Hollow Knight Review – Free Download on Steam
Embarking on the journey through Hollow Knight is like stepping into a beautifully illustrated storybook filled with mystery and adventure. Set in the expansive underground realm of Hallownest, this 2D Metroidvania invites players to explore its intricate catacombs, each brimming with secrets waiting to be uncovered. The game masterfully combines atmospheric art, haunting melodies, and immersive gameplay, captivating your senses from the moment you begin. As you traverse the diverse environments, you’ll encounter a variety of challenges and intriguing characters, all while piecing together the rich lore that lies beneath the surface. With its blend of exploration, combat, and deep storytelling, Hollow Knight promises an unforgettable experience that beckons you to delve deeper into its enchanting world.
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Hollow Knight Review by VpeSports
It’s easy to get lost in the mysterious underground world of Hollow Knight – and not just in the literal sense. The vast catacombs of Hallownest are full of paths to explore and secrets to uncover. But more than that, it’s a place steeped in history and meaning that draws you in, making you want to uncover every secret in this 2D Metroidvania kingdom. The deeper I delved into Hollow Knight, the more I was surprised by the amount of content and freedom the game offers. I could wander in any direction, finding bosses, collecting upgrades, and discovering secrets. But the truly captivating part of exploring this long-forgotten kingdom is its atmosphere. Art, music, color palette, sounds, and a multitude of little details come together to create a unique atmosphere in each area of the map, all of which come together in a way that feels thoughtful and alive.
There are far more unique biomes than I expected, and the boundaries of each one flow seamlessly into the next, helping to create a cohesive world. For example, the walls bordering the Fungal Wastes, even those otherwise inaccessible, are decorated with distinctive mushrooms. The lush environment of the area known as the Greenway feels full of life and warmth, contrasting with the cold, dark caverns of the Forgotten Crossroads. The Misty Gorges region is not underwater, but the muffled sounds and rival jellyfish give it the feeling of an underwater world.
The capital city of Hallownest, the City of Tears, is a metropolis in a huge cavern where it always rains. But it wasn’t until 10 hours after I first discovered it that I stumbled upon the Blue Lake, a vast, calm body of water located above the underground city. Hollow Knight doesn’t force this connection, instead allowing you to explore the world and create your own story while enjoying the quiet moments. The larger story of Hollow Knight is revealed gradually, but its mythology is so deep that I feel like I could write an entire book about it.
- Mysterious World: Delve into the mysterious catacombs of Hallownest.
- Freedom to Explore: Explore multiple paths, discovering secrets and bosses.
- Unique Atmosphere: Art, music, and details create a vibrant atmosphere.
- Diverse Biomes: Each area flows seamlessly into the next, forming a coherent world.
- Deep Mythology: The story unfolds gradually, full of history and meaning.
- Beautiful Graphics: Hand-drawn graphics give the game a unique style.
- Personal Discovery: The story unfolds through dialogue, events, and observations.
In fact, the game gives you very little information about what’s going on, dropping you into a world saturated with monumental events that happened long before you arrived: wars and heroes, love and culture, disease and destruction. The implications of Hallownest’s troubled past are there for you to explore, and they only become clear if you take the time to pay attention. It’s a story told very thinly, but it gives you so much information about Hallownest that I could write a whole book about it.
It’s a tragic story, full of fallen heroes and terrible decisions, but it also has time for beautiful, calm, optimistic moments. And it’s easy to enjoy those moments because Hollow Knight’s hand-drawn art is simply beautiful. It’s a world that feels complete, despite its inhabitants being cute insects in a dying cave. Your place in this story is revealed gradually. Some of this information is gained through dialogue with the charming and eccentric characters left behind in this desolation, some through important plot events, and some by simply observing the environment and finding clues. After my second playthrough, I had a pretty clear picture of Hallownest’s story, but it’s a picture I pieced together myself.
Diving into the World of Hollow Knight: Challenges and Discoveries
As much as I enjoyed being thrown overboard and told to start rowing, the first few hours of Hollow Knight were a real challenge. It’s a game that makes no bones about its difficulty and does a masterful job of teaching you as you go, but starting out was a little daunting – especially when dying means having to fight your way back to your corpse to reclaim your Geo. In each area, you’ll need to find a map vendor named Cornifer before you can even start tracking where you’ve been. And even then, you’ll need to equip a special amulet to see your location on the map in real time. This, coupled with the need to practice combat, meant that I spent the first couple of hours just trying to figure out Hollow Knight.
However, once I got the hang of the combat system and got the hang of exploring the initially limited cave systems, Hollow Knight became a new experience that I never wanted to put down. After the Green Path, the second main region, you reach a point where there is no longer a clear “right” direction. Like any Metroidvania, your paths are limited by obstacles like ledges that are too high or jumps that are too big until you find the necessary upgrades. But you have enough options that don’t lead to dead ends to keep exploring for a long time.
Hidden throughout the Kingdom of Hallownest, traditional Metroidvania abilities like dashing and wall climbing help you navigate caves and reach new places better. These new movement abilities also make it quicker and more efficient to traverse familiar areas, giving the necessary backtracking to old places a fresh lease of life. Suddenly, your wall climbing turns a small gap between platforms into a convenient shortcut instead of a hazard.
Luckily, the game also features a rich fast travel system called Stag Roads. Stag stations can be found and unlocked throughout Hallownest, allowing you to summon the Final Stag to travel between them. What could have been a simple hop between points turns into a unique challenge, and I almost always found myself talking to Stag after unlocking a station to hear his stern but optimistic opinion about the new stop. The world of Hollow Knight also undergoes more noticeable changes as you progress. Railroads and elevators open up permanently, creating shortcuts that take you back to previously completed areas and make it easier to get back. One early area eventually turns into a much more challenging section, making it feel like your actions in Hallownest actually matter.
Diving into Hollow Knight: Exploration and Unexpected Secrets
Trust me, you’re going to encounter difficulties. These tough defeats sometimes slowed my progress, but there’s almost always another path to explore. If I encountered difficulties in one direction, I’d simply head in another until I got stronger (or simply learned better) and dared to face the difficult enemy again. In fact, the vast majority of Hollow Knight’s best content is completely optional. You could beat the campaign without seeing two-thirds of what it offers, although the pursuit of an alternate (and much better) ending will force you to encounter a lot more content. Bosses, a well-thought-out plot, and entire sections of the map can remain hidden, adding to the feeling of genuine exploration when you stumble upon them.
Importantly, none of this extra content felt unnecessary. I genuinely wanted to find all the secrets and find out what was actually going on in the story. It all felt unique, meaningful, and beautifully organized. Even after spending over 30 hours fully completing Hollow Knight, I was still excited to return for more to discover.
I’ll admit, the amount of stuff to do at any given moment can be a bit overwhelming. There can be so many open paths on a map that the burden of choosing your next direction can make you question which path is “correct.” But the beauty of Hallownest is that there’s rarely a right or wrong choice, and it’s unlikely that two players will explore these caverns in the same order. Since its release on PC last year, Hollow Knight has been receiving free content updates, which are also included in the Switch version (and more are on the way, according to developer Team Cherry). These patches have added new areas and bosses, and one even allowed custom markers to be added to the map. The simple act of being able to visually keep track of when I need to return to an area or which paths I haven’t explored yet has been a blessing.
This helped me organize what else needed to be done, along with other late-game opportunities Hollow Knight provides for completionists, like maps that eventually track down specific collectibles. But so much of what’s worth finding after the point where you can “beat” Hollow Knight is pure, focused mythology. To really understand what you’re doing (and make the big decisions correctly), you need to explore. I love that key moments in the story are tied to some of the game’s best challenges. For example, one of the final secret areas essentially turns Hollow Knight into a Super Meat Boy-style platformer with minimal combat.
- Challenges on the Path: Hard defeats slow down progress but open up new paths.
- Optional Content: Much of the best content remains hidden and optional.
- Desire for Discovery: The desire to find secrets and understand the story enhances the game.
- Path Variety: Multiple open paths make choosing the next direction challenging.
- Free Updates: The game receives free updates with new areas and bosses.
- Challenging Platforming: Some secret areas require platforming skills.
- Musical Atmosphere: Unique music enhances the mood and tension of the game.
Platforming challenges are found throughout the world, and some of the most challenging ones require you to use the Knife as a pogo stick to jump over spikes, like in Duck Tales. But this area is completely different, and tells the story of the place through its themes. And as I mentioned, the music adds a thousand times more to the atmosphere and art. Each location has its own theme and music for boss fights, with individual melodies and instruments appearing and disappearing as you move from screen to screen. The mood and tension of a scene is often created by this music, and the soundtrack has quickly become one of my favorites.
System Requirements for Hollow Knight
Hollow Knight, developed by Team Cherry, offers an immersive experience in a beautifully crafted 2D world. To ensure a smooth gameplay experience, it’s essential to meet or exceed the specified system requirements. Below, you can find the minimum and recommended requirements for running the game effectively.
The game is designed to run on a variety of systems, but having the right hardware will enhance your experience, allowing you to fully appreciate the stunning hand-drawn art, atmospheric music, and intricate gameplay mechanics. Whether you’re exploring the vast catacombs of Hallownest or engaging in challenging boss battles, meeting the recommended specifications will ensure that you enjoy the game to its fullest potential.
Minimum Requirements | Recommended Requirements |
---|---|
OS: Windows 7 (64-bit) | OS: Windows 10 (64-bit) |
Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo E5200 | Processor: Intel Core i5 |
Memory: 4 GB RAM | Memory: 8 GB RAM |
Graphics: GeForce 9800GTX+ (1GB) | Graphics: GeForce GTX 560 |
DirectX: Version 9 | DirectX: Version 11 |
Storage: 9 GB available space | Storage: 9 GB available space |
Resolution: 1080p, 16:9 recommended | Resolution: 1080p, 16:9 recommended |
Make sure your system is up to date and check the requirements before diving into this captivating adventure. Hollow Knight is a game that rewards exploration and skill, so having the right setup can make all the difference in your journey through this enchanting underground world.
How to Play Hollow Knight for Free on Steam via VpeSports
If you’re eager to dive into the captivating world of Hollow Knight without spending a dime, we have some exciting news for you! You can easily access this enchanting adventure through our platform. We offer shared Steam accounts that already have Hollow Knight installed via our Shared Steam service.
To embark on your journey, simply visit the VpeSports website and create an account. Once you’re logged in, navigate to the Shared Steam section, where you’ll find a curated selection of shared accounts.
Among these, locate Hollow Knight and head over to its reviews page. Here, you’ll find a download button that provides step-by-step instructions on how to access the game. Your feedback matters! Don’t forget to share your thoughts by leaving a positive comment on our review page. Please keep in mind that comments undergo moderation, so if your review isn’t approved, feel free to adjust it according to our guidelines. Once your comment is accepted, our moderators will send you the account details to the email you registered with.
You can also join our Telegram channel, Shared Steam Accounts VP, for quicker access. By subscribing, you’ll receive updates and be able to access the Hollow Knight account for free. This method keeps you informed about patches and new releases while you enjoy the game.
If you run into any issues, a comprehensive guide is available on our website: How to Play for Free – Detailed Instructions!