Incline Hollow Knight

[NJClaw]

Come on, the game is not ultra-easy, but it's also not THAT hard (apart from two platforming challenges and a couple of endgame bosses).

 

[Verylittlefishes]

Come on, the game is not ultra-easy, but it's also not THAT hard (apart from two platforming challenges and a couple of endgame bosses).

I think Cuphead is more challenging in that matter.

 

[Verylittlefishes]

fuck yeah

 

[<3sRichardSimmons]

Nice job doing it with only 5 masks. Definitely made it a bit more difficult on yourself, but well done.

 

[Elwro]

So I destroyed the 3 seals and I can go you know where to fight you know whom. On the other hand, I have some vague hunch based on some stuff I read that if I haven't fought Hornet for the 2nd time I should better not approach that fight yet, for plot reasons. Is this true? [without spoiling too much]

 

[PlanHex]

I don't think you will lock yourself out of anything by doing it immediately, but you should of course keep playing afterwards and scrub the map clean, find other endings and so on.

 

[Elwro]

Oh. so you can find other endings after that fight? I will not lock myself out?

edit: duh, you wrote that, sorry

 

[PlanHex]

I'm fairly certain it is the other way around actually, that you will lock yourself out of the (standard boring) ending that's available now if you go complete the rest first.
So no worries, go end it now, then go back for more after.

 

[Tigranes]

You beat the bad boy, see the ending, then reload the save just before and continue exploring to see the other endings, no?

This way you also get % completion in your interface (it goes up to 120 or so now with Godhome, I think)

From personal experience, I would say finishing the colosseum is very fun, and there's a strong sense of achievement in doing white palace, plus the story benefits of finishing that segment (i.e. completing the very last seal in the inventory & finishing the abyss).

 

[Elwro]

The end fight was a little bit similar to Dark Souls' Gwyn, from a certain moment. It is also weirdly anticlimactic; it's not a bigger challenge than many of the levels themselves. [At least for me.]

This game's been great fun. Will explore more.

 

[<3sRichardSimmons]

The end fight was a little bit similar to Dark Souls' Gwyn, from a certain moment. It is also weirdly anticlimactic; it's not a bigger challenge than many of the levels themselves. [At least for me.]

This game's been great fun. Will explore more.

You probably already know this, but

Spoiler

That’s not the “true” end fight.

 

[Elwro]

Yeah, that's what I was asking about before, thanks.

I'm glad I found that 'secret' bench before the second Hornet fight

edit: beat it. Grrr. Now for the 'deeper truth'...

 

[Elwro]

Traitor Lord, grrrrrrrrr

I have my friend to help me in that fight, but still can't do it. Time to take another break

 

[Okagron]

Just realized that it's been two years since they announced Silksong. Still really looking foward to it though.

 

[<3sRichardSimmons]

Traitor Lord, grrrrrrrrr

I have my friend to help me in that fight, but still can't do it. Time to take another break

I think he’s probably the hardest boss in the base game.

Also

Spoiler

even victory is bittersweet.

 

[Elwro]

OK, so I lost 10+ essence because I put a dreamgate next to the TL fight (I can't be arsed to do the spikey route every time). Will this be a big deal?

I'm going elsewhere for now... I just can't time the shadow cloak dash properly to avoid his hits.

edit: gonna finish the ghost-bosses. Elder Hu was kinda a pushover, I think I should've discovered him earlier...

 

[PlanHex]

I remember having a lot of trouble with the Traitor Lord too.
Not much else to do than upgrade your nail, maybe get the permanent extra damage charm from the clown troupe and the charm from the honey comb. I think that does the trick no matter what you're up against.

 

[Wunderbar]

Traitor Lord, grrrrrrrrr

I have my friend to help me in that fight, but still can't do it. Time to take another break

I think he’s probably the hardest boss in the base game.

at first i was like "wtf"
then i remembered that traitor lord was buffed in a later patch.

 

[Elwro]

Oh boy. 15000 Geo? The charm must be amazing but it'll be quite a grind...

Hopping around after the Grimm minions, suprisingly fun...

 

[Talby]

This game is so boring. So much grinding for currency and everything leads to dead ends or small currency caches/badges that don't give you new navigation options. It's so rare to find a path that leads somewhere new.

 

[Elwro]

TBH I haven't found a real reason to grind for Geo before this Grimm Troupe related thing.

I'd prefer if using the gates wouldn't cost Essence since backtracking stops being ultrafun at some point if there are no changes in the areas besides FC

 

[<3sRichardSimmons]

This game is so boring. So much grinding for currency and everything leads to dead ends or small currency caches/badges that don't give you new navigation options. It's so rare to find a path that leads somewhere new.

I’m genuinely skeptical that you made it past Greenpath.

 

[Verylittlefishes]

The invocation of Silksong release:

 

[lightbane]

Finally finished this, the game drags on for too long by the end of it, and despite the upgrades you get, I would have liked if the little knight changed his attack animation after maxing out the Nail and getting all of the Nail Arts. Speaking of, these I rarely used, except for the Great Slash to kill off regular enemies.

Spoiler

The regular final boss is pretty much Artorias + Gwyn combined, complete with sad music (he also lost an arm at some pont for reasons, probably to be even more reminiscent of Artorias from Dark Souls). I think it would have worked better if you had the "Hollow Knight theme" from the main menu instead of the "Sealed Vessel" one IMO. Getting the Voidheart was quite metal, shame it doesn't do anything on its own and you actually lose the benefits it had before the transformation. The final boss is quite hard but doable. The boss rush DLC though is utter shit though, and way too long. For extra hilarity the final Pantheon seemingly bugged on me and I couldn't play it, so I had to watch the rest on Youtube, thankfully I didn't miss much it seems since fighting 40+ bosses or so, most of which you have already fought, in order to get the final ending is bad design IMO. I hope the 3 guys from Team Cherry don't repeat the mistake for the sequel.
The killer clown thing from the Nightmare Troupe DLC doesn't fit with the general art style of the world IMO. Granted, it may be on purpose since they're obviously meant to look evil and demonic, even though the ritual doesn't seem to be particularly malicious since Hallownest is long dead. In fact, like Dark Souls 2, you're told you're "saving" a kingdom that's long dead and killing the big bad won't change anything. The point is that you could put them in another setting with minimal changes. Worse, the Grimmchild thing does annoying sounds non-stop and is useless, since it only attacks whenever you face the enemy, instead of tracking them on its own, which sucks in battles with agile bosses.
The Godseeker DLC is obviously meant for masochists, but I liked the vaguely Greek-inspired design of the area.
The White Palace is a Super Meat Boy-style level which I loathe. I found the escape sequences from Ori 1 much better in comparison.
I don't get what was the Pale King's strategy though:

Spoiler

How did he judge when a Vessel was considered "good enough"? Apparently he threw his kids non-stop into the Abyss, and whoever managed to climb to the entrance first is considered a "Pure Vessel". However, they all have the same clothes and identical weapon, so I'm not sure if they were born like that or the King had mass-produced cloaks for every kid. The "Little Knight" protagonist does seem to be born in the Abyss though, instead of being thrown inside after birth, for what's worth.
Shame the King invested too much money and time into building saws, rather than having a Plan B if his Vessel sacrifice plan failed. Perhaps he went crazy from regret after realizing his plan failed and all of his fratricides were for nothing? Or perhaps he planned to kill the entire kingdom including himself to contain the infection? If you dream-nail the PK, his last words are "No price is too great...".

In any case, quite good game for a first try, good gameplay, somewhat monochrome but distinct art style, and excellent music. Much better than hipster indie "games" with fake pixels that look like a blurry mess. I give it 8/10 points.

Regarding the Kikestarter backers, thankfully the usual issue with these hideous people here isn't a thing since everyone are bugs anyway. Moreover, most of them fit with the game's style, but there are a few stand outs like the tryhard with a Nail katana that is groan-worthy, or the blatant Guts reference with the wrong position for an eyepatch and rambling about more references himself. Thankfully you can kill them all and the "proper" Kickstarter backer messages are completely optional and twice hidden.

Lastly, it's odd that despite being about bugs, bees barely have a role in this and ants are not even mentioned, despite being the most known "social bugs" by default.

 

[LESS T_T]

https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/367520/view/3064116832207100344

Update notes for v1.5.68.11808

- Added "Borderless" option to fullscreen in video options
- 64-bit is now required (For players with 32-bit computers the previous version (1.4.3.2) can still be accessed as a beta)
- Vulkan is now the default graphics API for Linux
- Enabled controller rumble (only supported for certain configurations, e.g. Xbox One controller on Windows)
- Hopefully less hitching, and less memory usage on startup (enabled incremental GC, removed heap size increase method)
- Reduced screen tearing during screen shakes
- Fixed uncollected Grubfather rewards being miss-able
- Fixed the Soul Tyrant battle in pantheons getting stuck after being defeated sometimes
- Fixed death loop if moving too high during Absolute Radiance phase 2
- Fixed Elderbug's Greenpath hint dialogue
- Grimm chest reward is now left on the ground if you banish him without collecting it
- Fixed issues with binding mouse buttons
- Fixed multi damage sometimes taking too much health with lifeblood
- Fixed Absolute Radiance music change triggering too early if moving too high in phase 2
- Fixed Glowing Womb charm becoming inaccessible
- Sideways dash is now preferred when Dashmaster is equipped (less accidental down dashing!)
- Fixed issue where Watcher Knight's back roll was not happening
- Crystal Guardian will now wake up when damaged by area attacks (Spore Shroom, etc)
- Fixed damage inconsistency with area attacks on Radiance, Absolute Radiance, and Pure Vessel
- Fixed settings changed in pause menu being reset when quitting to menu
- Fixed damage sometimes not being applied correctly to Nail Arts when using the Fury of the Fallen charm
- Fixed dialogue box getting stuck when talking to Cloth in Queen's Gardens
- Fixed issue where closing the brightness menu in-game would in some cases restart the game
- Various minor map fixes
- Various minor translation fixes
- Other minor fixes