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jp's Hollow Knight (PS4)
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| [May 16, 2022 07:03:42 PM]
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I've realized I don't have time to spend backtracking all over the place as I try to figure out where I'm supposed to go next - to then die, because new enemy, and having to backtrack all over the place again. Sigh.
This game's simply not for me. I've got too many other games just sitting there waiting to be played. Another way to think about this is that I'm just not that excited or interested to play it - there's plenty of games in the sea, as it where, why not spend the time with the ones you're really enjoying?
This makes me appreciate Celeste's efforts for difficulty accesibility all the more - I was able to keep on going and adjust as needed. But, this game simply isn't designed that way - and I don't think it's about the "genre" (platformer vs metroidvania platformer), but about the design choice of how frequently to place checkpoints, whether or not to allow quick-saving and so on. For me, it really drags down the experience - again, that's for me - so your mileage will vary.
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| [May 8, 2022 11:05:11 PM]
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It's kind of nice to know that a game is critically acclaimed, but not remember the particular details. So, I knew Hollow Knight was a platforming game but I didn't quite remember how much exploration the game has - so, my first few hours were fun as I felt genuinely lost and trying to figure out/make sense of the game's environment. As I made progress I slowly unlocked the ability to see things on the map and so on (by paying "coins", they're not actually coins but I don't remember what they're called in the game). I really did enjoy that time - but, as the session grew longer I started to get a little bored and worried - I had reached a few dead ends (areas I was pretty sure I was not supposed to visit yet), had defeated a few bosses, but was not sure of where to go next.
Good thing I set it down.
When I came back the next day, I quickly realized that I had missed an entire area on the map (small one, but one that lead into a bigger one - the bigger one not appearing on the map) and this area granted me a new ability (ranged attack at the expense of white energy) that I knew was the key to an area on the left side of the map! So, yay - progress!
By this time I've also gotten better at the combat and jumping in the game. Each enemy has a different behavior that you need to react to in order to be successful. You really cannot button mash (as I've learned to my chagrin and failure). There are still some enemies I struggle with, but I've realized that patience really does matter - and I've been playing slowed and more deliberately and the 2nd area (the forest/jungle) was cleared much faster!
- I think the death system is interesting - I'm sure it ties into the story - so, when you die you go back to your last save point (a bench) and lose all your coins. You then need to go back to where you died, hit an inky/smoky ghost of yourself - and then you get the coins you lost back. If you die en route to that - those coins are lost for good (and you'll get a new ink/smoke version of yourself to defeat). Initially I though you lost all the coins for good - so I was excited when I realized that this was not the case.
- The combat system has some pushback - and I'm not a real fan of that. You swing and if you hit you get pushed back a little, and you can (and I have) fall of small ledges this way. It's a bit annoying but I guess I'll just have to get used to it.
- I've just unlocked an air-dash, which is nice - but I've realized there are areas I'm not aware of if/when I'll get access or if I already have it. I actually got "burned" in one area - there was a large creature going back and forth and I realized I could jump on its back + attack downwards and I've bounce off! So, I was able to get across a large gap after a bit of practice. I was feeling pretty chuffed about this, tbh. But, it turns out the other side of the gap led to an area I was not supposed to be at yet. Sigh. After that practice I had to head back and do it in reverse and I felt like the whole thing was a waste of time.
I'm not sure if I'll finish the game, but the art and animation is really lovely and I'm having fun so far, so we'll see. I suspect I'll get to a boss that will frustrate me enough to get me to quite?
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jp's Hollow Knight (PS4)
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Current Status: Stopped playing - Got frustrated
GameLog started on: Sunday 1 May, 2022
GameLog closed on: Monday 16 May, 2022 |
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