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Tag: Metroidvania

  • Hollow Knight: Silksong’s Difficulty is Frustrating, but Narratively Brilliant

    Contains spoilers for Hollow Knight: Silksong

    Hollow Knight: Silksong is damn hard. I know that when I reviewed it, I said that it wasn’t actually more difficult than the first Hollow Knight, but those were the words of someone that hadn’t been to Bilewater or tried the High Halls gauntlet yet.

    Judging by posts on YouTube and Reddit, as well as my own playing, the difficulty spike comes from two areas. One, the runback for bosses can be a nightmare. Silksong has several long stretches between save benches and bosses where getting a second try at defeating them involves hard platforming and annoying enemy placement. I lost count of the times another attempt at a boss miscarried on the way.

    Two, the number of regular enemy gauntlets. Some of these are bosses in and of themselves, such as the High Halls, and some are part of a real boss fight, such as the three Heart bosses in Act 3. That’s where I’m stuck right now, grimly carving my way through Skarrsinger Karmelita by inches after at least 20 tries.

    Both of these irritations involve the same thing: regular enemies you have to cut your way through to fight the boss each time. There’s little opportunity to concentrate on the muscle memory of a one-on-one dance with a single opponent, arguably the mechanical aspect of the Hollow Knight series that is most rewarding. At its best, Hollow Knight is like Cuphead, a series of fighting game scenarios framed as a side-scroller. The mobs muck that up by making you refocus on several individuals rather than one boss.

    I think that’s the point, though. The story of Silksong is about how a mad god keeps a population in thrall to serve her own ends. The hero, Hornet, is constantly running into other bugs that have been turned into crazed attackers. Some of these are even former friends she meets along the way. In Bellhart, Hornet finds an entire town bound in spider silk, caught in worshipful slavery until she cuts the strings.

    Hollow Knight had a similar theme with the Radiance’s infection, but that was more uncontrolled and wild. The work of the main boss in Silksong, Grand Mother Silk, is deliberate and calculating. We see numerous reminders of her terrible authoritarianism. Guards in the Slab prison are born in servitude; workers in the Underworks have to pay to sit down or to receive religious penance; and a room near the end chronicles Grand Mother Silk’s ruthless pursuit of spider children like Hornet, callously spending the lives of follower as long as she gets what she wants.

    Contrast this with Hornet. Having watched Hallownest fall to the infection in the first game, she is keen to avoid another collapse in Pharloom. At every turn, she tries to free the bugs of Pharloom from Grand Mother Silk, often without considering the consequences. When her actions lead to the destruction of Pharloom and the invasion of the void in Act 3, she is emotionally devastated. Everyone around her is dead, consumed by the void, or hopelessly preparing for the end of the world. Desperately, Hornet pledges to fix things.

    This is where the narrative brilliance of the difficulty shines. Regular bugs matter. The rot in Pharloom is not just the work of a few bad apples under a mad god. This is a community full of connections intertwined in a web. When Hornet is forced through long runbacks full of Pharloom’s inhabitants or caught killing pawns in a fight with a boss, it reminds us that everything in the game affects the bugs living there.

    Is it mechanically enraging? Absolutely. Developer Team Cherry could have made this point with fewer regular enemies or easier platforming challenges, but the mobs and runbacks should still absolutely be there. They remind the player and Hornet that there are lives at stake in this fight. This is a kingdom, not an empty space full of mindless obstacles to stab.

    Evil never happens in a vacuum. It is enabled through the petty cooperation of millions of participants. Battles to destroy great evil result in collateral damage to the innocent in 100 percent of cases. By filling these game milestones with the common bugs of Pharloom, Silksong keeps this theme front and center where it cannot be ignored. There is literally no moving forward without confronting it.

    I agree with everyone cursing the difficulty of this game. There were near wins that left me shaking with rage. However, if the last decade has taught us anything, it’s that confronting authoritarianism is going to be very hard and full of casualties. You’ll constantly be running into the haunted servants of the powerful, some of whom you once trusted, and you will have to find a way through them to get to the heart of darkness. Doing so is traumatizing.

    Often, I found myself yelling at these random Silksong mobs that made beating the boss harder. “Why are you even here? I’ve got no beef with you!” I could be using those same words every time some random Nazis yells at me in real life. Silksong has a lesson to teach us about the human cost of authoritarianism, and the runbacks and gauntlets are a part of that. Why wouldn’t they be frustrating?

    Hollow Knight: Silksong is available on Steam, Nintendo Switch, Playstation 4/5, and X Box Series X/S. $19.99.

    Jef Rouner

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  • 5 Metroidvanias To Play If Hollow Knight: Silksong Is Too Tough

    Look, it’s OK. Some games are just incredibly hard, and not everyone has the skills or patience required to conquer them. Many people are finding their limit with Hollow Knight: Silksong, reaching a boss that just cannot be bested or realizing their fingers just aren’t capable of the dexterity required to master the super-hard platformer. But don’t wallow! Pick yourself up and try any of these games that offer a similar experience, without being quite so brutal.

    Silksong has re-opened the wound of gaming difficulty discourse, causing friction over the topic of how hard a game can reasonably be without offering difficulty options for less skilled players. Of course, for all the debate and discussion, one core truth always remains: developers are allowed to make their games any way they want. Some choose to do this by responding to feedback from players, but others have a fixed vision for their creation and aren’t going to be moved from that. There’s no sense fighting this, not least when the vast banquet of video games already offers so very many fantastic alternatives.

    I dearly wish I were better at Hollow Knight: Silksong because it’s the so-called “metroidvania” format that so attracts me. The genre, whose name is somewhat awkwardly based on the franchises of Metroid and Castlevania, generally refers to platform games in which you gain a growing number of skills and abilities which, over time, give you access to previously inaccessible areas. Along the way, regenerating enemies attempt to thwart your progress, while one-time bosses are stationed at key points. The more skills you get, the easier those earlier areas become, and the better prepared you are for the later challenges. All that’s true of Silksong, of course! But there are very many games that offer it all without the punishing difficulty. Here are a few worth picking up if Silksong is getting you down.

    John Walker

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  • 9 Tips To Bend Time And Survive Death In Prince Of Persia: The Lost Crown

    9 Tips To Bend Time And Survive Death In Prince Of Persia: The Lost Crown

    Ubisoft Montpellier’s 2.5D side-scrolling Metroidvania Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown is finally out on Nintendo Switch, PC, PlayStation 4/5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S. It’s a long, challenging action-platforming game with lots of tough bosses and intricate puzzles. Here are a handful of essential tips to make your journey a bit easier.

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    Read More: Prince Of Persia: The Lost Crown: The Kotaku Review 

    The Lost Crown follows the young Sargon, the newest member of the warrior clan known as The Immortals. He’s tasked with tracking down the kidnapped Prince Ghassan, who’s been dragged off to the cursed city of Mount Qaf. The game has plenty of paths to unblock, collectibles to find, and equipment to unlock. It’s easy to get lost or stuck, but I’ve got you covered.

    Throw Your Chakram Often

    About an hour or two into the game, you’ll unlock a new weapon: a bow. This weapon doubles as a throwable chakram that serves several functions, including calling down platforms and opening gates. The double-edged weapon can also be used in combat as a projectile that gets faster and stronger every time you parry it. More than that, though, you can use the chakram to reach those elusive resource caches without having to pull off a complex platforming feat. Be sure to use that chakram often, as it’ll make collecting stuff a little less frustrating.

    Upgrade Your Gear Regularly

    The fiery blacksmith—and absolute goddess—Kaheva opens up her forge to you not long after you reach the hub area of The Haven. But she’s not the only shopkeeper who can improve your equipment. While Kaheva can buff the damage of your bow and swords, The Mage, an elderly woman who operates an equipment shop in The Haven, can increase the number of health flasks you can hold and improve the potency of their healing. On top of that, both shopkeepers can power up the status effects of your Amulets, equippable pieces of gear that provide benefits such as increasing your melee damage at low health or reducing the damage of environmental hazards. It’s worth coming back to The Haven to upgrade your gear as often as possible. These bosses don’t play around, so you’ll need all the buffs you can get. Trust me.

    Don’t Forget The Swordmaster

    Speaking of The Haven, another person you should visit regularly is the swordmaster Artaban. Artaban is Sargon’s trainer throughout the story, teaching you effective ways to dispatch your foes in fights. You should also do his combat challenges to get Time Crystals, one of the currencies used for buying wares and upgrading gear. The challenges themselves are simple, and with enough practice and patience, will help you become more comfortable using all of Sargon’s abilities to kick serious ass.

    Take Images Of Memorable Spots

    With The Eye of the Wanderer, a true innovation within the Metroidvania genre, you can take screenshots that show up as icons on the mini-map, which helps make backtracking easier. Instead of trying to memorize where something is, you can use the upgradable resource known as Memory Shards to snap a quick photo to remember the spot. And when you’re finished with the image, you can delete the screenshot to free up space for more photos. Just hold down on the D-pad and snap away. Your brain will thank you for it.

    Make Sure To Finish Those Side Quests

    As you explore Mount Qaf, you’ll come across characters in need of help. It might be deciphering an ancient text or finding an old woman’s children. Either way, these side quests reward you with some good stuff, from currencies to use at the various shopkeepers to resources to upgrade your gear. Depending on the complexity and length of the objective, you might even get a Soma Petal, which increases your max health when you’ve collected four of them. Be a good Immortal and help some people out. It’ll be worth your while.

    Take Advantage Of Guided Mode In The Settings

    You’re presented with two game modes when you start: Exploration and Guided. Exploration mode is the default setting, giving you little direction for story quests and side errands on the mini-map. With Guided mode, you get much more assistance as the mini-map populates icons for mission objectives, doors and paths, and the upgrades you’ve unlocked. guessing game. You’ll still get lost, so don’t worry about that. Guided mode will just make it so you don’t stay lost. You can toggle this setting at any time—you’re not locked into what you chose at the beginning of your playthrough.

    Tweak The Difficulty To Your Preferred Playstyle

    The Lost Crown is a masterful example of accessibility in video games. In the extensive settings menu, you can make parries easier, extend the invulnerability you receive while dodging, skip challenging platforming sections, show markers for interactive elements in the world, and so much more. This game really lets you customize the experience to your liking, so you should do that. There’s bound to be a setting here that will give you the kind of Metroidvania experience you’re looking for.

    Always, Always, Always Buy The Area Maps From Fariba

    Fariba has extensive knowledge of the cursed city, and she’ll often have maps on her for sale. These maps reveal everything you need to know about that given area, including potential secrets and unexplored spots. Her location varies, and she’s usually a bit of a pain to find, often holed up in some room gated behind a complex platforming section. But picking up the area map from her will save you time in the long run. The best part? Unlike some of the other shopkeepers whose wares can be a bit more expensive, Fariba sells her services for just 50 Time Crystals. That’s a bargain in my book.

    Don’t Do Much Backtracking Till You Get The Last Power

    The Lost Crown is predicated on returning to areas you’ve previously visited with new powers, so it’s tempting to backtrack once you’ve acquired a new time-bending ability. But take it from me, you should wait until you’ve gotten the very last power, the Fabric of Time. You don’t get it until about three-fourths of the way through the story, but waiting to get this grappling hook of sorts will save you time and frustration. Before this point, a majority of your backtracking will be blocked by floating hooks that require the Fabric of Time to reach. There’s no clever way to get around these sections without it, so you might as well wait. Besides, by the time you unlock it, you’ll be so OP not even the toughest boss could stop you.

    Read More: New Prince Of Persia Game Has A Wild NPC Oopsie

    And there you go, nine tips to help you bend time and survive death in Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown. Although I’ve beaten the story, I’ve still got plenty of collectibles to find and side quests to finish. So, good luck in Mount Qaf. Prince Ghassan needs us both.

    Levi Winslow

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