The more I think about it, the more I wonder if Hollow Knight might just be the best game I've ever played. It's the kind of game I find myself desperately wishing I could play again for the first time, and that first playthrough remains ingrained deep in my mind. It's impossible not to get deeply immersed in the world of Hallownest; I can vividly recall the trepidation I felt creeping through the Forgotten Crossroads for the first time or the absolute sense of awe first riding that lift down to the streets of the City of Tears as the choir kicked in overtop that pensive piano pattern, or even the sheer sense of panic I felt seeing what I'd later discover to be Nosk in Deepnest. The entire game carries a somber atmosphere to it as you explore, and I've never played another game that rivals it. The kingdom is largely devoid of friendly faces, which makes you connect even more to the few you find, and also makes your heart shatter in two if, y'know... anything were to happen to them (ominous... but no spoilers!).
The gameplay's elegant, making a lot with a little. Your movement and attack options aren't really that complicated, even as you get more abilities throughout the game. In combat, your basic fundamentals remain simply swinging your nail (basically a sword), dashing, and the Focus ability, which allows you to heal yourself if you stay still for a period of time (also costing Soul, which you get from hitting enemies, creating a great back and forth of needing to be aggressive at some point in order to be on the defensive). There are some offensive spells you can get later and some more simple movement abilities, but the core of combat remains the same. And combat does make a massive part of the game, as you'll be fighting bosses left and right. And almost all of them will probably thrash you pretty hard each time! Like absolutely "oh my god, this is impossible" level difficultly! But the thing is that the game's always fair (well... 99% of the time). It's all about becoming familiar with boss's attacks, and you'll probably end up finding yourself being able defeat bosses on your first try on repeat playthroughs that you got stuck on your first time around. And of course, finally managing to beat a boss you struggled on is more satisfying than anything. But I do admit that sometimes a particularly tough boss can just feel like you're running against a wall as you grind out muscle memory... It generally works well, though.
This game is also ultimately a Metroidvania, so the second major component is exploration. And the exploration here is good. Hallownest has such incredible attention to detail, like the devs considered everything. The game's pretty linear in the opening to sort of ease new players in (which works well atmospherically on a first playthrough, though can feel a little frustrating on repeat playthroughs, like you're running through the opening motions again to get to the real game), but opens up a lot fairly quickly. I always find it fun on repeat playthroughs to try to see how roundabout of a path I can take through the game, either getting stuff early or trying to avoid as much as possible. On my second time playing the game as well as this playthrough, I tried to avoid City of Tears as long as I could just for the fun of it. There's so many different paths to take through the game and so much to explore (and so many places you never have to step foot in to beat the game!). It all works very well on the Switch too, having this massive world that you can just chip away exploring at through the nature of a handheld. Little trinkets hidden about make exploration worth your while, whether it be charms (which serve as a great customization mechanic in their own right), new abilities, or even just a little dialogue that either contributes to worldbuilding or helps you in trying to piece the story together (another part of the game I love. I was completely wrong about what in the world was going on throughout most of my playthrough, and trying to piece things together yourself is always fun for me in these kinds of games).
The game's presentation is overall fantastic, with a hand-drawn visual style that's distinct and charming. The music contributes a lot to the atmosphere too, and there's some motifs thrown in there to tie things together nicely. I'm never really sure what to say about the presentation of games... it's just really strong here?
Hollow Knight's the best Metroidvania I've ever played (given that I first gained interest in the game thanks to my interest in Metroid), and quite possibly the best game I've ever played period. And it's incredibly reasonably priced for the content you're getting here, too. I'll happily let Silksong take as long as it needs to be as polished as this game is.