I've been enjoying Hollow Knight a little too much. Staying up late playing it and trying not to think about the regime coming down on my head. Missed an assignment or two because of it. But I'm just so tired. And I need something good to think about that doesn't require me to tap into my own, currently pretty depleted, creative reserves. I just want to keep exploring. Even though I'm pretty sure that what I'm doing is wrong. Hornet's warning about my Knight wanting to revive the kingdom of Hallownest has begun to worry me that I am probably participating in a very ill-advised scheme. Having looked up at the statue of the actual Hollow Knight tells me that my very transmasc-coded Little Guy is not cut out to put down whatever sick dogs are beyond that seal, but the Hunter seems to think that we can kill anything if we put our mind to it, so onward I go.
I have no idea if I am doing things in the game in a good order. I often take longer to complete games than other people, mostly because I am very good at remembering the exact spots where I was unable to progress further, and an obsessive backtracker. When I first played Metroid Dread (don't look for that blog post, because it doesn't exist), I did a lot of looking things up, but mostly to figure out how to maneuver in the way that some of the game's rewards wanted me to. I couldn't think of how to reach certain platforms even when I technically had all of the item prerequisites. I have only had to do that twice in Hollow Knight, down in the Fungal Wastes where the beetle girl was trapped, and in the Mantis Village, because I didn't know that dashing away from a wall jump was a move I could do. The second that I got the claw I was immediately killed by the Mantis Lords, and because I did not really feel like throwing myself at that over and over again, I just left. I think that I saved some grubs that I couldn't reach before, and I scaled the Cliffs and received the Cyclone move from the nailmaster. By the time I reached the City of Tears, I felt like the sentries were not particularly challenging to take on. Maybe that's deliberate; maybe I just did things in the wrong way. I still have more trouble with Literally Any Insect Carrying a Shell than with the sentries. While in the City of Tears, I accidentally got too much money, so I bought the lantern probably before I should have. Sorry if this is out of order. I should be blogging more often so that I can keep time straight in my head.
Just like in real life, several impulse purchases in the game set me back a sizeable amount of money. Though I was quick to purchase the mask shard, I did not need to buy any of Leg Eater's charms so early in the game, especially Fragile Strength, the most fucking expensive one, which I have not used a single time. It may never see use, because Dashmaster is indispensable and even with several Notches, I am out of room. I have found myself buying Charms just to buy more Notches from the Charm Seller, and not because I particularly want them. I think that my current loadout is Dashmaster, the Compass (which I have some strong accessibility-related arguments for why that should not be a slot), the Lifeblood Heart because even after 16 hours of gameplay I am clumsy, and the one that picks up Geo because even after 16 hours of gameplay I am clumsy. I had quite a giggle returning to the village and reading the beetle girl's fanfiction about me gallantly and gracefully showing up to rescue her, when what really happened was that I died four times and awkwardly stumbled up to her like a parent trying to reach a toddler in a sea of Lego. Also, fuck that Key. Fuck that fucking Simple Key.