Hollow Knight is a beautiful 2D platforming action-adventure game that has an amazing storyline about a small bug exploring the caves under a deserted city. You must make your way through the caves and discover their secrets to bring life back to the city above and to continue with your story.
The art for this game is truly amazing. The detail in every area is astounding and unique. I'll find myself exploring the maps just to see the different artwork and new assets that have been added in the background. Personally, my favorite area is the GreenPath Map. It's a lush nature habitat that's thriving with unique bugs and enemies. The colors of greens and blues really make it feel like you're walking through a fantasy world, and it's very aesthetically pleasing.
The animations for the characters are small but make a huge impact on your screen. What I mean by this is overall your characters are a lot smaller in comparison to the rest of your screen, showing off the huge environment around them. Each character movement has an animation, whether it's their cape flowing, sword slashing or idle movements. The animations are really great, too. It is not something that was just thrown together. These were well thought out and executed nicely. You can tell these animations were studied and remade over and over until the exact proportions and correct movements were achieved. The animations in this game are an inspiration, and I hope one day mine will look as amazing as the ones in this game.
Along with the animations, the design of the characters is stunning. At first, I didn't recognize the characters are bugs, but with the storyline and dialog, I was able to figure it out. This does not hinder the beauty of the characters though, as they are all unique and have their own personality. Since I came to UAT for Character Design, I have found that I prefer 2D character art over 3D character art, and this game has inspired me to create 2D characters to add to my portfolio. This game has even made me want to study the style of the game to see if I can create original characters for this game style. I think it would be fun to make bugs that could fit into this universe!
Overall, this game is stunning and should not be overlooked by other artists. If you are an artist or just interested, look into this game and let it inspire you to create.
