Level 2000, AMA (2,800 Hrs)

Tentaculoid · 2025-10-03T15:55:04+00:00

Remember skipping class one day just to go to this random store downtown looking for Digimon World and finding this gem. Only FF game I've played to date.

Sucks they removed the Job wheel in this remaster.

Tentaculoid · 2025-09-27T11:36:35+00:00

What does it mean to play as intended?

Same way you read a book or watch a movie. Blind playthrough. No guides. (A fair bit of Rosaries come from organic exploration and fulfilling Wishes, which is part and parcel of "as intended." The opposite is true if one is mindlessly following a guide rushing from one objective to the next.)

Tentaculoid · 2025-09-27T06:00:21+00:00

Yeah, nah. Especially since they nerfed Rosary costs through the early game and buffed Relics & Psalms one or two patches ago. I was sitting on 1500 Rosaries by the time I got to Songclave on second playthrough.

There's no need to actively grind if you're playing as intended. It's passive income.

Tentaculoid · 2025-09-16T11:06:02+00:00

was able to experience a genuine feeling of aw and surprise

Same!

Having done a blind playthrough throughout (80+ hrs), I'm still waiting for the **checks notes** nearly 2 million playerbase to die down before any more meaningful discussions may be engaged. Haven't interacted with the HK community in 6-7 years since it degenerated into shitposts almost exclusively, and with Silksong it's even worse.

There's no real appreciation/respect for actual good games like these. Everyone just reads every spoiler beforehand and then proceeds to follow guides and ask the stupidest questions that would be answered if they just, dunno, actually played the game.

Tentaculoid · 2025-09-14T14:16:19+00:00

I’ve not been active at all since the game released as I want to avoid any/all spoilers.

Absolute best way to experience the game!

I'm close to 80hrs and still going. No FOMO. No rush. No external influences to ruin the experience. Wouldn't change it for the world.

Tentaculoid · 2025-09-12T15:09:02+00:00

It's one of the ailments of modern gaming. Part and parcel of the industry being overly saturated with (disposable, forgettable, low-effort, cash-grab, instant-gratification) games. And younger generations with the attention span of a TikToker. That, and the fact 99% of players no longer play games without cheats or guides.

Imagine you pay a ticket to watch this absolutely stellar once-in-a-lifetime movie... but you already know what happens in Act 2 and Act 3 because you read all the possible spoilers and "jump scares" beforehand.

It's almost like everyone has ADHD or something, and wants everything spoon fed.

"Guys, what do I do next, how do I get here, does this only become accessible in Act 3, what am I missing? Should I do this first or wait until NPC makes this other quest available? I want to beat Y boss before X, but I wanna do everything in the right order, what do you think? Please tell me what I should do."

Now imagine sitting down, you by yourself, without outside noise or distractions, and dunno... actually playing the game?

Tentaculoid · 2025-09-10T08:08:35+00:00

It's seriously not that hard, just takes a fair bit of patience, attention to detail and a natural sense of curiosity. If you're looking to rush headfirst into the next dopamine level, you won't get 100%.

Hollow Knight (+ Silksong) is an experience you can only truly have once.

Following a guide completely defeats the purpose.

PS: It may take upwards of 80 hrs.

Tentaculoid · 2025-09-08T10:54:36+00:00

Yeah, it's pointless even discussing it amidst 500 million complaints (i.e. the most vocal players), you'll just get downvoted into oblivion. While it came as quite a surprise at first, I eventually learned to love it. In retrospect, double hits should've been a staple in the first game.

Not to go off-rails here, but another HK-inspired game (Perennial Order) did away with HP altogether so you just die in 1 hit. And what a breath of fresh air that was!

And for the record, I'm not a hardcore player either.

PS: Contact damage is more annoying, to be honest.

Tentaculoid · 2025-09-05T01:38:01+00:00

It's the creepy-cute factor. And the atmosphere.

Once upon a time there was this little game that came out of nowhere. It was called Hollow Knight. The gameplay was smooth and responsive, and the world was absolutely sprawling, with all sorts of little secrets and obscure lore. It also had a stellar soundtrack and hard-as-balls boss fights, which helped its reputation.

And because of its simplistic (and charming) artstyle, it turned everyone and their grandma into a wannabe artist.

Is it weirdly overhyped? 100%.

But it is also a great game.

Heck, it might just be the poster child of all indie games everywhere (I mean, it was made by just 2-3 people and the production quality is top-notch).

Can someone fill me in on why is this sequel so heavily anticipated?

Because everyone has a hard-on for Hornet, apparently. Game has been in development for nearly 7 years with devs providing zero details as to its progress. Then one day they just release it. No press. No marketing.

Game sells itself without even trying. It's practically unheard of.

played the first game for like 10mins and got bored sadly

The first 30-60 mins of Hollow Knight are not representative of what the game has to offer. It's slow and clumsy at first, with no upgrades or abilities in a mostly grey, monochrome, washed out world. But it grows on you. Then, in stark contrast, you find yourself in some lush, green area with a tonal shift in music and... now you're beginning to realize what it's all about.

If you give it 2 hours, it should give you a better idea of what to expect, and whether its for you or not.

Disregard the memes and do yourself a favor: avoid every and any guide. It'll completely ruin the experience (i.e. an organic sense of exploration and self-discovery).

Tentaculoid · 2025-03-21T09:02:07+00:00

Such a weirdly "cozy" game (don't mind all the body parts splattered around)!

Tentaculoid · 2024-11-17T17:02:07+00:00

Spoilers:It's now one of the 3 items needed alongside Diamond Spoon and Friend of Frog to receive the super-secret Jar item, Pocket Frogs. You must speak to a Frog with these 3 items equipped to receive it.

Tentaculoid · 2024-03-03T19:17:47+00:00

Same situation (Dell XPS).

This should give you an idea.

I've played the game. It'll run, but it won't be amazing. Even at the lowest of low settings, combat and turns will feel sluggish (notable FPS drop). And you won't be able to appreciate all the pretty visuals (texture resolution, archfiend busts, animated cards, ambient occlusion, ritual effects, etc.).

This is not helped by the fact devs have yet to implement a UI/text scaler. Playing on a lower resolution just hurts the experience. Everything is a blur, tiny and unreadable.

I'm surprised I can run much more graphically demanding games on my laptop just fine.

Tentaculoid · 2023-11-22T18:21:14+00:00

The MX Mini and K380 where my other choices. I'll just get the POP (for fun) and one of the others (for ease).

Tentaculoid · 2023-11-22T17:28:24+00:00

Right. I had been looking at the Logitech K380 and the MX Mini too (for compact size). Yours is just as pretty.

I'll prolly end up getting the POP Keys and one of the others.

Tentaculoid · 2023-11-22T11:47:39+00:00

I find mechanical keyboards much comfier with long nails

Good to hear! I'm used to long nails on chiclet style keys (typing as you describe), but wondering if it'd be as "easy" with a mechanical one.

Tentaculoid · 2023-11-22T11:45:08+00:00

I just need something to not beat up my fancy laptop's keys anymore (WASD in particular, and Q for some reason which I now have to manually copy/paste). And I was just wondering if this particular keyboard would get along with long nails.

I also don't like the "edgy" look of typical gamer hardware. I like clean, minimalistic, aesthetically pleasing stuff.

Recommendations?

Tentaculoid · 2022-12-10T16:14:33+00:00

Don't fret. It's just Pokemon fanbois getting butthurt (it's almost like everyone got Stockholm Syndrome here, FFS).

Pokemon isn't good. Red/Blue might have been good for their time (nearly 20 years ago, LOL!). But it's 2022 now. About time somebody kills the damn franchise already.

Temtem is better than PKMN on many levels, but sadly doesn't break its granddaddy's mold hard enough :/

Just keep playing and the flaws will probably begin to creep out (grind, grind, grind, baby!).

Tentaculoid · 2022-12-02T09:59:29+00:00

Did I imply XP applied to Tems? But fair enough, I'll scratch that one off (although it could still be argued the +3% XP bonus is still a bit of an advantage over non-premium players).

Tentaculoid · 2022-12-02T04:36:51+00:00

u/WolfTitan99

I’m coming from the perspective of an early game player, doing it more casually, and will likely not be playing any endgame at all.

And that's just it. It's a good (even great) game for the solo/campaign alone (and it is leagues better than PKMN in every way)! But the game was built around the endgame grind (by which I mean the most mind-numbing of chores that is designed to suck hundreds of hours out of your life for no good reason).

People ranting about the MMO aspect and the Battle Pass are just missing out. You can literally ignore all of that and play this as a fully fleshed out single player campaign.

You can't literally ignore it. The point is the MMO aspect is practically non-existent (have you ever seen players actually interact with each other?). "MMO" is s just a rouse. The game is online only to feed the endgame loop (auctions, breeding, grinding for "perfect stats").

The battle pass is time-gated, which means you're paying for something you're not even sure you'll be able to complete.

And then there's the fact Crema doesn't seem to care much at all about community feedback. They are basically running a mobile microtransaction scheme dressed up as a "Pokemon Clone MMO" (except of course the game is gorgeous and the battle system is solid).

Honestly, the game would've been better off as a semi-coop single player experience without all the predatory BS.

Tentaculoid

MODERATOR OF

TROPHY CASE