with your sword/nail, hitting one of the ghost heroes in the hall of heroes area with the dream nail makes one of them attack you until you're dead and you can't kill her plus it's hard to get out, spikes hurt from the side as well, surprise boss at a save point in the crystal caves after a fairly tough part (earlier on there's a surprise NPC which seems like a boss fight and other NPCs sitting on benches so you're made to think that this could be one too) - would've been OK if you could just escape from it, one way path into Deepnest below queen's station until you get double jump? - tough area for when I first got to it, can't stand on fallen stalactites even though they're solid when hit, some hazards and enemies blend in with the background)
Dropped money from enemies and stashes spreads around a bit - breaks flow until you buy the item that pulls it towards you
The first shopkeep is always annoyed to see you!
Pointless destructible debris all over the place (at first you'll think that you can find money or HP in some of these)
Eventually you'll get to a point where you have too much geo/money and nothing to spend it on - losing all money from repeated deaths is also a lot more punishing early on when it's harder to come by
Minor scripting issues (even if you met the cartographer he'll leave a note as if you didn't later on saying you can buy an area's map in town, the elder in town tends to talk about areas that you've already explored and his tips stops updating around mid-game)
Unskippable boot up screens
Some dead space and unrewarding detours/red herrings
A bit too long (the kingdom's edge area in particular feels samey and too drawn out, essence gathering from the small trees is pointlessly drawn out by the game spreading out each piece across the area)
Too far between some save points and quick travel points (mantis village, traitor mantis lord, crystal caverns until you get the crystal heart, )
Some enemies are just minor variations on earlier ones but with a different look
One invisible wall of sorts (can't shinespark from the mountain above the crystal caves (hallownest's crown) and end up in town or at the howling cliffs - after a few screens you end up back in the crystal caves instead)
You don't fight nor interact with the queen bee in the hive (the bee knight you fight instead is also a bit too similar to some other bosses)
The regular ending explains almost nothing and the others not much more either
Most characters are pretty one dimensional
A couple of surprisingly easy bosses (jellyfish, flukemarm, gorb (dream), elder hu (dream), no eyes (dream), )
The baldur shell isn't particularly useful after the early game (breaks too easily, can only use it if you have enough MP to heal (which is also wasted if you had full HP) - can't use it effectively as a regular shield))
Heavy blow kinda sucks (you pretty much always want enemies to stay close until you kill them)
Notes:
-97% completion (awoken dream nail, lvl 5 nail, no sharp shadow attack, no abyss shriek, missing 4 charms)
-Had to enable "Native Controller Input" in the options to make an XB360 controller work with the game
-The Failed Tramway area in northern Deepnest (after you get wall-grapple+dash+either greed charm) is very good (best?) for money grinding and the southeastern City of Tears area with either greed charm is also pretty good
-Steel Soul mode: https://hollowknight.fandom.com/wiki/Steel_Soul_Mode
-Charm combos: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XMzS2Fra-WE
-Possible routes: https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/boards/204582-hollow-knight/77961073#6
-More sequence breaking possibilities: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ITtPPE-pXE&t=17m56s
-**https://hollowknight.fandom.com/wiki/Damage_Values_and_Enemy_Health_(Hollow_Knight)
-Multiplayer mod: https://github.com/Extremelyd1/HKMP
Bugs:
-The mini-boss music keeps playing after you've won near the baldur shell charm