Pale Court is an ambitious mod for Hollow Knight that adds five new boss fights, as well as new art, music, dialogue, voice acting and more. If you're one of the bajillion people who yell "where's Hollow Knight: Silksong" during every video game livestream, maybe it'll tide you over. There's a trailer and download instructions below.
]]>Metroidvanias, Metroid-likes, and Castlevania-likes are games that heavily feature non-linear exploration and cool discoveries that open up parts of an interconnected map. Otherwise known as good game design. A new Humble Bundle has now compiled seven great Metroidvanias for the low price of £12/$15, available here from now until June 20th.
]]>If you're a fan of roguelikes and metroidvanias (hello), then you might be pleased to know Dead Cells added a bunch of weapons, skins and skills from loads of good'uns. The Everyone Is Here update went live yesterday, bringing new challenges to Motion Twin's soulslike that will let you unlock characters from Blasphemous, Hyper Light Drifter, Guacamelee, Skul: The Hero Slayer, Curse Of The Dead Gods, and, most importantly (for me), Hollow Knight. Hooray for Hollow Knight content!
]]>This week I haven't been able to stop thinking about travelling. At first it was caused by seeing the lovely beaches in Valorant's new map, but now it's the fault of the Australian Centre for the Moving Image (ACMI). This Melbourne-based art centre has a Hollow Knight display that I would very much like to visit. It features development sketchbooks and early maps from the game's production, all showcasing some of the beautiful art that went into Team Cherry's bug-filled metroidvania.
]]>I miss Hollow Knight. Almost every day I scroll through the brilliant Metroidvania's subreddit and Discord server. It used to be a ritual news-hunt, to quickly check if anything new had been said about the upcoming sequel, Hollow Knight: Silksong. But as time has gone by, I don't go to those places for information, I go to remind myself I'm not the only one who misses the game desperately.
I know I could just play Hollow Knight. But that's not really the point. Do you ever wish that you could wipe your memory of a favourite game, just to experience it all again?
]]>What if Hollow Knight... but cyberpunk? This was never a question that really crossed my mind. The futuristic neon stuff is everywhere at the moment, largely because of CD Projekt Red's impending RPG Cyberpunk 2077, but the last place I expected to find hints of the techy genre was in a gothic metroidvania about a long lost kingdom of bugs. Inspired by all the cyberpunk goings-on, someone is working on a little project called Cyberknight: a Hollow Knight mod that will turn the Hallownest into a sci-fi dystopia. It looks extremely cool, and I had a chat with the mod's designer to find out more about it.
]]>Over the past few weeks, the developers of the excellent metroidvania Hollow Knight have been revealing new characters that players will meet in the upcoming sequel, Hollow Knight: Silksong. To uncover these NPCs, fans have had to answer riddles, and so far, we've seen the rather creepy Huntress and the sneak-thief Grindle. Last night, however, a new challenger approached. Meet Seth, an ancient guardian of a place called the Citadel, who was designed with and named after a young person who recently passed away.
]]>A small hint, a tiny crumb, a mere morsel of news is all I've wanted of Hollow Knight: Silksong since it was announced last year, and today I got it. Thanks to some clever fans over on the official Hollow Knight Discord server, Team Cherry have revealed an NPC that we'll meet in the sequel to the brilliant bug-filled metroidvania. All they had to do was answer some riddles... to learn about.. a single... NPC... hm. So it's not a new trailer or even a release date, but it is news, and I'm unreasonably excited about it.
]]>Steam's soundtrack sale is nearly over, but as the resident soundtrack fanatic here at RPS, I thought it was only right and proper to take some time out and celebrate some of my favourite tracks and compilations. After all, there are plenty of bangers in there right now, and it would be a shame to miss out on these crackin' tunes while they're going cheap. So come, put on your headphones, turn up your speakers and prepare yourself for an aural assault on the senses.
]]>Australia is still burning, but over the last couple of days they've actually had some rain! While this is a big help to certain areas, there are still 83 fires blazing around the country, and there's a lot of people and wildlife still in trouble. It's good job then that there are even more game devs, companies, and communities banding together to help out our friends down under.
A new Humble Bundle, a donation from the makers of Warframe, and a charity initiative run by Eve Online players are just three more ways the games industry is raising money, and you can get involved to show your support too.
]]>Sorry, definition nerds. 'Soulslike' is a word now. Disgusting, I know, but this is how genres are made. Along comes a giant like Dark Souls that everybody won't stop bleating about and soon it has copycats. Before you know it, a swarm of games like Dark Souls with sparse checkpoints and lethal attacks are scuttling around, leaving slime trails and biting your ankles for surprisingly massive damage. Ugh, Soulslikes. But stoop low to appreciate these little monsters, and among them you'll find some very good games about dying.
]]>Good news for all bug fans – Hollow Knight developers Team Cherry have announced a full-fledged sequel called Hollow Knight: Silksong. This time players will take on the role of Hornet, antagonist-turned-adventurer, and the trailer looks and sounds as good as ever.
]]>I hope you didn’t have anything planned this week, because speedrunning extravaganza Awesome Games Done Quick starts today at 4:30pm GMT.
If you’ve never tuned in before, AGDQ is a weeklong, 24/7 marathon of games, all played as fast as possible, while streaming on Twitch and raising a whole shedload of cash for the Prevent Cancer Foundation. What’s not to like?
]]>The Humble Monthly continues to impress - today's $12 subscription bundle deal is massive souls-inspired Metroidvania Hollow Knight, murder-sim Hitman and zombie survival sandbox 7 Days To Die. While the third of those doesn't quite fit, the first two are among the best in their genres, though Hitman is arguably a genre unto itself.
That's not even mentioning the other handful of games to be unveiled at the end of the month. Plus, the upcoming Hitman 2 (due November 13th) will integrate with the original game, letting you take on old missions with new gear. Below, some trailers for the current trio of games, and some thoughts on each.
]]>The labyrinth beneath Dirtmouth is dark and crawling with bugs. There’s a mantis tribunal, a stag beetle with a saddle, and an unending army of worms. Beyond the Infinite Worms is a ruined city lost to dirt and water, and a creature who refers to itself only as the Nailmaster, who apparently bears no relation to that scumbag Chad from college.
In Hollow Knight, wandering the tunnels of Hollownest is an isolating experience. Everything about the world design is meant to make you feel like you’re in over your tiny head. Despite starring bugs, the sense of scale is impressive and humbling. Exploration and discovery are central to the Hollow Knight experience, and Team Cherry are not afraid to you wander aimlessly. And yet, there is Cornifer, a sweet bug with an unabashed love for cartography.
]]>Good thing I've a long weekend ahead of me, because it's going to take time to explore Hollow Knight's crumbling Metroidvania world of brooding goth insects - now more than ever, as its third and final free expansion is out now. Formerly Gods And Glory, developers Team Cherry found the name was taken, so renamed this bundle of new boss battles and quests Godmaster. Fitting, as it promises "an incredible battle to take your place once and for all amongst the gods of Hallownest", a lofty goal for a little bug. Massive as it is now, Hollow Knight is discounted until next week.
]]>"One of my favourite things in the whole game is that when you slash your little weapon against the cave wall you actually get an impact, with a little recoil and rocks come out,” says Ari Gibson, animator, artist and co-creator of Hollow Knight. “It’s such a small thing, but it changes you from being just a few animations to being a present actor inside this world.”
That little hit is a perfect illustration of how Hollow Knight’s epic chitin-on-chitin adventure is built on multitudes of small details, all driven by something that developer Team Cherry say is not only the fundamental tenet behind Hollow Knight but also every other game they’ll ever make: consistency.
Warning: minor spoilers for locations and items in Hollow Knight follow.
]]>Excellent soulsyvania platformer Hollow Knight is just about ready to emerge from its chrysalis and spread its wings, reformed and fat with free DLC. The last of its Kickstarter stretch-goal expansions - Gods & Glory - is rolling out next month, and is set to conclude the story of The Knight. It'll be launching on August 23rd. Below, a very boss-heavy announcement trailer.
]]>Hollow Knight incites a bit of debate around the site. As John brought up in his review last year: what do you do with a game that is genuinely good but rather unoriginal? It's a Metroidvania game that a lot of us picked up because it was simply the most recent Metroidvania game, and that's not the best excuse for buying a game. In the year since launch, Australian studio Team Cherry has met this criticism by consistently adding new, free DLC to the title, with each pack helping to define and improve on the base game. Today, Hollow Knight: Lifeblood is available, and if you already own the game the update is probably installed.
]]>While the promised free Gods & Glory expansion for Team Cherry's excellent Hollow Night is still in the works, porting the game to the Nintendo Switch has led to the creation of some tangential new content & features that we all get to enjoy in the interim.
While not completely finalized, they've rolled this little bundle of boss fights and gubbins out as a beta on Steam, and call it the Lifeblood update. While perhaps not worth a full playthrough to experience, it's more of an already-good thing.
]]>Despite friends repeatedly nudging me into playing it, I've still only played the first couple hours of Team Cherry's excellent Dark Souls-ish metroidvania Hollow Knight. Normally a point to lament, but I'm not feeling so bad about it today.
Riding a wave of inertia from a very successful launch, the third and final free expansion for the game, Gods & Glory, is on its way. With it, we've got a teaser trailer and a feature list for those who don't have quite enough bugs in their lives. Maybe once this comes out, I can begin playing it properly.
]]>We've already seen which games sold best on Steam last year, but a perhaps more meaningful insight into movin' and a-shakin' in PC-land is the games that people feel warmest and snuggliest about. To that end, Valve have announced the winners of the 2017 Steam Awards, a fully community-voted affair which names the most-loved games across categories including best post-launch support, most player agency, exceeding pre-release expectations and most head-messing-with. Vintage cartoon-themed reflex-tester Cuphead leads the charge with two gongs, but ol' Plunkbat and The Witcher series also do rather well - as do a host of other games from 2017's great and good.
Full winners and runners-up below, with links to our previous coverage of each game if you're so-minded. Plus: I reveal which game I'd have gone for in each category.
]]>Another year over, a new one just begun, which means, impossibly, even more games. But what about last year? Which were the games that most people were buying and, more importantly, playing? As is now something of a tradition, Valve have let slip a big ol' breakdown of the most successful titles released on Steam over the past twelve months.
Below is the full, hundred-strong roster, complete with links to our coverage if you want to find out more about any of the games, or simply to marvel at how much seemed to happen in the space of 52 short weeks.
]]>There's no shortage of great Metroidvanias out there these days, so to help narrow your search for what to play next, we've put together this list of the very best Metroidvania games to play on PC right now. Metroidvanias can be a little tricky to define at times. Most have big, knotty worlds to explore that often require the use of specific abilities to access its farthest corners, but while some put a greater emphasis on slow and methodical combat, others stuff every pixel with rock hard platforming challenges to test their players' mettle. We like to keep an open mind when it comes to these things, but that does mean our list of the best Metroidvanias may include the odd controversial choice or two. What's important, though, is that all of these games are brilliant, and come with our seal of approval.
]]>Ahead of what can only possibly be the impending financial doom of us all - Black Friday 2017 - Humble has launched its Fall Sale. It's a fairly big sale range, too, featuring thousands of games with discounts on a selection from a varied selection of publishers. That includes Capcom, Focus Home Interactive, Rebellion, Konami, Rockstar, Adult Swim, THQ Nordic and many more.
]]>As an assortment of Halloween sale events grind to a halt now that we're officially in November (the month of Black Friday deals), a few more rise up to bridge the gap. So here's a handy-dandy look at a bunch of them. Are you sitting comfortably?
]]>One of my greatest gaming regrets of this year is getting about halfway through Team Cherry's excellent metroidvania Hollow Knight, then getting sidetracked by a pile of work. In order to get properly back up to speed, I reckon that I'll have to start fresh, although with the rate at which they're pumping out free DLC I might just wait a little while longer.
We have previously mentioned upcoming expansion The Grimm Troupe, but now it has an official release date: October 26th, and it's bringing a lot of exciting new stuff to the already densely-packed game.
]]>Hot on the heels of the Hidden Dreams free DLC, the Hollow Knight [official site] devs have announced the second in their trio of free-of-charge content packs for the gorgeous, insecty Metroidvania. This one is called The Grimm Troupe and will hit PC at Hallowe'entide, so the end of October. There's a super cute movie poster-type promo image which I'll pop after the jump along with the trailer:
]]>When I first played Sunless Sea I didn't click with it, then the Zubmariner expansion/DLC came out and I was hooked for weeks. When I first played the arthropoddy Metroidvania-with-hints-of-Dark-Souls, Hollow Knight [official site], I didn't manage to click with it, but chatting with friends who adore it once it gets going and seeing that its first free DLC - Hidden Dreams - is out, I'm thinking I'll try it again and hope for a Zubmariner-type revelation!
Hidden Dreams is the first of three free content packs for the game so it sounds like there's a whole bunch to reinvigorate the game if you've been playing since release (i.e. the opposite to me) and are up for a new challenge/new things to see.
]]>The Steam Summer Sale is here to rescue us from the same old games! Hooray! Hooray! Hoo-whatnow? Oh for crying out loud, the usual games are all on sale too, aren't they?
]]>Hollow Knight [official site] presents a peculiar issue. 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. Unfortunately for Hollow Knight, I think the design decisions that narrowly define it are really its core weaknesses.
]]>You might remember that Pip took a good look in 2015 at the art of Hollow Knight [official site], admiring its cute yet sinister hand-drawn world of insects. Pretty to look at, how does it play? You can see for yourself, as Hollow Knight finally came out this week. I've not had a crack yet myself but a fair few folks seem jolly pleased with the Metroidvania action-platformer. Here, have a gander in this trailer:
]]>I've written before about Hollow Knight's [official site] beautiful art style but Team Cherry have released a new trailer so let's have a bit more of the fantastical insect-y caves and lovely sombre palette:
]]>Hollow Knight [official site] was a Kickstarter project I remember being captivated by because of the art style. It's all bluey greys and underground exploration to solve a mystery - kinda elegiac. There's a beta awaiting further exploration in my Steam library but I've only been able to dip in for small chunks of time thanks to a set of trips and other distractions. HOWEVER that didn't stop me emailing the game devs about the artwork. As a result artistic lead, Ari Gibson, has opened his sketchbooks (at one point literally) for RPS.
Here is a whole bouquet of concept art along with Ari's own comments and explanation.
N.B. Clicking the sketchbook images takes you to a slightly larger version but otherwise what you'll see when you click through is the same picture, but it turns them into a clickable slideshow which can be a nicer way to look at concept art as it greys out the rest of the page and lets you concentrate :)
]]>While John and I have a related argument over IM about the limits when defining the adventure gaming genre, you should have a look at Hollow Knight, a game about a platforming insect in a little cape.
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