Hollow Knight: Voidheart Edition (PS4)

Hollow Knight begins with a little bug falling down a long drop. Carrying a triangular sword called the Nail, the bug marches onward wordlessly, finding a small nearly abandoned village. The only resident, the Elderbug, tells of a once prosperous kingdom down below their feet, Hallownest once a realm where intelligent bugs achieved great things. Now, those beneath the surface find their minds slipping, prone to fits of violence as their grasp on reality fades. Despite this warning, the Knight leaps down the nearby well, descending into this hostile subterranean world, and so begins Hollow Knight, an exploration-focused platformer that will continue to impress and surprise with the depths of its meticulous world-crafting both in terms of what you’re literally exploring and the subtle mysteries of Hallownest.

 

Even as you take your first steps in the dark Forgotten Crossroads filled with its simpler bug life, you can immediately see the care put into bringing this setting to life. Hollow Knight: Voidheart Edition is an entirely hand-drawn game and not one content to skimp on detail just because it would be easier to realize its massive world by doing so. When you step into the nearby area of Greenpath for the first time, there is incredibly lush vegetation even in the most minor of places, plants hanging from the ceiling, clinging to every surface, existing in the path before you that react to your movement and sway gently when things are calm. Shadowy foliage even obstructs your view a touch, placed smartly to not deny you information but adding to that idea this particular part of the fallen kingdom is truly teeming with plant life that nobody is bothering to tend. Your travels see you exploring Hallownest at your preferred pace, with many possible paths open to you early and it easy to stumble into brand new locations frequently. You may see the environment easing into the new locale first, mushrooms of the Fungal Wastes supplanting the plants of Greenpath as you approach, but it’s not all natural settings either. The structures built by the intelligent bugs of the underground come in many forms, simple huts for the humble, intricate buildings for the centers of power, shrines in isolated reaches, and curious creations with unspoken mysteries left to ponder. The world feels carefully considered despite its vastness, even where it might feel like for a moment it is prioritizing its incredible beauty and serenity. The idea of an underground location where it rains may make you scoff initially, until you find yourself in the large pool of water in a chamber above it, this “Blue Lake” actually leaking to the large settlement below to cause that gentle downfall. The music, as you might expect, is excellent at adding to the ambience as well, the haunting corners of this world enhanced by the orchestrated tunes while certain boss battles can feel grand and epic when that previously mournful quiet is broken by energetic battle music tailor made to match the personality or unique threat of what you’re facing.

 

So many beautiful environments in Hollow Knight: Voidheart Edition can compel you to stop and take in the visual feast, but the world is telling its story subtly through this land as well. Only the most vital of details really get relayed to you for the main plot, a character similar to our hero called Hornet helping to point you in the direction of the key details or explaining them herself. Our quiet little bug protagonist, called The Knight in outside materials, does have a bigger part to play in helping this fallen kingdom avoid a darker fate, but Hollow Knight: Voidheart Edition is very delicate in how it rolls out details and taking its time does lend to a greater sense of discovery and fascination as a result. You aren’t primed to expect too much in this world, the player left to piece things together bit and bit in a way that allows for some moments of sudden surprise that hit well precisely because they aren’t challenging your preconceptions or contradicting them but instead introducing a compelling new wrinkle you want to see explained. This is not to say Hollow Knight: Voidheart Edition is going to be totally oblique in its story-telling, in fact, you meet many other bugs capable of speech down below besides that sometimes hostile Hornet. Many of the bug characters in this adventure are drawn in simple appealing ways, softening the sometimes unnerving features you’d expect of arthropods. For characters you can speak to, this works well in matching their surprisingly friendly attitudes. The depths of Hallownest can be a dark and dreary place with morbid stories to tell, and in areas like the shadowy corners of Deepnest you will see bugs that deliberately lean into more eerie or naturalistic designs, but there are good bugs trying to live and help others in this land. Cornifer, for example, is just a big jolly guy mapping out the world and happy to share his work with you to help you get your bearings. At some point later you can start to see the deeper thoughts of certain characters, and while this can reveal an unexpected dark twist to some characters, it can also cement the earnestness of many others.

Those maps Cornifer makes are a pretty crucial piece of exploring Hallownest, because at first, the sheer size of the areas you explore can feel daunting. Many sections have multiple routes to take, and then those have shortcuts to open to previous spots as well as hidden routes to uncover and even paths you can’t take until later once you have the right abilities. When you reach a new region, you’ll not even be able to consult a map, and while the path to Cornifer is often not too deep into the area and there are clues to help you find him, it does do a good job of preserving a sense of wonder and curiosity. You aren’t yet able to divide the location into convenient rectangles on a map you consult fastidiously, but even after you have the map, you can only update it once you’ve pressed into new territory and taken a moment to recover on the benches scattered throughout Hallownest. That way, you do still get to explore new spaces unspoiled by information that would pull you out of the experience, but benches are essentially safe spots where you can heal and will respawn after a death, so they’re a good spot for collecting yourself and seeing how the map has expanded since your last visit. Admittedly, as catered this system is towards preserving a sense of discovery, there are little bits of it that aren’t the cleanest. Important areas will be marked if you make the right purchases, but with how many spots will only have their importance revealed later after you get the right skill to navigate a place, it can be easy to lose track of what activities were left in the air. Map markers you can place yourself might be meant to mitigate this,  and there is also an undeniable bit of excitement that comes from uncovering a new skill to increase your movement. An aerial dash or extra jump is bound to come with a great deal of new places you can explore and thankfully there is a reasonable enough travel system to unlock to help you get back to old areas and try out your new powers.

 

Hollow Knight: Voidheart Edition’s setting is masterful in its layout and environmental story-telling, and just as much thought was put into the action elements that inhabit this world as well. Many spaces will keep you fairly active in small ways as you explore, little bugs to test your Nail’s might against and in ways with greater purpose than just giving you some danger along the path. Perhaps the most important mechanic in this entire Metroidvania game to make its pieces hang together so beautifully is the Soul system. Each time you hit an enemy with your blade, you build up a little Soul, and that Soul is a crucial resource for overcoming the hostile world you’re plunging into. If you stand in place and hold Circle, you can focus Soul and start healing any damage you’ve taken, and early on when you only have a few hits before you perish, you learn to cherish this function. It means when out exploring the world, if you take a hit from a mean little bug, you can quickly undo the injury and continue on mostly unbothered, and while this does give the game a bit of permission to get rough with you, it doesn’t abuse it. You’ll encounter many simple foes that are good for quick Soul replenishment and some peskier creatures that require a bit more movement skill to avoid, but the healing keeps most foes from being annoying. In a boss fight, you might be taking hits while learning their techniques and how to avoid them, but the healing gives you a way to stay in the game if you can find a break in the action to top yourself off. Death does have a small cost, you will leave a shade behind that you need to usually quite easily defeat to get back the Geo you were carrying that serves as the local currency, and while losing that cash by dying before you reach your shade can be devastating, you will also get better at navigating and avoiding danger over time because healing gives you space to slip up at first but the need to fight to get back Soul means you can’t just sloppily heal through all obstacles before you.

Enemies in the world can even begin to prepare you for the more demanding boss fights. Often along your journey, between those smaller bugs that usually have one trick, you’ll start running into tougher foes that can do things like shield blows, attack from afar, or lunge towards you at speed with a doubly powerful blow. Since these are out in the world, you can scurry off and heal if you need to and then continue the fight, but then when you reach the upcoming boss, you might notice they’re performing upgraded variants of those attacks and be better able to handle the fight ahead thanks to that bit of prep with something simpler. Hollow Knight: Voidheart Edition has plenty of boss encounters as well, both on the main path and as surprising things to stumble across as you search for new paths and helpful treasures. A boss like the trio of Mantis Lords might expect you to react with great speed to an attack you have half a second to identify, the Brooding Mawlek sprays acid all around its arena so you need to be able to spot the gaps in the dropping globules, and the delightfully joyful Dung Defender sends bouncing hazards about at the same time you need to watch the ground for his burrowing tricks. Regardless of which boss you’re facing though, most of them have around three to four tricks, some elements like timing, order, and placement changing, but you are only asked to learn a small range of incoming attacks and then respond properly to survive. The game can definitely make this quite difficult even with this deliberate limitation in place to keep things manageable and the game’s toughest challenges will ask you to think a lot more about the flow of a fight and temper your desire to rush in and strike, although for the most part the truly intense bosses are kept for the DLC fights that are included as part of this Voidheart Edition but were still free anyway. In the main course of the journey, only one point really stands out as being a bit poor in boss placement, the game allowing you to attempt a rematch with a boss that is now many times harder and perhaps draws the most attention to the fact the game does not show a boss’s health in any form. Normally this is seemingly a way to keep you invested in the battle similar to the map not too easily providing information, the player having to always fight smart in a boss battle instead of trying to just shove through with constant desperate attacking. This does sting for the player attempting this immediate rematch though since no clue is given you are barely dealing damage to them and the fight’s already difficult speed can make it unclear you’re out of your league for reasons beyond your own responsiveness. Returning to areas later is a common thing in Hollow Knight: Voidheart Edition, but this rare bump feels worthy of mention because it’s a case where it is not so clear that you’re meant to come back with better tools for the trial before you.

 

Hollow Knight: Voidheart Edition is not quick to give up extra power though, health and strength upgrades both taking a good bit of time and exploration to acquire. This allows earlier simple fights to still pack a punch though, and later backtracking will become a good deal easier when your skill set and power have increased enough to easily breeze through regions you once tiptoed through. Your increasing mobility is definitely a key factor, the Knight already having some useful options from the start like being able to slash below to bounce off foes and spikes, and while the game doesn’t normally rely on precise platforming skills too much save in a crystalline cave and the brutal optional Path of Pain gauntlet, they do give each space some extra depth as you learn where smart maneuvering can get you. Hidden treasures can really start to help you if you take the time to poke around, Charms in particular a great way to augment your ability. Charms have special functions that can help in a range of situations, from one charm that has little flies come out to collect the Geo that bursts out of defeated enemies to charms that increase the power of your special attacks. You can eventually learn special Nail Arts that are a attacks that require a charge but deal heavy damage, and the spells that cost some of your Soul do special things like launch the only projectile attack you can utilize or send you slamming down onto an enemy in a way that hurts them but protects you from harm briefly. Spells and Nail Arts can be enhanced or modified by charms, and besides the Wayward Compass feeling like it should just be part of the map function since it shows you your current location on the map, most charms open up options to either enhance regular exploration, power you up for tough fights, or give you some extra wiggle room if you’re coming up short on some tough challenge. Charm slots are rare to come by though and like many things in Hollow Knight: Voidheart Edition a tantalizing and exciting reward should you find a chance to earn them, this adventure knowing how to keep certain things precious without being so rare you feel underpowered against the dangers you face.

THE VERDICT: Hollow Knight: Voidheart Edition’s setting of Hallownest is superb, thoughtfully crafted for gameplay but lovingly realized through so many wonderful touches that add beauty to the darkness, mystery to the land, and wonder that can make you stop and drink in just how much care was put into everything before you. Remarkably intelligent game design gives you room to handle its tougher challenges thanks to the healing system, build up towards bosses, and smart fight structures, but the world also invites you to be curious and keep uncovering valuable secrets. It may sometimes take your hand and ask you to trust it as you move into uncharted territory or face a seemingly mighty foe, but even when it does rarely lead you awry, the world is teeming with so many things to uncover you can always return later with the spoils of the Hallownest’s constantly enticing depths.

 

And so, I give Hollow Knight: Voidheart Edition for PlayStation 4…

A FANTASTIC rating. I’m sitting at 104% completion for Hollow Knight: Voidheart Edition at the time of writing, and yet when I go to see what other players are talking about or watch videos about the game, somehow the game still reveals hidden depths I had no idea I had missed. The many unseen corners of Hallownest call to me now, and while there are definitely some DLC challenges I doubt I’ll devote the time needed to master since they are deliberately over the top in their difficulty, the other parts of this game world tantalize with how they can provide a powerful mix of purpose and play. Hollow Knight: Voidheart Edition has a rich setting that lays out many clues on the history you need to get something deeper out of the tale of saving the fallen kingdom, enough that you can piece together satisfactory explanations for the crucial mysteries, but there are depths to the ruins and characters you encounter that flesh things out even more and leave you wondering what other details you might have missed. This adventure has the confidence to put full boss fights down small paths you might not even notice but you aren’t left feeling like there’s so much you’ll never find it all. A rare breakable wall or two might not be apparent enough and make it easy to miss a sizeable location admittedly, but the secrets want to be uncovered and your expansive range of techniques will give you reason to swiftly retread ground and either find new ways naturally or stumble upon them by chance. There are moments you can influence the fate of the characters you meet, there are special sections to reward you for scouring spaces for keys and other items, and most importantly of all, all these excellent elements are the beautiful shell over a superb action game. The Metroidvania side is fed with a great world to traverse, the Soul system perfect for allowing it to have an edge but restraint is shown so regular enemies aren’t oppressive. Bosses can provide those tentpole bursts of excitement and difficulty but you accrue a great deal of tools for handling them before you even factor in how well the game keeps things fair and approachable.

 

That there are only a few moments in Hollow Knight: Voidheart Edition like that one boss rematch that feel like they forgot the game’s general flow and smart scaling feels even more impressive when you realize the designers, Team Cherry, had only worked on small scale games before. Metroidvanias can feel a little boxed in as they pay homage to the two games that make up the name, Metroid and Castlevania casting quite a shadow and leading to predictable elements, but besides an easter egg or wink here or there, Hollow Knight: Voidheart Edition feels like it is being built with full originality and with deeper consideration on what new can be done to the formula. Soul is such a useful system for managing difficulty and exploration even before you add spells to it as a new interesting complication, but it’s just one of the many areas that show how much careful consideration was put into the design rather than just doing what is expected in this genre. Considering how much love was given to even the tiniest of background details though, it is easy to see how the game managed to excel in most every department.