NOW
PLAYING
The world around
me is unfamiliar,
its dark corners
filled with things
that want my little
bug knight dead,
but there’s a thread
leading me through the labyrinth:
reams of paper, scattered on the
ground, and a jauntily hummed tune.
Over the hours I’ve spent exploring
the ruined underground kingdom of
Hallownest, these two simple things
have come to represent safety – a
scarce and precious resource in
Hollow Knight.
I’m following them in search
of Cornifer, a fellow explorer and
all-round affable chap I first met in
Forgotten Crossroads, the game’s
starting area. “Getting lost and finding
your way again is a pleasure like no
other,” he said, back then. And he’s
exactly right. Equally, though, he’s
also giving you a bit of a sales pitch.
Cornifer profits from you getting lost,
because he’s a map-maker. Tracking
him down and parting with some hard-
earned currency is the only way of
charting Hollow Knight’s complex and
delicately interconnected world.
Even so, the maps he sells aren’t
complete works – they’re sketched
outlines of the immediate area.
At first, there’s not even
any indication of where
I am on the map. After
years of being spoilt
by HUD mini-maps and
GPS navigation in the
real world, having to find
my way without a handy
‘You are here’ takes me
back to the crinkled paper
maps of my youth, folded out on
a car dashboard.Uncharted territory
Eventually, though, I meet Cornifer’s
wife, Iselda. She runs their shop up
on the surface, waiting impatiently
for her husband to return from his
jaunts into the world below. While
she waits, she’ll sell you mapping
accessories. A quill, to turn Cornifer’s
scribbled outlines into full accounts ofeach area. A compass, to track where
exactly you are. Pins to mark points
of interest and custom markers to be
placed as you wish. I can’t afford all
of these at first, so there’s a couple
of hours where the map system slowly
comes online, piece by piece.
When I bring it up on screen,
my little bug is just visible in
the background, studying
a piece of paper in his
hands. The map can
only be updated at the
game’s benches, which
also act as checkpoints
and health-restoring rest
stops. The bug settles
down, gets out the quill and –
with a satisfying scribbling sound- updates the map with everything
new found between stops.
I fall into a rhythm. Each new area - the Fungal Wastes, Greenpath, the
City of Tears – I’m greeted with the
dreaded words: “Do not have a map
for this area”. And so I venture into the
darkness, hunting for my friend the
not-so-silent cartographer. Of course,
comfortable is the last thing Hollow
Knight wants you to be.
I tumble into Fog Canyon, its woozy
pinks and floating jellyfish a not-
entirely-welcome contrast to anything
I’ve seen before, and quickly hear
that telltale humming. I move towards
it – and find my progress blocked by
a shimmering barrier of black energy,
one that I won’t be able to traverse
until much later in the game. The
cheery “tum-te-tum-tum” becomes a
taunt, just out of reach.
Ah well. I turn around and wander
into a new area. I’ve got no map to
guide me just yet, but I know that
eventually I’ll spot those tossed-off
scraps of paper, hear that familiar
tune, and be safely on the right path
once more. Qextra
“In each new area I’m reeted
with the dreaded words: ‘Do
not have a map for this area’”
Exploring the dank corners of Hollow Knight all while a jaunty
score plink-plonks away in the background ALEX SPENCER
PUBLISHER TEAM CHERRY / DEVELOPER TEAM CHERRY / FORMAT XBOX ONE / RELEASE DATE SEPTEMBER 2018WHAT IS IT?
A gorgeously
atmospheric
Metroidvania explore-
‘em-up, set in a gloomy
world that’s like Dark
Souls’ Lordran but for
creepy crawlies.More Xbox news at gamesradar.com/oxm THE OFFICIAL XBOX MAGAZINE 101