Hollow Knight

So for the boss that you fight more than once, it's still remarkably hard even despite all the upgrades I've gotten!

It seems I'm way closer to the end than I realized! Is there a point of no return, or can I keep roaming around after beating the game?

I think it's the latter but I'm probably about at the same spot you are

i'm not sure how far i am, but getting the monarch wings reaaaally helped out with exploration. i feel like as soon as i found them i almost doubled the map. it also makes playing the game a lot more fun, imo, control-wise.

https://www.reddit.com/r/HollowKnight/comments/8xdhsg/preend_game_checklist/e23da8i/

When you beat the last boss the game will let you continue to use the save that was created at the last bench you rested at. So you don't really have to stress too much about doing every last thing in the game. You can beat the last boss, then load that save again and keep playing the optional content, and eventually beat the last boss again if you want.

I haven't been playing so I'm way behind you all now. I think it's because I'm not sure where to go next and I just need to explore around the City of Tears, so when I only have a free 20 min I'm unlikely to fire it up (compared to having a clear objective like beating a boss).

well, i beat it. the easy version, not the really hard ending. 77%, 38 hours (i am really slow. also i spent about 5-8 hours mid-game just wandering around, unable to find the double jump or other key abilities and just kind of locked into the same few areas)

question: how hard is it to get the "real" ending? i mean, i know it will be difficult. but is this a 9.5/10 difficulty kind of thing or a 9.9? don't say 10, which may never be used so that there is always the possibility of more difficulty

I got into the Black Egg Temple the last time I played, gave what was inside a shot, and was like "I think I've seen enough of this game". I'll go back to it when I feel like just trying hard bosses repeatedly; the last thing I want to do is go hunting for upgrades

the thing i'm worried about is that the real ending is the classic 'beat every boss you ever fought...but this time, all in a row, without ever healing or changing equipment!' style of 'difficult', and i really don't want to deal with that. if, on the other hand, the ending is kind of interesting and it feels like new stuff rather than a remix, i'm game

"I'll go back to it when I feel like just trying hard bosses repeatedly"

lol I have not beaten this game yet, but I wandered into Godhome and was like, game you don't get me

Yeah, I too have kind of left the game alone after I passed my "this is the hard part" saturation point.

I stopped with the first final boss. But what I've seen of the White Palace level, which comes after the first ending, seems so maddeningly frustrating, like Celeste. The farthest I got in the post-game game, which is a lot different from just replaying bosses afaict, is starting to fight the Grimm Troupe, who were haaaaard. Or maybe they're DLC? Regardless, I never fought them in the first place. I never made it to the coliseum either, for that matter, but that seemed fun.

I also reached a point after the “easy” ending where I realized any additional progress (hard ending, hard version of dlc boss, spirit versions of various bosses) was more effort than it was worth

Ah, I skipped the final round of the coliseum, too

I got to what might be the final boss (what you get to when the masks disappear from the map), but I haven't bothered to beat him yet. Don't know anything about different endings. If there's really a boss rush, I'll lose interest just like I lose interest near the end of Mega Man games.

That's a good question, did I beat all the spirit bosses? I can't remember. I think at some point I realized all the dream nail stuff had nothing really to do with the game, as far as I could tell. It was fun and cool, but I don't know if I finished all the related stuff.

this game is haaaaard and so so gooooooood

not quite sure where to go next. I’m avoiding the brooding mawket (?) for the meantime

dung defender down. second nail upgrade bagged. a couple more locations opened. progress

dung defender is my boyfriend

making good progress now. one dreamer bagged. soul master down. the long dash and vertical smash added to my moveset. just need to find another pale ore (for third nail upgrade) and 7 more charms (for last charm slot off the vendor)

did a dozen or so attempts of the boss inside the black egg last night and was making some progress through the phases, I may yet persevere

omw to the watcher knights ;_;

watcher knights buhbye

19h28m in. two masks done... going for the third next

I took a break from Hollow Knight and beat Yoku's Island Express, which is a fun metroidvania that is much easier.

I finally, finally beat those fuckers the Watcher Knights. I took a break from them for a while to take down The Collector, free a few grubs, & get another nail upgrade. The nail upgrade plus using more of my charge attacks did the trick. Had to restrain myself from triumphantly shouting "EAT IT" in my office cube.

I haven't touched this game in a long time (and Bloodborne for even longer), because I don't think I want to deal with the amount of frustration that I'm sure I'd be courting.

I just beat the first final boss (inside the egg), and got the incomplete ending (95 % of the game completed)... And I gotta say, even though I've loved most of the game, that was quite disappointing. Without having read the Wiki for the game, I would have had no idea what the ending was all about, or how to proceed to get the better ending. I mean...
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SPOILERS FOR THE FIRST ENDING!
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...it looks like the dude was sealed inside the egg for some reason? It seemed like he was the source of the orange light that's infected most of the bugs, but clearly sealing him away didn't make the light disappear, so what was the point of that? So I get egg unsealed, kill the dude, and take his place inside the egg? What did that achieve, aren't we just back to square one? Or is the orange infection now sealed away for good? Who knows?
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SPOILERS END.
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And yeah, I was at complete loss what to do next to get the good ending, so I had to cheat and use the Wiki, and apparently I need to collect way more Essence to get an upgrade that will let me move forward? I'm sure I would've figured it out eventually, but that probably would've taken hours, there's absolutely no hint anywhere you can get an enhanced version of the Dream Nail that lets you do other things.

Despite the obvious freedom of exploration, which I love, I feel like up to this point the game has been pretty good at letting you know what the objective is: find the three dreamers, break the seal on the egg, see what's inside. But here they could've at least given some hint how to move forward.

Also, am I the only one who was surprised that two of the Dreamers were protected by bosses while one wasn't? I had saved that Dreamer the last, because based on the area where it's located I was expecting a really gruesome boss fight. So finally I enter the room with the Dreamer's body, all psyched, and... nothing happens? Where's the boss? Did the developers run out of time to come up with one, or what?

Ok, since my comment above I defeated the Traitor Lord and spoke with the White Lady, and her comments made me understand what the first final boss fight and the incomplete ending were all about. But the fact that you can fight the boss and get the ending without ever having talked with her makes me feel this is the one point where the freedom of exploration (which, like I said, is mostly a good thing) in this game makes its storytelling fail.

nearing the end now I think

beat hornet II. fighting ummuu (?)

completed !

65%

amazing game

the hornet battle music really is something else, soundtrack is soooooo good

Can I play this thing with a keyboard and mouse?

technically you could, and i bet you could get pretty far if you have keyboard master dexterity. but you might also get really frustrated and hulk smash your keyboard? depends on your patience level

this game is a stone cold masterpiece in my opinion and everyone who has switch should own it. I can't believe it costs like 20p too - it's massive

things I know I still have to do:
- unlock about 20+ charms
- complete the second trials
- find isma's tear
- do the flower quest
- all of grimm's troupe
- upgrade my nail one more time
- try godhome (lol?)
- get all charm notches/masks

don't think I went to the white palace either

Dammit you guys making me want to try to finish this again.

I know there is a ton of stuff I didn't do, but I loved every second of what I did do.

Played this again last night trying and failing by to beat Zote. Instead, I'm going to try to get more charms to pick up the last notch from Salubra (I've got 24). I also realized that my nail isn't fully upgraded, so I might try the Colosseum of Fools again (I beat the first wave).

Yay! Got 2 more charms, plus a notch from (the second wave of COF), found/beat the Collector (I'd already found the Love Key but had no idea what to do with it), and beat Zote v1.

Also PSA: if you're doing the delicate flower quest, don't think that, because the dreamgate is not explicitly prohibited, it will work, because I tried it and let's just say I had to go back for a fresh flower.

Finished! 89%.

I gave up on the game last year when I was stuck on the Traitor Lord and the HK, but getting the final upgrade for my nail plus getting quick slash makes boss fights way more forgiving.

I will say that I have very little idea of what's going on in the world, which is too bad.

Ha, I think that's yet another element this game borrows from Dark Souls, this mysterious mythology that is as cool and compelling as it is utterly impenetrable.

Hornet DLC!

Ready your Needle!

First look at Hornet's new adventure coming this Valentine's Day, February 14th! pic.twitter.com/LVgKkPYi1U

— Team Cherry (@TeamCherryGames) February 11, 2019

The mythology is not really unpenetrable! If you just explore the world and talk to everyone you meet, it's not that hard to gather what's happening. Though do you need to talk with the White Lady, acquire the Void Heart, and gather enough soul pieces so the moth prophet will give you her final message... Like I said upthread, if you get to the bad ending (defeat the Hollow Knight without the Void Heart), it might be kinda baffling, but at that point the game is helpful enough to tell you you haven't finished it 100% yet, so you know there's more stuff to discover.

For me, I think that I have a hard time digesting story when I have to read it when I'm gaming, and I also took off several months from the game.

Deserves to be here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pFAknD_9U7c