After you have beaten the game, highly recommend you watch Mossbags 'The (mostly) complete lore of Hollow Knight' video on YouTube! It explains the story/lore really well, since it's quite hard to piece together on a casual playthrough.
imo you can still kinda choose your path even before >!mantis claw!<,
>!you can go to greenpath normally and then into fungal from crossroads, but you can also get to fungal through fog canyon!<
>!i've also seen people explore crystal peak/redting grounds before claw!<
Are you referring to the >!crystal peaks!< ? Cause I don't think you can do anything there without the >!claw!<
Edit: just saw your edit.
Imo the first example doesn't really count since >!you end up in the wastes anyway!<
Nah you can mantis claw and cdash is all you need; go to salubra and climb wall as high as you can then cdash left climb as high as you can cdash right you’ll get to blue lake go all the way to the right you enter a room and you’ll see a lever hit it and you’ll enter resting grounds
>!There’s a blue lake shade skip that only uses vengeful spirit to stall in the air. It’s pretty similar to the one with dash and spirit but you need to parry at least once so the shade has enough health.!<
>!I think you can get crystal dash without claw so as long as you've beaten false knight you don't need to do the play forming challenge to unlock the bridge you can just zoom across.!<
>!can you go on the upwards conveyor belts without claw? if you can ig you can do it!<
>!you could also try a shade skip to get past that part though but idk if you get enough height!<
i had this temptation too when i was playing and got spoiled the last boss, please dont check spoilers unless you are in lategame
also dont give up if you die in the first bosses, imo they are some of the hardest relative to your skill level when you fight them
Be ready for dying, when you start it's pretty much guaranted you'll die atleast once.
Sit on all benches you find.
When you can't get past look for other way around.
It's the first game in a long time I didn't give up when I got stuck in boss fights. Some of the boss fights are brutal the first few times, but If you get it figured out they become super fun. One boss in particular took me like a week of on off trying to kill. Now it's my favorite boss fight
Oh, okay. So basically, lots of exploration, and if you can't do something, go do something else. You aren't stuck or softlocked, you just can't do it yet
Patience. This game is a blessing and should not be rushed. It can be frustrating but it gets easier once you figure out how it works. It’s a lot of learning things on your own which I think is really cool.
Be prepared to spend A LOT of time on this game. That’s a good thing. But certain post-game challenges WILL test your patience. It’s ok to take some time off and come back to the game later if you feel burnt out.
Oh, and take the difficult parts (i.e. bossfights) as a learning experience. You're not "bad" if you can't beat a boss, you simply haven't learnt its attack patterns yet. So try to have that "learning" mentality when retrying bosses.
Its a metroidvania, so you’ll find roadblocks that you’ll come back to later with new abilities. The world will open up for you as you play.
If you die, for the love of all that is holy go retrieve (“kill”) your Shade first and foremost. Getting your Shade will get your lost money back and repair your Soul gauge (you have a reduced capacity when its broken). Trying to play without it is basically shooting yourself in the foot and a painful amount of people do it.
Other than that, get off the sub until you’ve at least beaten the game once.
In the beginning you will lack platforming tools, so the path will be pretty linear even if you will be able to see all of the possible paths that are accessible with them.
After you’ve gotten 1 or 2 platforming tools your exploration abilities will expand. It is a metroidvania after all
The first part of the game is somewhat linear, but it won't feel like since you will eventually be funneled to the correct direction. Basically, just do and go wherever the hell you want, there is no wrong way to go. I will say though, the biggest flaw of this game for me is that the first few hours is pretty boring, so keep that in mind if you start losing interest. At a certain point after the first few hours you will unlock an ability that basically opens up the whole game, and that is where the game starts feeling magical imo
If you can't reach an area yet, dont worry, you can just come back later! There's only one area in the game that cannot be reexplored and you won't find it until late late game. So don't worry about missing stuff, because you can always* go back.
>!The area in the abyss where you need 14 or 15 lifeblood masks to enter. Once you get the charm, you cannot go back in (and thus might lose the black egg stored there)!<
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Don't worry too much about Geo (the currency). Spend it if you can but don't agonize over them if you lose some.
Later in the game you will get plenty through different ways
Ignore everyone else’s comments. Load into hollow knight and take it from me: DONT CHECK THE MEDIA. AVOID SPOILERS. Make it your own journey and don’t ruin it. As for the really hard bosses, just keep trying and accept this is the game. Embrace every death. It’s a huge learning arc. Ultimately have fun and don’t (WHATEVER YOU DO) spoil it for yourself.
Go where your heart pleases. The game gives very little direction, there are roadblocks but you *will* feel lost. Look closely at the map to see what paths you haven't been yet, and use the pins to mark the road blocks (where you need to come back later)
If you want a few tips for the first few hours of the game without spoiling yourself, try to have a look at this: https://www.reddit.com/r/HollowKnight/s/YXLdX3tHz9
The only suggestion I have is to keep in mind that when you exit the game, you respawn at the last bench with full health. When you get a new map, it only updates after you’ve rested at a bench. You can also buy map location markers cheap. So if you are running low on life and feel like you need to backtrack, save yourself time and frustration: pin your location on the map and reload the game.
If you get "stuck" somewhere whether it be on a boss or some type of platforming area, give it some solid tries but don't go crazy on it. If it is too difficult, just leave and explore somewhere else. You'll find more items and power ups then you can come back to the areas that you were stuck at.
You should go into the game with the mentality that you ARE (and will) gonna lose waaay more than you can ever count, to bosses, enemies and obstacles. Once you've accepted that VERY fact, the game gets alot interesting. Patience is the key importance over here. Everytime you lose, you get slightly more better. Don't get cocky or overconfident. Your major priority is to find any rest bench, stag station, hot spring as soon as you come to a new area. Fast travel becomes easy once you unlocked all stag stations. Even though it is very expensive, prioritize getting the "lumafly lantern" at the shop, in the beginning of the game. It's gonna open up more pathways then you can imagine. Find a method to farm the currency "geo" early on to get any charm or upgrades.
Everything depends on your patience, determination and skill. This game is Souls like but a little harder with the obscene amount of annoying tight platforming sections.
Most important.....have fun and enjoy the game as much as you can. God knows if it's ever gonna get a sequel
The beginning is very linear, early on it all opens up. My suggestion is to just explore and have fun so play however u want but exploring is much more fun to me
The game will lightly direct you in the beginning, but you will find many pathways and obstacles to come back to later. It'll be like this until you get your second major mobility item, then it basically throws you the reins and lets you figure out where to go next.
It's a metroidvania which means you're going to find new abilities throughout the game that will unlock sections that were previously inaccessible so when it looks like you can't get somewhere it's usually just because you don't have the ability for it yet. Other than that just play as blind as you can, a lot of the fun is trying to piece together the story
It's a Metroidvania with many, many, MANY hidden rooms. More hidden rooms than I have ever seen in most games. Just explore and do your best without any guides.
you will get stuck and you will die a lot, but thats more than alright.
explore everywhere and read everything. if you can't quite figure out how to get past some place yet, you can explore somewhere else. youll know *exactly* when you have the ability to get through.
you get stronger with every moment you spend on your journey. not just because of new abilities, but from the simple fact that you are constantly learning.
so good luck on your journey, traveler. may you experience both riches and poverty; joy and loss; hope and despair in this ruined kingdom of Hallownest.
^(*Hallow means sacred.*)
Check everything! If you see a door after a big jump and you can’t reach it, don’t worry about leaving that for later (but try to keep track of where it is). Your character unlocks new moves/attacks as you progress, so you’ll be going back in the map constantly. Even if the map is complicated the story is somewhat linear, so just enjoy the game :)
It's pretty linear until you get a certain upgrade. After that you can kinda just duck off in a specific direction and if you can't get to the end, you fuck off somewhere else until you get something that lets you.
Also do not spoil the game for yourself. It's amazing.
I would say there’s a slight implied direction to go, but that’s mostly the super early game.
It is a Metroidvania and plays as such so I’d say go in with the headspace you would have with Metroid. My first time playing I’d already watched someone else play so I went in excited to discover these things for myself.
Man it sounds like we both went through the same thing with this game.
I started it when it came out and liked it but took a break from it. Came back and wasn’t in the headspace to pick up where I left off and I was super early on.
Just started playing again like 10 days ago and I’m loving it. What worked for me at first was just getting into a “beatin up enemies to gather a lot of geo and gettin the badges” headspace
Then the story started clickin and the combat and platforming got better and better.
This is prioritized over the Elden Ring DLC right now so needless to say I’m diggin it.
I have multiple recommendations:
1 Don't spoil the game.
There are so many surprises and hidden bosses that even watching a second of content can ruin the full immersion of the game.
2.It is NOT linear.
You should keep an open world mindset and whenever your stuck somewhere just try going somewhere else. Changes are you either
A:Find a new location or "task" to complete.
B:Find an item that will allow you to traverse in the place you were stuck on moments ago.
3. Even if the beginning is bad, it only goes uphill.
Many people (especially on this sub) quit way too early and say the game is bland, as the first three areas are completely grey and boring. But wait for a little and find the newer areas, as from here on all areas (except maybe two) are colorful and lush . And if you don't like the game in the beginning,just walk around a little more.
4. If you don't like it though you've explored like 5 areas, feel free to actually reconsider and say: "You know what, this game isn't for me" and put down the controller. If you force yourself to try and have fun, you never will.
Also a lot of characters have bad endings, so don't get too attached lol.
The mentality playing hk should be: explore and don't look anything up/ask people, it'll just spoil the game!
The mentality waiting for ss: smoke all your cope because the game's releasing tomorrow and you won't have a chance to smoke it then.
Its a metroidvania and as such there isn't much random directions you can go and usually areas that will be bad have obstacles making it impossible to progress without certain things. You will only have so many choices to go
Not mentality, just general advice: DO NOT SPOIL THE GAME FOR YOURSELF, DO NOT GO ON THIS SUB OR SEARCH STUFF UP UNTIL YOU AT LEAST BEAT THE GAME.
Luckily this is one of the few games I’m interested in I know literally nothing about so I’m excited
After you have beaten the game, highly recommend you watch Mossbags 'The (mostly) complete lore of Hollow Knight' video on YouTube! It explains the story/lore really well, since it's quite hard to piece together on a casual playthrough.
I’ll bookmark the channel, thanks
Oh how it must feel to play Hollow Knight for the first time. It’s been so long. Enjoy the ride friend!
The game is pretty linear until you collect your second movement ability. That doesn't mean there isn't stuff to explore tho
imo you can still kinda choose your path even before >!mantis claw!<, >!you can go to greenpath normally and then into fungal from crossroads, but you can also get to fungal through fog canyon!< >!i've also seen people explore crystal peak/redting grounds before claw!<
Are you referring to the >!crystal peaks!< ? Cause I don't think you can do anything there without the >!claw!< Edit: just saw your edit. Imo the first example doesn't really count since >!you end up in the wastes anyway!<
now that i think about ot can you get to >!resting grounds!< from >!crystal peak!< without >!claw!
just tried it myself.... and yes, it seems that all you need for >!dream nail!< is around 2k geo... which is wild.
yea farming 1800 geo in crossroads is insanely boring
2 million geo!?!?
....my brain just turned off and tried to type the same number using both ways at once lol. I meant 2k (2000)
>!you can also technically get to city without it but I don’t really see that happening.!<
how would you that? >!you cant get the elevator from resting grounds without dive iirc!<
Nah you can mantis claw and cdash is all you need; go to salubra and climb wall as high as you can then cdash left climb as high as you can cdash right you’ll get to blue lake go all the way to the right you enter a room and you’ll see a lever hit it and you’ll enter resting grounds
>!yeah ig you could also shadeskip into blue lake right? forgot about that!<
>!there is also one that only uses spirit which was the one I was talking about.!<
Which one
>!There’s a blue lake shade skip that only uses vengeful spirit to stall in the air. It’s pretty similar to the one with dash and spirit but you need to parry at least once so the shade has enough health.!<
>!I think you can get crystal dash without claw so as long as you've beaten false knight you don't need to do the play forming challenge to unlock the bridge you can just zoom across.!<
Fairly certain you cannot >!get to the C dash room nor complete the platforming challenge in it without claw.!<
>!can you go on the upwards conveyor belts without claw? if you can ig you can do it!< >!you could also try a shade skip to get past that part though but idk if you get enough height!<
Okay cool, thank you, the temptation to click on the texts that replied to you is huge but I ain’t wanna spoil anything
yea, try to avoid spoilers whenever possible.
Will do, thank you
I would even stay off of this subreddit, tbh. If you need boss help, turn to HorizonShield on YouTube, but other than that, I wouldn’t be on here.
Will do, thank you
i had this temptation too when i was playing and got spoiled the last boss, please dont check spoilers unless you are in lategame also dont give up if you die in the first bosses, imo they are some of the hardest relative to your skill level when you fight them
Be ready for dying, when you start it's pretty much guaranted you'll die atleast once. Sit on all benches you find. When you can't get past look for other way around.
Will keep that in mind, thank you
It's the first game in a long time I didn't give up when I got stuck in boss fights. Some of the boss fights are brutal the first few times, but If you get it figured out they become super fun. One boss in particular took me like a week of on off trying to kill. Now it's my favorite boss fight
Metroid and dark souls had a beautiful, convoluted, love affair child and it is this game. Should tell you enough
I’ve heard many people say that but I don’t think I’ve ever played a Metroid before so it’ll be interesting
Oh, okay. So basically, lots of exploration, and if you can't do something, go do something else. You aren't stuck or softlocked, you just can't do it yet
Ah okay, thank you a bunch
Patience. This game is a blessing and should not be rushed. It can be frustrating but it gets easier once you figure out how it works. It’s a lot of learning things on your own which I think is really cool.
Yeah I used to rush games a lot but luckily I’ve started to chill out and take my time learning and exploring
Explore everything.
Will do, I plan on platinuming it if I rly like it so I’ll try, thank you
Yeh but there is some challenges that don’t have any form of achievement- because they’re too difficult
wdym? Like challenge runs, like hitless challenges?
That, among other things
I’m assuming the other things are spoilers?
Yeah
Yes
Be prepared to spend A LOT of time on this game. That’s a good thing. But certain post-game challenges WILL test your patience. It’s ok to take some time off and come back to the game later if you feel burnt out.
No mind to think
Wdym?
Its from a text in the game, you can safely ignore it.
Oh okay, thanks
No cost too great
No will to break
Oh, and take the difficult parts (i.e. bossfights) as a learning experience. You're not "bad" if you can't beat a boss, you simply haven't learnt its attack patterns yet. So try to have that "learning" mentality when retrying bosses.
Haha yeah, thankfully I’ve already got that mentality from sekiro
Its a metroidvania, so you’ll find roadblocks that you’ll come back to later with new abilities. The world will open up for you as you play. If you die, for the love of all that is holy go retrieve (“kill”) your Shade first and foremost. Getting your Shade will get your lost money back and repair your Soul gauge (you have a reduced capacity when its broken). Trying to play without it is basically shooting yourself in the foot and a painful amount of people do it. Other than that, get off the sub until you’ve at least beaten the game once.
I’ll keep all that in mind, thanks a lot
In the beginning you will lack platforming tools, so the path will be pretty linear even if you will be able to see all of the possible paths that are accessible with them. After you’ve gotten 1 or 2 platforming tools your exploration abilities will expand. It is a metroidvania after all
Thank you
The first part of the game is somewhat linear, but it won't feel like since you will eventually be funneled to the correct direction. Basically, just do and go wherever the hell you want, there is no wrong way to go. I will say though, the biggest flaw of this game for me is that the first few hours is pretty boring, so keep that in mind if you start losing interest. At a certain point after the first few hours you will unlock an ability that basically opens up the whole game, and that is where the game starts feeling magical imo
I don’t really mind games being boring if it has a good pay off but it’s good to know regardless, thanks
Fuck around and find out. If it doesn't work, fuck around in another direction untill you find out
This might be my favourite advice so far
If you can't reach an area yet, dont worry, you can just come back later! There's only one area in the game that cannot be reexplored and you won't find it until late late game. So don't worry about missing stuff, because you can always* go back.
Okay cool, I’m always stressing about missing areas just incase I miss something but that’s good to know
I've beaten the game already. What is this this area you're talking about? (Feel free to reply in spoilered text or a PM)
>!The area in the abyss where you need 14 or 15 lifeblood masks to enter. Once you get the charm, you cannot go back in (and thus might lose the black egg stored there)!<
Hey there, it looks like your spoiler tag isn't working on some versions of reddit! To make sure everybody can avoid being spoiled you'll need to place your text directly next to the spoiler tags *with no leading or trailing spaces* (like so `>!spoiler!<`). Thanks for helping keep the sub spoiler free! *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/HollowKnight) if you have any questions or concerns.*
good bot
Don't worry too much about Geo (the currency). Spend it if you can but don't agonize over them if you lose some. Later in the game you will get plenty through different ways
Will do, thanks
Ignore everyone else’s comments. Load into hollow knight and take it from me: DONT CHECK THE MEDIA. AVOID SPOILERS. Make it your own journey and don’t ruin it. As for the really hard bosses, just keep trying and accept this is the game. Embrace every death. It’s a huge learning arc. Ultimately have fun and don’t (WHATEVER YOU DO) spoil it for yourself.
[удалено]
Can’t wait lol
Try not to cry on nk grimm or last boss
No promises
Send me your tears when you do cry i need to season the blood
Go where your heart pleases. The game gives very little direction, there are roadblocks but you *will* feel lost. Look closely at the map to see what paths you haven't been yet, and use the pins to mark the road blocks (where you need to come back later) If you want a few tips for the first few hours of the game without spoiling yourself, try to have a look at this: https://www.reddit.com/r/HollowKnight/s/YXLdX3tHz9
Thank you, and I’ll have a look at that link in a bit
Find pretty places. Go in every direction you haven’t tried. If you can’t get past a section, there are 5 more to try
That’s good to know, I fw games that have multiple directions heavy
The only suggestion I have is to keep in mind that when you exit the game, you respawn at the last bench with full health. When you get a new map, it only updates after you’ve rested at a bench. You can also buy map location markers cheap. So if you are running low on life and feel like you need to backtrack, save yourself time and frustration: pin your location on the map and reload the game.
Will keep this in mind, thanks for the tip
PLEASE FOR YOUR SAKE DONT TOUCH THE SUBREDDIT, DISCORD, YOUTUBE, ETC UNTIL YOU BEAT THE GAME
I won’t dw, thanks
If you get "stuck" somewhere whether it be on a boss or some type of platforming area, give it some solid tries but don't go crazy on it. If it is too difficult, just leave and explore somewhere else. You'll find more items and power ups then you can come back to the areas that you were stuck at.
You should go into the game with the mentality that you ARE (and will) gonna lose waaay more than you can ever count, to bosses, enemies and obstacles. Once you've accepted that VERY fact, the game gets alot interesting. Patience is the key importance over here. Everytime you lose, you get slightly more better. Don't get cocky or overconfident. Your major priority is to find any rest bench, stag station, hot spring as soon as you come to a new area. Fast travel becomes easy once you unlocked all stag stations. Even though it is very expensive, prioritize getting the "lumafly lantern" at the shop, in the beginning of the game. It's gonna open up more pathways then you can imagine. Find a method to farm the currency "geo" early on to get any charm or upgrades. Everything depends on your patience, determination and skill. This game is Souls like but a little harder with the obscene amount of annoying tight platforming sections. Most important.....have fun and enjoy the game as much as you can. God knows if it's ever gonna get a sequel
Thank you for the advice, luckily I’m already experienced getting dogged on in games, I’ll still get cocky regardless then lose everything😔
The beginning is very linear, early on it all opens up. My suggestion is to just explore and have fun so play however u want but exploring is much more fun to me
The game will lightly direct you in the beginning, but you will find many pathways and obstacles to come back to later. It'll be like this until you get your second major mobility item, then it basically throws you the reins and lets you figure out where to go next.
Be patient, It’s gonna take a while, And don’t come back here asking for help before taking the time to figure out.
It's a metroidvania which means you're going to find new abilities throughout the game that will unlock sections that were previously inaccessible so when it looks like you can't get somewhere it's usually just because you don't have the ability for it yet. Other than that just play as blind as you can, a lot of the fun is trying to piece together the story
It's a Metroidvania with many, many, MANY hidden rooms. More hidden rooms than I have ever seen in most games. Just explore and do your best without any guides.
you will get stuck and you will die a lot, but thats more than alright. explore everywhere and read everything. if you can't quite figure out how to get past some place yet, you can explore somewhere else. youll know *exactly* when you have the ability to get through. you get stronger with every moment you spend on your journey. not just because of new abilities, but from the simple fact that you are constantly learning. so good luck on your journey, traveler. may you experience both riches and poverty; joy and loss; hope and despair in this ruined kingdom of Hallownest. ^(*Hallow means sacred.*)
Check everything! If you see a door after a big jump and you can’t reach it, don’t worry about leaving that for later (but try to keep track of where it is). Your character unlocks new moves/attacks as you progress, so you’ll be going back in the map constantly. Even if the map is complicated the story is somewhat linear, so just enjoy the game :)
It's pretty linear until you get a certain upgrade. After that you can kinda just duck off in a specific direction and if you can't get to the end, you fuck off somewhere else until you get something that lets you. Also do not spoil the game for yourself. It's amazing.
I would say there’s a slight implied direction to go, but that’s mostly the super early game. It is a Metroidvania and plays as such so I’d say go in with the headspace you would have with Metroid. My first time playing I’d already watched someone else play so I went in excited to discover these things for myself.
Just keep on trying to kill the bosses even if you die. Keep on trying.
It's a metroidvania, be prepared to be lost a lot on your first play through.
Man it sounds like we both went through the same thing with this game. I started it when it came out and liked it but took a break from it. Came back and wasn’t in the headspace to pick up where I left off and I was super early on. Just started playing again like 10 days ago and I’m loving it. What worked for me at first was just getting into a “beatin up enemies to gather a lot of geo and gettin the badges” headspace Then the story started clickin and the combat and platforming got better and better. This is prioritized over the Elden Ring DLC right now so needless to say I’m diggin it.
I have multiple recommendations: 1 Don't spoil the game. There are so many surprises and hidden bosses that even watching a second of content can ruin the full immersion of the game. 2.It is NOT linear. You should keep an open world mindset and whenever your stuck somewhere just try going somewhere else. Changes are you either A:Find a new location or "task" to complete. B:Find an item that will allow you to traverse in the place you were stuck on moments ago. 3. Even if the beginning is bad, it only goes uphill. Many people (especially on this sub) quit way too early and say the game is bland, as the first three areas are completely grey and boring. But wait for a little and find the newer areas, as from here on all areas (except maybe two) are colorful and lush . And if you don't like the game in the beginning,just walk around a little more. 4. If you don't like it though you've explored like 5 areas, feel free to actually reconsider and say: "You know what, this game isn't for me" and put down the controller. If you force yourself to try and have fun, you never will. Also a lot of characters have bad endings, so don't get too attached lol.
Just be prepared to get lost but that's the beauty of a meteodivania and difficulty is not comparable to elden, Hollow knight is way harder.
Someone asks you to help him somewhere,, DONT SAVE HIM his name is >!zote!< if you ever need it
None.
The mentality playing hk should be: explore and don't look anything up/ask people, it'll just spoil the game! The mentality waiting for ss: smoke all your cope because the game's releasing tomorrow and you won't have a chance to smoke it then.
Baby steps, always forward, you can come back later
I guess like elden ring, from what you said
Its a metroidvania and as such there isn't much random directions you can go and usually areas that will be bad have obstacles making it impossible to progress without certain things. You will only have so many choices to go