So Hollow's choices to make what are stalwarts of the genre into its most frustrating features is a disappointing decision. It's a wonderful model, and it's been done wonderfully many times before. I can wile away many hours jumping around their labyrinthine caves, eeking out new abilities to reach new areas, incrementally improving my health, jump, attacks and skills so that what was once a challenge becomes a corridor on the way to the new challenge. Unfortunately for Hollow Knight, I think the design decisions that narrowly define it are really its core weaknesses. What do you do with a game that is genuinely good, but rather unoriginal? A game that is so, so similar to others that have come recently before it, but is still a beautifully drawn, solidly built metroidvania? Do you say, 'Get this one, because it's the most recent?' That's not a coherent argument.
