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Hollow Knight - Beautifully animated 2D 'vania - On Kickstarter

Congrats on reaching the WiiU goal! The game looks fantastic, very unique and yet very much alike some of the greatest 2D games, can't wait to see it up on the eshop!
 
Holy shit, i wasn't expecting it to make it to the 2nd Character (hence my previous post).
This is fucking great!

Congrats Team Cherry, looking forward tot he game.
 
I'm fantastically excited for this. I love the style of gameplay, but your unique world is marvelous and I can't wait to explore it.
 
Oh my. I love the way this looks. The art style and color choices are beautiful. Especially that lava area above and the green water before that. Pretty damn cool.
 
I'm not really into figurines but this looks dope:

7jf6vVt.jpg
 
Hey if any Gaffers are interested in trying out the Hollow Knight Beta and are willing to provide some feedback, shoot me a DM and I'll sort you out a Steam Key!

Like Dr.Acula, mentioned above, our Beta pool is pretty small, so we're really interested in get more feedback from more machines (and controllers).

Mainly though, we're looking for impressions from people who have Metroid/SOTN experience. A lot of our backers seem to be of the Dark Souls crowd and a lot of the current feedback stems from that viewpoint (which is great!), but we'd really like to get more impressions from traditional Metroidvania fans.

Game still needs some optimisation, so expects a half-decent PC and I highly recommend an Xbox360 controller.

I'll leave the offer open for the next 24hrs. Only 1 key per-gaf member please.

Post any impressions in the thread, or you can email us officially at beta(at)teamcherry.com.au

Here's a nice video of someone's early experience with the beta:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uXRd92kqF_M
 
Crab Milk Mickey said:
Has there been a rough estimate yet as to when Hollow Knight would ideally be released on PC, or is that still in a state of flux?

Also, PM sent.
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Definitely still in a state of flux for now. We really want to hit Q4, but there are so many things we still want to get into the game, like getting turned into a slug!

Now that we've thought about it, Hollow Knight just doesn't seem complete if you can't turn into a slug at some point. Just imagine, squelching around in a useless sluggy body! It sounds like the best thing ever. Still, with our Kickstarter backers waiting, we're mindful of not spending too long building the game.

Thanks for checking out the Beta!
 
Only had a short 15m play so far but very impressed.

Graphics are gorgeous - the art and audio styles and are so effective.

Game has run fine so far without any real noticeable issues on my AMD Windows 10 PC with the 360 pad which was picked up immediately.

Will hopefully get more time to explore later on tonight but first impressions are very good.
 
Good to hear! Happy I've backed this, looking forward to the final product scratching the M'vania itch. Been a while since I've got my ass kicked in the genre.
 
Hadn't really followed this much, but when it was bumped recently and saw the Beta offer, thought I'd take a look.

Only played a short bit but very impressed so far, will dig in more in the days to come and report back more.
 
titch said:
Only had a short 15m play so far but very impressed.

Graphics are gorgeous - the art and audio styles and are so effective.

Game has run fine so far without any real noticeable issues on my AMD Windows 10 PC with the 360 pad which was picked up immediately.

Will hopefully get more time to explore later on tonight but first impressions are very good.
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Thanks a bunch Titch! Keen to hear how you go. Glad it all worked so far.


Corpekata said:
Hadn't really followed this much, but when it was bumped recently and saw the Beta offer, thought I'd take a look.

Only played a short bit but very impressed so far, will dig in more in the days to come and report back more.
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Cheers Corpekata! The team and I really appreciate it.

Really stoked to find so many Metroidvania players willing to test it out. Seems like they're all on GAF! We've had a hard time finding them elsewhere. Thanks all for the help.
 
Just played an hour or so, beat the first boss i think
fly mother?
thoughts:

* The animations, graphics, sound , writing work great.
* Great monster, character and npc design, I hope we get to know more about them later.
* I have some slowdown sometimes i7 5820k gtx 770.
* I don't like the controls with the analogue stick, i end up swingin the needle up instead of to the side after a jump a lot. ended up getting damage because of it a couple of times. Tried the d pad, but it's a 360 controller so that's not better.
* The jumping mechanic needs a bit of work too, it's almost there but it's still too "robotic" i don't know how to explain this (i mean the hold for height in case it's not clear, the physics are fine).
* map is useless, but i guess that's intentional

I'll try to play a bit more after the weekend, cheers!
 
lord said:
Just played an hour or so, beat the first boss i think
fly mother?
thoughts:

* The animations, graphics, sound , writing work great.
* Great monster, character and npc design, I hope we get to know more about them later.
* I have some slowdown sometimes i7 5820k gtx 770.
* I don't like the controls with the analogue stick, i end up swingin the needle up instead of to the side after a jump a lot. ended up getting damage because of it a couple of times. Tried the d pad, but it's a 360 controller so that's not better.
* The jumping mechanic needs a bit of work too, it's almost there but it's still too "robotic" i don't know how to explain this (i mean the hold for height in case it's not clear, the physics are fine).
* map is useless, but i guess that's intentional

I'll try to play a bit more after the weekend, cheers!
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Thanks Lord! Really great feedback. Slow-down in particular is not good on that crazy a rig. Is it happening at any specific moments?

Man that map! It's such a hard one. Some people just adore it (not having a marker), yet other's can't stand it. We're thinking of allowing a positional marker on the map but at significant cost to the player.

Also, here's a really great (and thorough) playthrough of the beta by bitterbits over on Twitch: http://www.twitch.tv/bitterbits/v/16070346
 
Yeah, the animation and sound are fucking top notch.

The entire death mechanic is great and an unexpected challenge that brings new stress to the idea of where in a level you die.

Jumping does feel too static. Other than that, the controls are simplistic and awesome.
 
I get the intention of a lack of map, but speakly purely from a metroidvania perspective it's hard to go without one. I would too prefer some sort of compromise like suggested.

Though on the other hand, I do find myself in most metroidvania's probably opening the map up a little too much and it can be kind of a crutch.
 
Anyone else having issues with an Xbox One controller playing this - went through on arrow keys and loved it, but it'd be so much easier with a controller I think. Everytime I try to use my Xbone one it just defaults me moving to the left and I can't go anywhere else.
 
woodland said:
Anyone else having issues with an Xbox One controller playing this - went through on arrow keys and loved it, but it'd be so much easier with a controller I think. Everytime I try to use my Xbone one it just defaults me moving to the left and I can't go anywhere else.
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Seems to be effecting all Xbox One Controllers. A few other Gaffers mentioned the same issue. Thanks for confirming it!

We'll make sure to sort it out, though we may not be able to update the beta for a little bit (so busy building the rest of the game!).
 
God I love metroidvania games, this is one of the few games I kickstarted. Really hope you guys add different button prompts. Like say PlayStation or anything else. :(
 
Course we will AkelisRain! Kills me as well.

We're aiming to get proper dynamically switching button prompts in through the next few weeks (along with proper button remapping). The final game will, at the very least, include PS and Xbox controllers along with all the standard keyboard keys.

We would'a loved not to bake in the 360 ones for the beta, but we were pretty time limited.

Saucycarpdog said:
Is that beta offer still open?
Click to expand...

It is for you Saucycarpdog! Check your PMs.
 
Steam counter says I played 67 minutes so far. Some notes I made while playing...

- Beautiful art and animations, but you already knew that... =)
- Really lovely menu animations and UI design.
- Nailed the atmosphere / theme. Game art, UI design, music... great stuff.
- Jump feels weird. Very slow to rise. Is it suppose to be a mega man esque jump?
- I was never comfortable enough with the jump controls that I feel like I can jump close to an enemy/boss to attack, without jumping into the enemy itself.
- Love the take damage crack/pause effect... plus audio effects. Awesome.
- This is probably well known bug, but hitting B makes menu "cursor" disappear.
- Heavy hit or enemy killed pause feels a little long? When you get hit, maybe it feels fine because it's important, it's a big deal, but for regular enemies, it feels like a deliberate "pause", versus a impact "feeling".
- Is there a grace period for jumping after you run off the ledge? Doesn't feel like there's one. Might be good to have one.
- Walking and kicking up debris is very cool. Great attention to detail.
- Platforming felt tricky. Maybe I'm not used to the slow jump... or just performance stutters. (Kinda old computer, Q6600 HD4850)
- Maybe sounds like the attack sound could have a little echo. Ambient sounds like it's cavernous, attack sound and some others do not.
- Have to comment on the save bench. I'm guessing it's a nod to ICO. I love that he falls asleep on the bench when you idle there.
- Speaking of which... I'm dying for an idle animation. A simple blink? Something more?
- Sometimes the platforms/ground is hard to separate from the background. Very similar in color, especially when it's outside of your cone of light.
- The game is very open to start. Too open? Feel like I'm aimlessly exploring without purpose.
- ... Until I found the map.
- I really like the organic hand drawn map. Much nicer than the grid/box based Metroid maps. (Though maybe less functional...)
- I was not sure about the lack of a player marker on the map. When I first got the map, I had no clue where I was, but it was easy to figure out after backtracking. I got used to this though. I kind of like how it's like reading a real map, where there is no "you are here" marker. Would be nice if things like fast travel stations, save benches, and other points of interests were marked. (The guy who drew the map must have made of note of these things! =) )
- I really needed the map. Without it, I'd be lost since everything looks very similar. Hard to notice things like where I could "jump up" to go the next screen without the map. I was lucky enough to run into the map maker guy the first time I entered the area though. (Maybe there was some excellent level design that lead me there without me knowing... =) )
- The character animation that plays when you open the map overlay is brilliant.
- Fast travel is very cool. Hitting the bell to summon the stag is a nice touch.

Will there be updates to the beta? If so, small incremental ones? Or major milestone ones?

That's it for now! Very promising game! Actually I think it's already proven itself to be good if not great. Just need to polish some more (even though it's already pretty darn polished!), and get it done! =D
 
Wow! Great points bkw. Thanks for being so thorough.

Abe, from over on DevGaf had almost identical comments regarding jumps and grace periods. We'll be doing a small jump review shortly.

I'd give the Hollow Knight an idle blink, but he doesn't have eyes!

Overall you're definitely right that we really need to keep polishing. Lots and lots of things to refine before the game's ready to launch. Glad you're liking the general direction though!

We are planning another milestone-style update to the beta, probably after we've collated and analysed all the feedback from this first stage.
 
Wow. I can't believe I've just now learned about this game--it looks fantastic! The animations and sound effects are incredible, and that's made all the more impressive by it being created from a team of three. You can count on me to totally buy this upon release (whenever the Wii U release becomes available)!

Edit: Also forgot to mention that I love the map system you guys created--I appreciate the design choice of not showing where you are on the map, instead opting for an approach that relies more heavily on strong level design and unique landscapes.
 
Thanks for the map system support Rran! We think it's really fun as well, but it is a pretty controversial system for a metroidvania style game and does make for a bit of a different style of play. We'll keep assessing it as the full-game comes together.

Elixist said:
Hey I'd like to try the beta! if its too late i understand, game looks so fun excited for it.
Click to expand...

All good! We'd love to have you play it. Check your PMs.

On that note, I'm closing the beta offer for now, mainly because I'm running low on beta keys. Thanks so much all for being involved. Hanging to read your feedback.
 
Wow this looks beautiful! I hadn't heard about this until now. If that beta offer is still up, I'd love to give this a go. I can provide feedback from the "I played 5 Castlevania titles for the first time this year" prospective.


EDIT: well just saw your last comment, no problem! Super excited, will be joining my steam wishlist.
 
played an hour its fucking brilliant dudes thank you for this. the sense of place is fantastic, that parallax, that nailed down style, love all the breakables, combats solid. for 360 controller i would like to seee a dead zone slider for the sticks seemed hella sensitive too me, so i played with the dpad played fine. would probably be fun to play with fightstick i liked doing that in rayman, but dint try on this as its boxed up from recently moving. i would selfishly like the camera to be smoother and steady on the horizontals for more jumps when the game knows you dont really need to see up. thirsty for more forreal, but LoL with friends calls.
 
I had hoped to have played through this by now but I've only seen about 1 hour worth of the beta. I'm already completely in love with the game, it's some of the most beautiful sidescrolling action I've seen in my life. The parallax effect is breathtaking. It plays well too, megaman-ish jump and all.

I struggle to find any useful criticism at this point. All I can think of is, I was slightly disappointed to receive a map of the whole place so soon when I was kinda already looking forward to a completely mapless Monster World-like experience :p. I mean it's convenient but I find games that make you use your memory and orientation sometimes build a better sense of place. On the other hand a static map that doesn't pinpoint your location is an unusual twist and a cool idea, maybe if it didn't reveal most every room and didn't hint so heavily where some 'secrets' are? Guess I need to play some more to make up my mind about the whole map thing.
 
Beautiful animation and backgrounds. I don't care for the character design, though. Far simpler designs than the backgrounds. It's like they don't match.
 
What happens if you back for paypal, backed at 15 for the wii u version. Just wondering how that gets sorted since that level doesn't explicitly say wii u version.
 
hey AriEX2 if you still got spots in the beta open i would love to try this out too! if not i'm definitely getting this game Day 1. it looks amazing and i love Hollow Knight's designs for the monsters and Hollow Knight himself! keep up the good work
 
justgames7604 said:
What happens if you back for paypal, backed at 15 for the wii u version. Just wondering how that gets sorted since that level doesn't explicitly say wii u version.
Click to expand...

All good! We really should make the wording clearer on this. We'll send out surveys closer to launch that will ask what platform you want to the game on. If you backed at $15 or above, then you're eligible for the Wii U version, so no problems there.

jimboton said:
... All I can think of is, I was slightly disappointed to receive a map of the whole place so soon when I was kinda already looking forward to a completely mapless Monster World-like experience :p.
Click to expand...

Thanks Jimboton! We kinda agree with you about it being over-mapped. Probably for final we're looking at having Cornifer's (the mapper bug) maps be only main thoroughfares, with all those side rooms needing to be filled in by you as you explore. Also means you can kinda get a sense of where he's been and that he's too scared to explore far of the beaten path.

Dr. Zoidberg said:
Beautiful animation and backgrounds. I don't care for the character design, though. Far simpler designs than the backgrounds. It's like they don't match.
Click to expand...

Zoidberg! I'm sorry man. This whole 2D animation thing takes a long time so I chose a the style that's efficient to produce. If they were any more complicated we'd be looking at one of those 'it took 5 years to complete,' type games.

I'd rather deliver 3 games in 5 years, than 1 with really detailed characters.

On the plus side, I've animated something like 65-70 enemies this year on top of all the environment art, laying out environments, dressing areas, animating HUDs, animating menus, phew! So much stuff. For content creation at least, the style worked out really well!

@brollyman2k: Just PM'd you the last key I had. Thanks for checking out the Beta.
 
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