#HOLLOW KNIGHT CRYSTAL DASH LOCATION ZIP#

I may have finished, but I’m far from done. Hollow Knight’s cryptic lore doled out in pieces leads me to believe I saved Hollownest in my ending, but an after-credits screen shows a 73% completion in 27 hours of play. The beautiful diversity of Hollownest’s areas kept things from getting as bland as the underground setting may imply. Platforming challenges reminiscent of Mario’s red-coin sections acted as stand-out therapeutic sessions. Tight platforming and an ever-expanding arsenal of abilities kept me finding new areas hidden behind tall walls or long gaps.

#HOLLOW KNIGHT CRYSTAL DASH LOCATION ZIP#

Hollownest is huge, and a stag-beetle subway system can zip Hollow Knight across the map in seconds.

Some bosses did get to me, though: I have “so frustratingly hard that I cannot recommend this game” angrily scrawled in my notes, and the quest for the true ending remains locked behind a stupid, cheap, BS fight with a giant mantis whom I hate so, so much.įortunately, stepping away to fill in gaps in your map is the perfect way to unwind from difficult bosses. I declared small victories if I survived a bit longer than the try before or attacked twice in an opening in which I had previously landed just one. Each boss has its tells, and each move can be outmaneuvered. Getting into the zone after a few (dozen) failed boss fights may be the hardest part of Hollow Knight, but nothing can match the sense of accomplishment after clearing a particularly devastating battle. Some charms, like the ones that show your location on the map and gather money dropped by enemies, were so essential that removing them felt like trading a part of myself for a better chance at an upcoming battle.īosses require focus at that point between frustration and fun: The Zone. Charms offer a huge variety of upgrades, but extra slots are hard to come by, so I often switched between an exploration build and a boss battle build. Dashes, double jumps, nail maneuvers and attack spells hide everywhere, usually behind one of the almost three dozen unique bosses.

Hollow Knight starts its journey with a jump, a basic swing of a nail sword, and a slow healing spell. With enough persistence, I uncovered equippable charms to compliment my playstyle new moves and health upgrades to get me just a bit farther and enough practice to overcome (almost) anything in my way. Hollow Knight is not about exploration, I discovered, but about persevering. While at first the grueling distance between checkpoints and the painful punishment for perishing seemed unfair, it eventually clicked. Dying on the repeat trip forfeits your hard-earned cash, an unthinkable option. Falling in battle breaks the Hollow Knight in two, leaving its money and part of its magic meter behind. Even basic enemies posed a threat while platforming, and repeating large sections between checkpoints and bosses demanded mastery. The heart-pounding tension between checkpoints kept me on my toes. Most of the adorable hand-drawn bugs shone an orange gleam from their eyes, a telltale sign of the infection spreading throughout the Hollownest. Oh boy.įinding anything easy or friendly in Hollow Knight’s world proved difficult. I’d see him again soon as a normal enemy. When I finally beat him, I didn’t find a way forward. I died so many times I thought he was a gate requiring a new item to pass, but I kept trying. The boss was so incredibly difficult that I was immediately filled with regret over having asked to review this game. After about an hour, I had a partial map and found a boss. Hollow Knight’s slow walking speed and basic jump begged me to find movement upgrades. The world of Hollownest below first felt like a whimsical handful of rooms but seemingly never stopped expanding, with each area increasingly unsettling and late ones downright disturbing.

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