➤ Hollow Knight, the review for Nintendo Switch 🎮

In recent years, someone must have found the Dragon Balls and expressed a desire to bring the Metroidvania. It may also be, much more realistically, that the love for a genre that is still fun, exciting and in some cases very demanding has found new life in some small development teams: and here comes some truly unmissable pearls such as Guacamelee, Owlboy, Steamworld Dig, just to name the first ones that come to mind. Hollow Knight represents in all respects one of the highest points of the genre, at least of its modern declination: a production that you cannot ignore, that you must not ignore, and that now you have the opportunity to fully enjoy even on Nintendo Switch. It took a whole year to convert Hollow Knight and bring it to mum Nintendo's hybrid console, okay, but was his announcement one of the most welcome surprises of Nintendo's E3 2018 or not? Let's remember that Team Cherry is a tiny team of developers, which we could count on our fingertips.

A Dark Plot: Return to Hallownest

The "plot" of Hollow Knight represents one of the winning points of the title, thanks to an evanescent, mysterious and intriguing narrative that never ceases to pursue the player: we try to continue, to explore every nook and cranny, not only to end the game and get to the titles of what, but also and above all to understand something of everything we have lived up to that moment. It is a way of telling in some respects very close to that of the Souls and Bloodborne: a few pieces of text engraved on a marble slab, some evocative phrase or warning about a strange statue belonging to the past, and the considerations of a few characters now become the shadow of oneself. Nidosacro, the bizarre game world, is dominated by shadows and dust: strange creatures stir in its depths, now prey to madness. Everyday life seems to have reached its conclusion, there are only ruins, inhabited by a few survivors still endowed with lucidity: among these our protagonist, a curious and nice little creature halfway between the insect and the Japanese spirit (recalls a lot of Bleach's Hollows). In reality, even all the supporting actors are anthropomorphized versions in dark sauce of insects, snails, cockroaches and the like, all rigorously drawn and animated by hand, like the precious illustrations of the backdrops, game maps and objects: even if only wanting to evaluate the artistic and visual sector of Hollow Knight, it would be a sacrilege not to promote it with flying colors.

Hollow Knight, the review for Nintendo Switch

Returning to our protagonist and his mission, like every one Metroidvania we will find ourselves exploring every nook and cranny of Hallownest's depths, grappling with its disturbing guests and an atmosphere of perennial tension. There are many features of Hollow Knight that collaborate in the presentation of an extremely valid product, including some mechanics and special situations designed by the developers. For example, the lack of any map as soon as you enter a new unexplored area: "orient yourself" is just a word in these situations, and we proceed a bit at random, hoping to remember the direction from which we came and to find an outlet later, also because in the event of death it is very easy to lose all the coins collected up to that moment. If we really want a map, we will first have to meet a nice cartographer hidden in the new area and buy it, or buy it later at one of the shops in Pulveria, the main hub, a meeting point among the many hidden areas of Hallownest.

Very bad gameplay, even on Nintendo Switch

Our hero will gradually start to get stronger, to resist longer in his exploration, to keep up with the various bosses, but you will never have to relax even for a moment: even if fully armed it is easy to be annihilated afterwards. a distraction. Because Hollow Knight also shares basic mechanics of rogue like, and will punish us for carelessness. The checkpoints are few, the points of rapid movement also, every death brings with it all our pennies: to recover them we will have to go back to that point and face "our spirit", if we die again they will be lost forever. New abilities are unlocked to continue in previously inaccessible points, as in any good metroidvania; you can restore your health by sacrificing the souls of enemies, a bizarre idea in the gameplay that is both evocative and functional, as well as highly strategic, because it is that same (limited) energy that allows us to launch special and particularly powerful shots. Better to heal or risk an attack? You have to choose quickly, and there is no turning back.

You have probably noticed by yourself by now, but so far we have talked about Hallownest and Dust: this means that yes, even on Nintendo Switch Hollow Knight brings with it an excellent translation of its texts, and is therefore available in Spanish. There are also internal achievements, to tease the completists a little more: as if the many secrets, the collectibles, the bestiary to complete and in general the backtracking weren't enough. There is the supporto all'HD Rumble, studied in an intelligent and accurate way: a blow to our hero and we will suffer an immediate tactile feedback in response, to emphasize how the fault lies with our inattention. In short, the conversion on Nintendo Switch is excellent, even from a technical and graphic point of view, since we have not noticed a single hesitation or loading too long. Enjoying Hollow Knight on your sofa, with a nice pair of headphones connected to the hybrid console, is an experience that we highly recommend you try: but be careful not to throw the console at the furniture in a moment of frustration.

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Digital Delivery Nintendo eShop Price 14,99 € Resources4Gaming.com

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Hollow Knight finally arrives on Nintendo Switch, after having been waiting for a long time: but it was definitely not time wasted. The small development team made an excellent conversion, even with the right focus on HD Rumble; as if that weren't enough, those who have not played Team Cherry's masterpiece up to now will be able to enjoy it also in Spanish and comfortably seated on the sofa. Get ready for one of the most disturbing journeys of your life, accompanied by simply exceptional art direction.