Hollow Knight - Soulsvania platformer

[tyagi]

1 hour ago, HarryBizzle said:

I don't know how I feel about the general lack of direction. I haven’t felt much sense of discovery. More just “haven’t got a clue where to go, just keep going until you find something.”

 

 

That's my feeling as well. Possibly because I only get to play it for a couple of hours once or twice a week so I don't have a lot of continuity. I was the same with Dark Souls. What I ended up needing to do was watch a good player do a play through on YouTube and sort of follow along so that I was always on the right track. I don't have the time or patience to do all the exploration and find out which boss I need to be targeting next, or the order in which I need to find my ability upgrades.

 

So I guess I'll be looking out for a good "let's play" or something. I don't need something to show me how to beat bosses or solve puzzles, just something to give some guidance on direction.

[hub2]

That's why something like the Metroid maps are quite well done... you know from the map that the purple door need "x" weapon to open it, therefore slightly less overload remembering what is blocking you at a given point.

[Beezer]

I have found text notes to be the answer. I’d never remember where everything was otherwise. The map pins are useful but my memory is so bad it needs all the help it can get.

[tyagi]

28 minutes ago, Beezer said:

I have found text notes to be the answer.

 

Yeah... at least for me that's not going to happen. Just not enough time. Believe me, I'd love to, I'd really like to spend the time and have the time to get deep in to it in that way. But just can't. So "YouTube to the rescue".

[jonamok]

Same issue here. Just lacking any sense of direction or purpose. Less about the joy/thrill of exploring new areas, more just schlepping about between my old map pins with no idea whether I’ve just added a skill that will help or not. It’s certainly not warranting the hype for me, and I know I still have loads of dreaded trial and error boss fights to go. Despite putting 15+ hours in, my desire to go back is minimal, and I doubt I’ll see this through tbh.

[Cyhwuhx]

You guys have been raised too much on Ubi-milk.  

 

Seriously though, I’m always puzzled as to why people who don’t like exploration and prefer a linear goal sequence, play Metroidvanias.

[HarryBizzle]

I don’t think it’s not liking exploration, just not liking what this has to offer in terms of exploration. 

[jonamok]

Yep. Love Dark Souls' exploration and Metroid games and old-school Zelda gear-gating, as I love the worlds, and their building narratives, and I always feel like I know what I'm doing next.

 

This game doesn't give me any of that. I just feel directionless and disengaged from the world the whole time. It's obviously a very good game, but because it's missing a few key bits of direction, it falls down as a player experience for me. This doesn't mean I need Ubi-milk by the way! 

 

[grindmouse]

I think this is brilliant so far. I loved the initial lack of direction and the first boss was wonderful.

 

The game was described as a Soulsvania, that’s exactly what it is. Plus it looks gorgeous.

[Beezer]

I’m 22 hours in and it’s a blinder so far. I have found that it has a really great sense of exploration that is lacking from many games. I love getting to know a world like this.

 

The combat and controls are so tight. I always feel engaged with the game, never bored.

[GamesGamesGames]

So lads, has this too much oomph to be emulated to run on a hacked Vita? I mean needs must.

[Jarik]

I'm making slow but steady progress in this, taking down bosses that got me before, but that mostly comes from a combination of learning their patterns & finding the Charm loadout that works best to give you an edge in that specific encounter.

 

I get the feeling that learning the patterns & how to counter them is how you are supposed to beat them 'properly' but the edge the Charms give me usually means that I can get battered around a fair bit & still win.

 

Still loving it though.  Lots of secrets to find, some of which hide interesting new charms.

 

Oh, & little tip if you want to easily farm Geo while exploring, equip both the 'No Recoil' & 'Geo Attract' charms.  This way, as you cut down weak enemies as you make your way across the map you won't even have to break your stride as money flows right into your pockets.  It's just a trickle most of the time, but it adds up.

[HarryBizzle]

21 minutes ago, GamesGamesGames said:

So lads, has this too much oomph to be emulated to run on a hacked Vita? I mean needs must.

 

I don't know how you would begin to do that. It's only out on Switch and PC.

 

But on Windows/Mac/Linux, it doesn't take much to run it at all. Give it a go.

[metallicfrodo]

8 hours ago, hub2 said:

 

Ah, maybe, so you're saying you cannot die before recovering your soul if you want to keep the coins? I did not know that... good to know.

 

Yes, basically you can only recover from the last point that you died. So if you are on your way to collect your last soul and die then you will lose the original soul point and it will reset to where you most recently died with whatever geos you had at that point in time.

[HarryBizzle]

So after Hornet, I don’t know where to go. More aimless wandering, which just highlights how slow the character movement is and combat with enemies which is really quite clunky. I dunno if they’re going for that Dark Souls, weighty combat, but it just feels clunky. 

[Cyhwuhx]

Just now, HarryBizzle said:

So after Hornet, I don’t know where to go. More aimless wandering, which just highlights how slow the character movement is and combat with enemies which is really quite clunky. I dunno if they’re going for that Dark Souls, weighty combat, but it just feels clunky. 

 

Huh? If you've defeated Hornet, you should now have access to something far more zippy, which also makes your combat a lot faster.

 

And go down/left from the hot spring in Forgotten Crossroads into Fungal Wastes.

[HarryBizzle]

I thought the dash would help but it doesn’t, really. Environments are so full of respawning enemies that you have to be careful even when backtracking. Even in combat it’s mostly useless so far. Those enemies which start off as a pile of bones have a nasty habit of dashing with if you try to dash over them. Dash out of the way of their sword swing and you end up too far to hit them when they’re open. 

 

And they take what, ten hits to go down? Bloody hell. Whose idea was that one? Feels the same as the Hornet fight. Not actually difficult, but so incredibly prolonged that it becomes difficult. 

 

I’m gonna plug a few more hours into this but at the moment I’m really not feeling it. Love the look, love the atmosphere (even if the levels themselves are quite boring), but the gameplay just isn’t doing it for me. 

 

Shame. After Mario Odyssey, it’s been my most anticipated game on Switch. 

[Cyhwuhx]

The Moss Knights? Those are mainly teaching you how to zone and not to be too greedy.

 

You can just skip a lot of enemies though when travelling. I usually defeat them all to train and gather up enough Geo for Charms and Notches, but there's no reason you can't skip them. It's only in City of Tears (and below) that there are some enemies that will make your life difficult if you don't dispatch of them fast enough.

 

I'm getting the idea you don't like melee combat though. In which case you might as well stop now. You're not getting an arm blaster down the road.

[El Spatula]

5 hours ago, jonamok said:

Same issue here. Just lacking any sense of direction or purpose. Less about the joy/thrill of exploring new areas, more just schlepping about between my old map pins with no idea whether I’ve just added a skill that will help or not. It’s certainly not warranting the hype for me, and I know I still have loads of dreaded trial and error boss fights to go. Despite putting 15+ hours in, my desire to go back is minimal, and I doubt I’ll see this through tbh.

 

This sums up my feelings when I played this on PC release. First few hours I fucking loved it, then it became a bit sprawling and directionless. Doesn't help that nothing is particularly memorable area wise. The map is also pretty much useless.

Shame as I love Metroidvanias, but I don't think this has got the balance right. I was more "Thank fuck" whenever I found a new area than excited.

[Spainkiller]

Oh man, Lost Kin. How much HP does he have!?

[Cyhwuhx]

2 minutes ago, Spainkiller said:

Oh man, Lost Kin. How much HP does he have!?

 

No. Fucking. Clue.

 

The pattern is OK, but the hyperspeed isn't.

[Spainkiller]

It's the randomly spawning orange bastards that broke the fight, man. Fuckers always spawned *exactly* where I jumped towards. The speed I could deal with.

 

Anyway, just kicked his ass, and my heart's still pounding. What. A. Fight. Might be one of the best 2D boss fights I've ever done. And apparently this isn't even that hard or intense a fight compared to what's to come? Hell the fuck YES.

(Pro-tip: equip the badge that sets off spires whilst healing. They'll kill any orange goblets that might get near to you. It actually helped me heal once (or even twice!) during the boss' recovery bits.)

[Cyhwuhx]

15 minutes ago, Spainkiller said:

It's the randomly spawning orange bastards that broke the fight, man. Fuckers always spawned *exactly* where I jumped towards. The speed I could deal with.

 

Anyway, just kicked his ass, and my heart's still pounding. What. A. Fight. Might be one of the best 2D boss fights I've ever done. And apparently this isn't even that hard or intense a fight compared to what's to come? Hell the fuck YES.

(Pro-tip: equip the badge that sets off spires whilst healing. They'll kill any orange goblets that might get near to you. It actually helped me heal once (or even twice!) during the boss' recovery bits.)

 

My instinct was to use Howling Wraiths, because of ehr... previous experience. Gonna try this one again tonight now that the nearby stag-choo-choo is open. Also haven't mixed up Charms yet, so... Longnail and a few fragiles?

[Jarik]

I'm not sure just how deep or far it goes with it, but I like how the effect of some charms can be modified by others as it encourages me to experiment.  Well, more so than just trying out different combinations for different bosses/enemy types already does I mean, such as one enemy type I found that seems impervious to nail strikes & acts more like an environmental hazard, but there's a charm effect that can destroy them quite easily.

[Cyhwuhx]

Speaking of Charms...

Spoiler

Really sure?

Spoiler

You can 'overload' your Charms. If you need a couple more notches than you have available keep trying to equip and you'll 'force' it. With consequences.

 

 

[Spainkiller]

1 hour ago, Cyhwuhx said:

My instinct was to use Howling Wraiths, because of ehr... previous experience. Gonna try this one again tonight now that the nearby stag-choo-choo is open. Also haven't mixed up Charms yet, so... Longnail and a few fragiles?

 

... Shit, the fragiles idea is great. It never even occurred to me that they probably won't break in the dream world!

 

The longnail's for pussies, btw.

[Cyhwuhx]

11 minutes ago, Spainkiller said:

 

... Shit, the fragiles idea is great. It never even occurred to me that they probably won't break in the dream world!

 

The longnail's for pussies, btw.

 

See surname.

[Spainkiller]

Ha.
 

Smartass.

[Jarik]

This game just keeps opening up & up & up.  I picked up 2 movement upgrades in quick succession, & was busily making plans about places to explore as I headed back into one of the main areas, only to find that it's...changed.

 

Nintendo now have a high bar to clear should they make a 2D Metroid on Switch, as it'll inevitably be compared to this.

[Cyhwuhx]

49 minutes ago, Jarik said:

This game just keeps opening up & up & up.  I picked up 2 movement upgrades in quick succession, & was busily making plans about places to explore as I headed back into one of the main areas, only to find that it's...changed.

 

Nintendo now have a high bar to clear should they make a 2D Metroid on Switch, as it'll inevitably be compared to this.

 

And that’s after still having to cope with AM2R.