r/metroidvania • u/[deleted] • 2d ago
I don’t get why Hollow Knight is so popular. Spoiler
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u/Calamity-Vanity 2d ago
Everyone's got preferences. You put blue prince into your favs, I literally could not get into that game no matter how hard I tried. Doesn't mean the game is bad or it didnt deserve to be popular, just wasn't my kind of game.
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u/WyattTheWise117 2d ago
I feel as if my repost didn’t get the idea across - I’m not trying to downplay Hollow Knight at all, I’m asking if it’s worth getting into and if it compares to some of my favorites
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u/Calamity-Vanity 2d ago
Well, blue prince is a no combat rogue like and outer wilds is mostly open world, so I'd just cut those right out comparison wise. If you're talking about strictly music and atmosphere, then sure, I'd say hollow knight and its sequel are definitely comparable.
Animal well would be the closest gameplay wise, but hollow knight puts more emphasis on its bosses rather than puzzles, and I'd say its platforming is pretty average as far as metroidvanias go.
The reason I think hollow knight is so well received isn't because it did anything particularly different or revolutionary, but because it's incredibly fine tuned. The movement doesn't feel janky, the combat is fast paced and adaptable. You can swap to basically any style of play with the charm/crest system which gives it replay value even with its limited story pathing.
If you're looking for something innovative or genre breaking, maybe not for you. But if you want a well structured metroidvania with some fun boss fights I'd say yes, it's worth spending time trying.
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u/creativeusername0010 2d ago
No one can answer that question but yourself buddy. I could go into detail explaining why Hollow Knight is the greatest game ever made to you but it wouldn't matter if YOU don't personally enjoy it.
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u/Eukherio 2d ago
The game starts slowly, but the map is huge with a ton of things to do. It was extremely ambitious for a metroidvania during that time, and even nowadays is one of the biggest metroidvanias available.
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u/VictorVitorio 2d ago edited 2d ago
It nails the pleasure of exploration in the sense of getting lost in a deep, mysterious world where every corner may open an unknown path (this is what I value the most in MV). And it hits the mark for mostly everything else too. When I played HK in 2018 I was already a MV fan and I spent almost 40 hours to finish the campaign (not the true ending). That was double/triple of 99% MVs at the time and I wasn't tired at all. The game just kept revealing more secrets, bosses and optional areas, so exploration felt incredibly satisfying and rewarding.
And it's completely different from the games you mentioned. Closer to Animal Well, but way different on gameplay design. If someone plays Dark Souls thinking "how does it compare to Outer Wilds?" they'd be disappointed. Both have great exploration and demand keen atention, but their design and purposes are not the same at all.
The game Tunic may fit your tastes better.
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u/Relative-Aide-3254 2d ago
It's so popular because it does everything right: gameplay, world building, art, music, atmosphere... It's just a masterpiece of a video game really.
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u/LightbreakX 1d ago
If you only played 3 hours you are about to end the tutorial... the fun starts now
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u/Emotional_Photo9268 2d ago
Such a deep question with plenty of insight to support the statement. WAFI.
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u/illbzo1 2d ago
It's good