I'm a bad player and I got frustrated very shortly after starting (reaching the first boss), so I stopped playing because it wasn't fun doing the same passage over and over again and dying every time. Even some regular enemies can kill you super easy This is a very fun and quite an amazing game, but it is way too hard. It's a good metroidvania game, but the difficulty is quite unforgiving. This is a very fun and quite an amazing game, but it is way too hard. I mean really, why use "knight" in the title and create the character with horns that looks like Shovel Knight's helmet? … Expand I never cared enough to actually find out it was an unrelated game. Also, I ignored this game for years because I thought it was just another DLC for Shovel Knight. Some DLC portions of the map felt a little disjointed and separate from the main game, but that is understandable since they were tacked on later. One other minor issue is that I played this game after all the DLC was released. I liked the game enough to persevere to the end, and I really liked how many classic platform moves were incorporated, such as the DuckTales-like pogo/bounce attack. The storyline might call for it, but at the end of the day the player has to put up with it and have a desire to keep coming back to the game. There are some really beautiful sections of the map, but it is a pity that everything has this somber mood and music. The other thing was that every section of the map has a depressing mood, and most of the characters are gloomy or downcast in some way. I don't have time to look up basic stuff that should be accessible/understandable in-game. If I have to look up some explanation video online, it means there's a failure in storytelling. If you want to make names and places mean something, then my character has to be actively involved in those things for me to remember it or even care. I have no idea what they're going on about and there's too many references to names and places that mean nothing to me.
You also shouldn't need to waste powerups making your character simply *playable*. There are one or two powerups that make you a little more responsive, but it's too little and too late in the game. So many times I died during a boss battle and it felt unfair because I *did* hit the button to attack, but my character didn't respond because he was taking his time finishing his last sword swipe and probably having a cup of coffee in between. Going from one quick move/attack to another feels sluggish. Coming from Axiom Verge where the controls feel sharp and responsive, I don't remember once ever blaming the controls when I died in Axiom Verge.
The storyline is also utter gibberish and I gave up trying to understand anything. Hollow Knight is polished and definitely worth a buy on sale, but trying to do multiple moves and attacks feels sluggish.