serata

It improves on everything the first game does well and slightly improves on everything the first game does poorly. I enjoyed the progression and quests of the towns which seems to me influenced by Ori and the Will of the Wisp.

Not a big fan of metroidvanias but ever since I got a Steam Deck, I've been buying them on sale and playing them. This is supposedly one of the best. Adventure games that lack a directional narrative force annoy me. "Forgive me Zanzibart" world design annoys me. But Hollow Knight's gameplay feels tightly designed. The combat and platforming feel good but simpler and easier than people make it out to be. But I only completed the main story because the game did not keep me interested. I felt like I had to force myself to beat the game.

This game improves a lot over the 1st. The platforming feels better, and it adds in more combat and movement but it feels superfluous because the game is so easy. You can become so tanky that you can jump on spikes just to get another jump and heal to full multiple times. All enemies and bosses feel like a joke. This game just does not feel tightly designed, compared to say a Hollow Knight. It's like they are just throwing a bunch of stuff at the wall. The storytelling and world design improves over the 1st as well but still not memorable. A game you just play and then move on.

Feels like a callback to old 2D platformers with a hint of metroidvania. Ori feels too floaty and slippery. Nothing in this game is particularly difficult or memorable. Artstyle is ok. They hit you with a contrived and sappy prologue that makes your eye roll, and the game is kind of like that the whole way through.