Dev behind one of 2024’s best Metroidvanias rage-quit Hollow Knight at first, but came back later and “now, I think I’ve put over 200 hours into it”

Hollow Knight tops our list of the best Metroidvania games for a reason, but it is also notoriously difficult. So much so, in fact, that a lead developer on one of 2024’s prettiest Metroidvanias initially gave up on trying to beat it after dying just once.

In a Reddit AMA, Bō: Path of the Teal Lotus design lead Chris Stair prefaced his story about rage-quitting Hollow Knight by saying he’s since become a “huge” fan.

“That game was absolutely groundbreaking—the way it combines a cutesy-yet-dark aesthetic with incredibly tight, deep mechanics and world-building… gah, it’s just so good. Funny enough, the first time I played it, I died once and was like, ‘**** this game.’ Two years later, I gave it another shot, and suddenly, I was like, ‘OHHHH, so this is what people are talking about!'”

Stair also estimated that he’s now “put over 200 hours” into Hollow Knight after getting over that initial difficulty curve. 

Bō: Path of the Teal Lotus is an absolutely stunning, Japanese mythology-inspired indie that definitely takes some cues from Hollow Knight, if only by virtue of being a 2D Metroidvania, but is very much distinct in its gameplay, atmosphere, story, characters – pretty much everything. GR’s Ali Jones heaped praise on it for our Bō: Path of the Teal Lotus indie spotlight, writing:

“Bo: Path of the Teal Lotus and its Japanese mythology offer a valuable, if familiar, entry into this part of the Metroidvania genre. If you, like many others, are still waiting for Silksong, this is a worthy contender to not just help you kill some time, but help you get excited for that eventual release.”

Speaking of which, here’s everything we know about Hollow Knight: Silksong.