Overview
Hollow Knight is a metroidvania by Team Cherry, a small studio in Adelaide, Australia, crowdfunded on Kickstarter in 2014 and released on PC on 24 February 2017. You control The Knight, a silent warrior who arrives in the town of Dirtmouth and descends into Hallownest, a once-glorious insect kingdom now in ruins from a plague that drives its people mad. The story is told sparingly, mostly through environments, tablets and the characters met along the way.
OtaHub's take
Play is built on the nail, a Soul system for healing and casting spells, and Charms slotted into a limited number of notches to customise your style. Maps must be bought from the character Cornifer and only update when you rest at a bench, so feeling lost is part of the experience. On death you leave behind a shade holding all your money and must return to defeat it. Melancholy hand-drawn art and Christopher Larkin's score create a distinct mood.
Team Cherry added four free content packs between 2017 and 2018: Hidden Dreams, The Grimm Troupe, Lifeblood and Godmaster. An idea for a Hornet DLC later grew into the sequel Hollow Knight: Silksong, released in September 2025. On 5 February 2026 Hollow Knight gained Nintendo Switch 2, PS5 and Xbox Series X|S versions with higher resolutions and frame rates, free for owners of the previous console versions, along with many refinements brought back from Silksong.
Verdict
Hollow Knight suits players who enjoy exploration and can tolerate getting lost and tough boss fights that demand learning attack patterns. It is also the best way to understand the world and characters before moving on to Silksong. Newcomers should be prepared, since the difficulty of the second half, plus optional content such as Godmaster, can be discouraging.
