Considering the plentiful buffet of new games catered throughout this year, it is easy for one to miss the indie repertoire of 2018. From witnessing an arduous father and son journey in the realm of Midgard to trotting the lands of the Wild West, avid gamers were sure to have been in a race against time to experience the entirety of these novelties. In between these mammoth releases came Hollow Knight’s PlayStation 4 debut, a game that thrives in being both an easygoing platformer and a stimulating Metroidvania adventure. Without a doubt, Team Cherry created a timeless trinket worthy of standing among the greatest titans.
Silence speaks louder than words, and such a phrase is what fills this game’s story with greater intricacy. It's the subtlety that makes you hungry to move forward and uncover the mysteries of a kingdom left in ruins. It’s the feeling of desolation and sorrow from the elusive characters you encounter throughout the journey, making you think twice if the enemy you are slashing for its soul deserves your needle’s judgement. Needless to say, the game’s charming gloominess is even more appealing due to Christopher Larkin’s evocative soundtrack that never ceases to delight.
With its cartoonish art style, it's easy to assume that this is a casual, walk in the park experience. Delve deeper into the game, though, and you will find yourself dying countless times. With a deceptively aesthetically pleasing art style, the game’s strength relies on the punishing gameplay that lies beyond. Jump here and there without proper timing and its game over.
Opting to emphasise the importance of perfect precision, exploration can be as hard as the next boss fight, where knowing when to jump is crucial to your survival. Mastery of its tight controls allows for a greater experience when exploring the surprisingly vast areas. Just as surprising as the vastness of the areas are the extensive number of side quests and levels for a genre that generally adopts a more condensed format.
Hollow Knight: Voidheart Edition is the icing of the cake for those platformer aficionados. A real treat that offers plenty of replayability beyond 20 hours, it keeps you hooked to know more about its alluring lore. Sprinkled with captivating yet simple gameplay mechanics. We can’t wait to see what Team Cherry has in store for the future.
Hollow Knight: Voidheart Edition ranks extremely highly on our Game of the Year list, but did this one pass you by? Explore every inch of the map in the comments section below.
Comments 17
I'm loving this game. One of the bests of this year. The feeling he conveys to the player is a unique thing
Just found out that they cancelled the physical edition.:/
I did not expect this to be on here! Don't get me wrong, I'm incredibly happy, it's my favourite game of 2018, but I wasn't sure it would get enough recognition to make the top 10. Really pleased!
As a side note, the soundtrack is also absolutely phenomenal - I haven't been able to stop listening to it since I first played this game in August
Have it on the Switch, it's an absolutely brilliant game.
Such a great game! I need to go back and finish this game already.
Spent 30+ hours on the Switch version. Really solid game. Beautiful art direction, too.
Dang, I didn’t realize this game would be here. I barley know anything about it even. I kind of heard of it, but that’s about it. I’ll have to look it sometime.
First game of Push Square’s list that I didn’t play, but heard great things about it.
It's strange that this game just didn't click for me as I'm a fan of the genre and in particular actual Metroid and Castlevania and loved The Messenger which sadly isn't on PS4. There is nothing wrong with this and I can see why people like it and I really wanted to, just my weird brain wouldn't engage with it for some reason
Hollow Knight is my game of the year. Loved every minute of it
Great game and worthy of its praise.
Imo Mark of the Ninja deserves equal praise but gets none from anyone!
Bought it but haven't played it but seeing it this high on the list I might need to change that
woooo go team cherry!!
Okay, this or The Sexy Brutale?
@Ichiyama HK is like $12, i have no idea the price of SB, but for $12 seems like a no brainer
@Dodoo what genre is mark of the ninja, ive heard some decent things about it
@ellsworth004 Well i guess it would be termed a Metroidvania by many but really it's just a 2D action game.
As you're a ninja you can either stealth your way through the whole game without being detected or just kill everyone in your path!
If you ever played the Assassins Creed Chronicles games then it's similar to those except much much better! It has very high production values, excellent gameplay, upgrades etc.
Personally there is nothing I don't like about the game other than it ending sooner than I was expecting (still a good length though) however it does have new game plus so that's a bonus.
If you get it let me know how you get on!
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