Hello everyone and welcome to the seterusnya half of In-Indie. I was able to binge a whole lot of new indie titles to get this out and boy, do we got some greats and some… not so much. But we’re here to talk about not just a great, but one of the best. A game that many online are calling the Dark Souls of the indie scene…. Wait, that’s not rig- Hollow Knight, everybody.



So yeah, this is a game that many would compare to Dark Souls and I would as well, but not for the reasons a subhuman, like, a video game journalist, would call this a Dark Souls game. Yes, the difficulty is there, which we will get to later, but it’s because the game’s atmosphere, how it vaguely weaves it’s lore and story and how it all just feels so depressing yet majestic all at the same time. anda play as The Hollow Knight, a tiny little creature with a nail for a sword as anda make your way to the kingdom of Hollownest, once an amazing kingdom that has become decrepit and dangerous as it’s residence have become infected from an unknown disaster. With your only goal being to push forward, anda make your way through this huge Metroidvania kingdom, fighting bosses and collecting upgrades in order to make it to the end and complete whatever goal it is anda seek. The vague story telling already had me gripped from the start. How it tells anda little, but just enough for anda to get it all on your own (Or read the lore on the Wiki, anda wretch) makes the world of Hollownest feel much lebih alive and fascinating to me. I wanted to learn about what the characters’ motivations are, what the bosses are, what happened to the kingdom, and just what every little detail anda see is all about from the enemies with crystal in their body to a single bug corpse lying on the ground. It all has some story for anda and I want to know what the story is.
Of course, like I said, this game also has that challenging difficulty. This game is not easy like the cute art style would have anda believe. If anda aren’t careful, you’re gonna find yourself getting killed. anda may have post hit invincibility and a ton of abilities for anda to use, but fight recklessly and any basic enemy can mess anda up. anda gotta know to stay on your toes and be ready to strike atau dodge. A ton of upgrades in the form of badges can really help anda out. Some of my Kegemaran are ones that surround anda with thrones after being hit and one that fills up your special meter when anda hit an enemy. And then there are the powerups anda get. Double jumps, dashes, and new attacks telah diberi to anda from sword masters, anda have plenty of things to help anda maneuver across the map and get to new areas, atau get to areas to find a lot of money, a secret Grub to get rewards, atau a new badge. Maybe sometimes even a secret item to unlock a new secret area. There is a ton of places to explore in this game and anda are always rewarded for going off the path and letting curiosity get the better of you.
And this doesn’t even include the hours of side content. Collecting all the maps from the map maker, hearing about the idiotic escapades of Zote the Mighty, the Colliseum of Fools, which was part of a strech goal in the Kickstarter and despite not reaching the goal, Team ceri, cherry still made it happen anyway. And don’t even get me started on the number of Grubs and badges anda can collect, as well as all the health shards and meter shards. anda can spend lebih than half the game just trying to collect all this stuff and completing side content. I can’t tell anda how many times I was happy just to see a new character and wonder what they were going to do. And then how I felt when I had a horrible feeling that there was a good chance they would die. Even the characters that don’t do much like The Elder Bug are all great characters. Sly’s amazing twist as being a penny pinching merchant and actually being the teacher of the most skilled nailmasters in the kingdom. The Last Stag’s sad tale of how he is the last of his kind but proudly continues his task. The depressing descent into madness that is Myla’s story as she is consumed sejak the crystals. And Bretta… Actually, no, Bretta sucks.



If I could give one complaint to the game, it’s that it is way too easy to get and save money. At the start of the game, anda are scavanging that stuff like it’s the end of the world. But around the final stretch of the game, when you’ve cleaned out all the shops, telah diberi every NPC money and pretty much used it for everything anda could, anda just have a massive trove of cash and nothing to spend it on. I am aware of the Banker side quest, but even then, I had a lot of cash. But this is nothing lebih than a nitpick, and the only one I could think of. Hollow Knight is an incredible experience from beginning to end. The world is amazing, the combat fun and satisfying, the upgrades are all great to use and makes anda feel like anda are really making progress when anda use them on an area anda couldn’t progress further. If anda are looking for one of the best indie experiences, with one of the most gorgeous art styles out there, Hollow Knight is easily one of them. Get this game if anda can, it’s on everything now. Do it for the adorable bug creatures.

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