Recent reviews by jkrmnj

Hollow Knight is absolutely phenomenal.

The developers really know how to create atmosphere. Everything about the hand drawn graphics and the beautifully orchestrated music works perfectly. Every area on the world map offers a unique feel so that things never get repetitive. Speaking of the world map, it does a fantastic job of creating a sense of adventure. When you enter an area for the first time, you are completely blind. Luckily, the game guides you where you need to be while still giving room to explore. As you explore you'll come across elements of the game's lore and hints towards the bigger story. The characters you meet along the way have simple yet satisfying arcs.

Gameplay wise, the game also does most things right. Hits, both by you and against you, have tons of weight behind them. The combat is quick and challenging, but never unfair. Your character moves swiftly between swings and various upgrades give you new tools to fight with. You can even heal mid battle if an opening comes. If a fight is ever too hard, you can always switch to a different part of the world and come back later once you're stronger. Slowly learning from your mistakes and figuring out the enemy patterns is extremely satisfying. The difficulty curve is reasonable although there are definitely harder areas.

Where does the game go wrong? Personally, I hated the saw blade location. That one is required for the "good" ending and was just frustrating. Other areas were mostly forgettable but not as actively bad.

Ultimately, the negatives are nitpicks on what is otherwise fantastic. I can't wait to purchase the in progress expansion whenever it comes out.

An absolutely amazing game. An extremely clever puzzle game that can have some very tough brain twisters. A few times, I had to take a break and come back later to see a new perspective on the puzzle. While the puzzles are brilliant, the real beauty of this game is in the story and atmosphere. The graphics, while not necesarily mind blowing, match and expand on the mood of the game perfectly. Having headphones is one of the best ways to play. The music Pushes the atmosphere even more than the graphics and sound amazing. Finally is the story. All of these aspects pull you into the narrative. I feel like the story could have been more direct though. So many different things are telling you small tidbits of information that I feel like there could have been more bigger story elements. A great example of this is near the end when everything builds to one moment only to have things drop off in an anticlimatic way. These shortcomings are easily forgotten when the game brings you to the end and requires you to make a morally challenging decision. As for the details, I will let you find that out.
I would highly recommend this game to those who have the patience to work through this fantastic game.