Just a little bug , a sharp nail and a big mystery
Recently I’ve been delving into Hollow Knight for the first time, a game which caught my attention several times over the years since its release but that I never found the chance to pick up. I’ve gone back and forth since buying it in the late summer, between intensive, long sessions and putting the game down for weeks on end due to a busy personal life and/or being distracted by other games… Yet it is never long before I feel the call to dive back into exploration of the deep caves and colourful vistas, into battling fearsome foes and tragic bosses, and surviving the various twists, turns and surprises this strange insectoid kingdom has to offer.
There’s something compelling about this world; something in the musty, decaying world, in the animation and sound design by turns so adorable and so unsettling, in the riveting score that picks up when you find a new boss to defeat, and in the sense that your mysterious knight with their empty (but very cute) masked gaze is a part of a bigger plot, a bigger scheme, and perhaps driven by a purpose they have not elected to share even with the player who controls them. Though the road is hard and the night full of terrors, and there are entities I encounter far more formidable than I, each time I overcome a great challenge or powerful enemy, I become a little less afraid that I am just a lowly adventurer in over my head, but perhaps, purposely or not, for good or ill, have a roll to play yet in the fate of this accursed kingdom.
A lesson in non-linear mysteries and storytelling
One of the most exciting things this game offers me is the constant sense that the little pieces of progress I make brings me closer to the truth – and indeed I feel from a game design perspective is what makes this game stand out. Hollow Knight is excellent at unfolding a story by stages, at show, don’t tell, at nudging the player’s curiosity to delve into the story in which they find themselves a key part through inference, environmental storytelling, snippets of dialogue, and connecting the dots – in a similar, yet perhaps slightly more accessible, way that FromSoftware titles do so. No matter where I go or what paths I choose, I can find clues – clues as to what happened to this world, to this eternal yet seemingly (un)dead kingdom, clues as to how I might progress or what I might do to make my mark upon this land, and clues even into my own nature as this little knight; who or what I am, why I have arrived there, and what purpose I may yet fulfil. It is thrilling as a player to start to arrange the puzzle pieces, knowing that I am engaging with them in a sequence largely of my choosing, and try to figure out what picture is painted when they are aligned together. Just now having received the Dream Nail, I feel I may only be scratching the surface of what I thought this game was about; a daunting but awe inspiring prospect – and one which shall definitely see me continue down this game’s winding narrative path until its conclusion. This game for me is a lesson in non-linear storytelling, informed less by player choice in terms of how they behave, but rather, by the paths they uncover in the world, and how the secrets hidden down those roads lead to revelations about what they thought they knew, what they assumed they should or could do, and who they believe they are. I hold my breath anticipating the realisations yet to be brought to light.