I had just saved up the 1850 geo, and I now had to make my way back to the Deepnest without a map or a clear way to see my surroundings and retrieve it by fighting off a dark version of myself known in the game as the Knight’s shade or lingering regret. Similar to Dark Souls or Nier: Automata, you risk losing everything when you die. Now, Hollow Knight isn’t like most games when you die. Upon smashing into the ground, I attempted to gather my bearings and quickly was killed by a creature that was greatly aided in its villainous quest by the dimly lit surroundings that were a vicious reminder of the charm I was determined to acquire with the night’s efforts. Then, suddenly, the ground gave way, and I was tumbling down a deep, dark pathway. As I gleefully bounded from wall to wall exploring new areas and collecting my precious geo, I couldn’t help but think about what a success the night had been. To my surprise, about half an hour into my expedition I discovered a previously unnoticed branch in the map that not only took me to a new location, but also led to a wall-jump ability that would completely open things up for me. Given that there were two areas that were inaccessible due to lacking a “Light” charm to illuminate my path, I figured I would breeze through the evening re-exploring the bleak yet charming world of Hallownest while earning my way to the path forward. All of the unexplored pathways on my map appeared to lead to dead ends that required new charms or abilities to traverse, and I was desperately short on geo. Instead of enjoying slumber at a respectable hour, I ended up being sent on one of the craziest and most challenging adventures I have ever encountered in a video game.Ībout 5 hours in to my journey as a tiny insect knight, I was seemingly hopelessly lost. Friday night, I thought I would get in an hour or so of exploration and geo grinding before bed.

Recently, I have been enjoying the magnificent Metroidvania game Hollow Knight on my Switch.

Deepnest map hollow knight