Post
Three people in Adelaide made one of the greatest metroidvanias ever, and they are still not done with the sequel.
Hollow Knight by Team Cherry is a vast, hand-drawn metroidvania set in the ruined insect kingdom of Hallownest. What started as a modest Kickstarter project ballooned into an absurdly generous game with over 40 hours of content, multiple endings, and some of the tightest 2D combat ever designed. The world is interconnected and dense, rewarding exploration with new abilities, lore fragments, and optional bosses that will test even hardcore players. The art style, music by Christopher Larkin, and melancholic atmosphere create a world that feels genuinely alive despite being populated entirely by bugs.
Example
Reaching the City of Tears for the first time, where perpetual rain falls on a grand abandoned metropolis while a hauntingly beautiful piano theme plays. It is one of the most memorable area reveals in the entire metroidvania genre.
Why it matters
Hollow Knight set the modern standard for indie metroidvanias. Its insane value proposition (dozens of hours of free DLC) and quality level embarrassed games with ten times its budget. The eternal wait for Silksong became a gaming meme in its own right.
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