THE DESTINATION / Metroidvania
Hollow Knight
Hallownest is compelling because its beauty is navigable: a view, a shortcut and a difficult encounter often describe the same place. Hollow Knight rewards explorers who are willing to build their own understanding of that geography.
TRAVEL NOTES
Game facts
- Developer
- Team Cherry
- Publisher
- Team Cherry
- Released
- 24 February 2017
- Platforms
- Windows · macOS · Linux (Steam edition)
- Model
- Paid game
- PEGI
- 7 — Nintendo Switch edition; not a separate PC classification
- Players
- Single-player
- Length
- Long
- Difficulty
- 4 / 5 · Demanding
- Steam Deck
- Verified
PEGI source ↗ · Steam Deck status source ↗
Edition: Base game
The score, explained
The interest and responsiveness of the core decisions and actions.
How progression, exploration and goals fit together.
The coherence of the visual, musical and narrative presentation.
How clearly the game explains its rules and offers useful ways to engage.
The depth of optional goals, alternative approaches and reasons to return.
The First Hours
The descent into Hallownest establishes a world that does not explain itself all at once. Forgotten Crossroads offers passages, locked routes and unfamiliar inhabitants before you have a complete picture of how they connect. Finding a map is helpful, but reading the landscape remains important: a shaft, station or conspicuous barrier can suggest a route worth remembering. Nail combat and the choice between spending Soul on healing or spells make even an exploratory trip require attention. The opening's appeal is therefore geographical as well as mechanical. You are learning what kind of place this is, which paths seem manageable and where you might return after becoming more capable. Reaching Greenpath changes the atmosphere dramatically while preserving that same invitation to investigate the spaces beyond the obvious route.
Why It Works
The world's strongest achievement is continuity. Regions differ in colour, architecture, sound and inhabitants, yet shortcuts make them feel connected rather than arranged as separate themed stages. A movement upgrade changes that continuity in practical ways. A ledge once treated as a boundary can become an entrance, and an old room can acquire a new purpose without needing to be rebuilt. Encounters contribute to the identity of a place too, asking you to adapt to its inhabitants rather than simply admire the backdrop. Hollow Knight consequently makes progress visible in two forms: the character becomes more capable, and your mental map becomes more useful. The combination gives a newly opened connection unusual satisfaction because it resolves an actual relationship between places you already recognise.
Where It Stumbles
That commitment to exploration comes with friction. A player can understand several possible destinations without knowing which one offers the most promising next step, and returning through familiar rooms can make an uncertain route feel longer. Defeat may add another practical concern when recovering what was lost becomes the immediate priority. The world is often inviting enough to justify this effort, but its quieter passages do not always provide fresh information on every return trip. Demanding encounters can also hold an interesting region beyond reach until your execution improves. Someone attracted mainly by the scenery should therefore consider the relationship between discovery and difficulty. The landscapes are not a separate sightseeing mode; they belong to a game that repeatedly asks you to earn safer passage through them.
Who Should Play It
Hollow Knight is an excellent destination for someone who enjoys becoming familiar with an unfamiliar place. It suits players who remember an inaccessible ledge, notice that a new movement ability might reach it and choose a detour without needing a fresh objective marker. The illustrated world makes those connections pleasurable to uncover, but the recommendation assumes an appetite for combat and occasional uncertainty. A more directed platform adventure will serve you better if the main goal is continuous forward momentum through attractive scenery. Here, the journey includes getting lost, reconsidering a route and recognising where two distant areas meet. Those are not incidental delays around the central experience. They are a large part of what makes Hallownest feel like somewhere worth learning rather than merely somewhere worth looking at.
The verdict
Hallownest is compelling because its beauty is navigable: a view, a shortcut and a difficult encounter often describe the same place. Hollow Knight rewards explorers who are willing to build their own understanding of that geography.
Reasons to play
- Distinct regions become parts of a convincing connected world
- Movement upgrades make familiar scenery useful again
- Sound and architecture give discoveries a strong identity
Reasons to think twice
- Losing the route can interrupt the sense of discovery
- Returning to an encounter may involve familiar ground
See the game
Assist & accessibility
Explore the available settings and control options on the official game page before choosing your setup.
Parents’ guide
Players: Single-player. No in-game purchase marker in the checked Steam listing. Separate downloadable content may be sold.
Age classification: 7. Nintendo Switch edition; not a separate PC classification
A useful starting tip
Mark an unexplored connection before leaving an area; a movement ability can make that remembered route more valuable than another aimless circuit.
A different direction
Compare this with Ori and the Blind Forest: Definitive Edition: Ori’s Definitive Edition suits players who want expressive movement, connected exploration and a clearly defined story. The connected map and movement abilities give its illustrated landscapes a strong sense of purpose.
Official sources
Reviewed: November 2026
You might also like
TUNICRead review →
Ori and the Will of the WispsRead review →
Chicory: A Colorful TaleRead review →