1 00:00:04,150 --> 00:00:13,049 If you were a fan of Metroidvania games, then 2010 was a very difficult year. 2 00:00:13,049 --> 00:00:19,030 On the one side, we got Metroid: Other M - a game that paid lip service to exploration 3 00:00:19,030 --> 00:00:25,060 and isolation, but was way more interested in action-packed fights, cringe-worthy cutscenes, 4 00:00:25,060 --> 00:00:27,000 and excessive handholding. 5 00:00:27,000 --> 00:00:31,990 And on the other side, after six cracking Castlevania adventures on handhelds, we got 6 00:00:31,990 --> 00:00:37,020 Castlevania: Lords of Shadow - a knockabout brawler that took most of its inspiration 7 00:00:37,020 --> 00:00:41,440 from God of War, and had only the lightest hint of exploration. 8 00:00:41,440 --> 00:00:47,120 It looked like the Metroidvania was dead. 9 00:00:47,120 --> 00:00:50,600 Except, it really wasn’t. 10 00:00:50,600 --> 00:00:55,520 Because while Nintendo and Konami were about to drop off for a decade-long slumber with 11 00:00:55,520 --> 00:01:00,640 their respective franchises, other developers - especially smaller indie studios - were 12 00:01:00,640 --> 00:01:04,710 starting to try their hand at the Metroidvania formula. 13 00:01:04,710 --> 00:01:10,970 Cave Story, Aquaria, and Shadow Complex were early attempts to follow that recipe of locked 14 00:01:10,970 --> 00:01:15,930 doors, new abilities, grid-like map systems, and secret items. 15 00:01:15,930 --> 00:01:21,560 And since then we’ve seen games as varied as Strider, Axiom Verge, the Shantae 16 00:01:21,560 --> 00:01:27,730 games, Toki Tori 2, Guacamelee, Headlander, and Ori and the Blind Forest. 17 00:01:27,730 --> 00:01:33,640 But none of these games would quite prepare us for one that was released in 2017. 18 00:01:33,640 --> 00:01:39,620 This is a masterpiece, with crunchy combat against imaginative boss monsters, crushing 19 00:01:39,620 --> 00:01:45,460 Dark Souls-esque difficulty spikes, a deep well of lore that would launch several YouTube 20 00:01:45,460 --> 00:01:50,580 careers, and - most important of all - an elegantly designed, interconnected world that 21 00:01:50,580 --> 00:01:53,870 is just a joy to get lost in. 22 00:01:53,870 --> 00:02:00,000 So this is Boss Keys, and today - join me on a deep dive into the world design of 23 00:02:00,000 --> 00:02:02,180 Hollow Knight. 24 00:02:06,320 --> 00:02:11,120 Hollow Knight takes place in the sprawling kingdom of Hallownest. 25 00:02:11,130 --> 00:02:17,529 The game begins in Dirtmouth: a fading town with a few shops and visiting adventurers. 26 00:02:17,529 --> 00:02:22,249 Beneath that lies the Forgotten Crossroads, which - as the name might suggest - connects 27 00:02:22,249 --> 00:02:28,219 up to many areas in the game, including the leafy suburbs of Greenpath, the deadly mines 28 00:02:28,219 --> 00:02:34,819 of Crystal Peak, the acidic Fog Canyon, and the noxious caverns of the Fungal Wastes. 29 00:02:34,819 --> 00:02:39,510 In the very depths of Hallownest you’ll find the pitch-black labyrinth of Deepnest, 30 00:02:39,510 --> 00:02:41,659 and the mysterious Ancient Basin. 31 00:02:41,659 --> 00:02:46,620 While in the furthest corners you’ll discover the graveyard, called the Resting Grounds, 32 00:02:46,620 --> 00:02:50,909 the Howling Cliffs, and the lush greenhouse of the Queen’s Gardens. 33 00:02:50,909 --> 00:02:55,060 And at the kingdom’s edge you’ll find the, uh, Kingdom’s Edge - which also connects 34 00:02:55,060 --> 00:02:56,849 to The Hive. 35 00:02:56,849 --> 00:03:01,529 All of these areas surround the enormous capital of Hallownest: the endlessly-drenched City 36 00:03:01,529 --> 00:03:04,970 of Tears, and its Royal Waterways sewer system. 37 00:03:04,970 --> 00:03:10,409 Together, these 15 different zones create a jigsaw of neatly fitting puzzles pieces. 38 00:03:10,409 --> 00:03:13,640 Now, each area is visibly distinct. 39 00:03:13,640 --> 00:03:19,489 There’s no confusing the pink gems of Crystal Peak with the leafy green walls of Greenpath, 40 00:03:19,489 --> 00:03:23,900 or the candlelit blue walls of the Forgotten Crossroads, or the muted greys of the Ancient 41 00:03:23,900 --> 00:03:24,900 Basin. 42 00:03:24,900 --> 00:03:29,650 It’s especially helpful that the colour of each area matches the colours on the map. 43 00:03:29,650 --> 00:03:34,439 This all makes it easy to keep these areas separately catalogued in your brain box, enormously 44 00:03:34,439 --> 00:03:36,980 helping with navigation and spatial reasoning. 45 00:03:36,980 --> 00:03:42,549 But you’ll also find gameplay differences in each zone, which keeps them fresh and varied. 46 00:03:42,549 --> 00:03:47,529 That includes bouncing on trampoline shrooms in the Fungal Wastes, dodging laser beams 47 00:03:47,529 --> 00:03:52,030 in the Crystal Peak, and peering through the darkness in Deepnest. 48 00:03:52,030 --> 00:03:56,549 Some areas, like the Kingdom’s Edge, are vertical in nature - while others, like the 49 00:03:56,549 --> 00:04:00,049 Royal Waterways, are stretched out highways. 50 00:04:00,049 --> 00:04:05,790 And there are also unique enemies in each zone - like exploding bugs in Greenpath, kamikaze 51 00:04:05,790 --> 00:04:12,299 jellyfish in Fog Canyon, icky spiders in Deepnest, and cute bee-lets in The Hive - which makes 52 00:04:12,300 --> 00:04:14,740 every zone feel brand new. 53 00:04:17,320 --> 00:04:23,419 When we first drop into Hallownest, we’re not exactly given any real goal or direction. 54 00:04:23,419 --> 00:04:28,430 This first cutscene shows a lone wanderer - the mysterious Knight - just kinda rocking 55 00:04:28,430 --> 00:04:31,120 up to the kingdom and jumping on in. 56 00:04:31,120 --> 00:04:34,389 But we are given some vague hints about where to go. 57 00:04:34,389 --> 00:04:38,290 The Elderbug in Dirtmouth tells us to head on down. 58 00:04:38,290 --> 00:04:43,680 And this sign in the west end of the Forgotten Crossroads points towards “the city at this 59 00:04:43,680 --> 00:04:48,780 kingdom’s heart” - a place where “all wishes shall be granted, all truths revealed”, 60 00:04:48,780 --> 00:04:49,780 apparently. 61 00:04:49,780 --> 00:04:53,370 Sounds like a good place to check out, if only it wasn’t guarded by an invincible 62 00:04:53,370 --> 00:04:56,020 armour-plated beetle. 63 00:04:56,020 --> 00:05:00,759 Something Hollow Knight does well is to hint at upcoming areas with one room that shares 64 00:05:00,759 --> 00:05:06,080 that zone’s visual identity - like the rooms in the Forgotten Crossroads that have leaves 65 00:05:06,080 --> 00:05:09,330 from Greenpath, or gems from Crystal Peak. 66 00:05:09,330 --> 00:05:14,150 This is a great way of teasing future content - and lodging that place in the player’s 67 00:05:14,150 --> 00:05:17,110 brain as somewhere worth returning to. 68 00:05:17,110 --> 00:05:21,800 In the centre of the Forgotten Crossroads is a big ol’ boss called the False Knight 69 00:05:21,800 --> 00:05:28,310 - and behind him is our first power-up: the Vengeful Spirit, which is a sort of Hadouken-style 70 00:05:28,310 --> 00:05:29,310 blast. 71 00:05:29,310 --> 00:05:34,610 In the tutorial for this new ability we use it to defeat another armour-plated beetle, 72 00:05:34,610 --> 00:05:39,389 reminding us to return to that corridor, and make progress to Greenpath. 73 00:05:39,389 --> 00:05:45,020 This is a Metroidvania after all - so expect to find locks and keys. 74 00:05:45,020 --> 00:05:51,500 Here, in Greenpath, we meet Hornet: who keeps dashing just out of view - and acts like a carrot-on-a-stick 75 00:05:51,500 --> 00:05:54,360 to lure us over to the west side of the area. 76 00:05:54,360 --> 00:06:00,150 There, we’ll summarily dispatch Hornet - hopefully, she’s pretty tough - and get the second 77 00:06:00,150 --> 00:06:02,880 upgrade: the Mothwing Cloak. 78 00:06:02,880 --> 00:06:07,350 This lets us dash in mid-air, granting access to the Fungal Wastes. 79 00:06:07,350 --> 00:06:13,600 We’re still being teased by that city - thanks to literal signposts that point the way down. 80 00:06:13,600 --> 00:06:18,099 And Hornet does her little carrot-on-a-stick routine once again, as she darts towards the 81 00:06:18,099 --> 00:06:19,410 city’s entrance. 82 00:06:19,410 --> 00:06:22,879 Not that you can follow her, mind you, due to the bridge being down. 83 00:06:22,879 --> 00:06:28,590 So instead, we enter the Mantis Village, and find the next power-up: the Mantis Claw. 84 00:06:28,590 --> 00:06:33,710 This allows us to scale up walls and is the perfect ability to get us past that bridge 85 00:06:33,710 --> 00:06:38,180 and - finally - into the City of Tears. 86 00:06:40,140 --> 00:06:43,900 So, at this point, Hollow Knight seems quite linear. 87 00:06:43,910 --> 00:06:48,539 We’re following a standard sequence of upgrades and boss fights, and following a critical 88 00:06:48,539 --> 00:06:50,469 path through Hallownest. 89 00:06:50,469 --> 00:06:55,050 But if the game’s developers were leading us to the city by the hand - if only quite 90 00:06:55,050 --> 00:07:00,820 subtly, with vague clues and in-world signposts - then this is the point where they let go. 91 00:07:00,820 --> 00:07:05,850 At the centre of the city, we’ll meet Hornet once again - and she’ll tell us to visit 92 00:07:05,850 --> 00:07:09,979 "the grave in ash", but there’s no indication of where that is. 93 00:07:09,979 --> 00:07:14,320 And while the fountain actually puts a marker on our map for the first time in the game 94 00:07:14,320 --> 00:07:18,689 - it’s for the Black Egg Temple back in the Forgotten Crossroads, which is somewhere 95 00:07:18,689 --> 00:07:21,480 we’ve already been, and that thing’s locked up tight. 96 00:07:21,480 --> 00:07:25,099 So the question is - where to next? 97 00:07:25,099 --> 00:07:26,310 Let me back up a bit. 98 00:07:26,310 --> 00:07:31,650 If we look at the map of Hallownest, and reveal how much of the world we can explore at each 99 00:07:31,650 --> 00:07:36,979 point in the game, we can see that our initial reach is limited to just Dirtmouth and the 100 00:07:36,979 --> 00:07:38,930 Forgotten Crossroads. 101 00:07:38,930 --> 00:07:44,680 After we get the Vengeful Spirit, we can go a smidge further, into Greenpath and the Fog Canyon. 102 00:07:44,680 --> 00:07:48,839 And the Mothwing Cloak reveals a tiny bit more for us to see still, 103 00:07:48,839 --> 00:07:50,950 letting us into the Fungal Wastes. 104 00:07:50,950 --> 00:07:57,069 But as soon as we have the Mantis Claw, the map is massively unveiled to us - we can go 105 00:07:57,069 --> 00:08:02,449 to the City of Tears, of course, and - provided we’ve found a Simple Key - the Royal Waterways. 106 00:08:02,449 --> 00:08:08,050 We can pop up to the Howling Cliffs, descend into Deepnest, or check out the Ancient Basin. 107 00:08:08,050 --> 00:08:09,840 We can even reach the Resting Grounds. 108 00:08:09,840 --> 00:08:15,590 And if we discover the Tram Pass in Deepnest, we can also visit the Kingdom’s Edge. 109 00:08:15,590 --> 00:08:19,630 And this was definitely a deliberate choice by the game’s developers. 110 00:08:19,630 --> 00:08:25,520 I spoke to Ari Gibson and William Pellen from Team Cherry over email, who told me this: 111 00:08:25,520 --> 00:08:30,789 “we started with a basic, linear progression of item acquirement, with the idea that we 112 00:08:30,789 --> 00:08:36,320 would allow that progression to break apart, branch out and wind around itself as the world 113 00:08:36,320 --> 00:08:37,600 grew.” 114 00:08:37,600 --> 00:08:42,490 So while our journey has been quite constrained up until now, there’s suddenly a bunch of 115 00:08:42,490 --> 00:08:45,180 different things we can do all at once. 116 00:08:45,180 --> 00:08:51,260 We can go fight the Dung Defender in the Royal Waterways, which lets us flip a mysterious switch. 117 00:08:51,260 --> 00:08:55,620 Or we could challenge the Mantis Lords, to open up access to Deepnest. 118 00:08:55,620 --> 00:09:00,010 Or we could go fight the Soul Master in the City of Tears, and get his handy Desolate 119 00:09:00,010 --> 00:09:01,490 Dive ability. 120 00:09:01,490 --> 00:09:06,650 That lets us into the Crystal Peak, and allows us to pick up the Crystal Heart: a sort of 121 00:09:06,650 --> 00:09:11,030 bonkers jet-powered super dash, which opens up a lot more areas. 122 00:09:11,030 --> 00:09:15,240 That includes a place in the Ancient Basin where we fight the Broken Vessel and get the 123 00:09:15,240 --> 00:09:17,270 double jumpin’ Monarch Wings. 124 00:09:17,270 --> 00:09:22,670 And also an area in the Royal Waterways, where - provided we hit that switch earlier - we 125 00:09:22,670 --> 00:09:26,800 can pick up Isma’s Tear, which lets us splash about in acid water. 126 00:09:26,800 --> 00:09:32,680 So, by opening up the world in such a dramatic fashion, Team Cherry doesn’t actually need 127 00:09:32,680 --> 00:09:34,680 to lead you by the hand anymore. 128 00:09:34,680 --> 00:09:39,250 Because if there are loads of different things to find all over the map - the player will 129 00:09:39,250 --> 00:09:43,760 likely stumble upon something important, no matter which direction they take. 130 00:09:44,560 --> 00:09:49,860 Now, I should say that after entering the City of Tears, the developers ideally want 131 00:09:49,870 --> 00:09:53,150 you to go fight the Soul Master and get the Desolate Dive ability. 132 00:09:53,150 --> 00:09:58,960 They even slam the city’s gates shut behind you - and the only way back through is to 133 00:09:58,960 --> 00:10:03,750 smash through this floor with - you guessed it - the Desolate Dive. 134 00:10:03,750 --> 00:10:09,120 This is a classic Metroidvania trick of locking the door behind the player, so they don’t 135 00:10:09,120 --> 00:10:11,960 back out without finding the necessary goodies. 136 00:10:11,960 --> 00:10:15,960 But something you should know about the world design of Hallownest is that there’s always 137 00:10:15,960 --> 00:10:18,880 more than one way to go. 138 00:10:18,880 --> 00:10:23,380 For example - remember when I said you need to fight the Mantis Lords to gain access to 139 00:10:23,390 --> 00:10:24,390 Deepnest? 140 00:10:24,390 --> 00:10:30,400 Well, not necessarily - because if you find this semi-secret path in the Fungal Wastes, 141 00:10:30,400 --> 00:10:35,190 you can get to Deepnest from there and bypass that boss fight altogether - providing two 142 00:10:35,190 --> 00:10:37,950 routes to the same place. 143 00:10:37,950 --> 00:10:44,190 Also, you can get to east side of the City of Tears through the Royal Waterways. 144 00:10:44,190 --> 00:10:47,510 Or by taking a lift down from the Resting Grounds. 145 00:10:47,510 --> 00:10:52,440 Or by taking the tram from Deepnest to the Ancient Basin, and climbing back up to the 146 00:10:52,440 --> 00:10:53,580 city from there. 147 00:10:53,580 --> 00:10:56,370 Or you could even come in via the Kingdom’s Edge. 148 00:10:56,370 --> 00:11:01,430 That’s four routes to the same place. 149 00:11:01,430 --> 00:11:04,170 The Crystal Peak is another key area for this. 150 00:11:04,170 --> 00:11:09,130 For starters, there are multiple routes through this zone when getting to the Crystal Heart, 151 00:11:09,130 --> 00:11:13,930 allowing us to skip this Crystal Guardian boss fight altogether if we so wish. 152 00:11:13,930 --> 00:11:16,470 And there’s two routes into the mine itself. 153 00:11:16,470 --> 00:11:21,150 Before, I mentioned using the Desolate Dive to smash through this floor - but there’s 154 00:11:21,150 --> 00:11:26,820 also this pitch-black and seemingly inaccessible room in the Forgotten Crossroads. 155 00:11:26,820 --> 00:11:31,270 Come back with the Lumafly Lantern from the shop in Dirtmouth, though, and you’ll be 156 00:11:31,270 --> 00:11:34,510 able to see that there’s actually a gate in that room. 157 00:11:34,510 --> 00:11:37,670 Once unlocked, you’ll get access to the Crystal Peak. 158 00:11:37,670 --> 00:11:42,690 And if you’ve got the Mantis Claw, you can even hop up and get the Crystal Heart, meaning 159 00:11:42,690 --> 00:11:48,990 you can bypass the Soul Master and his Desolate Dive pick-up altogether, if you so wish. 160 00:11:48,990 --> 00:11:54,930 The explorable area following the Mantis Claw actually looks like this, then. 161 00:11:54,930 --> 00:12:01,150 In fact, because you can reach this dark room at the very start of the game, you can theoretically 162 00:12:01,150 --> 00:12:06,640 enter the Crystal Peak before getting the game’s very first power-up: the Vengeful Spirit. 163 00:12:06,640 --> 00:12:12,720 Though, at 1,800 Geo, the lamp is rather expensive and will be hard to save up for at this very early 164 00:12:12,720 --> 00:12:14,400 stage in the adventure. 165 00:12:14,400 --> 00:12:19,620 It’s an interesting example of a what we might call a “soft lock”, though: a route 166 00:12:19,620 --> 00:12:25,140 through a game that isn’t physically inaccessible to the player, but will turn most adventurers 167 00:12:25,140 --> 00:12:29,550 away at this early stage because they’re not yet strong enough, don’t have enough 168 00:12:29,550 --> 00:12:33,540 knowledge, or - in this case - don’t have enough cash. 169 00:12:33,540 --> 00:12:39,360 So while the door to the City of Tears does shut tight behind you, there’s plenty of creative 170 00:12:39,360 --> 00:12:44,600 ways out of the city that don’t require the Desolate Dive ability. 171 00:12:44,600 --> 00:12:48,940 Providing multiple routes through the game certainly allows you to pick your own path 172 00:12:48,940 --> 00:12:54,440 during the adventure - which is perfect for second playthroughs, speed-runs, low percentage 173 00:12:54,440 --> 00:13:00,030 challenges - and most importantly of all - a feeling of legitimate agency. 174 00:13:00,030 --> 00:13:05,260 Because - similar to games like Dark Souls and the very first Metroid and Zelda games 175 00:13:05,260 --> 00:13:10,800 - the route through the game is dictated by your own curiosity and sense of adventure. 176 00:13:10,800 --> 00:13:16,280 But this is also a wonderful way to stop the player from getting stuck. 177 00:13:16,280 --> 00:13:20,010 Like: think about the Grapple Hook in Super Metroid. 178 00:13:20,010 --> 00:13:25,700 It can be used to access loads of places around Zebes but most of them just lead to inessential 179 00:13:25,700 --> 00:13:31,830 upgrades like the Wave Beam and Energy Tanks - so let’s call these optional locks. 180 00:13:31,830 --> 00:13:36,580 Only one Grapple Hook point actually allows further progress through the game, towards 181 00:13:36,580 --> 00:13:40,380 the Wrecked Ship - so we might call that a critical lock. 182 00:13:40,380 --> 00:13:45,161 And so while you’re certainly going to get loads of cool goodies to upgrade Samus, it 183 00:13:45,161 --> 00:13:49,990 does mean that if you can’t find that one single critical lock, you’re going to be 184 00:13:49,990 --> 00:13:51,420 stuck. 185 00:13:51,420 --> 00:13:54,830 In Hollow Knight, though, things are a bit different. 186 00:13:54,830 --> 00:13:59,810 Like, after getting the Mothwing Cloak from Hornet in Greenpath, there are loads of places 187 00:13:59,810 --> 00:14:01,230 to use it. 188 00:14:01,230 --> 00:14:03,430 Some lead to handy pick ups. 189 00:14:03,430 --> 00:14:08,690 But also, you can dash up here in the Fog Canyon’s Queen Station, and dash up here 190 00:14:08,690 --> 00:14:13,230 in the bottom of the Forgotten Crossroads - and both lead you to the Fungal Wastes, 191 00:14:13,230 --> 00:14:16,540 and continue your adventure towards the Mantis Village. 192 00:14:16,540 --> 00:14:21,900 Having two critical locks instead of one dramatically increases your chances of making progress 193 00:14:21,900 --> 00:14:22,900 through the game. 194 00:14:22,900 --> 00:14:28,100 Because whether you remember some past blocked-off area and decide to backtrack to it with your 195 00:14:28,100 --> 00:14:32,660 new power-up, or you just continue adventuring onwards and hope to stumble upon the next 196 00:14:32,660 --> 00:14:37,100 part of the game - you’re much more likely to make progress if there’s more than one 197 00:14:37,100 --> 00:14:39,600 critical lock to find. 198 00:14:39,600 --> 00:14:44,900 This is a technique that’s used to great effect in the Resting Grounds. 199 00:14:44,910 --> 00:14:49,100 Some players will drop down into the area from this chasm in the Crystal Peak. 200 00:14:49,100 --> 00:14:54,750 But others might, instead, find the Tram Pass in Deepnest and ride a train car from the 201 00:14:54,750 --> 00:14:57,700 Forgotten Crossroads over to the Resting Grounds. 202 00:14:57,700 --> 00:15:01,940 They might take a lift up from the east end of the City of Tears, and reach the Resting 203 00:15:01,940 --> 00:15:03,740 Grounds from underneath. 204 00:15:03,740 --> 00:15:08,220 Or they might get to that same entranceway, but by using the Crystal Dash to get to the 205 00:15:08,220 --> 00:15:09,520 Blue Lake. 206 00:15:09,520 --> 00:15:14,760 That’s four completely different paths to the same area - using all sorts of different 207 00:15:14,760 --> 00:15:16,750 abilities and routes. 208 00:15:16,750 --> 00:15:21,300 And it can be accessed from the very start of the game, if you take that route through 209 00:15:21,300 --> 00:15:23,870 the pitch-black room I discussed earlier. 210 00:15:23,870 --> 00:15:25,400 But this is all for a reason. 211 00:15:25,400 --> 00:15:30,290 The Resting Grounds is actually the “grave in ash” that Hornet spoke of back in the 212 00:15:30,290 --> 00:15:34,980 City of Tears, and it’s one of the most important areas in the game because it finally 213 00:15:34,980 --> 00:15:40,670 gives us an actual goal - we need to take this Dream Nail and use it to wake up three 214 00:15:40,670 --> 00:15:46,520 sleeping sentries: Herrah the Beast, Lurien the Watcher, and Monomon the Teacher. 215 00:15:46,520 --> 00:15:51,620 So by having all sorts of different ways into the Resting Grounds, Team Cherry can be sure 216 00:15:51,620 --> 00:15:55,200 that players will almost certainly get there eventually - but they don’t have to be led 217 00:15:55,200 --> 00:15:59,460 by the hand using signposts, directions, or map markers. 218 00:15:59,460 --> 00:16:03,840 Instead, you just get that wonderful feeling of “accidentally” stumbling upon something 219 00:16:03,840 --> 00:16:05,520 really important. 220 00:16:05,520 --> 00:16:09,780 Team Cherry says it tried to avoid using too much signposting because it would be “to 221 00:16:09,780 --> 00:16:14,500 the detriment of many players who, through initially being lost, find their own ways 222 00:16:14,500 --> 00:16:19,070 and begin to learn the layout of the kingdom on a much more personal level”. 223 00:16:19,070 --> 00:16:23,810 There is one exception to that, though: when you look at this statue in the Resting Ground, 224 00:16:23,810 --> 00:16:29,390 the dreamer’s masks are drawn onto your map, marking the location of these characters. 225 00:16:29,390 --> 00:16:33,880 And normally, I’d be kind of against this sort of overt and gamey direction. 226 00:16:33,880 --> 00:16:38,780 However, this turns out to be less of a bunch of nagging waypoint markers and more of a 227 00:16:38,780 --> 00:16:42,900 gentle reminder of what your overall goal actually is. 228 00:16:42,900 --> 00:16:47,770 Because, your map is likely so uncharted that these masks are just floating in an unhelpful sea 229 00:16:47,770 --> 00:16:53,110 of black, and you almost certainly don’t have all the abilities to actually reach these 230 00:16:53,110 --> 00:16:54,800 dreamers yet. 231 00:16:54,800 --> 00:17:00,120 Herrah, for example, is hidden away in her den in the furthest corner of Deepnest. 232 00:17:00,130 --> 00:17:05,520 You’ll need the Mantis Claw to get in there, and the Lumafly Lantern to actually see what 233 00:17:05,520 --> 00:17:06,730 you’re doing. 234 00:17:06,730 --> 00:17:11,890 Lurien is high atop his spire, overlooking the City of Tears, and can’t be reached 235 00:17:11,890 --> 00:17:13,700 without the Monarch Wings. 236 00:17:13,700 --> 00:17:17,079 And you’ll need to defeat the Watcher Knights at his door. 237 00:17:17,079 --> 00:17:21,650 And Monomon’s kipping in her archive in the Fog Canyon, which is blocked off unless 238 00:17:21,650 --> 00:17:23,110 you have Isma’s Tear. 239 00:17:23,110 --> 00:17:28,850 You’re also going to have to dispatch the rather familiar looking boss, Uumuu. 240 00:17:28,850 --> 00:17:33,810 So while the masks on your map might point out the final destinations, they don’t tell 241 00:17:33,810 --> 00:17:38,020 you anything about the many stops you’ll need to make along the way. 242 00:17:38,040 --> 00:17:43,720 There’s one final way that Team Cherry allows you to dictate your own path through the game, 243 00:17:43,730 --> 00:17:49,160 and that’s by allowing, encouraging, and even designing in tricks that allow you to 244 00:17:49,160 --> 00:17:53,130 get past obstacles without the necessary upgrades. 245 00:17:53,130 --> 00:17:56,780 Similar to tricks like the wall jump in Super Metroid. 246 00:17:56,780 --> 00:18:01,900 So you can use the kickback blast of the Vengeful Spirit to propel yourself to areas that would 247 00:18:01,900 --> 00:18:04,450 normally require the Mothwing Cloak. 248 00:18:04,450 --> 00:18:08,850 You can use the Crystal Heart to bypass bits that need Isma’s Tear. 249 00:18:08,850 --> 00:18:13,680 And most disruptive of all, you can bounce off background decorations and flying enemies 250 00:18:13,680 --> 00:18:19,240 with the nail to give you an extra lift - and render the Monarch Wings technically optional. 251 00:18:19,240 --> 00:18:24,100 Now that’s what I call exploiting a bug! 252 00:18:24,100 --> 00:18:28,490 Team Cherry told me that “we knew players would be able to sequence break using the 253 00:18:28,490 --> 00:18:33,270 nail bounce technique, and we absolutely wanted them to be able to do so. 254 00:18:33,270 --> 00:18:38,320 Watching players discover new routes is a huge joy for us and is a really empowering 255 00:18:38,320 --> 00:18:39,720 moment for a player.” 256 00:18:39,720 --> 00:18:44,641 “We even placed certain enemies and objects to allow some shortcuts” - though, they 257 00:18:44,641 --> 00:18:48,780 admit that “the Hollow Knight community has uncovered many more skips that we’d 258 00:18:48,780 --> 00:18:50,630 never considered ourselves”. 259 00:18:50,630 --> 00:18:54,780 One spot in the Kingdom’s Edge had to be fixed in a patch, as it was possible to get 260 00:18:54,780 --> 00:19:01,080 yourself stuck if you managed to access it before acquiring the Monarch Wings. 261 00:19:01,080 --> 00:19:06,440 With all three dreamers awake, we can now finally enter the Black Egg Temple in the 262 00:19:06,440 --> 00:19:12,900 Forgotten Crossroads, fight the, ahem, final boss: Hollow Knight, and ahem, finish the game. 263 00:19:21,920 --> 00:19:28,660 Now while I normally like to use graphs to explain the structure of Metroidvania games 264 00:19:28,660 --> 00:19:33,010 on Boss Keys, it’s not really possible with Hollow Knight. 265 00:19:33,010 --> 00:19:37,760 So much stuff can be be skipped, or done in different ways, or reached from different 266 00:19:37,760 --> 00:19:43,270 directions, that creating a single, monolithic chart for the game’s structure is just not 267 00:19:43,270 --> 00:19:44,270 possible. 268 00:19:44,270 --> 00:19:48,250 I can show you one route through the game, though, which at least reveals the general 269 00:19:48,250 --> 00:19:49,570 shape of things. 270 00:19:49,570 --> 00:19:54,380 Essentially, a linear corridor of upgrades and boss fights, which dramatically fans out 271 00:19:54,380 --> 00:19:58,460 to a wide open matrix of non-linear possibilities. 272 00:19:58,460 --> 00:20:02,790 Including the ability to pick up game-changing abilities simultaneously - which is something 273 00:20:02,790 --> 00:20:07,730 you don’t usually see in Metroidvanias, because they often dictate a more set-in-stone 274 00:20:07,730 --> 00:20:11,000 sequence of getting one item after another. 275 00:20:11,000 --> 00:20:14,750 But Team Cherry says “we wanted players to feel like their journey through the kingdom 276 00:20:14,750 --> 00:20:20,300 was their own, and part of that was removing barriers or opening paths to allow acquiring 277 00:20:20,300 --> 00:20:23,059 items or powers ‘out of order’.” 278 00:20:23,059 --> 00:20:26,420 Of course, this graph has a million different permutations. 279 00:20:26,420 --> 00:20:31,650 You can skip the Mantis Lords and the Crystal Guardian with careful navigation of the map, 280 00:20:31,650 --> 00:20:36,730 get the Dream Nail much earlier in the game, reach the Crystal Heart without the Desolate 281 00:20:36,730 --> 00:20:39,400 Dive, and so on. 282 00:20:39,400 --> 00:20:45,420 But beyond that, there’s so much more that this graph doesn’t even begin to cover. 283 00:20:45,420 --> 00:20:50,180 For starters, while I’ve already talked about the bosses that are standing between 284 00:20:50,190 --> 00:20:54,720 you and the game’s credits - there’s also bunch of completely hidden bosses that have 285 00:20:54,720 --> 00:20:57,500 no impact on the structure of the game whatsoever. 286 00:20:57,500 --> 00:21:03,240 There’s the Brooding Mawlek, who’s in a hard-to-reach room in the Forgotten Crossroads. 287 00:21:03,240 --> 00:21:08,090 The Collector, who can’t be found unless you get the Love Key from the Queen’s Gardens. 288 00:21:08,090 --> 00:21:13,720 The Enraged Guardian, who’s hiding in a secret room above the other Guardian’s boss area. 289 00:21:13,720 --> 00:21:19,080 The Flukemarm, who can only be found if you use the Desolate Dive in the Royal Waterways. 290 00:21:19,090 --> 00:21:24,290 And Nosk, in Deepnest, who can only be reached with either the Crystal Heart or the Monarch 291 00:21:24,290 --> 00:21:25,290 Wings. 292 00:21:25,290 --> 00:21:31,500 There’s also the Hive Knight in, I'll let you guess, but he’s exclusive to the Lifeblood DLC. 293 00:21:31,500 --> 00:21:33,230 And there are more bosses beyond these. 294 00:21:33,230 --> 00:21:38,610 At the Kingdom’s Edge, you’ll find the Colosseum of Fools - which is a non-stop combat 295 00:21:38,610 --> 00:21:41,670 gauntlet, with a handful of unique bosses. 296 00:21:41,670 --> 00:21:46,410 And the seven Warrior Dreams, who are ghostly spirits that are are guarding their gravesites, 297 00:21:46,410 --> 00:21:50,490 and can be challenged to a dual after you acquire the Dream Nail. 298 00:21:50,490 --> 00:21:55,700 And dream variants of the Broken Vessel, False Knight, and Soul Master bosses - which are 299 00:21:55,700 --> 00:21:58,800 like super hard remixes of those fights. 300 00:21:58,800 --> 00:22:02,140 Two more come in the Hidden Dreams DLC, as well. 301 00:22:02,140 --> 00:22:07,320 Ultimately, it is quite incredible to stumble down some random hallway, and not just uncover 302 00:22:07,320 --> 00:22:12,340 a handy item or whatever: but an entirely unique boss fight that some players might 303 00:22:12,340 --> 00:22:13,660 never see. 304 00:22:13,660 --> 00:22:17,830 Team Cherry says it doesn’t worry too much about whether everyone will find the content 305 00:22:17,830 --> 00:22:18,830 it makes. 306 00:22:18,830 --> 00:22:24,140 “Just having it there, out of sight from most players makes the world more truly alive,” 307 00:22:24,140 --> 00:22:29,000 the developer explains - “much of it exists to convey a sense that there’s always something 308 00:22:29,000 --> 00:22:34,960 else waiting in the unexplored recesses of the world - fearsome enemies, strange characters, 309 00:22:34,960 --> 00:22:36,860 new areas, powerful items etc.” 310 00:22:36,860 --> 00:22:43,120 “And [it] creates a very special experience for those few that do make the discovery.” 311 00:22:43,120 --> 00:22:48,440 So depending on how you categorise things, and whether or not you include the Lifeblood 312 00:22:48,440 --> 00:22:53,590 and Hidden Dreams DLC, there are more than 30 bosses in the world of Hollow Knight, but 313 00:22:53,590 --> 00:22:57,370 you might only fight about 10 to 15 of them during your adventure. 314 00:22:57,370 --> 00:22:58,650 It’s crazy. 315 00:22:58,650 --> 00:23:04,870 An absolute butt load of extra bosses and remixes are added in the other two DLC packs: 316 00:23:04,870 --> 00:23:09,850 The Grimm Troupe and Godmaster, but they’re not relevant to the normal exploration of 317 00:23:09,850 --> 00:23:15,320 Hallownest, and so I won’t be discussing them in this video. 318 00:23:15,320 --> 00:23:19,400 What’s the point of going after these non-essential bosses, then? 319 00:23:19,400 --> 00:23:23,430 Other than the fact that you don’t actually know which bosses are necessary to beat the 320 00:23:23,430 --> 00:23:24,430 game, of course. 321 00:23:24,430 --> 00:23:27,270 Well, it’s all about 'dem goodies. 322 00:23:27,270 --> 00:23:33,400 The world of Hollow Knight is jam packed with stuff to find - sometimes hidden behind bosses, 323 00:23:33,400 --> 00:23:39,460 sometimes behind secret walls, sometimes behind those optional locks, sometimes as expensive 324 00:23:39,460 --> 00:23:43,120 items in shops, sometimes just found off the beaten track. 325 00:23:43,120 --> 00:23:49,340 You’ve got your usual upgrades: 16 Mask Shards act like the heart pieces in Zelda: 326 00:23:49,340 --> 00:23:53,800 so find four of them and you’ll be able to take an extra hit in combat. 327 00:23:53,810 --> 00:23:58,809 The 9 Vessel Fragments are kinda similar: find three of these and you’ll boost your 328 00:23:58,809 --> 00:24:02,570 available mana for powerful spells and recharging your health. 329 00:24:02,570 --> 00:24:08,760 There are also special moves, like the Great Slash, Dash Slash, and Cyclone Slash. 330 00:24:08,760 --> 00:24:12,270 Soul upgrades like the Abyss Shriek and Descending Dark. 331 00:24:12,270 --> 00:24:16,710 And you can boost the power of your Nail if you find Pale Ore. 332 00:24:16,710 --> 00:24:19,220 And then there are the charms. 333 00:24:19,220 --> 00:24:23,450 These collectable badges give you all sorts of handy abilities like quicker recovery on 334 00:24:23,450 --> 00:24:27,540 your spells, no knock-back when fighting enemies, and so on. 335 00:24:27,540 --> 00:24:32,410 Every one is uniquely interesting to equip and they even synergise for more abilities 336 00:24:32,410 --> 00:24:36,059 - but are limited to the number of charm notches you have. 337 00:24:36,059 --> 00:24:38,929 And yes, you can find charm notches as well. 338 00:24:38,929 --> 00:24:43,410 All of these items are well worth finding because Hollow Knight is definitely not an 339 00:24:43,410 --> 00:24:44,420 easy game. 340 00:24:44,420 --> 00:24:48,660 In fact, it’s brutally difficult at times, has the same find-your-corpse-when-you-die 341 00:24:48,660 --> 00:24:53,260 mechanic as Dark Souls, and some of the bosses just do not mess around. 342 00:24:53,260 --> 00:24:58,220 That makes getting more health, or a charm that can help you in combat, or a boost to 343 00:24:58,220 --> 00:25:04,140 your nail’s strength, or a more powerful spell a genuinely worthwhile thing to find. 344 00:25:04,140 --> 00:25:07,810 Defeating some hidden boss doesn’t feel like a waste of time because it didn’t let 345 00:25:07,810 --> 00:25:12,880 you make any progress - the reward is usually useful (or, at least, interesting) enough 346 00:25:12,880 --> 00:25:15,960 to make your efforts feel worthwhile. 347 00:25:15,960 --> 00:25:21,460 I do want to say one thing about the corpse run mechanic, though: this is one way that 348 00:25:21,460 --> 00:25:26,170 Hollow Knight sadly discourages exploration through its design. 349 00:25:26,170 --> 00:25:30,940 When you die in, say, Zelda 1 - it’s easy to say “you know what? 350 00:25:30,940 --> 00:25:33,970 Screw that area, I’m going to look somewhere else”. 351 00:25:33,970 --> 00:25:38,340 When you die in Hollow Knight, though, you drop a shadowy clone of yourself - who hangs 352 00:25:38,340 --> 00:25:42,910 on to all your money and limits your mana amount to half. 353 00:25:42,910 --> 00:25:48,610 This tempts you to return to the place you just died - sometimes over and over and over again 354 00:25:48,610 --> 00:25:52,780 - regardless of the many other interesting places you could explore, 355 00:25:52,780 --> 00:25:55,960 or different routes you could take. 356 00:25:55,960 --> 00:26:00,551 These extra bosses and endless special items also make you feel like there’s something 357 00:26:00,551 --> 00:26:02,500 to find around every corner. 358 00:26:02,500 --> 00:26:06,040 No matter where you explore, there will be something to find. 359 00:26:06,100 --> 00:26:10,220 Sometimes it’s not even relevant to the gameplay at all - it’s just story stuff 360 00:26:10,220 --> 00:26:14,100 that adds to the rich and immersive atmosphere of the game. 361 00:26:14,100 --> 00:26:19,730 My personal favourite take on this is the way certain characters seem to be off on their own little 362 00:26:19,730 --> 00:26:20,730 adventures. 363 00:26:20,730 --> 00:26:26,500 Bugs like Cloth, Quirrel, and Tiso, keep popping up all over the place - each commenting on 364 00:26:26,500 --> 00:26:28,650 their status and location. 365 00:26:28,650 --> 00:26:34,429 It makes the world feel alive, and less like the game revolves entirely around the player. 366 00:26:34,429 --> 00:26:38,550 These bugs are off doing their own thing, with our without you. 367 00:26:38,550 --> 00:26:42,190 One bug who definitely does need you, though, is Zote. 368 00:26:42,190 --> 00:26:48,110 This arrogant dude can be found in the mandibles of a Vengefly King in Greenpath - and it’s 369 00:26:48,110 --> 00:26:50,470 up to you if you save him. 370 00:26:50,470 --> 00:26:54,520 Same goes for when he’s later found stuck in spider webs in Deepnest. 371 00:26:54,520 --> 00:26:59,410 If you save him both times, he’ll appear as a boss - of sorts - in the Colosseum of 372 00:26:59,410 --> 00:27:02,340 Fools, and then in Bretta’s house in Dirtmouth. 373 00:27:02,340 --> 00:27:08,400 But if you miss him in Greenpath or Deepnest, or simply choose not to save him - well, that’s it. 374 00:27:08,400 --> 00:27:14,100 That whole quest will just not happen - and once again, proves that Team Cherry doesn’t care 375 00:27:14,100 --> 00:27:18,309 if you see their work, because it makes it all the sweeter for those who do witness the 376 00:27:18,309 --> 00:27:19,559 full story. 377 00:27:19,559 --> 00:27:24,450 The game is actually packed with little quests like this, such as a mission to save the Grubfather’s 378 00:27:24,450 --> 00:27:29,470 children, a promise to fill out of a journal of every enemy in Hallownest, a tricky quest 379 00:27:29,470 --> 00:27:34,550 to carry a delicate flower across the map, and a personal favourite: the way a secret 380 00:27:34,550 --> 00:27:38,840 stag station opens up when you unlock all the other stations. 381 00:27:38,840 --> 00:27:43,520 All of these help flesh out Hollow Knight’s rich narrative, and add memorable character 382 00:27:43,520 --> 00:27:44,880 moments. 383 00:27:44,880 --> 00:27:47,780 The world itself tells stories, too. 384 00:27:47,799 --> 00:27:53,031 My favourite example of this is the Blue Lake, which is positioned above the City 385 00:27:53,031 --> 00:27:57,370 of Tears, and explains why the city is constantly raining. 386 00:27:57,370 --> 00:27:58,420 Amazing. 387 00:27:59,720 --> 00:28:04,140 Let’s talk about actually getting around Hallownest. 388 00:28:04,140 --> 00:28:09,470 So we’ve already discussed the multiple entry points between areas in the game. 389 00:28:09,470 --> 00:28:15,470 In fact, every single zone, except for The Hive, is connected to at least two other places 390 00:28:15,470 --> 00:28:20,910 in Hallownest, through lifts, passageways, tram stations, and secret routes. 391 00:28:20,910 --> 00:28:25,860 Team Cherry says “It was always intentional to give players different ways to travel to 392 00:28:25,860 --> 00:28:29,100 and through (and sometimes around) areas.” 393 00:28:29,100 --> 00:28:32,960 Some of these were planned ahead of time, but others were added when the opportunity 394 00:28:32,960 --> 00:28:37,990 presented itself - “For instance, when Deepnest grew tall enough that the top of it was brushing 395 00:28:37,990 --> 00:28:41,910 against the bottom of the Queen’s Gardens, we added a connection between them.” 396 00:28:41,910 --> 00:28:46,600 “If we can add a connection between adjacent areas, and it makes sense in the world, and 397 00:28:46,600 --> 00:28:50,520 it doesn’t cause players to get stuck somewhere, then we do it”. 398 00:28:50,520 --> 00:28:56,549 But when playing the game, many of these routes start out as only going one way. 399 00:28:56,549 --> 00:29:00,620 So it’s initially impossible to get from Dirtmouth to Crystal Peak. 400 00:29:00,620 --> 00:29:05,610 But after getting the Crystal Heart, you can zoom along here and open up a lift between 401 00:29:05,610 --> 00:29:07,520 the town and the peak. 402 00:29:07,520 --> 00:29:12,640 It’s one of those wonderful “aha” moments you get in such elegantly designed wrap-around 403 00:29:12,640 --> 00:29:17,540 worlds, like taking that first elevator back to Firelink Shrine in Dark Souls. 404 00:29:17,540 --> 00:29:21,380 What this means is that Hollow Knight’s developers can initially restrict your access 405 00:29:21,380 --> 00:29:26,660 to certain places - to create a semblance of order and sequence to the game’s items. 406 00:29:26,660 --> 00:29:30,080 Like how you need the tram pass to get to Kingdom’s Edge. 407 00:29:30,080 --> 00:29:35,550 But then by opening up new routes from the other side, like this path through to a lift 408 00:29:35,550 --> 00:29:40,679 shaft in the City of Tears, the game’s world becomes far easier to navigate. 409 00:29:40,679 --> 00:29:43,360 Team Cherry does this in micro-form, too. 410 00:29:43,360 --> 00:29:48,350 Take the Forgotten Crossroads, where this locked gate blocks off easy access to the 411 00:29:48,350 --> 00:29:49,350 boss. 412 00:29:49,350 --> 00:29:53,800 Instead, you’re forced to go all the way around the zone, taking in every room and 413 00:29:53,800 --> 00:29:55,730 challenge along the way. 414 00:29:55,730 --> 00:30:01,470 However, once you unlock that gate it becomes permanently open - giving you easy passageway 415 00:30:01,470 --> 00:30:03,120 through the crossroads. 416 00:30:03,120 --> 00:30:07,460 This is a clever way of ensuring that the first time a player enters a zone, they are 417 00:30:07,460 --> 00:30:10,280 forced to tackle difficult challenges and set-ups. 418 00:30:10,280 --> 00:30:15,260 Things like tricky platforming sections, or areas with tough enemies, or brutal gauntlets 419 00:30:15,260 --> 00:30:16,650 against waves of foes. 420 00:30:16,650 --> 00:30:20,700 But once you’ve proven you can do it once, you’ll be able to skip this stuff during 421 00:30:20,700 --> 00:30:25,309 revisits to the zone - massively reducing the boring bits of backtracking. 422 00:30:25,309 --> 00:30:29,540 There’s only a few times where Team Cherry breaks this rule. 423 00:30:29,540 --> 00:30:34,920 At some point in the game, the Forgotten Crossroads gets taken over by these malicious orange 424 00:30:34,920 --> 00:30:40,240 bubbles and becomes The Infected Crossroads - complete with new, harder enemy types. 425 00:30:40,240 --> 00:30:45,320 Now, I do love this: it makes the world feel changeable, like time is not standing still 426 00:30:45,320 --> 00:30:46,320 during your adventure. 427 00:30:46,320 --> 00:30:50,600 And it makes one of the earliest parts of the game - which has started to become a cakewalk 428 00:30:50,600 --> 00:30:54,360 with your newfound skills and abilities - a new source of challenge. 429 00:30:54,360 --> 00:30:59,600 But it also blocks off a couple routes through the zone, making it just slightly more annoying 430 00:30:59,600 --> 00:31:01,660 to navigate. Grr. 431 00:31:01,660 --> 00:31:04,900 I should definitely also mention the Stag network. 432 00:31:04,900 --> 00:31:10,500 Similar to the fast travel points in Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, these stag stations 433 00:31:10,510 --> 00:31:15,610 are dotted around Hallownest and provide easy access between some of the zones. 434 00:31:15,610 --> 00:31:20,760 With a map the size of Hallownest, I think these fast travel points are a fine addition 435 00:31:20,760 --> 00:31:24,040 - it would be horribly tedious to get about without them. 436 00:31:24,040 --> 00:31:29,950 And besides, with two stag stations in the City of Tears, only nine of the fifteen areas 437 00:31:29,950 --> 00:31:34,150 have stations, so there’s not enough to just let you teleport all over the place. 438 00:31:34,150 --> 00:31:39,820 You’ll still need to know your way around, and carefully plot your journey out on your map. 439 00:31:39,880 --> 00:31:40,860 Oh, the map! 440 00:31:40,860 --> 00:31:44,680 Gosh, how has it taken this long to talk about one of Hollow Knight’s most interesting 441 00:31:44,690 --> 00:31:46,549 features: its mapping system. 442 00:31:46,549 --> 00:31:50,720 So, when you first start the game you won’t have a map of the world at all. 443 00:31:50,720 --> 00:31:54,370 But then you’ll come across this cheeky chap: Cornifer. 444 00:31:54,370 --> 00:32:00,530 He’s a cartographer who will sell you his sketchy, incomplete maps of each zone in the 445 00:32:00,530 --> 00:32:06,290 game - these kind of work like the map stations in Super Metroid, which hint at places you 446 00:32:06,290 --> 00:32:09,380 can explore and interesting areas you should check out. 447 00:32:09,380 --> 00:32:13,929 The map for the Forgotten Crossroads, for example, has a drawing of a big scary monster 448 00:32:13,929 --> 00:32:17,809 head, which points you in the direction of the game’s first boss. 449 00:32:17,809 --> 00:32:22,669 Back up in Dirtmouth, you can buy a quill which then turns the map into a more traditional 450 00:32:22,669 --> 00:32:24,190 auto-mapping system. 451 00:32:24,190 --> 00:32:28,880 But with a couple twists: one is that the map only fills in when you sit down on a bench 452 00:32:28,880 --> 00:32:29,929 to rest. 453 00:32:29,929 --> 00:32:34,700 And the other is that in order to see your position on the map, you need to buy and equip 454 00:32:34,700 --> 00:32:39,500 a compass charm - handy, but maybe it would be better to use that slot for something else? 455 00:32:39,500 --> 00:32:40,960 A decision you can make. 456 00:32:40,970 --> 00:32:46,210 The way a game chooses to reveal its world on a map can completely change your experience 457 00:32:46,210 --> 00:32:48,700 with exploring that world. 458 00:32:48,700 --> 00:32:53,310 Classic adventures like Zelda and Metroid didn’t have maps - likely due to technical 459 00:32:53,310 --> 00:32:58,890 limitations, but it created this real sense of mystery and unchartedness, and forced you 460 00:32:58,890 --> 00:33:02,640 to make your own map, either in your head or on paper. 461 00:33:02,640 --> 00:33:08,440 The Souls games would revisit this idea much later, forcing you to forge a map of places like Lordran 462 00:33:08,440 --> 00:33:10,140 or Yharnham in your bonce. 463 00:33:10,140 --> 00:33:12,960 But a good, clear map is handy, too. 464 00:33:12,960 --> 00:33:17,050 It’s nice to plot out routes you want to take, it can help you figure out where you 465 00:33:17,050 --> 00:33:22,340 have and have not yet explored, and it’s great for scooping up items and secrets. 466 00:33:22,340 --> 00:33:25,179 Hollow Knight gives you the best of both worlds. 467 00:33:25,179 --> 00:33:29,720 When you first enter a zone, your map is completely blank - you’re stumbling in 468 00:33:29,720 --> 00:33:34,280 the dark, and you have no idea about the size and scope of the place you’re in. 469 00:33:34,280 --> 00:33:37,840 It makes new places feel scary and dangerous. 470 00:33:37,840 --> 00:33:43,429 Then, when you get the sketchy map from Cornifer, you get a slightly better idea of where to 471 00:33:43,429 --> 00:33:46,970 go - and some hints at places you might want to check out. 472 00:33:46,970 --> 00:33:50,040 And then once you sit in a bench, you get the full map. 473 00:33:50,040 --> 00:33:54,130 You can see more clearly how the world is laid out, plan routes through Hallownest, 474 00:33:54,130 --> 00:33:59,800 and if you’re feeling a bit stuck - scan the map for paths you’ve yet to venture down. 475 00:33:59,920 --> 00:34:06,220 So, if you thought the final cutscene in Hollow Knight was a bit anticlimactic - you’d be right. 476 00:34:06,220 --> 00:34:11,520 Like many Metroidvanias before it, Hollow Knight has a bad ending - and a whole lot 477 00:34:11,520 --> 00:34:15,240 of gameplay to go if you want to get the true, good ending. 478 00:34:15,240 --> 00:34:20,220 Here’s the basic run down: you need to hop up here in the Kingdom’s Edge, fight Hornet 479 00:34:20,220 --> 00:34:23,739 for the second time, and enter the Cast-Off Shell. 480 00:34:23,739 --> 00:34:28,609 Inside is the King’s Brand, which can be used in the Ancient Basin to open up a big 481 00:34:28,609 --> 00:34:31,730 ol’ door and grant access to The Abyss. 482 00:34:31,730 --> 00:34:37,500 Inside is the Shade Cloak, which finally lets you bypass a recurring obstacle in the game: 483 00:34:37,500 --> 00:34:40,399 these black geysers of toxic goop. 484 00:34:40,399 --> 00:34:45,129 By the way, you can use the shade cloak to get to the teacher’s archive from a different 485 00:34:45,129 --> 00:34:50,260 direction and wake Monomon without fighting the Dung Defender or getting Isma’s Tear. 486 00:34:50,260 --> 00:34:51,040 Cheeky! 487 00:34:51,040 --> 00:34:56,400 Anyway, one black geyser blocks a new boss fight: the Traitor Lord. 488 00:34:56,409 --> 00:35:00,320 And the prize for beating him is the White Fragment. Sweet. 489 00:35:00,320 --> 00:35:04,920 Now, there’s a character called Seer in the Resting Grounds who will give you goodies 490 00:35:04,920 --> 00:35:10,440 in exchange for Essence, which is gained by defeating the Warrior Dream bosses, the dream 491 00:35:10,440 --> 00:35:16,109 variant bosses, using the dream nail on ghosts, and collecting Essence spawned from whispering 492 00:35:16,109 --> 00:35:17,109 roots. 493 00:35:17,109 --> 00:35:23,549 If you gather 1800 of this stuff, Seer will upgrade your Dream Nail to the Awakened Dream Nail. 494 00:35:23,549 --> 00:35:29,140 Now if you use this on a corpse in the Ancient Basin you get to go to the White Palace: a 495 00:35:29,140 --> 00:35:34,729 nightmare hellscape void of misery that’s as hard as anything in Super Meat Boy or Celeste 496 00:35:34,729 --> 00:35:38,700 but, like, without the super sharp platforming controls of either game. 497 00:35:38,700 --> 00:35:41,109 God damn this bit is quite annoying. 498 00:35:41,109 --> 00:35:43,890 At the end though is another White Fragment. 499 00:35:43,890 --> 00:35:46,430 Stick them together and you’ve got the Kingsoul. 500 00:35:46,430 --> 00:35:50,410 And then return to the Abyss and you’ll turn that into the Void Heart. 501 00:35:50,410 --> 00:35:54,910 Finally, return to Hollow Knight and use the Dream Nail on that dude to enter his brain 502 00:35:54,910 --> 00:35:58,710 and fight the actual proper last boss: Radiance. 503 00:35:58,710 --> 00:36:01,160 Who is very hard and makes me want to cry. 504 00:36:01,160 --> 00:36:03,180 But I did it. After like a million goes. 505 00:36:09,160 --> 00:36:13,580 I’m quite amazed just how much content there is in this secretive end game. 506 00:36:13,589 --> 00:36:17,849 It took me about 20 hours to get to the credits for the first time - and then another 10 to 507 00:36:17,849 --> 00:36:19,039 get to the proper ending. 508 00:36:19,039 --> 00:36:24,160 Testament, I guess, to how Team Cherry is happy to let players just miss huge swathes 509 00:36:24,160 --> 00:36:25,160 of content. 510 00:36:25,160 --> 00:36:28,289 Now, personally, this bit didn’t quite work for me. 511 00:36:28,289 --> 00:36:33,600 I felt finished and satisfied with the game after dispatching Hollow Knight for the first time. 512 00:36:33,600 --> 00:36:38,019 And when I discovered that there was a lot more to do, I didn’t really have the drive 513 00:36:38,020 --> 00:36:41,200 to carry on and seek out yet more secrets. 514 00:36:41,200 --> 00:36:43,680 Especially because I had no idea where to go. 515 00:36:43,690 --> 00:36:47,819 And the game doesn’t keep up that tradition of offering two routes into key places so 516 00:36:47,819 --> 00:36:51,460 if you miss this jump in the Kingdom’s Edge, you won’t get very far. 517 00:36:51,460 --> 00:36:55,049 Basically, I just followed a walkthrough to get to the true final ending. 518 00:36:55,049 --> 00:36:56,160 Bit of a let down. 519 00:36:57,360 --> 00:36:59,520 So, that is Hollow Knight. 520 00:36:59,530 --> 00:37:03,910 The game helps lure you into the world of Hallownest with cryptic clues and the guiding 521 00:37:03,910 --> 00:37:08,430 hand of linear level design - but then throws open the gates to the kingdom and lets you 522 00:37:08,430 --> 00:37:10,039 explore as you wish. 523 00:37:10,039 --> 00:37:14,539 And by letting you access so much content simultaneously, and by providing multiple 524 00:37:14,539 --> 00:37:18,609 routes and methods to get through the game, Hollow Knight almost never falls into the 525 00:37:18,609 --> 00:37:23,220 trap that Metroidvanias can find themselves in: of having you scour the map for that one 526 00:37:23,220 --> 00:37:26,230 single place you need to go, to make any progress. 527 00:37:26,230 --> 00:37:30,420 Instead, Hollow Knight just lets you get on with exploring - with the promise that there 528 00:37:30,420 --> 00:37:33,059 will be something worth finding around every corner. 529 00:37:33,059 --> 00:37:38,160 A fascinating new zone, a bizarre one-off enemy, a chunk of cryptic world-building, 530 00:37:38,160 --> 00:37:44,309 a genuinely helpful item, a game-changing upgrade, or a terrifying boss monster. 531 00:37:44,309 --> 00:37:49,640 This is quite different to other Metroidvanias, mind you - it misses that puzzle-like aspect 532 00:37:49,640 --> 00:37:55,119 of slowly unravelling at a knot that binds the world together, one lock at a time. 533 00:37:55,119 --> 00:38:01,700 But the feeling this game gives is perhaps even better - just pure, unadulterated wonder and immersion 534 00:38:01,700 --> 00:38:04,529 in a world that never stops surprising. 535 00:38:04,529 --> 00:38:09,019 Team Cherry told me that “we try to let the player loose in a wild world, not push 536 00:38:09,019 --> 00:38:13,039 them explicitly one way, and reward them for choosing their own path.” 537 00:38:13,039 --> 00:38:17,800 “That approach is based on mutual trust and respect between us and the player. 538 00:38:17,800 --> 00:38:21,970 We know these are smart, dedicated people and we’re confident that, through observation, 539 00:38:21,970 --> 00:38:26,599 tenacity and skill, they’ll deal with the challenges the world presents and ultimately 540 00:38:26,599 --> 00:38:28,109 gain mastery over it. 541 00:38:28,109 --> 00:38:33,319 It’s that mastery, in exploration, in combat and in understanding the story of the world 542 00:38:33,319 --> 00:38:36,249 that we hope creates a memorable experience.” 543 00:38:36,249 --> 00:38:40,890 It certainly did for me, and to say I’m excited for the game’s sequel, Hollow Knight: 544 00:38:40,890 --> 00:38:45,340 Silksong, would be a massive understatement. 545 00:38:47,540 --> 00:38:50,920 And that is a wrap on Boss Keys. 546 00:38:50,920 --> 00:38:57,099 In the last 20 episodes I’ve looked at every major Zelda game, almost every Metroid game, 547 00:38:57,099 --> 00:39:02,170 Castlevania Symphony of the Night, Dark Souls, and now Hollow Knight. 548 00:39:02,170 --> 00:39:07,190 The series is not gone forever, of course - I’ll be back when huge new games like 549 00:39:07,190 --> 00:39:12,369 Metroid Prime 4, Hollow Knight Silksong, and Breath of the Wild 2 are released. 550 00:39:12,369 --> 00:39:17,380 And yes, I do still plan to do that wrap-up episode on Zelda dungeon design. 551 00:39:17,380 --> 00:39:18,640 One day, promise. 552 00:39:18,640 --> 00:39:23,520 But I always planned for Hollow Knight to be the final destination for this series. 553 00:39:23,529 --> 00:39:29,289 It’s one of my favourite games and I think it might be the best Metroidvania ever made. 554 00:39:29,289 --> 00:39:31,470 So it’s good to go out on such a high. 555 00:39:31,470 --> 00:39:36,980 Thank you so much for watching, and cheers to my Patrons for supporting this show. 556 00:39:36,980 --> 00:39:39,189 I’ll see you next mission.