The challenge I started doing last night (but didn’t finish) involves fighting a guy who manifests rings that appear in the air, and the slam into the ground. So there’s empty “slots” in the air, I have to make it to an empty slot before the rings slam down. I was starting to get the hang of it, but as always with Hollow Knight, you have absolutely no idea how close you ever get to victory. As the fight keeps going on and on and on and on and on and on, the number of empty slots when the rings manifest keeps getting smaller. In the part where I usually die, I can’t get to an empty slot in time.
It’s a fun fight, but as always with this game, it just feels so unfair. The mind of a true sadist game designer. It reminds me of that no-clip documentary someone posted in the Death’s Door thread about the making of that game, and how they had to keep finding fresh people to play the game to play-test it, to make sure at each stage that they weren’t make the fights too hard. I’m not sure if Hollow Knight ever went through that kind of testing. :-) Or if it did, they did the opposite thing, where they said, “no, it’s still too easy, this person is getting through this fight in only 10 attempts, make it even longer! But that will… I said LONGER!”
I got past the Ring dropper guy and I beat the Broken vessel guy on the second try. But now I was climbing a tower and ran into two rolling enemies. Damn it. It would be much easier if there wasn’t two of them.
It’s interesting how this game just kind of keeps you teetering on the edge of frustration. Never giving you enough to feel pleasure or satisfaction, always pleasure tinged with frustration.
I forgot about the sequel to this game. I wasn’t that interested but now I think I’m ready for more Hollow Knight. I’m sure Salt and Sacrifice will be better though, hah!
No kidding. I’ve been occasionally returning to the game to attempt this fight, but man, it’s tough. Maybe even too tough for me. It stopped me in my tracks!
I suspect that if I want to make progress in the game again, I should reset and find somewhere else to go in the game, not to this fight.
I experimented with a few different charm combinations tonight. Some of them got me to a point where I killed two enemies. There’s a lot of enemies in this fight, but luckily you only fight them two at a time.
Still, I feel like I’m not really getting close yet.
I wish I had a way of stunning one of the enemies somehow, so I could deal with the other one.
I think we all know what happens on this forum when we delay making a thread for a game :) I’m honestly surprised the discussions on Civ 6 aren’t happening in some repurposed Civ 3 thread.
Interesting timing on the resurfacing of this thread. For some reason, my 10 year old son is suddenly into Hollow Knight. Probably some YouTuber or something, so I grabbed the Voidheart Edition for him off of my PS+ subscription and he’s been happy as a clam. I’ve been watching him play, and it looked challenging but fun, and the soundtrack is awesome, so when he took a break, I decided to create my own save.
Wow. Looking back at all the old posts in this thread, I completely agree. The jumping is just… wrong. It takes too long to kick in, and it’s “floaty” as hell. I’ve fallen into spikes a half dozen times trying to grab a Geo (I think that’s what coins are called) on the edge, due to the pixel precise nature of the game. I am 51, though I usually don’t feel it, but this game makes me feel old.
I tore through Super Mario Odyssey, so it’s not that platformers are completely out of my comfort zone, I just think this one is beyond me. I’ll stick with Nintendo for this kind of thing. Mario and Kirby games are more my speed. But I’m glad this game exists, because obviously it works for those willing to invest in it. I eventually got into, and finished Elden Ring, so I hypothetically could develop tha skills, but unlike ER, this game isn’t making me want to.
It took me a while to get the feel of this one down. Definitely the jumping and the combat have a delay and spacing and a temp that’s different from other games. Once you get enough practice and your brain clicks, it’s fun. I’d encourage you to try again after a bit. I’m only 5 years younger than you, so I don’t think it’s my reflexes. It’s just a different tempo from other games, so the brain takes a bit to get it.
