Preemptive Retaliation

Yeah, so it turns out I was doing the classic Dark Souls error of turning the wrong direction and getting my ass handed to me by high levelled enemies that were put purposefully there to deter me from that path and my stubbornness didn’t get the message.

So instead I have sunk a good few more hours in a hauntingly beautiful, overwhelmingly punishing yet wholly satisfying videogame. I mean, sometimes it can be a dick to play (like Elden Ring, I can’t play it around the kids as my adrenaline surges and I have to go from a rigorous high-stakes battle of dodge-attack-dodge-dodge-dodge to finding a soft toy which isn’t an equivalent exercise but my body seems to think so), but in the end it’s worth it. The exploration is incredibly moreish, with each corner hiding some devious or delightful surprise, and the more I play the more the game gels with me, and I am balleting effortlessly through tough enemies.

I’ll always love Hollow Knight, but I think I forgot why I loved it so much. The exploration, the combat, the strange wonder of the world – it’s good to be back in it.