Hollow Knight is Faking Perfection
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- čas přidán 4. 09. 2024
- The Imperfect Perfection of Hollow Knight
Hollow Knight is my favorite game ever made, so before Hollow Knight Silksong comes out, I wanted to make a long freakin' video essay about it. I wanted to rant about the storytelling, lore, characters, atmosphere, aesthetic, and much more.
Some footage/images borrowed from:
@fireb0rn
@mossbag69
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Music Used:
"Family Feud" from Family Feud
"File Select" from The Legend of Zelda Twilight Princess
"Queens Gardens" from Twilight Princess
"Dwelling of Doom" from Castlevania II
"House Building Theme" from Red Dead Redemption 2
"Hollow Knight" from Hollow Knight
"Enter Hallownest" from Hollow Knight
"Piranha Plant Sleeping Music" from Super Mario 64
"Soul Sanctum" from Hollow Knight
"Crossroads" from Hollow Knight
"E1M1" from Doom
"Reflection" from Hollow Knight
"White Palace" from Hollow Knight
"Vordt of the Boreal Valley" from Dark Souls III
"Dire Dire Docks" from Super Mario 64
"Main Theme" from The Legend of Zelda Tears of the Kingdom
"The Restless Town" from Dredge
"Dreamland" from Melee
"Harvest Dawn" from The Elder Scrolls IV
"Sea Shanty 2" from Old RuneScape
"Dirtmouth" from Hollow Knight
"Greenpath" from Hollow Knight
"City of Tears" from Hollow Knight
"Summertime (Tropicala)" from Stardew Valley
"Queens Gardens" from Hollow Knight
"Dream" from Hollow Knight
"Kingdom's Edge" from Hollow Knight
"The White Lady" from Hollow Knight
"To the Gateway" from Super Mario Galaxy
"Fungal Wastes" from Hollow Knight
"Accordion Brumm" from Hollow Knight
"The Grimm Troupe" from Hollow Knight
"Stickerbush Symphony" from Donkey Kong Country
"Deepnest" from Hollow Knight
"Bonus Room Theme" from Donkey Kong Country Tropical Freeze
"Theme Song" from Avatar the Last Airbender
"The Avatar's Love" from Avatar the Last Airbender
"False Knight" from Hollow Knight
"Hunter's Dream" from Bloodborne
"Mantis Lords" from Hollow Knight
"Hornet" from Hollow Knight
"4 A.M." from Animal Crossing New Leaf
"Queens Garden's (Action)" from Hollow Knight
"Lavender Town" from Pokémon Gen 1
"Welcome to the world of Pokémon" from Pokémon Gen 3
"Firelink Shrine" from Dark Souls
"Wet Hands" from Minecraft
"Radiance" from Hollow Knight
"Broken Vessel" from Hollow Knight
"Nightmare King" from Hollow Knight
"Crystal Peak" from Hollow Knight
"Resting Grounds" from Hollow Knight
"Drink Up, There's More!" from The Witcher 3
"FNAF 2 Hallway Ambience" from FNAF 2
"The Shire" from Lord of the Rings
"Dreamers" from Hollow Knight
"Greenpath (Action)" from Hollow Knight
"L's Theme" from Death Note
"Gwyn, Lord of Cinder" from Dark Souls
"Secret of the Forest" from Hollow Knight
"Lake" from Pokémon Gen 4
"Nosk" from Hollow Knight
"Sealed Vessel" from Hollow Knight
"Sister's of Battle" from Hollow Knight
"The River God" by Leon Chang
#SweetsIsOnline #hollowknight #silksong
streets saying this guy eats grass
What?! Pshhhh! I would never! 🥸
suuure
@@SweetsIsOnlinebut I would
Holy shit bebo
"Ranking every type of grass in hollow knight"
I love the fact that the mantis tribe litterally said "Nuh huh" to the radiance and quite litterally punched her in their dreams
explain this to me
@@THEOPDESTROYER777 the mantis tribe litterally said "Nuh huh" to the radiance and quite litterally punched her in their dreams
@@Ralzonehow tho? like they went to sleep, saw radiance and just threw hands before he could say a word?
@@THEOPDESTROYER777 they simply declined the radiance's effect
@@craz2580 but how tho
32:16
There are containers of soul in the lighthouse, maybe his task was to keep it fueled so it doesn't turn off.
His task wasn't to "not turn it off", it was to "not let it turn off"
Would make a lot more sense
Lighthouse keeper was a real job for a long long time after all.
Oh this makes so much sense. He was there to maintain the lighthouse, not just to "not turn it off"
Technically, we have no reference as to when he died. Could also be that it was around the birth of vessels. The king, faced with either looking at his graveyard or sacrificing another retainer, decided not to do either.
My only issue with hollow knight is the crystal peak. We see them mine these crystals like they’re really useful but we never see them see them used for anything anywhere else. This only sticks out to me because just about everything else has a reason to be there.
Oooh! That’s also a really good criticism for the working! I’ve thought about that before, I just forgot to bring it up in the video!
I think this is intentional. After unlocking Crystal Peak Elderbug says that he once had one of the purple crystals. He said you cant eat them and they dont make for good pillows so he doesnt care about them. I think this is supposed to show how the only reason people care about the crystals is because they are rare and worth a lot of money, just like real world diamonds. Also the crystal heart, deep focus, and quick focus are all items you get that are made of crystals that actually do have special powers so yeah they actually are magical in a way
@@garysingh3523But if that’s the case, I would have liked to see them present as some sort of jewelry or general wealth-hoarding in the City. That is already a theme present, with characters like Emilitia. But as it stands, the crystals are mined from the Peaks and then go…(?)
@@leightonpetty4817 maybe there's no-one else who really gives a shit about the crystal market enough to start it back up after the infection
@@SweetsIsOnline The crystals do actually serve a purpose! If you speak with Quirrel, he mentions "The crystal ore is said to contain a sort of energy, not as powerful as the soul the city dwellers harnessed but far less lethal." - the wanderer's journal also states that they contain heat at a searing point within.
Despite this, the crystals are never shown to have their energy harnessed; no tools or mechanisms (such as the corpse heap in the Soul Sanctuary) are ever shown which I find a little disappointing.
'The spiders did NOT want to f*** with the Pale King.'
... except for the one spider that did.
No it's different, she didn't want to f*ck with him, she wanted to f*ck *him*
No no no Herrah still dint want to fuck with the pale king, she wanted to fuck the pale king
Hera isn’t a spider
@@stump3139 Well, I mean, you are right. The Queen of Olympus isn't a spider.
Plus, yeah, Herrah only has six limbs.
@@stump3139 yes she even if we dont count her design herrah is the mother of hornet WHO IS CANONICALLY A SPIDER and her father isnt a spider so if Herrah isnt a spider idk how TF Hornet is
Mossbag has a REALLY good explanation for the Fog Canyon jellies - to put it simply the jellyfish were an experiment made by Monomon as a way to keep the infection in that somehow didnt work so she just used one to protect herself
Jellyfish created to protect from the X- I mean an infection? Sounds familiar
For the White Palace having buzzsaws, I have an explanation (speculation).
Basically, that is the White Palace, in the form of the Pale King's mind.
At the end of the Path of Pain, there is the most regretful memory of the Pale King. The "Pain" is the Pale King's. The Buzzsaws, thorns and spikes, are the Pale King's regret physical manifestation, because the whole thing happens in the dream realm.
Yeah, i agree that the white palace is definitely in some kind of dream realm, like the places where you fight the dream bosses, godhome, or where the dreamers trap you, and that's why it's so disjointed an ethereal. Not entirely sure it's in the pale kings mind though, but he probably made it. Maybe with his own dreams, but PoP snuck through unbidden.
What i do wonder is how the actual palace has disappeared, or how it's tied to the singular knight at its gates. 🤔
Is it the actual palace in the dream? Just fragmented and disjointed by the rules of the dream realm? or is it just a memory, an echo laden with mental defenses in the form of buzzaws and hostile terrain? If so, did the king actually move the palace like the grim troupe does their tent? Is that the actual king on the throne, or just a faded memory of him by the kingsmould in the place he locked away half of the charm? Did the king ever visit the dream or would he construct it all from outside then left hallowsnest? And if so would he have returned once the radiance was dealt with?
So many questions, so few answers... Hopefully silksong will have some answers, even if as a off-hand comment by hornet.
For me it’s just that he decided to put a shit ton of buzz saws where he lives so the radiance wouldn’t get him
@@menacingrock750 bro forgor she can teleport and fly...
@@fallatiuso I like the idea that the entire White Palace is simply a manifestation of how the people *around* the Pale King saw him and his court. They saw a bug obsessed, a bug driven mad by his own regrets, and they visualized being in his presence as walking between thorns and spikes. They knew that he'd drag them all down in the endless emotional void he carried with him from the sacrifices he made. To me his final thoughts seem like a plea, a rationalization that his subjects project onto him, that *surely* everything he did was for the greater good.
That’s honestly really dark. His most regretful memory, of all things, is loving his child.
"The spiders did not fuck with the Pale king"
Herrah's honest reaction:🗿
in her defense. it was only to birth a daughter
which makes hornet half spider half worm. and her best friend is a maggot and a bee
incredible
I especially love Nosk’s disguise. He is supposed to show what you love most, but since our knight is hollow, he just mirrors himself. This makes sense from a gameplay perspective too, as if it was some character, some people would naturally be drawn more too then more and some people less, but as someone who is unique*, it draws us in more
What about flying Nosk? Doesn't it mimic Hornet instead of the knight?
@@justice0952 I think godhome shows them as they want to be in their dreams, explaining why nosk can fly, but I’m not an expert
@@thealeks1 GodHome gives beings their full potential, puts them at their strongest, and in doing so, changes the appearance of some, like Sly, and the Pure Vessel, Nosk in P5 gains flight and looks like Hornet instead.
@@justice0952 Maybe at that point, the Knight has more of a bond with his sister?
@@davidbjacobs3598 yep and that is why he as well isn't true pure vessel
A game that takes your unimportance to an extreme is rainworld. Literally enemies will hunt other enemies, and they will move even when in a different part of the map. You literally have to integrate yourself into the ecosystem of the game. Very difficult, but you learn and grow to be able to survive. One of the best games I have played recently.
Every Hollow Knight fan needs to try rainworld at some point
Yes! It also has a similar idea of every single area having a good reason to be there and a great atmosphere that matches the gameplay, which gets *somehow even better* with the downpour areas
There's also the idea that your abilities stay relatively simple and all you have is your knowledge taken to the absolute extreme
I love both RW and HK.
As a fellow hk to rw enjoyer, I wholeheartedly agree
Even though they're similar games, I don't think every hollow knight fan would enjoy rain world, and neither would every rain world fan enjoy hollow knight. They might both be platformers and unique indie games, but I personally found myself more in touch with rain world because of how simple, yet extensive it's movement and combat can get.
Did I just find a hyper-niche commentary youtuber with views not matching their quality and humour to match? Christ, I'm feeling blessed. This was great.
Reiterating. I just watched the full video. Subbed, Liked, I have no damn idea why you aren't famous.
God is good 🙏
These things take time
just found him too and thinkin the exact same thing
Same
I actually like fog canyon’s weird bubbly jellyfish style. It actually seems to have also been part of green path (same grass and even music) and the jellyfish seem to be experiments of monomons. Making it seem like a sort of distorted wasteland with the archive at its center
i think that was true in development! if i remember correctly, fog canyon, queens gardens, and greenpath were all originally one area
I just don't like it much because you aren't able to map it out until the mid-late game, but it's almost required progression for the very early game.
@@derpfluidvariant0916 Not really, all that’s in it is the archive and shriek really, everything else is non important, and only the shriek is useful early game. Other than that it’s basically just a straight path to queens station with enemies you can just move around
@@jwilker94he means no map till shade cloak
i kind of like that the map doesn’t line up 1 for 1 with the actual areas, but are close enough
canonically, its the knight that’s completing cornifer’s map, and they aren’t a cartographer
and Cornifer is trying to mass produce these maps for adventurers so of course he wouldn't have them be super detailed.
@@SuperDestroyerFox plus it's a 3d world being represented in a 2d plane, the pieces tha overlap could easilly be explained by the fact that if they were lined up one of them would be closer to the camera than the other.
@@gustavodasilvaprobst890I never thought about that, but it makes sense. Now it doesn't bug me anymore that some pieces overlap
i like to think that quirrel simply laid down his nail, and then walked into the lake without emerging again, giving himself to his kingdom without going mad
I’ll never understand why ur videos don’t do numbers or why ur channel isn’t bigger, you’re one of my favorite talk in front of green screen about something they are passionate abt CZcamsrs out there
People dont watch quality. They watch skibidi toilet
@@RadioCraftZ that's... children's content. you sound like a boomer
Thank you! The race is long, and in the end it’s only with yourself.
@@RadioCraftZthis answer explains a lot more than uraynuke actually did.
A lot of the focus is on CZcams shorts, which is pretty bad when considering that CZcams shorts give less money due to lower watchtime, as well as the fact that they are pretty hard to promote yourself on
@@uraynuke that was just an example. People just watch stupid shit generally. Even on other platforms, like streaming services.
Originally Queen Vespa used to be the one that trained Hornet to be a warrior with the 3 queens narrative
(Birthed by Herrahp, raised by White Lady, and trained by Vespa)
Also my theory is that being "hollow" means being complete instinct, no feelings or mind, and that's why when bugs get infected they just go back to their base instincts
I read it as a kind of like how Dragon Ball uses "pure of heart". Doesn't exactly work with the connotations that come with the word, but fits the dictionary definition. Hollow and having no will or mind doesn't mean it can't think, it means it doesn't have the personal distractions inherent to being alive. A normal bug might've gotten invested in the hobbies of the many NPCs, or tried to befriend or oppose them based on personality or manner of speaking. The Knight just fights through the world to find stuff to do its job: defeat or otherwise stall the Radiance. The Knight's reactions never waver based on fear or morals, it's a very one track mind that says an opponent is a threat or not, sparing things that stop being a threat and killing things that remain hostile until death. The Hollow Knight lost its Hollowness when it gained the goal of "making dad smile at me again" and ultimately gave a crack in the armor for the Radiance to get in and take control. It's why I think the Knight becoming Lord of Shades works so well: the secondary strength Hornet says it gained from leaving Hollownest gave its focus an unbreakable tenacity that allowed the Knight to focus all of the void for a singular goal, despite its thrashing and chaotic nature.
@@derpfluidvariant0916 I ain't readin all that
@@STNDD okay
@@STNDDdumbest comment saying in existence
It's always the niche smaller content creators that make the most jawdropping video essays. Keep it up!!
Previously my favorite video was the art of depressing atmospheres in video games but this takes that title for me now. Hollow Knight is my favorite overall game. I have played it countless times on 3 different platforms. It never fails to excite me and you capsulated so much of what I love about it while highlighting why I struggle to explain to people why it's my favorite of all time. Excellent video, Sweets, please keep up the great work! I look forward to your next upload and to catch up on your backlog since I got to AIT!
I really appreciate this comment. This is my favorite game too and I made this video because I wished that someone had made a video like this on the game, and then I realized I could. It feels great to see that other people enjoyed it!
Sidenote about Hallownest's Crown: you can actually get to it without the double jump using nail pogos off of "background" objects. It's fairly tight, but exiting and reentering the room respawns the otherwise destructable objects, giving you as many attemps as you have persistience.
I think the watcher knights also have that flow state, it's just a lot harder to find. It's a really hard fight to find that rhythm, but it's so satisfying once you're locked in. The watcher knights went from my least favorite fight by far to my absolute favorite fight in the game because of that.
Agreed
Yeah. Fights like NKG are amazing the first few times but once you know and can execute all the counter manoeuvres they become boring. Whereas the watcher knights suck on a first playthrough but once you reach a certain level of competence that little bit of RNG keeps you on your toes and forces you to make split second decisions. Instead of just reacting to a tell the same way every time. So they don't get stale in quite the same way.
@@Sir.Alonne You get it. Almost every good player will eventually come to dislike NKG because it has so much dead time. The attacks are easy enough to avoid, but there's no room for creativity and NKG spends *way* too much time of screen, where you just have to sit and wait for the next attack. It's the same for Soul Tyrant, because you spend so much time just waiting for Soul Tyrant to get into your range while the fights themselves stop being challenging after a while.
Watcher Knights are absolutely amazing. The way you can weave between them with pogos, dashes and DDarks makes it one of the best fights in the game. There's so much tech too. You can dreamnail, or cyclone slash them as they wake up. You can shriek them during their jump attack. You can try to get double hits on them with Shade Soul. it's just an extremely well-crafted fight.
I think it's a bit of a waste to dislike NKG because you've worked in the winning formula or something. It's still a thrilling fight with great music and atmosphere every time. As much as I love fights like the watcher knights, I never skip NKG in my playthroughs despite beating him in 1 or 2 tries. They're all great bosses @@MrPatrickbuit
Semi agreement.
Great video!
The Hive was definently rushed, sadly. They needed an entire DLC for a revamp.
Queen Station being connected to Fog Canyon might actually make sense; Canyon has a lot of grasses and vines resembling Greenpath And the Gardens, and some points of it have proper architecture (like that one room with the dead big husks), maybe there actually was a connection between the Gardens and The Station because part of the Canyon was originally part of the Gardens.
i love the fact that the mantis tribes will is so powerful, they just said no to the radiance.
Edit: oh damn this comment is getting numbers...
They’re balling out
@@SweetsIsOnlinebtw the reason sone of them took the infection was because it is like steriods, and they want to be stronk
Getting infected by the plague of mind? Just say no! The Radiance legally cannot infect you without your consent.
Mantis for the win
18:07 tip for this, these ghost things, unlike the versions found outside the boss, have 1 health and I don’t mean like one nail hit or something I mean literally 1hp (pure nail does 21hp of damage) so anything damage dealing in the game kills them instantly so just throw on defenders crest and one tick of stinky will immediately kill them if they get close to you and unless you actively jump into them you can completely ignore them and they won’t be an issue.
Really great video!
Personally I don't think that a lack of a sense of rhythm makes a boss worse, its just a very different type of boss fight. A lack of rhythm makes a fight more about quick adaptation to unique situations rather than just memorization.
Sisters of Battle is my favorite boss, why?
I can agree with that, but I’ll still say that I enjoy those types of fights significantly less. I like the feeling of almost dancing with the bosses.
I'm sorry, but standing in a corner waiting for a chance to slap an Oblobble once isn't fun adaptation to danger, it's just silly.
I think it fluctuates depending on how good the boss' attacks actually are, whereas a choreographed fight in Hollow Knight is almost always going to be great. For example, compare Marmu and Absolute Radiance. Both of them make you forced to adapt to the situation but one of them is simple and has bs attacks and honestly rather boring whereas every moment in an AbsRad fight feels intense and exciting and it's probably the most fun boss to Radiant because each attempt feels different but you still feel really cool for dodging all that
@@plebisMaximus When I was grinding the Oblobbles in Godhome, I eventually got familiar enough with their projectile patterns (which are always the same) that i could consistently run back and forth under them and attack without getting hit. It's is obviously not reasonable to expect most players to be able to do something like this (I could only do it after at least an hour of only fighting Oblobbles, and it's been long enough that I can't do it anymore), but it is possible, and felt amazing to pull off, so there is at least potential for it to be a cool fight, even if most players will never reach that point.
Hollow Knight is probably the cleanest looking game I've ever seen. So beautiful, even in 2d. I wonder what a 3d game from Silksong would look like. Excellent video
Dude, there is so much I want to say and I don't even know where to begin. I guess firstly, I almost NEVER click on "lower view" content, especially if it's someone I've never heard of before. I haven't even been watching hollow knight content as of late but this got pushed to me and I had to check it out.
This might be the first time in I don't know how long that I have sat down and WATCHED a long form video like this, and it was amazing! Thank you for pouring your effort and passion into this conent.
I particularly love the section on Quirrel as he's one of my favorite video game characters of all time. In my frist play through, I actually missed the blue lake scene. The second time I played through though, which was about 60 hours in total of playtime, I crystal dashed past him trying to get some task done for completion sake. I paused and ran back, noticed it gave me an option to sit, sat down briefly, and then stood up almost instantly to continue on my way. Then, I paused and realized how unbelievably quiet the Blue Lake was. It was just some white noise, no music, no enemies, no chittering.
I walked back to Quirrel, sat down, and simply reflected on this journey I had been through. I sat there for maybe two or three minutes and for the first time in a video game, I cried. It just felt so magical. So emotional.
Eventually, I decided to move on and left the frame but my curiosity got the best of me. I went back to see if Quirrel was still there and found only his nail. I never connected "The dead shouldn't be burdened with such things" and it feels like I officially have closure with Quirrel and know where he is now. Thank you.
Also, you've won me over with not just your passion, but your humor, and your music choice too. Including stardew valley and super mario galaxy music is a sure way to make me like you lol.
My theory is that the lighthouse keeper is there to maintain and protect the lighthouse from the shades.
Also, I love hollow knight, and think your video gushing about how much you love hollow knight is great.
I love how with the hollow knight lore, since everything is so vague and self discovered, anyone who explores it can end up with just a slightly different view of the lore it's such a cool side effect because it perfectly reflects how we all enjoy art
Something that always stood out to me personally was the pure vessel, the fact that it wanting to fufill its purpose was the only thing that prevented it from doing so is very tragic for such a simple concept. Hearing the calmer section of the pure vessel theme while thinking about that is crazy, all for a character that doesn't say anything and is only shown like 4 seperate times.
also that is an excellent pfp
@@torpid5092 also when we did see him in The Knights mind he was as small as the knight so the pale king musta fed him something because the pure vessel towers over the knight
@@torpid5092 thanks I made it myself
@@epicnightmare5600 my theory is that the hollow knight being unhollow is why it was able to grow so much meanwhile the protagonist is truly hollow and therefore is unable to grow
when people ask what my 3 wishes from a genie are, all of them are being able to forget about hollow knight and play it again from scratch completely blind
same here.
Honestly you just have to not play or watch anything about hollow knight for some years. I played it for the first time 3 years ago and I’m now playing it again. I gotta say I still got surprised while playing it and it still managed to bring out the same emotions when I played it the first time
"because again, I'm still in my driveway >:("
Felt. Felt, so hard
I love your comparison between the boss fights and sheet music! I play cello myself, so now I’m wondering if maybe those years of literally reading sheet music contribute to why I find NKG and Sisters of Battle fairly easy, but bosses like GPZ and Watcher Knights so rough.
“I have the worst sense of direction on the planet”
Me: Finally, a worthy opponent.
No joke though, I have about the same amount of struggle with directions as you described. Took me many a playthrough just to be able to feel my way around a given area in less than an hour.
It’s kind of ironic in a way that if the Pale King were just a little more heartless, Hallownest may well have lasted eternal.
By the way, if the infection balloons in the Broken Vessel and Lost Kin fights are giving you that much trouble, Defender’s Crest is a pretty effective counter.
I’ve played violin, viola, and guitar… and wasn’t particularly great at any of them! The bubble guys don’t give me that much trouble, they’re really just more annoying than anything. Like I said, they’re a distraction from the main boss that I don’t like.
I really like how there are still contradictions and mysteries like the hollowness of the knight and the buzzsaws becuase it allows for discussion and theory crafting even now, 7 years after the game came out. They really allow a game's lore community to thrive imo
I just want to say
This is the most short, beautiful, accurate and funny explanation of the lore i’ve seen
Seriously, how you explained how pale king dealt with every race and every place is perfect!
not only is the kingdom's edge ash a cool and creative effect, it's also insane in what it represents. you can just tell, from the moment you see it, that the cast-off shell is decomposing and leaving this ash. insane world building
Every single word that come out of this man’s mouth is literally what I have been saying for so long. I started playing hollow knight when I was Fourteen and would give anything to replay it again with no prior knowledge. For being a pretty small channel this is incredibly insane how much effort and skill was put into this video and it really does show. You are funny with your jokes and the editing and script is well planned and thought out (I feel like a middle school English teacher rn😅). Hollow knight is a 10/10 and you are going to go on to become an amazing content creator
This is one of the few video essay’s that truly covered everything about what is quite easily my favourite game of all time. Genuinely this is such a good video, I’m really surprised that you don’t have well over 500k subs considering how high quality this is.
I think the reason the hive is so underdeveloped was just because one it’s a dlc that was added later I’m pretty sure but also it went through some changes
Originally the hive was meant to be down in deep nest and their queen was actually supposed to be the one who gave hornet her name.
It’s likely they had lots of lore that was connected to deep nests lore somehow but because they changed it they just didn’t have time to come up new stuff that would make sense
It wasn't actually added later on, but the Hive Knight boss fight was. It definitely feels underdeveloped though, and it felt much more so when hive knight wasn't even there. Originally there were plans to make Vespa Hornet's trainer (probably where the name comes from) and connect it more to the rest of the world but right now even with Hive knight it's fundamentally flawed in that it's not connected to the rest of the world so it's just not as interesting even though I think they were trying for an isolated area. The gameplay too feels isolated because you just go there once and never again, and it's got such a different atmosphere from the areas around it
Probably one of if not the best reviews of hollow knight I've ever seen. You've even got the whole budget mossbag summary!
Finally. He finally returned with daily uploads for a week to make up for the weeks of silence
I always come back. If there is prolonged silence from me, then I am busy COOKING.
@@SweetsIsOnlineblud think he william afton 💀
I love your editing and humor, and even better to be talking about my favorite game of all time. Absolutely amazing video.
An extremely underated channel. I hope your channel grows, this was very entertaining
This is some of the greatest video production I've ever seen and I've never played hollow knight. Keep it up bro
Thx for putting the Songs in the Description! Really helped :P
That was a labor of love my friend. I’m glad it helped someone because that took me a WHILE.
3:13 this is why Majora's Mask is my favorite Zelda game (and all time favorite game). The world continues to move whether or not you do anything, most people couldn't care less about Link and write him off as a child, and yet you continue your quest to attempt to save the unknowing population
Great video!
1. Great video, it's really surprising you don't have a lot more subscribers
2. Play Rain World if you haven't yet! It's an awesome game, where you aren't a chosen one, but a part of an ecosystem, near the bottom of the food chain. The lore is pretty hard to find, but it's definitely worth it. Uncovering the secrets of ancient civilizations as a little slug boi is super fun. The world of the game feels alive, all the creatures have their wants and needs, and will do their thing even if you aren't there (seriously, enemies often fight each other, and not only the player).
If Hallownest is an almost empty world, an echo of a collapsed civilization, preserved in the ground like a beautiful fossil, Rain world is a place where nature reclaimed the ruins of ancient cities and factories, where lizards made ancient structures their home, and weird-looking monkey tribes use pieces of rebar as spears. It's a super fun game if you have the patience to learn how it works and reach the lore areas
he has (there's a video on his channel)
I LOOOVE the sheet music analogy. New to your content, quality stuff. Keep it up my guy.
Thank you for teaching me how to appreciate this game. I played through it and had a great time, but when I got to the Hollow Knight fight I didn't finish it. I kind of didn't see the point. I loved the atmosphere and kept waiting for the game to tell me its story when, as you said, it really does not care whether you learn the story or not. And that's the part that I missed is that the story was around me all along, I just wasn't paying attention. I think I'll probably go back to it soon and really take my time and immerse myself in the world and lore.
About the story:
I am one of the guys that didn't get any of it. Don't get me wrong. I felt the history throughout my playthrough, but I wasn't even close to piecing it all together.
I felt like Cornifer. I just loved to explore it all and got several bits of the places history, but never a true understanding. But that's exactly what made this place so magical to me. I beat the Hollow Knight, didn't understand what happened, and then that was it. I left the game, knowing there was so much more to discover, even though I literally tried to discover everything. I never knew of the mutiple endings and the white palace until I was done with the game. Heck, I never even had an understanding of the lore until this video.
But all this just confirmes my love for this game. It confirmes that after all this time I played Hollow Knight, I still didn't even scratch the surface of what lies beneath. The exact feeling that kept me going while playing the game in 2020.
*4 years ago... oh god, where is time going?
when cloth died, I thought I could mind read her body and after the wind up her spirit appeared
I wanted to die after that
6:02 As someone who lives in a part of the world where actual fucked up authoritarian shit happens, not relatable
I always find it so hilarious when people pretend that America is the worstest country to have ever countryed when there are places in the world that you would get shot for being that critical of the government.
As an aging gamer whos first metroidvania was Symphony of the night, I Just had to come here and tell you how impressed I am with watching this next generation live in and understand Hallownest in the same way I got lost in draculas castle. The conent creation is so on point too. It actually took me a while to see Hollow Knight for the true breadth of its nuances and quite frankly the longer I spend in hallownest, the more I am so appreciative I didnt write it off immediately. Good job on this video keep it up
I disagree about BV and WK being badly designed. The challenge is a different style, keeps you on your toes, and you can't just autopilot them as easily as ML or NKG due to the more reflex/reaction-based patterns. This diversity is a very important aspect to keep the game fresh and make bosses more memorable and unique.
Lost Kin and Watcher Knights are actually better fights than ML and NKG imo. NKG is a waiting simulator. Sisters of Battle is very good tho
19:01 i love thwt whenver i beat a boss not even close to near death that you just think “well thats it” and it feels so good
At around 3:50 you mention that we don’t know what makes higher beings, but Gorb is so obsessed with ascending that I believe you can ascend in order to become a higher being and that is what gorb is after
Edit: not trying to hate on the video or the creator, loved the video just noticed this and it made me think, keep up the great content
This is possible! But it’s not SAID anywhere in game, so the best we can do is guess at the ramblings of a less than sane worm thing
i keep forgeting about the flying shroom man that gives you a special achievement
As a British person I can confirm most of Buckingham Palace is just saws and blades popping out all over the place, how do you think the queen really died? Too old to pogo off the 60thousand death traps to get into bed
Some thoughts, not in any order
1:My favorite idea for why a bug was left in the lighthouse "only not to turn it off" is a matter of control: The pale king wanted CONTROL, and whilst it may have been 'easier' to make it so that the lighthouse could *never* be turned off, making it so it COULD but he CHOSE not to gave a method of control. It mattered less if it was practical or not.
2:About the white palace, we must understand that we are in a dream-variant of it. It may be in some way connected to 'reality' due to being connected to a higher being, however, it IS still a 'dream'. So all the spikes, Buzzsaws, ect, are likely representative of how unwelcoming and hostile the palace felt. It's fully likely that whenever it was standing it had large, majestic hallways that wrre perfectly safe to traverse, but the white sterile colors and the fact the place wasn't made for 'lesser' bugs likely left it still feeling hostile- a feeling that was made 'literal' in the dream.
3:About the 'but you couldn't be truly hollow- I think that, in a way, is the point. The EASIEST choice, the choice that the pale king made, is a choice that by it's very nature could never work. It only delays. And in people's hope for something better, they disregard the fact that the solution isn't a real solution, just wanting SOMETHING to get better, anything. So it's easier to look at a vessel and know they aren't hollow- but hoping they are just close enough that perhaps, just perhaps, it'll work. Or, at the very least, leave you enough time to live your life without having to confront that fear again. You are merely continuing the cycle. And i think it is for this reason that ONLY when you kill the radiance do you see the shades in the void at last go to rest.
Simply put, one day, you too would fail under the pressure of the radiance, and another like you would rise from the void.
I LOVE HK! The main problem I have with it though…. Pale Lurker isn’t in Godhome! Why?! It literally has every boss quality WHY ISNT IT THERE?!
Why would you genuinely want to fight pale lurker
id rather fight soul warrior than that fucker
Nmk Grimm is my favourite boss in gaming history, I play a LOT of games so the fact that nmk stuck with me so much says a lot
I'm at that point where I want to experience the entire game again with all the knowledge I have now.
But there have been few games that have traumatized me. And Hollow Knight is one of them. There are things in Hollow Knight I never want to experience and go through again, like path of pain, fighting Hornet for the second time, all of godhome and the pantheons
Ok, one of those things is not like the others. The second Hornet fight is not THAT hard. Especially when compared to Path of Pain and Godhome!
@@SweetsIsOnline yeah but these aren't my type of games. So the most mild of bosses are super difficult for me
@@MRbug_423i had a lot of trouble during my first playtrough too, but I decided to play it a second time and it was so much better since I somewhat knew what I was doing. Definitly worth replaying if you found it hard. The rythm reslly stays with you. The watcher knights took me like hours on my first playtrough, but got it second try on my second playtrough.
I like the idea that our character is truly hollow because it's us players doing decisions for him. So it's not him that decides to become a vessel or kill Radiance, it's us.
I was admittedly hesitant when clicking on this video when it popped up on my recommended. The title threw me off, but I've been starved for Hollow Knight content enough (god if Silksong doesn't come out soon I think we'll all go insane) to want to hear you out. And fuck am I glad you did. Your editing style is incredible, your humor is right up my ally, and you perfectly articulated most of my thoughts on this amazing game.
I really just wanted to add my "oh shit, this game is amazing" moment, which was basically at the last possible second. Throughout my playthrough, I had 100% been vibing with it. All the stuff you pointed out really; the art style is immaculate, the combat is so god-damned satisfying when you master it, and the music is incredible. I had loved the game so far, but wasn’t fully invested in the story. This all came to a head with the Hollow Knight fight. The build up to that fight is some of the most impressive story telling in a game I've seen. The way that you are the one that breaks the chains binding the Hollow Knight. The way that the Hollow Knight immediately falls to its knees, only starting the fight when the Radiance screams through it.
It's such a tragic fight, and it's not even really a fight. A figure that so many bugs looked up to and found comfort in (I would argue that the Hollow Knight is the perceived 'chosen one' of the game), brought so low, just by existing. It's such a horrifying scene, worse (or better, I guess?) than Nosk's reveal, when the music crescendos, the Hollow Knight staggers once more, and the Radiance screams again. The brutality with which the Hollow Knight stabs itself took me aback. The Hollow Knight knows that it can’t fulfill its duty, it’s probably known that for its whole existence, and all it can do is passively watch as the land it tried to save is ravaged by the threat it was supposed to contain. But now, with our help, maybe the Hollow Knight can finally put an end to this. And so it tries to kill itself. But even that choice is taken away from it as the Radiance puppets its body around. This is not a willing fight, and the music conveys this. It starts out slow and somber, and slowly builds in volume. Not bombastic and fast like the Grim fight, or sharp and eerie like Nosk's, but like a king's last stand. What was a cacophony of noise now fades to just a violin. It grows in volume until it's joined by a choir, crescendoing into a triumphant anthem... as the Hollow Knight finally gives out. It's so profoundly sad, and I fucking love that the main theme (Hollow Knight, the menu music) plays throughout. It’s all the more impactful now that it’s connected to the Path of Pain scene in the White Palace.
The Hollow Knight is such a tragic character, and it’s really hard for me to coherently talk about my feelings on the fight and the character overall, but needless to say, it’s impactful. Impactful enough that I was crying by the end of it. The fact that really, in the grand scheme of things, the Hollow Knight’s sacrifice didn’t amount to much devastates me. We know so little about its life and yet can infer so much about its character from one fight.
Anyway, all this to say that the Hollow Knight is my favorite character, Sealed Vessel is the best track in the ost, and this video is amazing. All hail our Lord and Savior, Team Cherry, and may Silksong news bless us soon.
31:54
Thats the lore
the whole point of the story was that the king failed to create a hollow being, the vessel who was hollow, was instilled with the idea of hollowness, and then blinded by the love given by his father, broke him, making him not truly hollow, imo, the whole lore of the pale king is that he thought he could create something that cant be created, even us, the player, the vessel who is "truly hollow" makes choices, we made the choice to either take on the role of the former hollow knight, or destroy the light, we made the choice of saving bretta, we made the choice to let the nailsmith live, or not, we made the choice, to call Zote the mighty, truly the mightiest of em all
In the end, no one can be hollow, thats how I interpreted it
I actually intentionally tried to advance as far as possible in my first playthrough without using the compass, it was confusing but somehow very enjoyable, but only because i had the time to get lost, I managed to get as far as trying to find the path to Monomon the Teacher I think, which was the last step I had left to find in order to fight The Hollow Knight.
I kept getting lost (which honestly was 90% of the playthrough, but even if i was lost before I kept finding new things) and at this point of the playthrough I was on "find very specific progression path" and not "carefree world exploration with general to vague objectives", so it was more of a significant burden at that point instead of a fun handicap, anyways, I enjoyed the ride!!
That being said, as of now I still haven't beaten Path of Pain
The comedy and serious aspects of this video is phenomenally done. Every section, gameplay, lore, exploration, base story, etc. I had a ball watching this, thank you.
So basically if you don’t have a will to live, you live? Wow Radiance I think you need to work on your scheming.
Awsome video, never in the video it seemed like you were talking about a negative aspect, thanks to your well structured commentary, and in the end it makes you appreciate this game even more. Plus the editing was really great and you are also great!
I was getting tired of hollow knight video essays until i watched this, what an amazing video
I’m glad I could satisfy your mental appetite
@@SweetsIsOnlinequite
No way you only have 4k subscribers, I scrolled down expecting 500k+ Keep up the good work man.
One issue that I have is the whole blue lake and city of tears like for how long has the blue lake been causing the so called "tears" in the city? Will it ever end? Is the blue lake an infinite lake? Just doesn't really make sense to me, especially when you think about how long its been since the city was actually alive and when you arrive. Also If I'm remembering correctly the bees were added in later patches so that plus team cherry just wanting to add them in could be the reasons as to why they weren't developed as well as the other places. Finally wanted to say really great video thoroughly enjoyed it like I did hollow knight!
To me it’s always made sense that the blue lake should be part of a larger underground water current. I mean if the blue lake is connected to an underground water current it could go on for centuries, similar to a waterfall.
@@letendreelliott8778 yeah that makes sense I just didn't really think of that and along with that I wish it was told but I guess they may have wanted it to be left up to speculation and or they simply forget about it.
Anything with time in this game is an entire unknown, but it feels like there's enough wiggle room that Blue Lake isn't too big of a deal. We know the rain started after the Hollow Knight was sealed and pretty soon before the infection came back in full force. With the infection, the kingdom was in some sort of "stasis" that could only be ended byu defeating the Radiance. Does that pertain to the physical structure of the Kingdom's tunnels, too? If not, I do think the rain has been getting worse, collapse is imminent, and Quirrel's optimism about it is unfounded -- that is a LOT of water coming down, after all.
(A really silly explanation is that the Menderbugs are keeping the lake bed from collapsing. I'm not arguing for this, but it's not the worst thing I've heard people speculate about, so I'm gonna share it in case anyone gets a chuckle out of it.)
Hive Knight was added in one of the DLC patches (Lifeblood?), but the bees and the Hive are there in the original release patch. I don't remember if all the bees were there, but the little worker bees were present, except they were about half the size, which was adorable. There's some indications that the original intention for Hornet was that she was raised by Queen Vespa after Herrah became a dreamer, but it's completely unknown if that was indeed the initial idea let alone is still what Team Cherry has in mind. Her name is the most prominent piece of that early draft that has stuck around.
Don’t ask me to explain how the water tables work 🤷♂️. What I can say is that the bees weren’t added in an update but they were expanded upon by adding the Hive Knight.
Your speed run of Hollow Knight's lore was great and hilarious.
34:36 Funny thing to note, this game actually simulates the background in a 3d environment as further away, hence why the effect is 100% accurate
Mantis Lords are by fair my favorite boss. Knightmare King Grimm is another favorite and I also enjoy the Lost Kin fight.
Hollow knight 👍
He rather is, isn’t he?
I've watched this like 5 times and its just as great and entertaining every time. Keep up the amazing work!
I got the scoop, he’s going back to weekly everyone! 🎉🎉🎉🎉
Shut up skipper
Yay
Oh my good, it's doctorSkipper
Hollow Knight is the type of game that I always want to play again, but every time I remember how much I enjoyed playing it back then, that remembrance alone is enough to satisfy me.
Honestly fantastic video all throughout, with great humor not repeating itself too much, actual explanations and a lot of good points. And even if I do think there are some hefty spoilers in the video, it's halfway because most of the game deserves to be experienced blindly and a simple mention blows it (Radiance, Nosk, most of the lore stuff really)... And halfway because this video was probably made for the people who already finished the game. Even though there's a lot of explanations for those who didn't.
In short : This video be like Hollow Knight frfr, not entirely perfect but close to it.
One of the most brilliant things about the exploration and the map system in this game is that on a first playthrough, most of the zones only have one realistic path that you can take through them that will eventually lead to either finding Cornifer or progressing the story. Ever other way will either be a dead end that requires an ability that you don't have, or some kind of secret path that requires the game knowledge of a second playthrough. This makes you "feel" like you're wandering around aimlessly and charting the world in your head, but really the game is just leading you down a straight line.
This is something Hatred did extremely well by naming the protagonist Not Important.
The Fog Canyon DOES have a reason to exist. That area (like many) was previously a part of Greenpath. Monomon took it and installed her lab there, where she started developing methods to contain the infection. That's what the jellyfish are. The reason they are completely passive until you attack them is because they're simply infection containers, and when you pop them the infection inside goes rogue and tries to kill you
I feel like, although watcher knights are less "fun" than mantis lords, the fight has its place in the game. It teaches you to multitask and pay attention to multiple independent actors on screen at once. It also teaches you to focus down threats. The best example of where this training comes into play is the colosseum, particularly Colo 3
the broken vessel fights are some of my favorites because after getting shafted by the lil dudes i equipped the stink charm and felt like a genius
You’re finally getting seen, that makes me very happy
Hollow Knight has the power to constantly making me say ''oh this game is bigger than i thought'' with simply making one room feel super big with atmosphere and environmental story telling even tho its actual size is the equivalent of a refrigerator.
And Lifeblood is such a weird thing. Like we know too little about it
Another thing about the mantis lord fight is that I feel like it teaches you not to run to the other side of the arena you’re most fast enough to do anything but move just out of the bosses range and attack
My head canon for the White Palace is that at some point the security system for the palace was triggered removing/transforming the stairs or elevators into the spikes and the buzzsaw's we see when we are there.
Damn you are underrated, this is the best review of the game ive ever seen congrats man. Loved the video.
Insane production value for such a small channel, and a hollow knight video essay is always enjoyable. Great video.
The way he said about "simple story + complex characters" and I immediately thought about ATLA. My favourite cartoon and my favourite video game in the same video being praised... Perfect.
Lol, I have the same problem with Dark Souls 1
Bro I thought you would have hundreds of thousands of views but u have like LESS THAN 2k? BRO UR UNDERRATED
Nah, this guy overrated. He deserves less views for REAL.
I love the concept of Mantis Village just seeing the radiance and going nuh uh and it just giving up
31:30 i feel like its more like a machine. A machine makes decisions but doesnt have a will so the knight isnt making these decisions but just following what the other bugs tell them to do
(Not a literal machine but more like the void turns living beings into a soulless robots who do whatever they are told).
29:51 i had no idea that line alluded to him leavinf his nail behind that is great.
this might be the best video essay i've ever seen in my life about a video game. well done dude
I quite enjoy the start to this video, I don't think people focus on the Elegy for Hallownest enough when starting to cover this game and to that I commend you. Very nicely done!
Now I have a recommendation on the off chance you haven't played these games:
In these two games you don't feel like the chosen at all whatsoever and they are: Fear and Hunger / Fear and Hunger 2: Termina. The main characters in those games while doing some amazing feats are by far not the chosen ones and DO NOT have plot armour. And it is for that reason along with many others that I cannot recommend these games enough, the story telling is well done and hidden but expressed similar to Hollow Knight, lots of books to find with the lore throughout. Trust me when I say these games are stellar, but you'll basically be experiencing path of pain right from the beginning and it takes a lot of game sense for it to feel some what fair.
Wait, how does this guy not have like 1M subscribers? This video is so insanely well done in every way
I am terrible with finding out my location and direction to the extent where I suck at almost any 3D puzzle game and can’t even tell the difference between one room and another!
We are the same my friend. We are the same.
One of my favorite moments in hallow knight was when I finally beat nightmare bug daddy Dracula (I genuinely forgot his name but I do remember that he owes me child support money) and the fight was hard at and you would get 2 shotted if you were hit once, so I decided to lock in and put way too many charms on to max out my damage. If he was gonna bend me over sideways in one hit, I might as well do it right back with the most useful charms I had at the time. And even to this day I managed to do it still
this is one of the best videos ive ever seen in my life, almost like its... "Faking Perfection"
but yeah im obsessed with this video essay, every single aspect that makes a good essay and good video is amazing in this and now its my staple for amazing videos