The Endless Wanderlust of Hollow Knight script

Intro:

It’s rare that I enjoy playing a game that continually breaks me, runs my sanity through the shredder, and makes me long for the sweet release of the void. Usually when I play games, it’s to relax and immerse myself in interesting worlds, compelling stories, and endearing casts. If a game has more challenging difficulty modes, you’d best believe I ain’t touching them. I’m not here for those.

And all of this makes Hollow Knight a pretty interesting exception to me. I’d known of the game for a while, having watched a friend play through it, and I utterly adored the game’s aesthetics, its atmosphere, and its ability to communicate its story primarily through its environments. Yet I was hesitant to try it for myself, namely because seeing how he had his own sanity tested through bloodthirsty bosses, and… well, lots of buzzsaws, I always told myself, “Yeah, I could never handle that myself.”

But having gotten myself a Steam Deck a few months ago in an effort to make gaming a more prominent part of my life, I figured, “Why not give it a go?” Hollow Knight’s a pretty cheap title on the Steam store, even when it’s not on sale, and the amount of content on offer is utterly astounding. And… yeah, even in its more challenging aspects, it’s found a new way to become a comfort game for me.

And even after completing it, not only am I going back to play it again, but I find myself listening to let’s plays of various people playing the game for the first time. I cannot overstate how amazing it is seeing how different people find their own paths through the game. Like, Sophie Darling managing to beat the Mantis Lords pretty early on, with no nail upgrades?! Iconic. Legendary behavior.

So today, I’m gonna talk about why I love Hollow Knight as much as I do. If you’ve never played it before, I highly encourage you to do so, but I’ll try and make this video still accessible and enjoyable for you. Added knowledge of the game will help season your viewing experience, but it won’t be required. That said, beware of spoilers ahead for various environments, character, and story beats.

Free to Explore:

From the very beginning, Hollow Knight doesn’t hold your hand. You, a weird little skull boi who is both threateningly cute and deeply disturbing, are dropped into a ruined world that was once a thriving metropolis of bugs. Once you make your way through the tutorial area, you find yourself in the quiet town of Dirtmouth. Sitting on the surface above the fallen Kingdom of Hallownest, this town is mostly abandoned, covered in perpetual darkness and an eerie mist.

The only resident is one Mr. Elderbug, who must be protected at all costs. He’s perfectly content staying up here in Dirtmouth. Even if it’s empty and lonely, he can’t be bothered with all the nonsense of the complex caverns below, which fair. He’s just an old dude who’s had his share of nonsense and would like to enjoy some peace, thank you very much.

All he asks for is the occasional conversation to keep him company. Cuz apparently, if you go through the game ignoring him, he’ll start waving to get your attention. Which… I had no clue, cuz I always make an effort to chat with him. What kind of monster are you to ignore him?

Heading down into the well from The Ring, you find not a homicidal ghost girl, but the Forgotten Crossroads. From here, you’re open to just wander wherever you like. The game doesn’t give you objectives or missions. Instead, it’s up to you to explore areas and decide what you want to do yourself. Wherever you wanna go, trust it, because one way or another, you’ll figure things out for yourself. There’s no wrong way to go about exploring Hallownest.

For instance, you’ll probably come across Cornifer, a mapmaking bug you’ll encounter in most areas. Giving him geo (the game’s currency), you can get your hands on an admittedly incomplete map. Going back up to Dirtmouth, you’ll find his shop open, run by his wife Iselda, who is a mood. She’s grouchy, but it’s cuz she wishes Cornifer wasn’t spending all his time away exploring, and she wonders if maybe she should be joining him more often.

She can give you maps if you wind up missing Cornifer, along with little icons of important environments, or shell stamps you can place manually to mark areas of interest. If you want to complete your map, you’ll need to explore the world yourself, and it’ll automatically update when you rest on a bench - provided you’ve bought a quill from Iselda, of course. A bug’s gotta make it in this ruined economy somehow.

You’ll also likely discover the Stagways. These are essentially fast travel points: a network of tunnels running throughout Hallownest, but they’ve been sealed and long abandoned. Once you open them, you’ll meet The Last Stag - the reliable dude who’ll personally escort you. Like the name implies, he’s (allegedly) the last of his kind, but he’s still dedicated to helping people get around, especially you, the one who’s reawakened his sense of purpose by reopening the Stagways.

Once you do this, you can go back to the Dirtmouth Stagway to open it back up, and you’ll start seeing the town light up and more residents return. It’ll never be a bustling metropolis, but it doesn’t need to be. This is your homebase. It’s a bit sad, but it’s also strangely cozy in that sadness. It’s safe, it’s familiar, and it’s full of familiar faces. There’s not much here besides little chats and small shops, but I usually come back here if I need a bit of a mental break from exploring.

As you make your way through Hallownest, you’ll also come across Grubs, who’ve been trapped in glass jars by a… well, weirdo is an understatement here. But the point is that you can break the jars to rescue them. They’ll then head back home to their nest, returning to the Grubfather, who beforehand was crying endlessly. He’ll give you rewards in exchange for saving Grubs, but honestly, growing up on collectathons has prepared me for this moment. I’ll save them solely because it feels cathartic… and also cuz Grubs are cute.

And then there’s Quirrel: a traveling masked nerd who’s found in various areas of interest. You can first encounter him in the Temple of the Black Egg, where you can see his mask kinda resembles one of the masks on the temple’s etchings. He seems to know a lot about the myths and legends surrounding this ruined kingdom. Like the rest of the story, the game kinda lets you put the pieces of his character together yourself, but I found myself caring deeply for Quirrel.

For a game set in a fallen civilization, there’s no shortage of lovable, memorable characters. I’ve honestly come to love all of them, even the annoying, insufferable, untalented, unworthy, unlovable Zote. Seriously, why do I keep saving him? Like I know it’s the right thing to do, but damn, I enjoy knocking him around the Colosseum of Fools - and with that name, it very much should be his home.

There’s so much charm and personality to this world. Yes, the atmosphere can be eerie, even unnerving, and a bit lonely, but there’s still this strong sense of wanderlust. This desire to explore every nook and cranny of this place, meet everyone you possibly can, and save as many of them as you can… F in the chat for Myla.

As someone who personally… hates travel, I strangely find myself feeling empowered by Hollow Knight, as silly as it sounds. It gives me this feeling that no matter what dark, abandoned lands I find myself in, or whatever treacherous leaps and buzzsaws stand in the way, I can make my way forward. Sure, I’ll fail a lot - and death is basically guaranteed in this game - but there’s no shame in that. It’s something to take pride in, even. Because it means you’re learning. No matter your stumblings, you can always come out the other side, providing you keep trying, and you learn how and why you failed.

Which brings me to a character I very much adore… Hornet. She’s a bit of a nemesis as you make your way through Hallownest. Mysterious, very much ready to kick your ass at a moment’s notice, and always challenging you to test your worthiness in… whatever your mission is, given you have to piece it together yourself as you go through the game. And all of this is reflected in the gameplay through her bosses, and really, all the enemy design, boss design, and environmental design.

Know Thy Enemy:

So Hornet’s killed me… dozens of times. You fight her a couple of times in the game, and dear God, her battle cries have been seared into my memory. She’ll dash at you - both on the ground and in the air - she’ll throw her needle at you, and she’ll even cover the area in spikes to make jumping around her a nightmare.

When I fight in games, I’m an admitted button masher, but I also can be evasive. My tendency is to get as much distance from the enemy as I can, or to go around and attack from behind. I even find myself jumping around a lot trying to dodge an attack I assume is coming… and boy oh boy, did that get me killed a lot in this game.

Enemies, including bosses, have clearly telegraphed attacks through their animations and sounds. If you take the time to study them, you’ll learn what attack is coming next, and how best to avoid it. I’ve actually found that trying to run away from an enemy is a waste nine times out of ten, because they’ll be able to catch up and kick your ass no matter what.

Like, Hornet’s jumping attack. When she leaps, she’ll automatically dash to wherever you are, which means trying to jump her way is basically just running towards your doom. Or her needle throw. The best bet isn’t to run, cuz the needle will get you anyway. It’s actually better to run towards Hornet, leaping over the needle, getting a hit in, and then running back before the needle shoots back. Unnecessary jumping in general is a good way to make sure Hornet kills you quickly. Given how acrobatic her movements are, she owns the air, so why go into her territory?

This also helps to teach patience. During my own experience, I found myself often getting frustrated as I would get hit and watch my health dwindle. This would make me reckless, which in turn would only seal my demise. I’d even think, “Oh, I only have two or one mask left, might as well throw in the towel,” cuz in my mind, I would believe you’d need a perfect, flawless, hitless run to ensure victory. But no! Victory is still possible even if you’re on the ropes at first. You can get your health shredded down to one mask, and then pick yourself back up and win the fight if you’re careful enough.

I’ve even found on repeat playthroughs, the bosses have become far less difficult because of my knowledge of how they work. When I die, it’s usually just because I’m getting frustrated again and giving up preemptively. For instance, first run through, Hornet’s second boss fight killed me dozens upon dozens of times, and it took me several days to best her. Second playthrough? I beat her first try, and that was while I was nauseous while on a goddamn ferry ride.

Usually when it comes to game difficulty, it can be its own challenge to overcome the shame of… well, sucking. Of course you’re gonna be bad at first, cuz you’re still learning. The key is to understand what you’re dealing with, understand your failings, and striving to improve your own patience with yourself. With that mentality, no matter how much you stumble, success will be inevitable.

Some of my other favorite bosses? The Mantis Lords. There’s this area in the game home to a village of mantises, and they are deadly motherfuckers. They’re essentially a warrior tribe, and making your way to their village’s depths, you can challenge the three ruling sisters. You’ll fight one at first, then the remaining two simultaneously, the latter proving to reinforce what you’ve learned from the first phase. It can be intimidating at first, but once you understand the rhythm of their movements, you can easily best even two lords at once.

When the lord dashes, jump over her. When she appears above you, run either way before she stabs you. When she hops on the side of the arena, she’ll throw her weapon as a boomerang. Make sure that when you leap over it or run under it, you’re not running into its return path.

There’s also Nosk, who… oh dear God, this is horrific. It’s a creature from the depths of Hallownest that mimics you at first, then lures you into its lair, and tries to trample you like a spider horse. Again, key is to jump over the charges, stay away from the center platform, and when it runs to the sealing to drop projectiles, hide in the corner, then run when you hear the screech before it hops back down.

Even the platforming teaches you this. The areas become more and more treacherous as you head deeper into the kingdom’s corpse, with collapsible platforms, and hazards such as acid, thorns, and spiky pink crystals of death. Nowhere is that more prominent than the White Palace. Yes, this place is gorgeous, but it’s also filled with… buzzsaws? This place has traumatized us all. But again, it’s a test of patience and observation.

Throughout the game, you receive not only movement upgrades, but also Charms, which can be equipped at benches to provide certain buffs. You have to be selective with the Charms you choose, given you only have a certain number of notches to equip them with. When I’m exploring, I usually go for the Wanderer’s Compass to see where I am on the map, either the Long Nail or Mark of Pride to extend my range when attacking, and then Charms designed to increase the amount of Soul you get when attacking enemies.

See that bigger mask next to the tinier masks? That’s Soul, which is energy that you can use to cast spells, and also heal. In my experience, it’s best to heal immediately before you’re down to a low number of masks, because you’ll get more Soul by striking enemies anyway. I also tend to avoid Charms that provide Lifeblood, which are little blue masks that give you more health, but also make it impossible to heal once you lose them. Cuz when you break it down, you have way more chances by gathering Soul and healing than you do from unhealable masks.

Charms can be bought at certain shops, but also discovered throughout Hallownest, incentivizing exploration. One Charm that’s a lifesaver in White Palace is Hiveblood. It’s a must-have, since it regenerates health you’ve lost provided you don’t get hit immediately. Very useful for platforming challenges where you can take long pauses, again forcing you to be patient before continuing.

That said… I still have not attempted the Path of Pain. It scares me, and admittedly, knowing there’s not much of a reward at the end… I’m not eager to go for it? I mean, I know eventually I will attempt it out of morbid curiosity and self-hatred, but that’s a problem for future me.

Honestly, Hollow Knight is one of the few games I enjoy being tormented in actively, and it’s because it’s so well crafted, and very much appeals to me for how it forces you to be patient and observant. It feels rewarding to be able to more easily glide through areas and encounters that once made me want to grind my teeth into dust.

My Favorite Environments:

This game is absolutely gorgeous. The simple character designs are memorable, endearing, and easily readable, and I’m utterly astonished that the game was able to make the domain of bugs beautiful. Like, bugs are fucking hideous creatures, and yet… look at these little doofuses! Look at how diverse these underground environments are! Makes me think of all the games with 20 identical cave environments, because… lord, there’s no excuse for how boring these places are. But Hollow Knight said, “Bitch, our environments will slay!” And slay they do.

Hallownest is divided into different regions composed of individual rooms, and each region has its own aesthetic, color palette, enemies, and platforming quirks. Forgotten Crossroads starts out relatively basic, but still has its own charm through the somber atmosphere, the deep purples and blues, and its hauntingly gorgeous music. It’s the perfect stomping grounds to get you acquainted with the game’s mechanics.

Greenpath, like the name suggests, is filled with lush vegetation, moss creatures and knights, and pools of acid. It’s beautiful and tranquil, but a bit more treacherous than Dirtmouth. Fungal Wastes is, you guessed it, filled with mushroom and spore-themed creatures, along with the aforementioned Mantis Tribe. It’s a big difficulty spike compared to the previous areas. Not one of my favorites, but I do appreciate the color coding present through the game, since Fungal Wastes is made unique not just by its theming, but also the orangey tint.

Fog Canyon rests between areas, and winds up being a bit of an untamed, mysterious frontier for a while, since you can’t reach Cornifer to get the map for it ‘til you get upgrades from later in the game. It can be tranquil if you take your time, since enemies won’t go out of their way to hurt you, but uh… traversing isn’t exactly easy here either. Just, don’t touch anything orange, or hit the big jellyfish, unless you know you can get enough distance before their payback hits.

The midpoint of the game, and arguably the fan favorite location, is the City of Tears: the crown jewel of the fallen Kingdom of Hallownest. It’s filled with immense spires and elegant towers, all sitting in a perpetual rain created by water leaking through the cavern ceiling (from another environment I absolutely love). This is really where you get that sense of awe; where you realize the immense scope of Hollow Knight.

Beneath the city are the Royal Waterways: further proof that sewer levels are the worst. Not a terrible area, but it’s definitely disgusting, especially because of all the worm and maggot enemies that will come back from the dead just to gross you out. It’ll lead you to some new areas, and also links back to Fungal Wastes. I just adore how interconnected all these areas are. The number of routes you can take through the world helps the game from feeling stale and overly linear.

Crystal Peaks is still cavernous, but this time above ground, and cutely pink. But don’t let the pretty crystals deceive you: this is a place of pain and suffering. By far, it’s got some of the most treacherous platforming in the game, in no small part due to these crystal bugs that shoot lasers??? Wild shit.

Coming here, you’re also likely to fall into the Resting Grounds: a relatively peaceful area where you’ll meet the Moth Seer, who’ll give you the Dream Nail, enabling you to read the thoughts of others, collect Essence, and encounter the ghosts still wandering the kingdom’s ruins.

There’s Kingdom’s Edge: a frontierland which emphasizes verticality, covered in the snow-like remains of a giant wyrm. Huge points for finding a way to integrate a seemingly snowy environment in a game where that should never have been possible. You may notice falling bodies of warriors as you venture here, since the top of this area is home to the Colosseum of Fools.

Also hidden here is the Hive: a buzzing beehive of burnt ambers, golden hues, and horrifying abominations that will turn themselves into giant spears just to run you through.

Far in the depths is Deepnest: an area you’ll likely fall into by accident without realizing it. It’s a spiders’ den, incredibly dark and terrifying due to the freaky strings in the music, the spiders crawling over the lens, and the enemies that appear out of nowhere or are resurrected by parasites to attack you. And trust me, you do not wanna wind up here without buying yourself a Lumafly lantern first.

Sandwiched between Greenpath and Deepnest is the Queen’s Gardens. Like the name implies, it was the private garden of Hallownest’s queen, and is now primarily occupied by traitors of the Mantis Tribe who’ve fallen to the Infection ravaging the kingdom.

At the very bottom of the map is the Ancient Basin, where the Pale King’s castle once stood, removed from the City of Tears. It’s not as outright terrifying as Deepnest, but it still has this foreboding, somber quality that feels like you’re trespassing on sacred, forbidden land, I suspect in part due to the lack of music.

And even further down, once you receive the King’s Brand, is the Abyss: a realm of shadow and darkness that’s also a birthplace. Heading down into the Abyss for the first time, and then later returning once you know the full truth, then climbing out to have those suspicions confirmed? Words cannot describe how haunting yet arrestingly beautiful the experience of heading down here and back up is.

The entire game makes you wonder just what else you’re missing. Always wondering what the next new land is, and what secrets it holds. Just as you get used to one landscape, you encounter an entirely new one, so it becomes impossible to get sick of a location… well, except Deepnest, but only because it’s just that freaky and disgusting.

A Story that Trusts You:

As I’ve said, Hollow Knight doesn’t quite hold your hand. It’ll give you everything you need to know in order to understand the story, but it also expects you to piece it together yourself. For a casual player, it’s enough to keep them interested and chugging along, but if you wanna dive deeper and learn more, there’s no shortage of depth for you to get lost in.

The Hollow Knight fandom, as such, is highly dedicated to cataloging each and every secret in the game, and chronicling all of its intricate lore and history. If you wanna learn more, I highly recommend Mossbag’s video dedicated to Hollow Knight lore, which explains the entire story, but does so in a most entertaining fashion.

But this hands-off approach not only respects the player’s intelligence, but further encourages that sense of wanderlust. You want to uncover this kingdom’s secrets, how it fell, what exactly this Infection is, and what role you - tiny Ghost Skull Boi - have in all this. And I think it’s a strong testament that while the game is quite hands off, most people have no issue putting the pieces together as they play.

And even without fully voiced dialogue, as the game seemingly has its own made-up language the characters speak in, that doesn’t stop the story from being emotionally engaging. My heart aches for the characters’ woes, and likewise sings for the small comforts and victories they find. It’s honestly inspiring to see characters finding little joys in such a dark, scary, melancholic world.

Though the game is dark, it’s still sincere and full of heart. It allows for these cute, saccharine moments to hit much harder, and thus makes the game and its cast far more endearing.

Now, I’m gonna give a brief rundown of the story, but by no means is this a comprehensive lore breakdown. Again, go to Professor Mossbag for that shit. I’m just giving you enough context to get your heart ripped out in the hopes it’ll make you jump down the rabbit hole.

Long ago, Hallownest was founded by the Pale King, but his kingdom fell to a horrible Infection that killed bugs, then reanimated them, turning them into the hostile enemies we encounter now. The Infection’s telltale sign is that gross orangey look in enemies’ eyes, as well as orange pustules of… I don’t even wanna know what’s in those things.

You, protagonist Skull Boi, are a vessel: an entity created to combat and seal away the Infection. This process, however, was quite fucked. Again, I won’t go into detail, but uh… it took a lot of trial and error to create you, and you’re not even the favorite vessel. But you were crafted from a primordial darkness in order to stand against the blinding, dreamy light of the Infection.

The previous vessel, the Hollow Knight, rests inside the Temple of the Black Egg, his body housing the Infection’s source to seal it away. Unfortunately, that seal is now failing, and the Infection is returning to destroy what few remnants of Hallownest remain.

And so, your goal is to break the seal of the Dreamers locking the Hollow Knight within the temple, then go inside and kill him so you can take his place as the new host of the Infection. Of course, this means that one day, you will be in the Hollow Knight’s place, and another will have to slay you and take your place, lest the Infection fully break free.

Alternatively, if you unlock certain requirements, you get another, arguably better ending. Fighting the Hollow Knight, you venture into its dreams as Hornet holds him back, where you find the true source of the Infection: the Radiance. Won’t go into detail, but basically, she’s a goddess who really wants to be remembered, and in the process has created the Infection.

Destroying her, the Infection is fully eradicated. You die as well, your purpose fulfilled, but the Infection will never return to require another sacrifice, and the people can live in peace, and maybe even one day rebuild their kingdom… or not. But they’re now free to make that choice free of the fear created by the Infection.

On the surface, it’s a simple story, but there’s so much tragedy under the surface if you wanna dive in. And I very much appreciate that. It’s an approach that trusts the audience, but rather than burdening them by taking lazy shortcuts or not giving thought to characters, it instead finds ways to engage the audience without making them feel like they’re doing any work themselves.

Conclusion & Outro:

Hollow Knight is a beloved game, and for good reason. It’s a masterclass in environmental storytelling, ambience, and telling a story that worms its way into your heart. I enjoyed watching my friend play the game, and I have loved finally giving it a go myself, and I suspect I will enjoy venturing back into Hallownest time and time again. Lord knows I’ll have to if the sequel game Silksong continues to elude us.