Apparently, I am on a tough game kick because soon after Cuphead I jumped into another game that was known for its difficulty in Hollow Knight by Team Cherry. Hard as it was this game presented some amazing dark charm. This is one of those games where suffering through it leads to an extremely satisfying return.
A Dark World
Like classic Metroid games you will see several spots you can't get to till later. Through adventuring, you will find different moves like a double jump that will make it possible to reach that ledge that was just out of reach before. One thing this game does right is allowing you to buy markers for your map. Its a small thing but makes a huge difference if your a completionist, which I use to be at a time in my life where I had real time to game.
The combat is pretty good. While the game requires you to be precise with your timing and boss battles require you to learn patterns, the controls can feel a little clunky. This might be the Switch because I had similar issues with Cuphead but there were fights where I felt like my reflexes were hindered with input lag. One mechanic that I found frustrating is a slight move cool down when you want to do things like heal. When you hit the ground you can't immediately start healing and when you finish a heal there is a moment where you can't move or jump. This led to several times that I thought I miss-timed pressing A, would hit A again, and then accidentally release a special instead of starting my heal. I got used to it but it wasn't my favorite.Patience is a Must
Each boss is pretty unique in their move set and requires a lot of patience and deep breaths. Several of these bosses will kill you, a lot. I am sure my neighbors believe I am unwell by now through all of the salt I was generating in my apartment. Not knowing how much health a boss had was only eased by boss phases that would give you some idea of where you stood. The real payoff was when you finally knocked one and just how satisfying that was.The pacing of the game felt smooth, even though I kept passing the main weapon upgrade till much further then I think the devs saw necessary. Once I paid attention to the signs and powered up I definitely felt the difficulty curve drop. It was also interesting they added a death mechanic similar to dark soul in which you have to find your body in order to recover currency.
The music was fitting. The animation was tight. The cherry on top was the cut scenes from time to time. Although there are several ending to play through, I think I am satisfied with the one I got. There is a real potential I come back for the harder ones but at the moment I am content. It was a great experience for the time I played and I feel like I could leave it at that.
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