WEBVTT 00:00:04.150 --> 00:00:13.049 If you were a fan of Metroidvania games, then 2010 was a very difficult year. 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 00:00:19.030 --> 00:00:25.060 and isolation, but was way more interested in action-packed fights, cringe-worthy cutscenes, 00:00:25.060 --> 00:00:27.000 and excessive handholding. 00:00:27.000 --> 00:00:31.990 And on the other side, after six cracking Castlevania adventures on handhelds, we got 00:00:31.990 --> 00:00:37.020 Castlevania: Lords of Shadow - a knockabout brawler that took most of its inspiration 00:00:37.020 --> 00:00:41.440 from God of War, and had only the lightest hint of exploration. 00:00:41.440 --> 00:00:47.120 It looked like the Metroidvania was dead. 00:00:47.120 --> 00:00:50.600 Except, it really wasn’t. 00:00:50.600 --> 00:00:55.520 Because while Nintendo and Konami were about to drop off for a decade-long slumber with 00:00:55.520 --> 00:01:00.640 their respective franchises, other developers - especially smaller indie studios - were 00:01:00.640 --> 00:01:04.710 starting to try their hand at the Metroidvania formula. 00:01:04.710 --> 00:01:10.970 Cave Story, Aquaria, and Shadow Complex were early attempts to follow that recipe of locked 00:01:10.970 --> 00:01:15.930 doors, new abilities, grid-like map systems, and secret items. 00:01:15.930 --> 00:01:21.560 And since then we’ve seen games as varied as Strider, Axiom Verge, the Shantae 00:01:21.560 --> 00:01:27.730 games, Toki Tori 2, Guacamelee, Headlander, and Ori and the Blind Forest. 00:01:27.730 --> 00:01:33.640 But none of these games would quite prepare us for one that was released in 2017. 00:01:33.640 --> 00:01:39.620 This is a masterpiece, with crunchy combat against imaginative boss monsters, crushing 00:01:39.620 --> 00:01:45.460 Dark Souls-esque difficulty spikes, a deep well of lore that would launch several YouTube 00:01:45.460 --> 00:01:50.580 careers, and - most important of all - an elegantly designed, interconnected world that 00:01:50.580 --> 00:01:53.870 is just a joy to get lost in. 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 00:02:00.000 --> 00:02:02.180 Hollow Knight. 00:02:06.320 --> 00:02:11.120 Hollow Knight takes place in the sprawling kingdom of Hallownest. 00:02:11.130 --> 00:02:17.529 The game begins in Dirtmouth: a fading town with a few shops and visiting adventurers. 00:02:17.529 --> 00:02:22.249 Beneath that lies the Forgotten Crossroads, which - as the name might suggest - connects 00:02:22.249 --> 00:02:28.219 up to many areas in the game, including the leafy suburbs of Greenpath, the deadly mines 00:02:28.219 --> 00:02:34.819 of Crystal Peak, the acidic Fog Canyon, and the noxious caverns of the Fungal Wastes. 00:02:34.819 --> 00:02:39.510 In the very depths of Hallownest you’ll find the pitch-black labyrinth of Deepnest, 00:02:39.510 --> 00:02:41.659 and the mysterious Ancient Basin. 00:02:41.659 --> 00:02:46.620 While in the furthest corners you’ll discover the graveyard, called the Resting Grounds, 00:02:46.620 --> 00:02:50.909 the Howling Cliffs, and the lush greenhouse of the Queen’s Gardens. 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 00:02:55.060 --> 00:02:56.849 to The Hive. 00:02:56.849 --> 00:03:01.529 All of these areas surround the enormous capital of Hallownest: the endlessly-drenched City 00:03:01.529 --> 00:03:04.970 of Tears, and its Royal Waterways sewer system. 00:03:04.970 --> 00:03:10.409 Together, these 15 different zones create a jigsaw of neatly fitting puzzles pieces. 00:03:10.409 --> 00:03:13.640 Now, each area is visibly distinct. 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, 00:03:19.489 --> 00:03:23.900 or the candlelit blue walls of the Forgotten Crossroads, or the muted greys of the Ancient 00:03:23.900 --> 00:03:24.900 Basin. 00:03:24.900 --> 00:03:29.650 It’s especially helpful that the colour of each area matches the colours on the map. 00:03:29.650 --> 00:03:34.439 This all makes it easy to keep these areas separately catalogued in your brain box, enormously 00:03:34.439 --> 00:03:36.980 helping with navigation and spatial reasoning. 00:03:36.980 --> 00:03:42.549 But you’ll also find gameplay differences in each zone, which keeps them fresh and varied. 00:03:42.549 --> 00:03:47.529 That includes bouncing on trampoline shrooms in the Fungal Wastes, dodging laser beams 00:03:47.529 --> 00:03:52.030 in the Crystal Peak, and peering through the darkness in Deepnest. 00:03:52.030 --> 00:03:56.549 Some areas, like the Kingdom’s Edge, are vertical in nature - while others, like the 00:03:56.549 --> 00:04:00.049 Royal Waterways, are stretched out highways. 00:04:00.049 --> 00:04:05.790 And there are also unique enemies in each zone - like exploding bugs in Greenpath, kamikaze 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 00:04:12.300 --> 00:04:14.740 every zone feel brand new. 00:04:17.320 --> 00:04:23.419 When we first drop into Hallownest, we’re not exactly given any real goal or direction. 00:04:23.419 --> 00:04:28.430 This first cutscene shows a lone wanderer - the mysterious Knight - just kinda rocking 00:04:28.430 --> 00:04:31.120 up to the kingdom and jumping on in. 00:04:31.120 --> 00:04:34.389 But we are given some vague hints about where to go. 00:04:34.389 --> 00:04:38.290 The Elderbug in Dirtmouth tells us to head on down. 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 00:04:43.680 --> 00:04:48.780 kingdom’s heart” - a place where “all wishes shall be granted, all truths revealed”, 00:04:48.780 --> 00:04:49.780 apparently. 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 00:04:53.370 --> 00:04:56.020 armour-plated beetle. 00:04:56.020 --> 00:05:00.759 Something Hollow Knight does well is to hint at upcoming areas with one room that shares 00:05:00.759 --> 00:05:06.080 that zone’s visual identity - like the rooms in the Forgotten Crossroads that have leaves 00:05:06.080 --> 00:05:09.330 from Greenpath, or gems from Crystal Peak. 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 00:05:14.150 --> 00:05:17.110 brain as somewhere worth returning to. 00:05:17.110 --> 00:05:21.800 In the centre of the Forgotten Crossroads is a big ol’ boss called the False Knight 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 00:05:28.310 --> 00:05:29.310 blast. 00:05:29.310 --> 00:05:34.610 In the tutorial for this new ability we use it to defeat another armour-plated beetle, 00:05:34.610 --> 00:05:39.389 reminding us to return to that corridor, and make progress to Greenpath. 00:05:39.389 --> 00:05:45.020 This is a Metroidvania after all - so expect to find locks and keys. 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 00:05:51.500 --> 00:05:54.360 to lure us over to the west side of the area. 00:05:54.360 --> 00:06:00.150 There, we’ll summarily dispatch Hornet - hopefully, she’s pretty tough - and get the second 00:06:00.150 --> 00:06:02.880 upgrade: the Mothwing Cloak. 00:06:02.880 --> 00:06:07.350 This lets us dash in mid-air, granting access to the Fungal Wastes. 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. 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 00:06:18.099 --> 00:06:19.410 city’s entrance. 00:06:19.410 --> 00:06:22.879 Not that you can follow her, mind you, due to the bridge being down. 00:06:22.879 --> 00:06:28.590 So instead, we enter the Mantis Village, and find the next power-up: the Mantis Claw. 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 00:06:33.710 --> 00:06:38.180 and - finally - into the City of Tears. 00:06:40.140 --> 00:06:43.900 So, at this point, Hollow Knight seems quite linear. 00:06:43.910 --> 00:06:48.539 We’re following a standard sequence of upgrades and boss fights, and following a critical 00:06:48.539 --> 00:06:50.469 path through Hallownest. 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 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. 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 00:07:05.850 --> 00:07:09.979 "the grave in ash", but there’s no indication of where that is. 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 00:07:14.320 --> 00:07:18.689 - it’s for the Black Egg Temple back in the Forgotten Crossroads, which is somewhere 00:07:18.689 --> 00:07:21.480 we’ve already been, and that thing’s locked up tight. 00:07:21.480 --> 00:07:25.099 So the question is - where to next? 00:07:25.099 --> 00:07:26.310 Let me back up a bit. 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 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 00:07:36.979 --> 00:07:38.930 Forgotten Crossroads. 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. 00:07:44.680 --> 00:07:48.839 And the Mothwing Cloak reveals a tiny bit more for us to see still, 00:07:48.839 --> 00:07:50.950 letting us into the Fungal Wastes. 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 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. 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. 00:08:08.050 --> 00:08:09.840 We can even reach the Resting Grounds. 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. 00:08:15.590 --> 00:08:19.630 And this was definitely a deliberate choice by the game’s developers. 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: 00:08:25.520 --> 00:08:30.789 “we started with a basic, linear progression of item acquirement, with the idea that we 00:08:30.789 --> 00:08:36.320 would allow that progression to break apart, branch out and wind around itself as the world 00:08:36.320 --> 00:08:37.600 grew.” 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 00:08:42.490 --> 00:08:45.180 different things we can do all at once. 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. 00:08:51.260 --> 00:08:55.620 Or we could challenge the Mantis Lords, to open up access to Deepnest. 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 00:09:00.010 --> 00:09:01.490 Dive ability. 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 00:09:06.650 --> 00:09:11.030 bonkers jet-powered super dash, which opens up a lot more areas. 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 00:09:15.240 --> 00:09:17.270 double jumpin’ Monarch Wings. 00:09:17.270 --> 00:09:22.670 And also an area in the Royal Waterways, where - provided we hit that switch earlier - we 00:09:22.670 --> 00:09:26.800 can pick up Isma’s Tear, which lets us splash about in acid water. 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 00:09:32.680 --> 00:09:34.680 to lead you by the hand anymore. 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 00:09:39.250 --> 00:09:43.760 likely stumble upon something important, no matter which direction they take. 00:09:44.560 --> 00:09:49.860 Now, I should say that after entering the City of Tears, the developers ideally want 00:09:49.870 --> 00:09:53.150 you to go fight the Soul Master and get the Desolate Dive ability. 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 00:09:58.960 --> 00:10:03.750 smash through this floor with - you guessed it - the Desolate Dive. 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 00:10:09.120 --> 00:10:11.960 back out without finding the necessary goodies. 00:10:11.960 --> 00:10:15.960 But something you should know about the world design of Hallownest is that there’s always 00:10:15.960 --> 00:10:18.880 more than one way to go. 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 00:10:23.390 --> 00:10:24.390 Deepnest? 00:10:24.390 --> 00:10:30.400 Well, not necessarily - because if you find this semi-secret path in the Fungal Wastes, 00:10:30.400 --> 00:10:35.190 you can get to Deepnest from there and bypass that boss fight altogether - providing two 00:10:35.190 --> 00:10:37.950 routes to the same place. 00:10:37.950 --> 00:10:44.190 Also, you can get to east side of the City of Tears through the Royal Waterways. 00:10:44.190 --> 00:10:47.510 Or by taking a lift down from the Resting Grounds. 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 00:10:52.440 --> 00:10:53.580 city from there. 00:10:53.580 --> 00:10:56.370 Or you could even come in via the Kingdom’s Edge. 00:10:56.370 --> 00:11:01.430 That’s four routes to the same place. 00:11:01.430 --> 00:11:04.170 The Crystal Peak is another key area for this. 00:11:04.170 --> 00:11:09.130 For starters, there are multiple routes through this zone when getting to the Crystal Heart, 00:11:09.130 --> 00:11:13.930 allowing us to skip this Crystal Guardian boss fight altogether if we so wish. 00:11:13.930 --> 00:11:16.470 And there’s two routes into the mine itself. 00:11:16.470 --> 00:11:21.150 Before, I mentioned using the Desolate Dive to smash through this floor - but there’s 00:11:21.150 --> 00:11:26.820 also this pitch-black and seemingly inaccessible room in the Forgotten Crossroads. 00:11:26.820 --> 00:11:31.270 Come back with the Lumafly Lantern from the shop in Dirtmouth, though, and you’ll be 00:11:31.270 --> 00:11:34.510 able to see that there’s actually a gate in that room. 00:11:34.510 --> 00:11:37.670 Once unlocked, you’ll get access to the Crystal Peak. 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 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. 00:11:48.990 --> 00:11:54.930 The explorable area following the Mantis Claw actually looks like this, then. 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 00:12:01.150 --> 00:12:06.640 enter the Crystal Peak before getting the game’s very first power-up: the Vengeful Spirit. 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 00:12:12.720 --> 00:12:14.400 stage in the adventure. 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 00:12:19.620 --> 00:12:25.140 through a game that isn’t physically inaccessible to the player, but will turn most adventurers 00:12:25.140 --> 00:12:29.550 away at this early stage because they’re not yet strong enough, don’t have enough 00:12:29.550 --> 00:12:33.540 knowledge, or - in this case - don’t have enough cash. 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 00:12:39.360 --> 00:12:44.600 ways out of the city that don’t require the Desolate Dive ability. 00:12:44.600 --> 00:12:48.940 Providing multiple routes through the game certainly allows you to pick your own path 00:12:48.940 --> 00:12:54.440 during the adventure - which is perfect for second playthroughs, speed-runs, low percentage 00:12:54.440 --> 00:13:00.030 challenges - and most importantly of all - a feeling of legitimate agency. 00:13:00.030 --> 00:13:05.260 Because - similar to games like Dark Souls and the very first Metroid and Zelda games 00:13:05.260 --> 00:13:10.800 - the route through the game is dictated by your own curiosity and sense of adventure. 00:13:10.800 --> 00:13:16.280 But this is also a wonderful way to stop the player from getting stuck. 00:13:16.280 --> 00:13:20.010 Like: think about the Grapple Hook in Super Metroid. 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 00:13:25.700 --> 00:13:31.830 upgrades like the Wave Beam and Energy Tanks - so let’s call these optional locks. 00:13:31.830 --> 00:13:36.580 Only one Grapple Hook point actually allows further progress through the game, towards 00:13:36.580 --> 00:13:40.380 the Wrecked Ship - so we might call that a critical lock. 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 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 00:13:49.990 --> 00:13:51.420 stuck. 00:13:51.420 --> 00:13:54.830 In Hollow Knight, though, things are a bit different. 00:13:54.830 --> 00:13:59.810 Like, after getting the Mothwing Cloak from Hornet in Greenpath, there are loads of places 00:13:59.810 --> 00:14:01.230 to use it. 00:14:01.230 --> 00:14:03.430 Some lead to handy pick ups. 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 00:14:08.690 --> 00:14:13.230 in the bottom of the Forgotten Crossroads - and both lead you to the Fungal Wastes, 00:14:13.230 --> 00:14:16.540 and continue your adventure towards the Mantis Village. 00:14:16.540 --> 00:14:21.900 Having two critical locks instead of one dramatically increases your chances of making progress 00:14:21.900 --> 00:14:22.900 through the game. 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 00:14:28.100 --> 00:14:32.660 new power-up, or you just continue adventuring onwards and hope to stumble upon the next 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 00:14:37.100 --> 00:14:39.600 critical lock to find. 00:14:39.600 --> 00:14:44.900 This is a technique that’s used to great effect in the Resting Grounds. 00:14:44.910 --> 00:14:49.100 Some players will drop down into the area from this chasm in the Crystal Peak. 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 00:14:54.750 --> 00:14:57.700 Forgotten Crossroads over to the Resting Grounds. 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 00:15:01.940 --> 00:15:03.740 Grounds from underneath. 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 00:15:08.220 --> 00:15:09.520 Blue Lake. 00:15:09.520 --> 00:15:14.760 That’s four completely different paths to the same area - using all sorts of different 00:15:14.760 --> 00:15:16.750 abilities and routes. 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 00:15:21.300 --> 00:15:23.870 the pitch-black room I discussed earlier. 00:15:23.870 --> 00:15:25.400 But this is all for a reason. 00:15:25.400 --> 00:15:30.290 The Resting Grounds is actually the “grave in ash” that Hornet spoke of back in the 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 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 00:15:40.670 --> 00:15:46.520 sleeping sentries: Herrah the Beast, Lurien the Watcher, and Monomon the Teacher. 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 00:15:51.620 --> 00:15:55.200 that players will almost certainly get there eventually - but they don’t have to be led 00:15:55.200 --> 00:15:59.460 by the hand using signposts, directions, or map markers. 00:15:59.460 --> 00:16:03.840 Instead, you just get that wonderful feeling of “accidentally” stumbling upon something 00:16:03.840 --> 00:16:05.520 really important. 00:16:05.520 --> 00:16:09.780 Team Cherry says it tried to avoid using too much signposting because it would be “to 00:16:09.780 --> 00:16:14.500 the detriment of many players who, through initially being lost, find their own ways 00:16:14.500 --> 00:16:19.070 and begin to learn the layout of the kingdom on a much more personal level”. 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, 00:16:23.810 --> 00:16:29.390 the dreamer’s masks are drawn onto your map, marking the location of these characters. 00:16:29.390 --> 00:16:33.880 And normally, I’d be kind of against this sort of overt and gamey direction. 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 00:16:38.780 --> 00:16:42.900 gentle reminder of what your overall goal actually is. 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 00:16:47.770 --> 00:16:53.110 of black, and you almost certainly don’t have all the abilities to actually reach these 00:16:53.110 --> 00:16:54.800 dreamers yet. 00:16:54.800 --> 00:17:00.120 Herrah, for example, is hidden away in her den in the furthest corner of Deepnest. 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 00:17:05.520 --> 00:17:06.730 you’re doing. 00:17:06.730 --> 00:17:11.890 Lurien is high atop his spire, overlooking the City of Tears, and can’t be reached 00:17:11.890 --> 00:17:13.700 without the Monarch Wings. 00:17:13.700 --> 00:17:17.079 And you’ll need to defeat the Watcher Knights at his door. 00:17:17.079 --> 00:17:21.650 And Monomon’s kipping in her archive in the Fog Canyon, which is blocked off unless 00:17:21.650 --> 00:17:23.110 you have Isma’s Tear. 00:17:23.110 --> 00:17:28.850 You’re also going to have to dispatch the rather familiar looking boss, Uumuu. 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 00:17:33.810 --> 00:17:38.020 you anything about the many stops you’ll need to make along the way. 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, 00:17:43.730 --> 00:17:49.160 and that’s by allowing, encouraging, and even designing in tricks that allow you to 00:17:49.160 --> 00:17:53.130 get past obstacles without the necessary upgrades. 00:17:53.130 --> 00:17:56.780 Similar to tricks like the wall jump in Super Metroid. 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 00:18:01.900 --> 00:18:04.450 normally require the Mothwing Cloak. 00:18:04.450 --> 00:18:08.850 You can use the Crystal Heart to bypass bits that need Isma’s Tear. 00:18:08.850 --> 00:18:13.680 And most disruptive of all, you can bounce off background decorations and flying enemies 00:18:13.680 --> 00:18:19.240 with the nail to give you an extra lift - and render the Monarch Wings technically optional. 00:18:19.240 --> 00:18:24.100 Now that’s what I call exploiting a bug! 00:18:24.100 --> 00:18:28.490 Team Cherry told me that “we knew players would be able to sequence break using the 00:18:28.490 --> 00:18:33.270 nail bounce technique, and we absolutely wanted them to be able to do so. 00:18:33.270 --> 00:18:38.320 Watching players discover new routes is a huge joy for us and is a really empowering 00:18:38.320 --> 00:18:39.720 moment for a player.” 00:18:39.720 --> 00:18:44.641 “We even placed certain enemies and objects to allow some shortcuts” - though, they 00:18:44.641 --> 00:18:48.780 admit that “the Hollow Knight community has uncovered many more skips that we’d 00:18:48.780 --> 00:18:50.630 never considered ourselves”. 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 00:18:54.780 --> 00:19:01.080 yourself stuck if you managed to access it before acquiring the Monarch Wings. 00:19:01.080 --> 00:19:06.440 With all three dreamers awake, we can now finally enter the Black Egg Temple in the 00:19:06.440 --> 00:19:12.900 Forgotten Crossroads, fight the, ahem, final boss: Hollow Knight, and ahem, finish the game. 00:19:21.920 --> 00:19:28.660 Now while I normally like to use graphs to explain the structure of Metroidvania games 00:19:28.660 --> 00:19:33.010 on Boss Keys, it’s not really possible with Hollow Knight. 00:19:33.010 --> 00:19:37.760 So much stuff can be be skipped, or done in different ways, or reached from different 00:19:37.760 --> 00:19:43.270 directions, that creating a single, monolithic chart for the game’s structure is just not 00:19:43.270 --> 00:19:44.270 possible. 00:19:44.270 --> 00:19:48.250 I can show you one route through the game, though, which at least reveals the general 00:19:48.250 --> 00:19:49.570 shape of things. 00:19:49.570 --> 00:19:54.380 Essentially, a linear corridor of upgrades and boss fights, which dramatically fans out 00:19:54.380 --> 00:19:58.460 to a wide open matrix of non-linear possibilities. 00:19:58.460 --> 00:20:02.790 Including the ability to pick up game-changing abilities simultaneously - which is something 00:20:02.790 --> 00:20:07.730 you don’t usually see in Metroidvanias, because they often dictate a more set-in-stone 00:20:07.730 --> 00:20:11.000 sequence of getting one item after another. 00:20:11.000 --> 00:20:14.750 But Team Cherry says “we wanted players to feel like their journey through the kingdom 00:20:14.750 --> 00:20:20.300 was their own, and part of that was removing barriers or opening paths to allow acquiring 00:20:20.300 --> 00:20:23.059 items or powers ‘out of order’.” 00:20:23.059 --> 00:20:26.420 Of course, this graph has a million different permutations. 00:20:26.420 --> 00:20:31.650 You can skip the Mantis Lords and the Crystal Guardian with careful navigation of the map, 00:20:31.650 --> 00:20:36.730 get the Dream Nail much earlier in the game, reach the Crystal Heart without the Desolate 00:20:36.730 --> 00:20:39.400 Dive, and so on. 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. 00:20:45.420 --> 00:20:50.180 For starters, while I’ve already talked about the bosses that are standing between 00:20:50.190 --> 00:20:54.720 you and the game’s credits - there’s also bunch of completely hidden bosses that have 00:20:54.720 --> 00:20:57.500 no impact on the structure of the game whatsoever. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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 00:21:24.290 --> 00:21:25.290 Wings. 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. 00:21:31.500 --> 00:21:33.230 And there are more bosses beyond these. 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 00:21:38.610 --> 00:21:41.670 gauntlet, with a handful of unique bosses. 00:21:41.670 --> 00:21:46.410 And the seven Warrior Dreams, who are ghostly spirits that are are guarding their gravesites, 00:21:46.410 --> 00:21:50.490 and can be challenged to a dual after you acquire the Dream Nail. 00:21:50.490 --> 00:21:55.700 And dream variants of the Broken Vessel, False Knight, and Soul Master bosses - which are 00:21:55.700 --> 00:21:58.800 like super hard remixes of those fights. 00:21:58.800 --> 00:22:02.140 Two more come in the Hidden Dreams DLC, as well. 00:22:02.140 --> 00:22:07.320 Ultimately, it is quite incredible to stumble down some random hallway, and not just uncover 00:22:07.320 --> 00:22:12.340 a handy item or whatever: but an entirely unique boss fight that some players might 00:22:12.340 --> 00:22:13.660 never see. 00:22:13.660 --> 00:22:17.830 Team Cherry says it doesn’t worry too much about whether everyone will find the content 00:22:17.830 --> 00:22:18.830 it makes. 00:22:18.830 --> 00:22:24.140 “Just having it there, out of sight from most players makes the world more truly alive,” 00:22:24.140 --> 00:22:29.000 the developer explains - “much of it exists to convey a sense that there’s always something 00:22:29.000 --> 00:22:34.960 else waiting in the unexplored recesses of the world - fearsome enemies, strange characters, 00:22:34.960 --> 00:22:36.860 new areas, powerful items etc.” 00:22:36.860 --> 00:22:43.120 “And [it] creates a very special experience for those few that do make the discovery.” 00:22:43.120 --> 00:22:48.440 So depending on how you categorise things, and whether or not you include the Lifeblood 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 00:22:53.590 --> 00:22:57.370 you might only fight about 10 to 15 of them during your adventure. 00:22:57.370 --> 00:22:58.650 It’s crazy. 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: 00:23:04.870 --> 00:23:09.850 The Grimm Troupe and Godmaster, but they’re not relevant to the normal exploration of 00:23:09.850 --> 00:23:15.320 Hallownest, and so I won’t be discussing them in this video. 00:23:15.320 --> 00:23:19.400 What’s the point of going after these non-essential bosses, then? 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 00:23:23.430 --> 00:23:24.430 game, of course. 00:23:24.430 --> 00:23:27.270 Well, it’s all about 'dem goodies. 00:23:27.270 --> 00:23:33.400 The world of Hollow Knight is jam packed with stuff to find - sometimes hidden behind bosses, 00:23:33.400 --> 00:23:39.460 sometimes behind secret walls, sometimes behind those optional locks, sometimes as expensive 00:23:39.460 --> 00:23:43.120 items in shops, sometimes just found off the beaten track. 00:23:43.120 --> 00:23:49.340 You’ve got your usual upgrades: 16 Mask Shards act like the heart pieces in Zelda: 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. 00:23:53.810 --> 00:23:58.809 The 9 Vessel Fragments are kinda similar: find three of these and you’ll boost your 00:23:58.809 --> 00:24:02.570 available mana for powerful spells and recharging your health. 00:24:02.570 --> 00:24:08.760 There are also special moves, like the Great Slash, Dash Slash, and Cyclone Slash. 00:24:08.760 --> 00:24:12.270 Soul upgrades like the Abyss Shriek and Descending Dark. 00:24:12.270 --> 00:24:16.710 And you can boost the power of your Nail if you find Pale Ore. 00:24:16.710 --> 00:24:19.220 And then there are the charms. 00:24:19.220 --> 00:24:23.450 These collectable badges give you all sorts of handy abilities like quicker recovery on 00:24:23.450 --> 00:24:27.540 your spells, no knock-back when fighting enemies, and so on. 00:24:27.540 --> 00:24:32.410 Every one is uniquely interesting to equip and they even synergise for more abilities 00:24:32.410 --> 00:24:36.059 - but are limited to the number of charm notches you have. 00:24:36.059 --> 00:24:38.929 And yes, you can find charm notches as well. 00:24:38.929 --> 00:24:43.410 All of these items are well worth finding because Hollow Knight is definitely not an 00:24:43.410 --> 00:24:44.420 easy game. 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 00:24:48.660 --> 00:24:53.260 mechanic as Dark Souls, and some of the bosses just do not mess around. 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 00:24:58.220 --> 00:25:04.140 your nail’s strength, or a more powerful spell a genuinely worthwhile thing to find. 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 00:25:07.810 --> 00:25:12.880 you make any progress - the reward is usually useful (or, at least, interesting) enough 00:25:12.880 --> 00:25:15.960 to make your efforts feel worthwhile. 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 00:25:21.460 --> 00:25:26.170 Hollow Knight sadly discourages exploration through its design. 00:25:26.170 --> 00:25:30.940 When you die in, say, Zelda 1 - it’s easy to say “you know what? 00:25:30.940 --> 00:25:33.970 Screw that area, I’m going to look somewhere else”. 00:25:33.970 --> 00:25:38.340 When you die in Hollow Knight, though, you drop a shadowy clone of yourself - who hangs 00:25:38.340 --> 00:25:42.910 on to all your money and limits your mana amount to half. 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 00:25:48.610 --> 00:25:52.780 - regardless of the many other interesting places you could explore, 00:25:52.780 --> 00:25:55.960 or different routes you could take. 00:25:55.960 --> 00:26:00.551 These extra bosses and endless special items also make you feel like there’s something 00:26:00.551 --> 00:26:02.500 to find around every corner. 00:26:02.500 --> 00:26:06.040 No matter where you explore, there will be something to find. 00:26:06.100 --> 00:26:10.220 Sometimes it’s not even relevant to the gameplay at all - it’s just story stuff 00:26:10.220 --> 00:26:14.100 that adds to the rich and immersive atmosphere of the game. 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 00:26:19.730 --> 00:26:20.730 adventures. 00:26:20.730 --> 00:26:26.500 Bugs like Cloth, Quirrel, and Tiso, keep popping up all over the place - each commenting on 00:26:26.500 --> 00:26:28.650 their status and location. 00:26:28.650 --> 00:26:34.429 It makes the world feel alive, and less like the game revolves entirely around the player. 00:26:34.429 --> 00:26:38.550 These bugs are off doing their own thing, with our without you. 00:26:38.550 --> 00:26:42.190 One bug who definitely does need you, though, is Zote. 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 00:26:48.110 --> 00:26:50.470 up to you if you save him. 00:26:50.470 --> 00:26:54.520 Same goes for when he’s later found stuck in spider webs in Deepnest. 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 00:26:59.410 --> 00:27:02.340 Fools, and then in Bretta’s house in Dirtmouth. 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. 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 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 00:27:18.309 --> 00:27:19.559 full story. 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 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 00:27:29.470 --> 00:27:34.550 to carry a delicate flower across the map, and a personal favourite: the way a secret 00:27:34.550 --> 00:27:38.840 stag station opens up when you unlock all the other stations. 00:27:38.840 --> 00:27:43.520 All of these help flesh out Hollow Knight’s rich narrative, and add memorable character 00:27:43.520 --> 00:27:44.880 moments. 00:27:44.880 --> 00:27:47.780 The world itself tells stories, too. 00:27:47.799 --> 00:27:53.031 My favourite example of this is the Blue Lake, which is positioned above the City 00:27:53.031 --> 00:27:57.370 of Tears, and explains why the city is constantly raining. 00:27:57.370 --> 00:27:58.420 Amazing. 00:27:59.720 --> 00:28:04.140 Let’s talk about actually getting around Hallownest. 00:28:04.140 --> 00:28:09.470 So we’ve already discussed the multiple entry points between areas in the game. 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 00:28:15.470 --> 00:28:20.910 in Hallownest, through lifts, passageways, tram stations, and secret routes. 00:28:20.910 --> 00:28:25.860 Team Cherry says “It was always intentional to give players different ways to travel to 00:28:25.860 --> 00:28:29.100 and through (and sometimes around) areas.” 00:28:29.100 --> 00:28:32.960 Some of these were planned ahead of time, but others were added when the opportunity 00:28:32.960 --> 00:28:37.990 presented itself - “For instance, when Deepnest grew tall enough that the top of it was brushing 00:28:37.990 --> 00:28:41.910 against the bottom of the Queen’s Gardens, we added a connection between them.” 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 00:28:46.600 --> 00:28:50.520 it doesn’t cause players to get stuck somewhere, then we do it”. 00:28:50.520 --> 00:28:56.549 But when playing the game, many of these routes start out as only going one way. 00:28:56.549 --> 00:29:00.620 So it’s initially impossible to get from Dirtmouth to Crystal Peak. 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 00:29:05.610 --> 00:29:07.520 the town and the peak. 00:29:07.520 --> 00:29:12.640 It’s one of those wonderful “aha” moments you get in such elegantly designed wrap-around 00:29:12.640 --> 00:29:17.540 worlds, like taking that first elevator back to Firelink Shrine in Dark Souls. 00:29:17.540 --> 00:29:21.380 What this means is that Hollow Knight’s developers can initially restrict your access 00:29:21.380 --> 00:29:26.660 to certain places - to create a semblance of order and sequence to the game’s items. 00:29:26.660 --> 00:29:30.080 Like how you need the tram pass to get to Kingdom’s Edge. 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 00:29:35.550 --> 00:29:40.679 shaft in the City of Tears, the game’s world becomes far easier to navigate. 00:29:40.679 --> 00:29:43.360 Team Cherry does this in micro-form, too. 00:29:43.360 --> 00:29:48.350 Take the Forgotten Crossroads, where this locked gate blocks off easy access to the 00:29:48.350 --> 00:29:49.350 boss. 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 00:29:53.800 --> 00:29:55.730 challenge along the way. 00:29:55.730 --> 00:30:01.470 However, once you unlock that gate it becomes permanently open - giving you easy passageway 00:30:01.470 --> 00:30:03.120 through the crossroads. 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 00:30:07.460 --> 00:30:10.280 forced to tackle difficult challenges and set-ups. 00:30:10.280 --> 00:30:15.260 Things like tricky platforming sections, or areas with tough enemies, or brutal gauntlets 00:30:15.260 --> 00:30:16.650 against waves of foes. 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 00:30:20.700 --> 00:30:25.309 revisits to the zone - massively reducing the boring bits of backtracking. 00:30:25.309 --> 00:30:29.540 There’s only a few times where Team Cherry breaks this rule. 00:30:29.540 --> 00:30:34.920 At some point in the game, the Forgotten Crossroads gets taken over by these malicious orange 00:30:34.920 --> 00:30:40.240 bubbles and becomes The Infected Crossroads - complete with new, harder enemy types. 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 00:30:45.320 --> 00:30:46.320 during your adventure. 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 00:30:50.600 --> 00:30:54.360 with your newfound skills and abilities - a new source of challenge. 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 00:30:59.600 --> 00:31:01.660 to navigate. Grr. 00:31:01.660 --> 00:31:04.900 I should definitely also mention the Stag network. 00:31:04.900 --> 00:31:10.500 Similar to the fast travel points in Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, these stag stations 00:31:10.510 --> 00:31:15.610 are dotted around Hallownest and provide easy access between some of the zones. 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 00:31:20.760 --> 00:31:24.040 - it would be horribly tedious to get about without them. 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 00:31:29.950 --> 00:31:34.150 have stations, so there’s not enough to just let you teleport all over the place. 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. 00:31:39.880 --> 00:31:40.860 Oh, the map! 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 00:31:44.690 --> 00:31:46.549 features: its mapping system. 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. 00:31:50.720 --> 00:31:54.370 But then you’ll come across this cheeky chap: Cornifer. 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 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 00:32:06.290 --> 00:32:09.380 can explore and interesting areas you should check out. 00:32:09.380 --> 00:32:13.929 The map for the Forgotten Crossroads, for example, has a drawing of a big scary monster 00:32:13.929 --> 00:32:17.809 head, which points you in the direction of the game’s first boss. 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 00:32:22.669 --> 00:32:24.190 auto-mapping system. 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 00:32:28.880 --> 00:32:29.929 to rest. 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 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? 00:32:39.500 --> 00:32:40.960 A decision you can make. 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 00:32:46.210 --> 00:32:48.700 with exploring that world. 00:32:48.700 --> 00:32:53.310 Classic adventures like Zelda and Metroid didn’t have maps - likely due to technical 00:32:53.310 --> 00:32:58.890 limitations, but it created this real sense of mystery and unchartedness, and forced you 00:32:58.890 --> 00:33:02.640 to make your own map, either in your head or on paper. 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 00:33:08.440 --> 00:33:10.140 or Yharnham in your bonce. 00:33:10.140 --> 00:33:12.960 But a good, clear map is handy, too. 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 00:33:17.050 --> 00:33:22.340 have and have not yet explored, and it’s great for scooping up items and secrets. 00:33:22.340 --> 00:33:25.179 Hollow Knight gives you the best of both worlds. 00:33:25.179 --> 00:33:29.720 When you first enter a zone, your map is completely blank - you’re stumbling in 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. 00:33:34.280 --> 00:33:37.840 It makes new places feel scary and dangerous. 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 00:33:43.429 --> 00:33:46.970 go - and some hints at places you might want to check out. 00:33:46.970 --> 00:33:50.040 And then once you sit in a bench, you get the full map. 00:33:50.040 --> 00:33:54.130 You can see more clearly how the world is laid out, plan routes through Hallownest, 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. 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. 00:34:06.220 --> 00:34:11.520 Like many Metroidvanias before it, Hollow Knight has a bad ending - and a whole lot 00:34:11.520 --> 00:34:15.240 of gameplay to go if you want to get the true, good ending. 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 00:34:20.220 --> 00:34:23.739 for the second time, and enter the Cast-Off Shell. 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 00:34:28.609 --> 00:34:31.730 ol’ door and grant access to The Abyss. 00:34:31.730 --> 00:34:37.500 Inside is the Shade Cloak, which finally lets you bypass a recurring obstacle in the game: 00:34:37.500 --> 00:34:40.399 these black geysers of toxic goop. 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 00:34:45.129 --> 00:34:50.260 direction and wake Monomon without fighting the Dung Defender or getting Isma’s Tear. 00:34:50.260 --> 00:34:51.040 Cheeky! 00:34:51.040 --> 00:34:56.400 Anyway, one black geyser blocks a new boss fight: the Traitor Lord. 00:34:56.409 --> 00:35:00.320 And the prize for beating him is the White Fragment. Sweet. 00:35:00.320 --> 00:35:04.920 Now, there’s a character called Seer in the Resting Grounds who will give you goodies 00:35:04.920 --> 00:35:10.440 in exchange for Essence, which is gained by defeating the Warrior Dream bosses, the dream 00:35:10.440 --> 00:35:16.109 variant bosses, using the dream nail on ghosts, and collecting Essence spawned from whispering 00:35:16.109 --> 00:35:17.109 roots. 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. 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 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 00:35:34.729 --> 00:35:38.700 but, like, without the super sharp platforming controls of either game. 00:35:38.700 --> 00:35:41.109 God damn this bit is quite annoying. 00:35:41.109 --> 00:35:43.890 At the end though is another White Fragment. 00:35:43.890 --> 00:35:46.430 Stick them together and you’ve got the Kingsoul. 00:35:46.430 --> 00:35:50.410 And then return to the Abyss and you’ll turn that into the Void Heart. 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 00:35:54.910 --> 00:35:58.710 and fight the actual proper last boss: Radiance. 00:35:58.710 --> 00:36:01.160 Who is very hard and makes me want to cry. 00:36:01.160 --> 00:36:03.180 But I did it. After like a million goes. 00:36:09.160 --> 00:36:13.580 I’m quite amazed just how much content there is in this secretive end game. 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 00:36:17.849 --> 00:36:19.039 get to the proper ending. 00:36:19.039 --> 00:36:24.160 Testament, I guess, to how Team Cherry is happy to let players just miss huge swathes 00:36:24.160 --> 00:36:25.160 of content. 00:36:25.160 --> 00:36:28.289 Now, personally, this bit didn’t quite work for me. 00:36:28.289 --> 00:36:33.600 I felt finished and satisfied with the game after dispatching Hollow Knight for the first time. 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 00:36:38.020 --> 00:36:41.200 to carry on and seek out yet more secrets. 00:36:41.200 --> 00:36:43.680 Especially because I had no idea where to go. 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 00:36:47.819 --> 00:36:51.460 if you miss this jump in the Kingdom’s Edge, you won’t get very far. 00:36:51.460 --> 00:36:55.049 Basically, I just followed a walkthrough to get to the true final ending. 00:36:55.049 --> 00:36:56.160 Bit of a let down. 00:36:57.360 --> 00:36:59.520 So, that is Hollow Knight. 00:36:59.530 --> 00:37:03.910 The game helps lure you into the world of Hallownest with cryptic clues and the guiding 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 00:37:08.430 --> 00:37:10.039 explore as you wish. 00:37:10.039 --> 00:37:14.539 And by letting you access so much content simultaneously, and by providing multiple 00:37:14.539 --> 00:37:18.609 routes and methods to get through the game, Hollow Knight almost never falls into the 00:37:18.609 --> 00:37:23.220 trap that Metroidvanias can find themselves in: of having you scour the map for that one 00:37:23.220 --> 00:37:26.230 single place you need to go, to make any progress. 00:37:26.230 --> 00:37:30.420 Instead, Hollow Knight just lets you get on with exploring - with the promise that there 00:37:30.420 --> 00:37:33.059 will be something worth finding around every corner. 00:37:33.059 --> 00:37:38.160 A fascinating new zone, a bizarre one-off enemy, a chunk of cryptic world-building, 00:37:38.160 --> 00:37:44.309 a genuinely helpful item, a game-changing upgrade, or a terrifying boss monster. 00:37:44.309 --> 00:37:49.640 This is quite different to other Metroidvanias, mind you - it misses that puzzle-like aspect 00:37:49.640 --> 00:37:55.119 of slowly unravelling at a knot that binds the world together, one lock at a time. 00:37:55.119 --> 00:38:01.700 But the feeling this game gives is perhaps even better - just pure, unadulterated wonder and immersion 00:38:01.700 --> 00:38:04.529 in a world that never stops surprising. 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 00:38:09.019 --> 00:38:13.039 them explicitly one way, and reward them for choosing their own path.” 00:38:13.039 --> 00:38:17.800 “That approach is based on mutual trust and respect between us and the player. 00:38:17.800 --> 00:38:21.970 We know these are smart, dedicated people and we’re confident that, through observation, 00:38:21.970 --> 00:38:26.599 tenacity and skill, they’ll deal with the challenges the world presents and ultimately 00:38:26.599 --> 00:38:28.109 gain mastery over it. 00:38:28.109 --> 00:38:33.319 It’s that mastery, in exploration, in combat and in understanding the story of the world 00:38:33.319 --> 00:38:36.249 that we hope creates a memorable experience.” 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: 00:38:40.890 --> 00:38:45.340 Silksong, would be a massive understatement. 00:38:47.540 --> 00:38:50.920 And that is a wrap on Boss Keys. 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, 00:38:57.099 --> 00:39:02.170 Castlevania Symphony of the Night, Dark Souls, and now Hollow Knight. 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 00:39:07.190 --> 00:39:12.369 Metroid Prime 4, Hollow Knight Silksong, and Breath of the Wild 2 are released. 00:39:12.369 --> 00:39:17.380 And yes, I do still plan to do that wrap-up episode on Zelda dungeon design. 00:39:17.380 --> 00:39:18.640 One day, promise. 00:39:18.640 --> 00:39:23.520 But I always planned for Hollow Knight to be the final destination for this series. 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. 00:39:29.289 --> 00:39:31.470 So it’s good to go out on such a high. 00:39:31.470 --> 00:39:36.980 Thank you so much for watching, and cheers to my Patrons for supporting this show. 00:39:36.980 --> 00:39:39.189 I’ll see you next mission.