0:00:11.570,0:00:14.120
A beta of Hollow Knight just showed up online[br]recently.

0:00:14.120,0:00:17.010
Now I’m sure you’re wondering how this[br]happened.

0:00:17.010,0:00:19.800
Does somebody’s uncle work at Team Cherry?

0:00:19.800,0:00:22.000
Did a hacker break into their servers?

0:00:22.000,0:00:27.599
Well no, one of Team Cherry’s playtesters,[br]a prolific and mysterious figure simply known

0:00:27.599,0:00:32.599
as Graig, posted the beta on a few discord[br]servers, with Team Cherry’s permission.

0:00:32.599,0:00:37.210
So Team Cherry just decided to let anyone[br]access this beta, which honestly is pretty

0:00:37.210,0:00:38.489
cool.

0:00:38.489,0:00:42.300
This beta in particular was provided to Kickstarter[br]backers in 2015.

0:00:42.300,0:00:47.100
And it was also available in a Humble Bundle[br]sale that took place a few weeks before the

0:00:47.100,0:00:51.289
game officially launched, basically acting[br]as a sort of demo.

0:00:51.289,0:00:53.640
So this isn’t the biggest discovery in the[br]world.

0:00:53.640,0:00:56.550
No, there aren’t any unused bosses here.

0:00:56.550,0:00:59.609
And no, your long lost father isn’t here[br]either.

0:00:59.609,0:01:03.800
But I think it would be fun to run through[br]the beta and discuss what it’s like to play,

0:01:03.800,0:01:07.490
and what little differences there are between[br]this and the final game.

0:01:07.490,0:01:11.710
The beta doesn’t have the Hallownest poem[br]or the cutscene in the Black Egg.

0:01:11.710,0:01:16.180
Instead we just get this simple introduction[br]cutscene of the Knight arriving in Hallownest.

0:01:16.180,0:01:20.100
This cutscene has always stood out to me due[br]to how the Knight’s eyes are stylized.

0:01:20.100,0:01:24.720
It would make sense that this cutscene was[br]created very early in the game’s development.

0:01:24.720,0:01:28.990
You can see how Ari Gibson’s art style for[br]Hollow Knight has slightly changed over the

0:01:28.990,0:01:30.280
years.

0:01:30.280,0:01:34.509
The first major difference you can see in[br]the beta is that the Knight has four masks

0:01:34.509,0:01:36.060
instead of five.

0:01:36.060,0:01:39.900
Considering how difficult Hollow Knight can[br]be for new players, adding more health was

0:01:39.900,0:01:42.050
probably a good idea.

0:01:42.050,0:01:45.950
We can see from some of the earliest footage[br]that there were originally got to be three

0:01:45.950,0:01:48.909
masks, which would have just been ridiculous.

0:01:48.909,0:01:53.060
Another notable difference is that the Knight’s[br]nail is much shorter, which makes it pretty

0:01:53.060,0:01:59.090
difficult to fight enemies, but at the same[br]time, the swing speed seems a bit faster.

0:01:59.090,0:02:03.630
I can’t put my finger on it, but I think[br]the controls at this point lack a tolerance

0:02:03.630,0:02:08.619
or grace period, which can make timing your[br]nail swings a bit awkward.

0:02:08.619,0:02:12.070
Also it takes way more hits to get enough[br]soul to focus in the beta.

0:02:12.070,0:02:13.700
But don’t worry.

0:02:13.700,0:02:18.150
Team Cherry gave the Knight another ability[br]to help make up for the extra difficulty.

0:02:18.150,0:02:21.190
From the start of the game, the Knight has[br]a back dash ability.

0:02:21.190,0:02:24.100
I wouldn’t call it the most elegant move.

0:02:24.100,0:02:28.420
It’s kind of awkward to use and I never[br]felt like using it while playing.

0:02:28.420,0:02:32.140
Even against False Knight it really didn’t[br]feel very reliable.

0:02:32.140,0:02:37.070
If you dash twice in succession, you can see[br]that the knight does this weird spin maneuver

0:02:37.070,0:02:39.770
like it’s a fucking anime character.

0:02:39.770,0:02:44.010
At first I thought this was just a pointless[br]visual effect, but if you back dash three

0:02:44.010,0:02:48.290
times in a row successfully, the third dash[br]actually goes back a bit further than the

0:02:48.290,0:02:49.580
other two.

0:02:49.580,0:02:53.949
I guess this could be useful for speedrunning,[br]sort of like what they do in Symphony of the

0:02:53.949,0:02:58.530
Night, but the timing is really tricky so[br]honestly it’s just better to walk like a

0:02:58.530,0:02:59.910
fucking normie.

0:02:59.910,0:03:04.030
King’s Pass is pretty much identical to[br]what it is in the final game right down to

0:03:04.030,0:03:06.870
the dialogue on the lore tablets.

0:03:06.870,0:03:12.260
There is a spike pit in the first hallway,[br]as opposed to just being a weird, empty pit.

0:03:12.260,0:03:15.250
Also the Fury of the Fallen charm is not there.

0:03:15.250,0:03:17.200
Instead it’s just a chest full of Geo.

0:03:17.200,0:03:22.720
In fact, there are no charms at all in this[br]build, or any sort of inventory menu either.

0:03:22.720,0:03:26.780
There is a map for the Forgotten Crossroads[br]however, except it’s just a static image

0:03:26.780,0:03:29.209
with no interactable elements.

0:03:29.209,0:03:33.150
There’s just some cool attention to detail[br]that I really like here.

0:03:33.150,0:03:37.690
However, the functionally of the map in the[br]final game probably wouldn’t have been possible

0:03:37.690,0:03:41.090
if Team Cherry made the other maps like this[br]one.

0:03:41.090,0:03:44.220
Dirtmouth is pretty similar to what we see[br]in the final game as well.

0:03:44.220,0:03:46.750
Jiji’s cave is gone though.

0:03:46.750,0:03:50.229
And there is a different sign in front of[br]Cornifer’s shop.

0:03:50.229,0:03:53.660
The biggest change here is related to Elderbug’s[br]dialogue.

0:03:53.660,0:03:58.350
Out of all the character dialogue in the beta,[br]Elderbug’s is probably the most varied.

0:03:58.350,0:04:04.350
A lot of it is slight rewordings of different[br]things, like he says “heh heh” sometimes

0:04:04.350,0:04:06.100
which is just kinda odd.

0:04:06.100,0:04:10.190
But Elderbug also has additional dialogue[br]in the beta that doesn’t appear in the final

0:04:10.190,0:04:11.380
game.

0:04:11.380,0:04:15.840
He mentions that Dirtmouth was actually founded[br]as a result of more and more bugs wanting

0:04:15.840,0:04:19.150
to sneak back into Hallownest after it was[br]sealed up.

0:04:19.150,0:04:21.630
Now this doesn’t make any goddamn sense.

0:04:21.630,0:04:26.910
Why would there be a stag station if the town[br]was built after the kingdom was sealed up.

0:04:26.910,0:04:29.230
Even the Last Stag talks about this.

0:04:29.230,0:04:32.630
I guess Elderbug is getting senile in his[br]old age.

0:04:32.630,0:04:36.840
Elderbug also has some additional dialogue[br]about a girl who left Dirtmouth to explore

0:04:36.840,0:04:37.840
Hallownest.

0:04:37.840,0:04:42.670
Apparently she had lost both her mother and[br]her brother to the ruins, so Elderbug asked

0:04:42.670,0:04:44.810
her why she was going.

0:04:44.810,0:04:49.440
She mentioned that she was dreaming of a stone[br]egg, and that she could hear a familiar voice

0:04:49.440,0:04:51.360
singing inside of it.

0:04:51.360,0:04:55.200
This is obviously referring to the Black Egg[br]where the Radiance was imprisoned.

0:04:55.200,0:04:57.180
But what’s the deal with the singing?

0:04:57.180,0:05:01.270
In the Quirrel comic, he sort of dreams about[br]the Black Egg, but it’s more about the Hollow

0:05:01.270,0:05:02.270
Knight specifically.

0:05:02.270,0:05:04.310
And there’s no singing.

0:05:04.310,0:05:07.480
In the final game, singing is mentioned a[br]lot in the Crystal Peak.

0:05:07.480,0:05:11.870
And you could maybe argue that the Radiance[br]has some kind of influence there.

0:05:11.870,0:05:17.380
A prime example would be how Myla mentions[br]the crystals singing and then she gets infected.

0:05:17.380,0:05:21.650
But the Radiance’s infection is more about[br]dreams and light than about singing.

0:05:21.650,0:05:24.660
So I’m not surprised this dialogue wasn’t[br]in the final game.

0:05:24.660,0:05:28.470
In fact, this dialogue doesn’t even trigger[br]in the beta.

0:05:28.470,0:05:31.900
It appears in the game files of the beta,[br]but I can’t get it to show up in the beta

0:05:31.900,0:05:33.310
itself.

0:05:33.310,0:05:35.620
But that’s enough Elder Bug discussion for[br]one lifetime.

0:05:35.620,0:05:39.140
Let’s dive down into the Forgotten Crossroads.

0:05:39.140,0:05:41.920
There are a few differences here at the Black[br]Egg Temple.

0:05:41.920,0:05:44.800
Notably, all three Dreamer masks are identical.

0:05:44.800,0:05:48.480
Does this mean there are three Monomon’s[br]trapped in there?

0:05:48.480,0:05:49.710
Well no.

0:05:49.710,0:05:53.010
This is because the Dreamers were originally[br]designed to look identical.

0:05:53.010,0:05:57.860
In fact, you can see a spot in the final game[br]where the original mask designs are still

0:05:57.860,0:05:58.860
used.

0:05:58.860,0:06:03.780
Quirrel is also here, and he sports almost[br]identical dialogue as the final game.

0:06:03.780,0:06:09.400
Although he has one additional line of dialogue[br]here that ultimately gets used in Greenpath.

0:06:09.400,0:06:13.340
Heading back to the left and down, we can[br]see that the layout of Forgotten Crossroads

0:06:13.340,0:06:16.120
in the beta is pretty similar to the final[br]game.

0:06:16.120,0:06:22.060
We’ve got the Grufather, the Balder blocking[br]the road to Greenpath, the Brooding Mawlek

0:06:22.060,0:06:27.330
area: not much here is different, the biggest[br]exception being the path to the Mawlek is

0:06:27.330,0:06:29.490
slightly different.

0:06:29.490,0:06:33.550
Cornifer is in the same spot, but he lacks[br]the papers laying about everywhere, and his

0:06:33.550,0:06:34.730
familiar hum.

0:06:34.730,0:06:38.870
He also sounds a little less confident in[br]the beta dialogue, and he doesn’t mention

0:06:38.870,0:06:40.730
Iselda at all.

0:06:40.730,0:06:43.870
Going left from here we can see what acid[br]used to look like in the beta.

0:06:43.870,0:06:47.000
I have to say it looks kind of cool.

0:06:47.000,0:06:51.280
Going back right, we can see that the Vengefly[br]King encounter with Zote was originally located

0:06:51.280,0:06:52.770
in the Crossroads.

0:06:52.770,0:06:56.240
That would explain why Greenpath suddenly[br]looks like the Crossroads again when we find

0:06:56.240,0:06:57.280
Zote there.

0:06:57.280,0:07:00.650
Team Cherry just grabbed all the stuff in[br]this room and moved it over there thinking

0:07:00.650,0:07:02.070
no one would notice.

0:07:02.070,0:07:04.910
Zote’s dialogue is pretty much the same.

0:07:04.910,0:07:09.280
Still blathering on about his backstory like[br]a fucking anime character.

0:07:09.280,0:07:12.860
Going through the rest of the Crossroads is[br]pretty much the same at this point.

0:07:12.860,0:07:17.670
Gruz Mother is still there, although she has[br]a ribcage for some reason.

0:07:17.670,0:07:20.280
A similar ribcage can be found in Mato’s[br]hut.

0:07:20.280,0:07:24.170
Salubra’s hut is there but you can’t enter[br]it.

0:07:24.170,0:07:25.680
You can rescue Sly.

0:07:25.680,0:07:28.930
Although he doesn’t offer you anything to[br]purchase at his shop.

0:07:28.930,0:07:33.590
Myla is the same, although there is no elevator[br]shaft here like there is in the final game.

0:07:33.590,0:07:36.700
And the crystals are a more dull grey color.

0:07:36.700,0:07:39.540
There are some hoppers in the beta Crossroads.

0:07:39.540,0:07:43.200
Looking at even older builds we can see that[br]there was even a giant hopper fight in the

0:07:43.200,0:07:46.340
location where you originally fight the False[br]Knight.

0:07:46.340,0:07:50.669
False Knight is here in this beta, although[br]I think his attacks are a bit faster.

0:07:50.669,0:07:54.560
The first encounter with the Snail Shaman[br]is pretty similar, although the Ancestral

0:07:54.560,0:07:57.450
Mound is called the Shrine of Souls.

0:07:57.450,0:08:02.260
Also Vengeful Spirit costs half your soul[br]meter as opposed to just a third, which is

0:08:02.260,0:08:03.260
just awful.

0:08:03.260,0:08:06.610
Did I mention the beta is a bit more difficult?

0:08:06.610,0:08:08.030
Because it is.

0:08:08.030,0:08:12.070
Speaking of which, the shade in the beta looks[br]quite a bit different than the final game.

0:08:12.070,0:08:18.410
It is just a dark blue tone of the Knight,[br]as opposed to some kind of void creature.

0:08:18.410,0:08:23.190
And when you defeat it, instead of void being[br]absorbed back into the Knight, it’s Geo.

0:08:23.190,0:08:27.780
I think it’s better that the final game[br]removes the geo effect, since it kinda just

0:08:27.780,0:08:30.830
raises questions about where this Geo is stored[br]exactly.

0:08:30.830,0:08:35.760
I mean, we all know it’s in the Knight’s[br]ass, but it’s best not to raise attention

0:08:35.760,0:08:37.329
to it, you know?

0:08:37.329,0:08:38.990
You know what else is dumb?

0:08:38.990,0:08:41.050
These weird husk statues.

0:08:41.050,0:08:42.919
What even are these things?

0:08:42.919,0:08:47.870
Ellina mentions them in the Wanderer’s Journal,[br]but her dialogue can easily be summed up as

0:08:47.870,0:08:49.420
“What the fuck am I a looking at?”.

0:08:49.420,0:08:53.990
I feel like Team Cherry justed added them[br]as decoration but in reality they don’t

0:08:53.990,0:08:55.200
serve any purpose.

0:08:55.200,0:08:59.570
Anyway, in the demo, we see a lot of this[br]particular statue.

0:08:59.570,0:09:04.100
I thought this guy was removed from the final[br]game, but you can still see him in the background

0:09:04.100,0:09:06.510
of a few rooms.

0:09:06.510,0:09:10.460
Another tiny change Team Cherry made was to[br]the crawlid enemy.

0:09:10.460,0:09:14.490
Its spikes are less defined in this version[br]versus the final release.

0:09:14.490,0:09:19.380
We can also see that there were actually 3[br]designs of this bug, each one getting progressively

0:09:19.380,0:09:20.840
more horny.

0:09:20.840,0:09:25.140
Team Cherry mentioned in a blog post that[br]people would try to jump on the crawlid, thinking

0:09:25.140,0:09:27.670
it could be killed like a Goomba.

0:09:27.670,0:09:31.830
Watching people play their game helped them[br]realize that the enemy needed to be more spiky

0:09:31.830,0:09:34.620
in order to teach players not to jump on them.

0:09:34.620,0:09:39.480
With the Vengeful Spirit spell, you can make[br]your way to Greenpath, however the game just

0:09:39.480,0:09:41.750
turns you around and tells you the demo is[br]over.

0:09:41.750,0:09:45.320
But of course, that is not enough for me to[br]be satisfied.

0:09:45.320,0:09:49.190
As I’m sure you’ve guessed, dataminers[br]have already started pulling this beta apart

0:09:49.190,0:09:51.630
for additional nuggets of info.

0:09:51.630,0:09:55.770
If you’ve watched my videos before, you[br]know that I use mods to get footage of Hollow

0:09:55.770,0:10:00.510
Knight that is either zoomed out or has the[br]HUD removed or has the Knight removed.

0:10:00.510,0:10:06.290
I can do this using a debug mod created by[br]SeanPR, KDT and 56.

0:10:06.290,0:10:12.580
And 56 even created a mod for this beta so[br]we can access new areas.

0:10:12.580,0:10:16.240
So I just wanted to give a huge thanks to[br]them and everyone who has contributed to the

0:10:16.240,0:10:18.149
Hollow Knight modding community.

0:10:18.149,0:10:22.260
Unfortunately, there isn’t much new stuff[br]to find this way.

0:10:22.260,0:10:27.000
The beta itself doesn’t contain any rooms[br]from Greenpath, or the Wastes or anything

0:10:27.000,0:10:28.760
like that.

0:10:28.760,0:10:33.700
We can see this entrance to the Fog Canyon,[br]as well as the first room of the Crystal Peak

0:10:33.700,0:10:35.230
but not much else.

0:10:35.230,0:10:37.080
Also, we can find Iselda.

0:10:37.080,0:10:40.230
There’s no animation for her though.

0:10:40.230,0:10:44.140
She just stands there like a fucking person[br]who stands a lot.

0:10:44.140,0:10:49.200
It turns out the forward dash is also in the[br]beta’s code, although it can’t be acquired

0:10:49.200,0:10:50.590
naturally.

0:10:50.590,0:10:55.100
There are some parts of the beta that require[br]the dash and double jump, but can be completed

0:10:55.100,0:10:57.110
just by fly pogoing.

0:10:57.110,0:11:01.280
Utilizing this technique actually makes it[br]possible to collect four mask shards and get

0:11:01.280,0:11:02.980
the coveted fifth mask!

0:11:10.460,0:11:15.020
Moving on, there is one unused music file[br]in the game’s code.

0:11:15.020,0:11:17.860
It appears to be an old track from the Forgotten[br]Crossroads.

0:11:32.320,0:11:34.899
In the beta, Larkin’s music has already[br]been implemented.

0:11:34.899,0:11:39.649
I don’t know who composed this old music[br]for the Crossroads, but it sounds like stock

0:11:39.649,0:11:41.839
music of some kind.

0:11:41.839,0:11:46.540
In an even earlier build of the game that[br]William and Ari played during the Kickstarter,

0:11:46.540,0:11:48.780
you can hear some different stock music.

0:11:56.180,0:11:58.860
We’ve actually been able to identify this[br]song.

0:11:58.860,0:12:02.920
It’s called Our Story Begins by Kevin MacLeod.

0:12:02.920,0:12:07.980
Now if you spend a good deal of time on YouTube,[br]you have probably heard of Kevin MacLeod.

0:12:07.980,0:12:10.240
He makes royalty free music.

0:12:10.240,0:12:16.140
Like if you’ve watched any DIY or vlogger[br]video ever, you’ve probably heard him.

0:12:16.140,0:12:18.920
Some of my favorite tracks by him include[br]Scheming Weasel,

0:12:23.440,0:12:24.520
Sneaky Snitch,

0:12:29.100,0:12:32.900
and of course, my personal favorite, Monkeys Spinning Monkeys.

0:12:38.180,0:12:44.040
I can hardly think of another person who has[br]such a reach on this platform as Kevin MacLeod.

0:12:44.050,0:12:50.620
Truly Kevin MacLeod is an unsung hero of YouTube,[br]and as it turns out, an unsung hero of Hollow

0:12:50.620,0:12:52.020
Knight.

0:12:52.020,0:12:53.510
Thank you for everything Kevin.

0:12:53.510,0:12:56.180
You truly are an inspiration to us all.

0:12:59.920,0:13:01.600
Some of the sound effects are different.

0:13:01.600,0:13:04.420
The whispering of the lore tablets in the[br]King’s Pass are a bit different.

0:13:13.720,0:13:17.400
The Knight also makes this annoying glass[br]breaking sound when it gets hit.

0:13:21.320,0:13:24.300
There are also some additional Quirrel voice[br]lines in the game files.

0:13:31.140,0:13:35.900
Sly has a completely different voice actor[br]and it almost makes the beta unplayable.

0:13:45.540,0:13:49.420
In terms of art, there are some really early[br]drawings of the buildings found in the City

0:13:49.430,0:13:50.430
of Tears.

0:13:50.430,0:13:53.660
I love how randomly all these windows are[br]placed.

0:13:53.660,0:13:56.370
It’s quite the architectural statement.

0:13:56.370,0:14:01.460
There also appears to be sprites for an unused[br]sleeping animation for the Last Stag.

0:14:01.460,0:14:07.920
Two users known as Mebi and Nes were able[br]to translate these images into an actual animation.

0:14:07.920,0:14:12.790
This is really cool to see, and I wonder how[br]Team Cherry was planning on using these sprites.

0:14:12.790,0:14:16.830
Maybe the stag would be asleep if you came[br]back to the same station you left him at.

0:14:16.830,0:14:21.050
It really is a shame this animation didn’t[br]make it into the final game.

0:14:21.050,0:14:26.510
Although this sprite was reused and modified[br]to be a stag corpse in the Stag Nest.

0:14:26.510,0:14:28.290
So that’s nice.

0:14:28.290,0:14:32.020
The map shown when talking to the Last Stag[br]is different as well.

0:14:32.020,0:14:36.850
This random section at the bottom left corner[br]of the map is blacked out in the beta.

0:14:36.850,0:14:38.790
Kinda random but okay.

0:14:38.790,0:14:43.210
If we look at the ingame files, we can actually[br]see all the different parts of the map are

0:14:43.210,0:14:45.290
already in the game.

0:14:45.290,0:14:50.019
A big thanks to Mola for stitching these together[br]so we can see the full map, as well as creating

0:14:50.019,0:14:53.959
a color coated version to make out each section[br]of the map more clearly.

0:14:53.959,0:14:59.090
I never noticed before that some of the symbols[br]on the map actually sort of resemble the areas

0:14:59.090,0:15:00.540
themselves.

0:15:00.540,0:15:04.370
Like Greenpath has with these pillars, that[br]sort of look like these things.

0:15:04.370,0:15:09.480
The City of Tears also has these tall buildings[br]on display, and what might be the Hollow Knight

0:15:09.480,0:15:10.480
fountain.

0:15:10.480,0:15:13.300
The Fungal Wastes also have mushrooms depicted[br]on the map.

0:15:13.300,0:15:16.300
We can see that the final map is a bit wider.

0:15:16.300,0:15:19.540
Also the Stag Nest and City Storeroom stations[br]were added.

0:15:19.540,0:15:24.160
While the Forest of Bones was replaced with[br]Deepnest, it still keeps the same symbols.

0:15:24.160,0:15:29.320
And the Palace Grounds station was changed[br]to be less descript in the final version,

0:15:29.320,0:15:32.410
whereas the beta version clearly invokes the[br]Pale King.

0:15:32.410,0:15:37.370
Perhaps because Team Cherry wanted the hidden[br]station to be more secretive.

0:15:37.370,0:15:40.410
And that’s pretty much everything unique[br]about this demo.

0:15:40.410,0:15:44.870
There might be a few other details we could[br]discuss, but frankly I think I’ve covered

0:15:44.870,0:15:46.959
most everything remotely interesting.

0:15:46.959,0:15:51.700
Honestly, I’m just happy that Team Cherry[br]was willing to release this demo to the public.

0:15:51.700,0:15:56.149
It’s great to be able to preserve this chunk[br]of Hollow Knight history.

0:15:56.149,0:15:59.970
Now if only we could convince them to release[br]the builds they made before they switched

0:15:59.970,0:16:01.510
to Unity.

0:16:01.510,0:16:05.740
You know the builds with the snail village[br]and the giant spiders and the swimming.

0:16:05.740,0:16:10.959
But that’s probably never going to happen.

0:16:10.959,0:16:13.829
For now, I should just set my hopes way lower.

0:16:13.829,0:16:18.529
Like maybe hoping that Team Cherry will actually[br]release a high quality version of this image.

0:16:18.529,0:16:23.300
It appears to be album art for the Pale Court[br]piece that Christopher Larkin wrote.

0:16:23.300,0:16:27.860
That song was ultimately released on the Gods[br]and Nightmares album, so I guess the album

0:16:27.860,0:16:30.810
this art was made for never released.

0:16:30.810,0:16:34.790
We have high quality versions of this art[br]already, but none where the Pale King’s

0:16:34.790,0:16:37.140
crown is this visible.

0:16:37.140,0:16:41.269
Honestly it drives me up a wall that we don’t[br]have this image in high quality.

0:16:41.269,0:16:42.840
I can barely sleep at night.

0:16:42.840,0:16:45.440
I’ve even tried recreating the image myself.

0:16:45.440,0:16:48.899
I can’t put my finger on it, but it just[br]doesn’t look right.

0:16:48.900,0:16:53.320
Honestly, I think I’ll have to take a break[br]from video production until I can figure this out