Dandyleyen

Quirrel first !

So I got the shade cloak and finished taking the dreamers down. The last one I did was Monomon the Teacher. Let me tell you how incredibly delighted I was to see Quirrel joining me in fighting the Uumuu. I’ve grown so fond of him throughout the game and it was so fun seeing him there to help with that. I’ve run into him again now at the Blue Lake where I just talked to him and sat next to him for a while. Love him :(

Now, The Hollow Knight

Let me tell you how I fought for my life. Genuinely the hardest fight I’ve had so far in this game, and it makes sense ! I tried six or so times and only got to phase 3 once. Imagine my shock when I learned there was more than three phases lmao. Tried a few more times another day but I couldn’t get it. Eventually I decided to go upgrade my nail again and to look for some charms that might help. My friend recommended unbreakable heart (or unbreakable strength if I wanted to go that route) and sharp shadow.

Ultimately I came back with all that (nail upgrade is still missing one) and beat it in one try. Now I’ve beat THK three times but shh. Anyways, the fight was genuinely really good. The music is incredible, as expected, and the visual storytelling as the fight progresses ? Oh my god, my heart. Hurt to watch it near the end, honestly, gets real sad.

Nervous laughter. Hey… what’d I do?

I fought broken vessel the other night and got my double jump (thank god, I’ve been waiting for this all game). I’ve been wandering around everywhere and I finally made my way back to dirtmouth and noticed a glowing light coming from the crossroads.

Lord have mercy on me it was spooky in there. Honestly the most frustrating thing was the Soul Twisters. They were driving me crazy the entire time I was trying to get through the area. I went through a few times because I had to leave to find a closer bench and then to go upgrade my nail and then to get a good charm lmao.

Fighting the Soul Master was fun ! It only took two tries, and I think I was pretty patient in the way I was fighting lmao. I stuck mostly to the right side of the screen and didn’t bother chasing him down since he kept making his way over. I’m sure a more aggressive tactic would’ve ended the fight faster, but I would’ve gotten hit a lot more.

The second phase was cruel and unusual. It was very quick, actually, I got it in one go, but it did catch me off guard ! I like the new ability, it’s very fun.

I did try to use the dream nail on him after the fight and I got to phase two of that version but oh my god it’s ridiculous. I’ll try again later down the line but it’s GENUINELY ridiculous in phase two. Phase one isn’t that bad, but I’m having a hard time with his dive attacks because he keeps doing a fake out dive and I can never avoid the second hit 😭

So, I've only been playing nine hours or so and I finally got to City of Tears. I was a little freaked out when I got there and that gigantic door closed behind me bc it was so dark and I did not want to fight things in a new area. I immediately calmed down after I kept walking and heard the City of Tears music for the first time in the game. I recognized it because I heard it in a video before this, but it's my first time getting to genuinely experience the whole thing and it immediately put me at ease.

The music and the environment are just so melancholy and beautiful. This feeling only got stronger as I reached the memorial for The Hollow Knight. Technically not a blind playthrough because I know the story of the game, but I haven't actually ever seen anyone play it, so i'm still discovering things for myself. Still, though, it really hits you while standing in front of the memorial.

One thing I did hate was those little parasite things in the waterways oh my god I spent the entire time down there horrified. Awful awful awfullll I hated it in there and when I killed one of those and it broke in half into TWO CREATURES ? Burning the place down, sorry. Augh.

One thing I find so interesting is that one of the bugs in this area actually runs away from you when you fight it. It almost makes me feel bad when I'm running by.

Let me start off by saying that the movement is so weird ! Not in a bad way, but it's just very different than what I got used to in Silksong lmao. I do appreciate that things don't hit me with double damage every time, at least. It took a while to get used to the pogo, and then took a while to get used to the cling grip. I only just got it and man it feels so weird w/ the dash. I keep trying to sprint also. Augh.

One thing that feels incredibly different is the world itself. Hollowknight's world feels so empty compared to Silksong's. I get so excited whenever I run into an npc I can actually talk to because everything just seems so lonely. It makes sense, given the fact that Hallownest is a kingdom already in ruin while Pharloom is only heading there. Still, it's an entirely different atmosphere.

I also really love the music here too, especially City of Tears. I'll be touching more on that section in another post dedicated just to CoT, but woww.