For this week’s critical play, I decided to play Hollow Knight, a metroidvania developed by Team Cherry. I played via Steam on Mac using a controller. The target audience is people with prior experience in video games, if not specifically in the metroidvania genre. The mechanics are not clearly explained. Much of the gameplay loop is left for the player to figure out, and while there are some guidance points (such as the map merchant whose name I’m forgetting), much of the beauty lies in exploration. This may make the game inaccessible to some players, which could be considered a drawback.
However, considering our focus on the importance of target audiences in class, it can be reasoned that not every game is meant for every player. Some players won’t enjoy a certain game, and that’s okay.
The gameplay loop primarily revolves around basic platforming and combat, which is typical for a metroidvania. Players improve through upgrades and by enhancing their own skills. To encourage exploration—an aspect of the game that I will delve into later in this post—there’s even a way to obtain better mapping tools.
Hollow Knight’s worldbuilding revolves around both its formal and narrative elements. Narratively, one aspect stands out far more than the others: setting.
The game is set in what feels like an abandoned world. When you first wander into the starter town, it has a single inhabitant, and he stands surrounded by desolate houses.
The single character, single light, and single bench all convey the idea that this setting is a desolate place. In addition to symbolizing the contrast with a bygone era of a bustling town, the Elderbug also directly establishes the world through exposition.
Though the setting is the primary narrative element represented in the game, it also underlies a secondary element: theme. Time and time again, we’re given a glimpse of what once was – abandoned buildings, mysterious monuments, and townsfolk with tales to tell of days gone by. All of these combine to highlight the themes of wanderlust and revival.
The two themes go hand in hand. Our protagonist embodies wanderlust, mapping out the underground and exploring areas to their heart’s content. Their exploits follow a long line of like-minded individuals who decided to brave the depths and never returned. The aforementioned map merchant also represents this theme, to the point that his wife mentions that she wishes he’d spend more time aboveground. Not only are the characters in our story wanderers; they wander to the point of their own detriment.
The other narrative theme is revival, which goes hand in hand with the first. In Hollow Knight, we gradually encounter more bugs, all of whom appear to be relics of a bygone era. One such character is simply named “The Last Stag,” and he serves as a transportation system. He also tells us that he has not been summoned in a long time.
As we meet more characters, the town and world begin to come alive again. In contrast to the desolate abandonment we encounter, the theme of revival emerges through the return of people and structures.
Hollow Knight builds its world in many fascinating ways. Through a blend of direct exposition and environmental storytelling, its themes of wanderlust and revival shine through, immersing players in a world unlike any they’ve experienced before.
Ethics
Hollow Knight portrays a diverse array of body types, primarily resulting from species differences. Each character is depicted as a unique type of bug, with the bipedal ones being particularly distinct from each other. For instance, the map maker, Quirrel, and the Elderbug all exhibit significantly different body types, not to mention our protagonist.
If there are any breaks from this rule, I’d say that it’s the female-presenting characters. Though I’m sure more exist in the game, the only character I encountered who would fit this criteria is the map maker’s wife who runs the shop aboveground. Though she is a bug, her body fits the slim archetype that is typical of depictions of women in video games.
It’s possible that this critique is unwarranted, and I would need to spend more time with Hollow Knight to disprove my current observation. However, as things stand, the game does a good job of exploring the range of body types for its male-presenting characters, but falls short for those who present as female.
