Hey thanks for watching and for all your lovely comments! Just wanted to issue a few corrections and clarifications: [1] I said that Hornet was referring to the Resting Grounds when she said “seek the Grave in Ash”. She’s actually talking about the Cast-off Shell in the Kingdom’s Edge, where you fight her for the second time. [2] There’s a few extra routes through the game that I didn’t mention, namely a path to Deepnest through the Fungal Core, and a path to the Kingdom’s Edge through a secret tunnel in the King’s Station. [3] It’s true that you can get your shade back without travelling to where you last died by giving a rancid egg to Jiji in Dirtmouth. This is useful in some situations, but I don’t think it changes the underlying design of the shade mechanic in a substantial way. [4] Your soul amount drops by a third, not a half, when you die. [5] I could have worded the DLC stuff better. Mentioning that bosses are “exclusive” to free, auto-installed DLC packs is a bit weird. My intention was to help out people who played Hollow Knight's base game in 2017 and were confused about missing these bonus bosses.

“It prevents the player from becoming stuck.” You underestimate my stupidity.

I honestly just like hearing people say good things about Hollow Knight.

“And cute bees in the hive” Me: what about the bee that turns into a firetrucking drill

October 2019: "We're waiting on Breath of the Wild 2, Metroid Prime 4, and Silksong" May 2023: We got Tears of the Kingdom! April 2024: We're waiting on Metroid Prime 4, and Silksong

I'll never forget walking down in deepnest and seeing another me walking below me

“The game begins in Dirtmouth” *Sad King’s pass noises*

That alternate path into Deepnest is both infinitely cruel and absolutely amazing. What a masterful way to plunge the player into the "oh no. Oh no no no no no" mentality.

One of my favorite world-building moments was finding Tiso, the bold and arrogant fighter, dropped dead at the Kingdom's Edge. It was sad to see him after all the talk of glory only to see him dead. Even sadder when you hit him with the dream nail and see his final thoughts.

"would launch several youtube channels" mossbag: hehe that me

The fact that 3 people managed to create such a masterpiece still amazes me.

I don't think I'll ever really get tired of watching people make video essays on how great a game Hollow knight is. If ever a game deserved it, this is it.

When I first played through Hollow Knight, I remember hearing about how popular Hornet was as a character. After fully completing the game, I was surprised by how rarely Hornet actually appears, and how little she says, and yet I, like everybody else, found her be an absolutely awesome character. I think the reason for this is due to how she heightens the main aspects of the game; improvement, exploration and combat. When you first see Hornet, she is standing on a ledge that a first time player can't reach. She is literally above you, as you, unlike her, cannot jump high enough to reach that ledge. As you explore the area, you see her traverse almost effortlessly, guiding you along as if she knows the area like the back of her hand. She is basically what the game wants you to become; somebody with thorough knowledge of the world, and has the skills to travel places easily.

I'll never forget the bank running off with all my money

"Handy, but maybe you can use that slot for something else" Imagine fighting bosses without the wayward compass *shudders*

"it took me 20 hours to get to the credits the first time" * glances at my save file at 50 hours not even a half way through.. * - this game is HAAAARRRD!

"I'll be back when huge new games like Metroid Prime 4, Hollow Knight Silksong, and Breath of the Wild 2 are released." *_WHEEZE_*

Hollow knight is one of the most well designed games that I have ever played

"the best metroidvania ever made" is a huge claim... but honestly I think you're right.

My favorite tricky little area of the game is where you get the Baldur Shell charm. Where Greenpath connects to the Howling Cliffs, there's a chest that yields 1 Geo when opened. By now, you'll have collected multiple chests (most notably the chest after the False Knight battle), and you'll know sometimes Geo gets stuck in the chest. So, you hop on, and boom! There are now two Elder Baldurs coming for your hide. This may not work on everyone, but it sure as hell worked on me

16:19 In my opinion, having the dreamer's locations on your maps was a really good idea. As you said, it's more like general pointers, since you still have no idea how to get there. But, when I finally went to the path leading up to them, it really built up my anticipation of what I would find, since I knew I was coming across something really important and not just any old area. Although there isn't really "any old area" in this game

"True ending is hard to get" *Godmaster noise intensifies*

40 minutes of Hollow Knight world design commentary? YESSSSSS

35:31 I actually think the controls in Hollow Knight are definitely as good as Meat Boy or Celeste, and I never got that frustrating feeling of accidentally dashing diagonally when I meant to dash straight (that often happened to me in Celeste), because you can't dash diagonally at all. The White Palace was definitely hard, but I think it was enjoyable and I never felt like the controls were against me in any way, I personally think they're as sharp as they come.

Hollow Knight has this weird thing where if you managed to miss a boss or an ability you can still somehow explore the world. There's really no straight progression where you need to get something in order to progress. That's what I really love about the game.

All dramatically enhanced by Christopher Larkin’s incredible soundtrack!

Pretty sure the "grave in ash" is in the kingdoms edge where the king's corpse is and you fight Hornet the second time, not the Resting Grounds.

I've actually done the grind for the lumafly lantern at the beginning of the game before (was seeing just how much of the game I could access before getting the soul blast ability), and it turns out Crystal Peak is very carefully designed with this in mind; without mantis claws in particular, the areas you can access are extremely limited. Basically the only major thing you can do is grab the dream nail as your first ability, which is very neat. From the resting grounds you're forced to return to the crossroads via the stag station, which incidentally is the only one in the game you don't have to pay for, except for technically Dirtmouth and the Stag Nest which are both designed to be accessed via stag anyways.

I mean this as the highest of compliments. This video has helped me fall asleep dozens of times.

‘Grave of ash’ actually refers to kingdoms edge, the grave refering to the previous incarnation of the pale king, and the ash being the ‘snow’ flying everywhere, almost like his ashes, plus hornet waits for you there.

"a joy to get lost in" *deepnest flashbacks*

"Join me on a deep dive" was a missed opportunity to say "a Desolate Dive"

The catchy about hollow knight is that you can actually feel all the passion from his devs while playing it. On every single datail. They for sure didn't start this project thinking "lets design a metroidvania game", they instead express their art and passion 'trough' the project. What a title fellas, what a experience.

There's actually an achievement for leaving Zote to die in Greenpath.

Don't call my boy Cornifer sketchy - he's trying his best alright? And that humming is just amazing.

Hearing Mark describe the "natural" route to the City of Tears surprised me! For me, City of Tears became a late-game area. Having no idea the Mantis Lords fight was optional, I assumed Deepnest was the next place to go, explored until I found the tramway pass, went to the Resting Grounds and started collecting Essence, explored most of Crystal Peak and got the Crystal Heart, went *back* to Deepnest, found the other tram car, and finally found my way into the City of Tears via the Ancient Basin (which I didn't get the map for until much later, so I had no idea what it was called). When I finally got the Dive from the Soul Sanctum, I was a little confused to find that nearly all the places it unlocked were places I'd already been through other routes. I think I may even have awakened Herrah at that point.

Grim Troupe really should be mentioned in this video, since collecting flames is a really good way to give players who are overwhelmed by the size of the map a direction to explore.

“The enraged guardian can be found above the other guardian’s arena” ...they’re the same person.

I’m impressed that this guy managed to fight radiance with 5 masks.

To speak of the brilliance of the level design of this game, I spent 45 hours on a 106% play through my first time. I spent 18 the second time and less than 13 the third which was a Steel Soul run.

I’m very surprised that you talked about the map of Hollow Knight without mentioning the brilliance of the delicate flower

"my favorite example is The Blue Lake, which is above the City of Tears, and explain why it always rain down here" I DIDN'T EVEN NOTICED THIS THING, EVEN THOUGH BLUE LAKE IS ONE OF MY FAVORITE PLACES xDDD

Myla's side story is still so sad to me, every time you speak to her you watcher her slip deeper and deeper under the thrall of the Radiance until she eventually becomes an enemy.

36:48 To be fair, the map shows an exit to that room to the top left, so if you're seeking out places you haven't explored yet, you'll find this spot pretty quickly.

One intellectual note: I really like how Hollow Knight handles safety v. danger and different amounts of progress. The stag stations are a great example of both, with a bench to rest at, a place to update your map, a friendly face, and a way to nope out of there if you feel like you went in thoroughly unprepared. That was really nice on my first play through. A couple objections: 1. the full map does not reveal itself when you sit on a bench, it simply updates the places you've been and openings that still lead to other rooms. 2. The fight with the Hollow Knight isn't the bad ending, just perpetuation, as hornet calls it. It may not let you see as much of the world, and I personally wasn't satisfied with stopping there, but it is canonically one solution, and it works. Unintelligent notes: 1. How dare you say people miss out on anything by not saving Zote, frick that little punk. 2. Boi do I wish the in-game sign posts were pointed out by any of the npcs, because I missed them entirely my first playthrough. 3. "...beat the radiance, after a thousand tries" *flashesback to P5 ending*

"Metroid Prime 4, Hollow Knight Silksong, and Breath of the Wild 2" man that's a real juicy lineup right there...

21:25 i want to point out that "dlc" is actually a free update and you can't really call hive knight "exclusive"

The Indie game which made most of AAAs sweat , and probably cry too . What a masterpiece man , and music ooooft .

I never had that problem with the true ending. I had stumbled across the white lady and the abyss before my second dreamer. Hell I didn't know you could get to fog canyon without the shade cloak! So when I beat the first ending it felt anti climatic as I thought "wait, I didn't finish everything though, that's it?" and it gave me direction and motivation to find the rest of the ending. After beating Radiance (after so many deaths) I was hyped and hungry to do the dlc. Hollow Knight is the best metroidvania (and only one I've beaten) because it made me wander around and lose the main trail but never made me FEEL lost. I always felt like I was moving forward and never felt like finding the path was a chore.

12:14 I would call that a soft _gate_ mechanic rather than a *"soft lock"* Usually when people say softlock, they refer to when a game hasn't crashed or frozen but, because of unforseen circumstances, you cannot finish the game and have to turn it off. Like getting locked in a room with no way out. Or getting forever stuck in a falling animation, unable to land.

"deep well of lore that will launch several youtube career" looking at you mossbag

Shoutout to all my homies that made it over the Crystal Peak and got the Dream Nail before even getting the Mantis Claw........

I think I’m just now realizing that on my first playthrough, I skipped the monarch wings without realizing it. That’s crazy, and so cool

MB: "my favourite is the Blue Lake, that stands over the City of Tears, and it's the reason why it always rains" My mind: duuuuuuuuuuude.

40 minutes? You're spoiling us Mark!

I personally think the Dream No More ending was perfectly well-designed. In the comments, you mention that you misspoke about the Grave in Ash and realize that it actually meant Kingdom's Edge, yet that misunderstanding might have been what killed it for you. Sure, maybe Hornet could have appeared one last time in the area, but I think it's perfectly reasonable to have the secret ending be a bit harder to find than the normal one. I believe Team Cherry themselves said there was no "true ending", if you're content with simply becoming The Vessel then that can be the end of your journey.

“The true good ending” Godseeker: hehe cool Also, team cherry: “there is no true ending”

10:30 I stumbled into this secret passage to Deepnest completely by accident and couldn't climb back out. I was introduced to the ... experience of Deepnest the hard way.

*going to sleep *See notification *It's GMTK *It's about hollow knight *Video is 40 minutes long Sleeping can wait

One thing I really loved about hollow knight is that whenever I picked up the game I ended up progressing in some way. I play many games at once and sometimes I don't even finish them, so it took me about 6 months to get to the first ending (I am also a very, VERY slow player - i got there with 80% completion and 50 hours of playtime). So I'd normally play the game for a couple days and then leave it there to then pick it up after a couple of weeks. and yet, every time I discovered new secrets, charms, or managed to access new areas, even when I was just strolling around trying to get used to the controls again. This game really is amazing.

Hollow Knight helped me cope up with my anxiety in ways I didn't know existed. This game is therapy for me.

18:24 I’m so glad to hear this. The idea that Team Cherry WANTED players to experiment and find out that they could skip upgrades and parts of the game just to see them have that empowering moment of discovery is a real breath of fresh air. Many game developers are taken aback or offended that players aren’t playing the game the way they’re “supposed to,” but Team Cherry says “hey, if you think you can do it, go right ahead, I’ll even watch,” and that’s great.

I'll never forget going through the city of tears, witnessing all of the destruction and hearing horror stories of how the bugs died...and then running into Marisa. Such a sad and beautiful moment. I get the chills remembering it.

My first play through of Hollow Knight will always stick in my mind. I remember throwing myself into the Forgotten Crossroads and dying to a big beetle with a hammer. I lost all of my money and didn’t notice at first that I could retrieve it, so, out of fear of dying to the main boss, I grinded for geo to buy out the shops in Dirtmouth. This meant I had the lantern much earlier than most players. I defeated False Knight, but instead of going to Greenpath (since I had never encountered that guardian beetle before) I went right into the Crystal Peaks. The parkour was immensely hard and frustrating, and I died repeatedly to those pesky crystal bugs, but upon finally getting somewhere *new* - the Resting Grounds - I was completely in awe of the beauty of the game. The dream nail sequence had me hooked and the story was in full swing before I had even known about Greenpath. That is what I love about Hollow Knight. Each player has a unique experience. Even if there’s a linear path to begin with, there is no need to follow it. While it was frustrating to follow the game in this way, I had a blast doing so and nothing could beat the relief and bewilderment I felt.

Exploring the vast caverns of hollownest is such a pure and unforgettable experience, I love how little the game holds your hand and forces you to piece the story together for yourself

"Now that's what I call exploiting a bug." [Like Video]

"so I won't be talking about the Grimm troupe" *cries*

I've been waiting two years to watch this video. And just this past week, I received, started, and have now near-completed Hollow Knight. The journey was more magical, varied, and interesting than I could have dreamed, and I cannot sing this game's praises any more highly. Every day I've played this game, I've stumbled on a new boss, a surprisingly expansive new area, or some other completely small, completely meaningless surprise that nonetheless meant the world to me, because I found something special and entirely optional that numerous other people might have missed. I've felt like I've earned every single victory and every hard won new item, and that I've won the right to take every new step in this world through growing stronger, engaging more with the lovely and intensely beautiful world. There are very few gaming experiences that have built themselves up for me in this way, and even fewer that have paid them off as well as Hollow Knight. It has been a deep and meaningful gaming experience that I will carry with me forever. And the game keeps rewarding me--I have this need to always hunt up new things, to always seek out big mysterious zones that are somehow still blank on my map, and even now after I've surpassed 100% total completion, there's always something new to find, and some new payoff to the game's complex web of storylines and characters, or some new gameplay element or item to obtain. Truly, a remarkable experience. And your video on the subject was excellent.

I've played hundreds of hours of HK, and to this day one of my favorite parts of this game is how i slowly learned how the rooms connected, where all the secrets were hidden, what enemies spawn in each room, where all the important parts were, and most importantly how to path a way through it all. its such a good feeling to wander around and realize that you recognize that set of three Squits in a room or that specific placement of Wandering Husks in the City, and find your way to your next planned point of interest. memorizing the HK map is one of the most fun things i've ever done in gaming, and it's literally just a MAP. but because of how it's laid out and how the world reveals itself to you throughout your playthrough, it starts to feel like home. where before were twisting tunnels and labrynthine mazes, now it's familiar hallways and friendly NPCs tucked away in their little safe havens, usually with a helpful bench nearby to rest at, switch up charms, check the map, and head out once more through the Eternal Kingdom i really love this game, and if i could throw away everything i know about it to do it all over again for the first time i would in a heartbeat.

“Memorable character moments” *shows Mayla I’m crying

"The Radiance is very hard and makes me want to cry" Absolute Radiance says "hi"

The best part of the game. The way the map fills in, greatly reduces unneeded backtracking. No matter how lost you are, you will find something good... or real bad. however you want to look at it. no wasted exploration.

22:14 team Chery doesn't worry if everyone sees the content they make huh. That explains silksong

As someone who randomly purchased this game after buying a Switch Lite I didn't realize I was stepping into a master class of game design. I went in 100% blind and never looked at a guide, I poured over 40 hours into a playthrough only hitting 82% . Being a player who wanted to uncover every bit of the map, I spent a lot of time back tracking trying to find hidden routes and corridors but still when I went to my first fight of the Hollow Knight (after 40 hours) and beat it on my second try I still realized I only had half of the Kings Soul, I was missing grubs, I never found out how to get into the Hive, I now see I missed a few bosses, I never got all the charms, my Nail was never fully upgraded, I never finished completion of the Dream Nail, I never got access to the White Palace, I still have two+ DLC packs to play through and all the "Quests" to finish plus everything else I still don't know about (also I never beat the dream variant of the Broken Vessel because omg). This game was pure joy to play through and even now that I am taking the time to learn about the game, I can applaud Team Cherry because I really was able to discover everything in such a non linear fashion making it such a unique experience. I remember taking mental notes of every area I couldn't get, forgetting about them then getting an upgrade and going back and exploring every zone just to see what I missed. I'm about to start 3 new play troughs (one for speed, one to try no deaths and one for a fully complete game) but even then I may go back and play it more just because there is so much do to in such a deceptively simple game. I have been gushing over it since I got it and really can't believe how much I enjoyed it given I really dislike metroid-vania games. Granted it took me a while to understand what the game was about after my first play through but man, I can't even begin to talk about all those amazing experiences of discovering bosses, being scared to go on, the rage of dying when trying to get back to my shade, the intrigue of finding a new NPC, the beauty of the background art (and art in general in this game because wow) and just so much more. Goes to show that even with simple mechanics they really made each zone so unique and different that it really is just a masterpiece of gaming. The fact I don't know more people enthralled with this game in person is a shame but man, I want to play it more.

I love how they made some NPC have an actual impact on gameplay like Quirrel helping you fight the Jellyfish boss and Cloth will sacrifice herself saving you at queen's garden if you save her in the Ancient Basin and her spirit will thank you for a worthy challenge and happy that she will reunite with Nola. If you did not save her and beat the Traitor lord alone, you can find her at Dirtmouth and she will tell you about seeking a challenge and want to die in an Epic battle as a true warrior. Which make it so fascinating to play the game and see her different fates in multiple scenario.

The large double damage husks in forgotten crossroads drop 45 geo, which means you have to defeat 40 of them to get the lantern before killing false knight. Now take a guess what I did on my second playthrough

Hollow knight set the bar for metroidvanias so high, that the genre should have a namechange.

6:40 "At this point Hollow Knight seems quite linear" I think it was worth mentioning that most players will probably encounter the Mantis Lords in the village too. There is a warning that the player should upgrade their weapon first, thus suggesting they go to the City instead of fighting the Lords, but it's a very learnable fight that decent players should be able to beat without an upgrade. It is likely that a lot of players branch here rather than later, by beating the Lords and going into Deepnest before the City. Mentioned in other comments but the grave of ash is definitely the Cast-Off Shell and not the Resting Grounds. This is significant because Hornet isn't just telling us where to go next, she is specifically directing us to the Abyss meaning she wants us equipped to fight the Radiance. The goal we get from acquiring the Dream Nail is to unlock the Temple and reseal the Infection. The goal we get from Hornet is to destroy the source of the Infection altogether. It's a great bit of world-building because it plays on the ignorance of the ghost/player to the larger events around them. Hornet is attempting to direct us to a greater goal that we have no understanding of until later. It plays into that idea of other characters doing their own thing off screen, with their own goals and motives. Not sure why you don't think the Rancid Egg mechanic solves the problem of the shade mechanic. It does exactly what you say at a fairly small cost. Well, a medium cost of a Simple Key up front and then if you want to retrieve your shade and go somewhere else you use a rancid egg which are pretty common. It would have been nice to pepper in some of the little world details that HK is great at. Like the broken throne in the Mantis Lords room which you only realise later belonged to the Traitor Lord. Or Quirrel mentioning that he'd like to see the source of the rain in the City and his arc ending with him resting at the Blue Lake. Or how Cornifer doesn't hum in Deepnest, making the area even more scary and oppressive as you struggle to find the map and realise that Cornifer is too terrified to make any noise, which accentuates your own fear. Regarding the map system, I really like it. I think it's fair for people to want a map that updates as you go but I don't think it's fair when they say HK's map system is bad. It lends itself to a different type of exploration, forcing you to wander blindly in a new area for bit, listening for Cornifer's siren song which leads to that little triumph each time you acquire a new map. Your exploration is then more directed as you need access to bench if you want to update your progress. I do think that the compass should have been a permanent upgrade rather than a charm though. I think the ending bossfights are absolutely incredible too, maybe not specifically related to world design but a brilliant culmination of all the world design in the game. The Hollow Knight fight is a little underwhelming, leaving the new player feeling a bit let down. Also, at a certain point the music turns somber and the boss starts stabbing itself, confusing new players who don't know the lore and leaving them with the sense that they are missing something which creates the drive to investigate further. Then in the real ending, Hornet, after specifically telling you she wouldn't join in, does join in, which tells us that she really believes we have a chance. She opens the gate to the Radiance and we are now necessarily familiar with the Dream Nail mechanic so we know what to do without having to be told. All our little brother and sister ghosts rise up with us as the fight climaxes, including the shade of the Hollow Knight itself joining the fight to help you finish it off. One of the best experiences I've had in gaming. What a masterpiece of a game. Super video, very well put together and my gripes are very minor.

It's kind of crazy going through a second run. You realise that there are so many places, even just in the forgotten crossroads alone, that you can pogo off of enemies or reach earlier than you would have thought possible by utilising certain tricks. It's really fun to go back with a massively increased understanding of the games mechanics.

11:42 Ah, this is what I did. I was confused when you said earlier you need to beat the Soul Master before accessing crystal peak because I only fought him way later.

Pretty funny that the Lords of Shadow folks went on to make Metroid Dread!

Seriously, Hollow Knight has NO BUSINESS being this good and well designed! Every piece is just so well fit!

6:40, actually, in my first playthrough, i accidentally stumbled into darknest right after i got the mantis claw, by breaking the hidden wall in the fungal wastes that you showed in 10:28 and falling the big hole, stuck there with an unupgraded weapon, and trying to fight my way out, then accidentally digging myself further inwards out of curiousity. I had a very unconverntional first playthough which gave me a very unique first experience with the game (the game suddenly felt like horror to me). This goes to show just how much the game opens up once you get the mantis claw

It's so funky seeing how so many people interact with this game. I never had any issues with getting lost or missing out on content or anything like that because whenever I found the place I was supposed to go in an area to make progress, I would actively avoid it and explore everything else there. And then whenever I got a new upgrade I would backtrack to all the places I remembered not being able to reach. The only issue of not finding things I remember having was that the map would obviously fill in a room even if I had just walked in and out, or if it was a big room with sone corner I hadn't explored yet. Other than that, I found everything except White Defender (genuinely what is that entrance method lol) just fine because Im apparently just a ravenous explorer I guess.

i wish i could play this game blind again

27:40 "memorable character moments" *shows myla TOO SOON

Higher beings, these words are for you alone: *Finally*

I just wish I could forget all about Hollow Knight, and just experience all of this again. The joy of finding Cornifer while stumbling and dying around Deepnest is just pure bliss, and it sucks I can take it in just once.

I could listen to this guy drone on for hours about this game. I've never played HK. I don't recognize this channel. But god it's so satisfying hearing such high praise of any game -- when you can go into such astounding detail about the layout and construction of just one game, that's how you know it's been made well.

"It might be the best Metroidvania game ever made." Wow. To wear that mantle is to stand as a god amongst titans, yet I agree. I hope the developers at Team Cherry watch this video and hear your praise, they deserve it :)

"Cute beelets" Meanwhile in The Hive giant bee's are roaring and transforming their faces into needles

Anyone else just come back to this video because it is a masterpiece?

Watching this video suddenly makes it make perfect sense why Silksong is taking so long to come out. There is just a staggering intricacy to the design of this game's world.

Me, realizing it’s 2am and I have stuff to do tomorrow and seeing a 40 minute long HK vid: No cost too great.

"Dodging laserbeams in the Crystal Peak..." *proceeds to obliterate the lasers beams*

33:56 the map of the forgotten crossroads is fully filled out down by where sly is, so that means he killed menderbug

I played it three times and never felt I played the same game because I explored the map entirely differently

After experiencing both Breath of the Wild and Hollow Knight, I get the impression that distributing a variety of in-game and storybuilding content throughout the world and allowing the player multiple paths to the same key destinations are two liberating elements that make a game feel massive and grant a player more agency. Thanks for this awesome analysis, GMTK!

15:25 The grave of ash is in the Kingdom’s Edge, it’s the Wyrm skin you get to after the second Hornet fight. Note that Hornet talks about obtaining a “mark”, not a nail.

Just exposing myself as a super Hollow Knight nerd, but at 15:25 the Ashen Grave is referring to the cast off shell in the kingdoms edge. Love the video though. Hollow Knight is my all time favorite game in this genre and you do an excellent job breaking down the systems used in this and other games.