Gameplay
☐ Hands couldn't stay away from the mouse & keyboard
☑ Better than I had expected
☐ Average
☐ Underwhelming

Music
☑ Fantastic sounds and/ or tracks
☐ Impressive
☐ Average
☐ Better to just put on music.

PC Required
☐ A potato will suffice!
☑ Entry Level Gaming PC
☐ Mid to High level Gaming PC

Story
☐ Barely explained / Minimal
☑ Confusing and difficult to decipher
☐ Better than I expected
☐ Really sucks you into the lore!

Difficulty
☐ Game Journalist friendly
☐ A fair challenge/ satisfyingly balanced
☐ Difficult
☑ RIP Keyboard and mouse (Some of the bosses in this game were so tough that I had to stop playing before I broke something!)

Replayability
☐ One and done
☑ Justifies a replay for any missing content/ collectibles. (This game is quite long if going for side activities/ bosses and collectibles. I honestly wouldn't encourage a second playthrough unless you are a speedrunner, masochist or just willing to play through hours and hours to get a slightly different ending.)
☐ Multiple playthroughs will not burn you out!

Appropriate Pricing
☐ N/A
☑ Worth the full price! (I would confidently say that there is at least 30 Hours of content here)
☐ Wait for a sale
☐ Don't waste your hard earned cash!

Bugs
☑ Very polished! (Little to no bugs encountered)
☐ Minor bugs, tolerable
☐ Bugs hinder immersion and overall enjoyment
☐ Ultimately a broken experience

Summary:
A very immersive Metroidvania with a fantastic setting, musical score, atmosphere, art style and exploration. However this is all let down a bit by excessive backtracking, a confuscating plot, a few bad boss fights, and needlessly grindy challenges.
I still recommend this game, but dont expect to understand the mechanics and combat for at least 12+ hours of gameplay. This game presents new mechanics and abilities at a very slow pace.
Definetely a game for the masochists and die hard achievement hunters though!

Pro’s:

• Absolutely breathtaking Art style and environmental storytelling
  
• Fantastic Music by Composer Chris Larkin, I recommend checking out his work on Expand as well!
  
• Combat feels satisfying and generally well balanced. (Primal Aspids are an exception)
  
• Easily 40+ Hours of Content if going for 100%
  
• Being able to slash in any direction (Up, down, left and right)is very useful and makes combat more efficient as it opens up more opportunities to hit enemies with your Nail(Sword)
  
• Fantastic and/or amusing Character Arcs regarding, Quirrel, Hornet, Cloth, Bretta, Nailsmith and even a few bosses!

Con’s:

• The game has a HUGE amount of backtracking. Far more than most people would find tolerable. You will rely on fast travel frequently to get across the world!
  
• Some Enemies have extremely hard to read attacks including a few bosses.
  
• Certain invincibility frames are not long enough for my liking.
  
• What does the colosseum have to do with the rest of the story? It just seems so out of place compared with the tone of the rest of the game.
  
• The story/plot is very hard to understand without using external sources such as the steam forums, games wiki or youtube lore videos. I should not need to have to go outside of the game to understand the story that it is telling! I found it very hard to follow, especially with the written style/prose that the vast majority of npcs use in the game.
  
• Literally everything about Zote
  
• Fast travel is good, but often isn't nearby where you need to go to, leaving you to have to travel across enemy filled areas just to reach where you need to go. Whats the point of fast travel if it isn't very fast or efficient?
  
• The Hunter's Journal is absolute insanity. It requires you to revisit the same areas 20+ times to farm very rare enemies, Kill all bosses (even the bad ones)and also farm the same boring fodder enemies more than you would during normal gameplay which leads to very repetitive gameplay.
  
• When using the Howling Wraiths attack, you are very vulnerable to being hit by enemies/bosses. The attack animation really should have giving you Invincibility frames as you are not moving when you perform it!
  
• The Wayward compass should be a feature in the game and equipable NOT a charm that takes up a slot. Do the devs expect you to remember where you are at all times? Laughable decision.
  
• Minor critisicm, but for whatever reason, you cant sell multiple items at once to Lemm at once.
  
• The disgustingly long wait time for Silksong, are the devs dead?

Feel free to comment below if you disagree with me or would like to correct me!

[h1]Hollow Knight Review[/h1] Gameplay ☐ Hands couldn't stay away from the mouse & keyboard ☑ Better than I had expected ☐ Average ☐ Underwhelming Music ☑ Fantastic sounds and/ or tracks ☐ Impressive ☐ Average ☐ Better to just put on music. PC Required ☐ A potato will suffice! ☑ Entry Level Gaming PC ☐ Mid to High level Gaming PC Story ☐ Barely explained / Minimal ☑ Confusing and difficult to decipher ☐ Better than I expected ☐ Really sucks you into the lore! Difficulty ☐ Game Journalist friendly ☐ A fair challenge/ satisfyingly balanced ☐ Difficult ☑ RIP Keyboard and mouse (Some of the bosses in this game were so tough that I had to stop playing before I broke something!) Replayability ☐ One and done ☑ Justifies a replay for any missing content/ collectibles. (This game is quite long if going for side activities/ bosses and collectibles. I honestly wouldn't encourage a second playthrough unless you are a speedrunner, masochist or just willing to play through hours and hours to get a slightly different ending.) ☐ Multiple playthroughs will not burn you out! Appropriate Pricing ☐ N/A ☑ Worth the full price! (I would confidently say that there is at least 30 Hours of content here) ☐ Wait for a sale ☐ Don't waste your hard earned cash! Bugs ☑ Very polished! (Little to no bugs encountered) ☐ Minor bugs, tolerable ☐ Bugs hinder immersion and overall enjoyment ☐ Ultimately a broken experience [h1]Overall Rating: 7/10[/h1] [b]Summary:[/b] A very immersive Metroidvania with a fantastic setting, musical score, atmosphere, art style and exploration. However this is all let down a bit by excessive backtracking, a confuscating plot, a few bad boss fights, and needlessly grindy challenges. I still recommend this game, but dont expect to understand the mechanics and combat for at least 12+ hours of gameplay. This game presents new mechanics and abilities at a very slow pace. Definetely a game for the masochists and die hard achievement hunters though! [b]Pro’s:[/b] [list] [*]Absolutely breathtaking Art style and environmental storytelling [*]Fantastic Music by Composer Chris Larkin, I recommend checking out his work on Expand as well! [*]Combat feels satisfying and generally well balanced. (Primal Aspids are an exception) [*]Easily 40+ Hours of Content if going for 100% [*]Being able to slash in any direction (Up, down, left and right)is very useful and makes combat more efficient as it opens up more opportunities to hit enemies with your Nail(Sword) [*]Fantastic and/or amusing Character Arcs regarding, Quirrel, Hornet, Cloth, Bretta, Nailsmith and even a few bosses! [/list] [b]Con’s:[/b] [list] [*]The game has a HUGE amount of backtracking. Far more than most people would find tolerable. You will rely on fast travel frequently to get across the world! [*]Some Enemies have extremely hard to read attacks including a few bosses. [*]Certain invincibility frames are not long enough for my liking. [*]What does the colosseum have to do with the rest of the story? It just seems so out of place compared with the tone of the rest of the game. [*]The story/plot is very hard to understand without using external sources such as the steam forums, games wiki or youtube lore videos. I should not need to have to go outside of the game to understand the story that it is telling! I found it very hard to follow, especially with the written style/prose that the vast majority of npcs use in the game. [*]Literally everything about Zote [*]Fast travel is good, but often isn't nearby where you need to go to, leaving you to have to travel across enemy filled areas just to reach where you need to go. Whats the point of fast travel if it isn't very fast or efficient? [*]The Hunter's Journal is absolute insanity. It requires you to revisit the same areas 20+ times to farm very rare enemies, Kill all bosses (even the bad ones)and also farm the same boring fodder enemies more than you would during normal gameplay which leads to very repetitive gameplay. [*]When using the Howling Wraiths attack, you are very vulnerable to being hit by enemies/bosses. The attack animation really should have giving you Invincibility frames as you are not moving when you perform it! [*]The Wayward compass should be a feature in the game and equipable NOT a charm that takes up a slot. Do the devs expect you to remember where you are at all times? Laughable decision. [*]Minor critisicm, but for whatever reason, you cant sell multiple items at once to Lemm at once. [*]The disgustingly long wait time for Silksong, are the devs dead? [/list] [i][u]Feel free to comment below if you disagree with me or would like to correct me![/u][/i]