Hello to all,

Now that the game's been out for a while, I'm really looking forward to play it. Thing is, I'm really not good at fast paced and technical combats unless there's some stats being involved. Having read the Gog's reviews the game seems famous for it's difficulty.

I watched some LP's over YT and none of the players were known for being goods at games but still, the game does not look that easy to me. I've been playing Dead Cells lately, s'not the same but both are 2D with fast combats, went at least to the last boss (main caimpaign)

I'm sure there's a curve to learn, but could and absolute neophyte like myself (and do note that I had a hard time in Metroids) at least complete the game once without bumping into an unbreakable wall ? I don't mind trying the game over and over if it's worth it, but if there's a mandatory almost impossible fight and no items to balance my chances, I might skip the game.

Well, thanks for reading.

I think if you can make it to the final boss in Dead Cells, you should have no problem playing this game. I'm only about 3 hours in so far, but from what I've played and read this game is very fair in its difficulty.

If you can get that far in dead cells then you dont have to worry. Dead cells is very fast paced. Hollow Knight is almost meditative. This game should be played slowly. Difficulty also depends on the oder you visit the games areas. Just read up on a smooth progression route in case you find yourself in an area that seems too difficult.

Hollow Knight is not much about difficulty than about focus and dedication... somewhat like the "Dark Souls" series (which obviously inspired HK), it's an old-fashioned game where you have to master the basics if you want to go farther, you can't just go randomly and hope anything good, you have to know your commands, your moveset, learn the ennemies's patterns etc.

That's why I prefer talking about "challenge" more than about "difficulty", I'm an old gamer (started in the mid-80's), so I've got in my gaming DNA those basic rules from a time when you just couldn't go to stage 2 if you didn't master the first stage, unlike those games from the late 2K's/early 2010's which were massively "casualised" and you could finish pretty much anything on "autopilot" mode... that's why I didn't really find Dark Souls or HK "difficult", if you speak their language, they're "challenging", they're not unfairly difficult like you just die because there's too much hard hitting ennemies or something like that... you mostly die because you didn't follow the rules, you didn't watch carefully the level, the ennemi's behavior, because you rushed etc.

That being said, as HK is a pure "metroidvania", you sometimes can land in a place where you're too weak (or lack that special move) to manage, if that's the case, you just have to try to backtrack and try somewhere else, hoping you'll find what you need to pass that area later ;)

Hello all,

Somehow, I forgot to respond to my own thread, silly me :)

I should've said in my first post that my issue lies in my left hand being almost paralysed. More than the game difficulty, that's what I must've asked, a strange omission on my part, I agree.

I'm fine with any inputs in the right one, but character movements can be a daunting task. It's fine in Dead Cells since the stats are balancing my slow reactions. Of course, as said, HK seems slower which is even better for me than stats.

I bought Hollow Knight and goofed around a bit. I'm happy to say that the character momentum is helping a lot. I did not understood while watching videos how much the gameplay is pleasant when you're in control. I feel it's a game I'll be able to beat even if it gets harder in the end ;)

Well, thank you all for your answers, I'll be sure to learn how to decipher the game language ! It looks like a terrific place to sink hours in =)

Awesome that you're enjoying the game! The game feels really good to play, huh? I love how responsive it is! Not to mention the immersive world... be prepared for getting lost and loving [almost] every moment of it haha :D

A word of warning though: some of the enemies, especially bosses, can be a pain in the butt with a lot of quick movements. They typically force you to dash or jump out of the way, but some require a lot of upward/downward slashing in a short window of opportunity.
For these fights, if you find them tricky, I'd suggest binding some combos via an external program like JoyToKey, for example for things like up/down slashing, so there is less fiddling for your left hand to do.

Also, as you play the game, you will be able to unlock some items to customise your character's abilities/movement, so you can look forward to that too! :D