HOLLOW KNIGHT - Blessings

[Koops]

You can also identify if your shadow is near by the music alone, which is a nice touch. I also enjoy the soundtrack of this game, plus the sound effects are satisfying to hear.

[BobisOnlyBob]

I love the City of Tears.

[Joseph Staleknight]

I'm sure if raocow stumbled around a bit longer and accidentally found

Relic Seeker Lemm

, money would not have been an issue like it was those last few minutes.

[Awoo]

If this game did ever cross over with Shovel Knight legitimately, the main character could totally be called "Nail Knight"
The heart piece that raocow was thinking of was the cheaper piece from that one shop, right? He's got almost enough for another one. Good purchase on the map pins!

[Le Neveu de Rameau]

"So the sign shaped like your weapon indicates a shop where you can upgrade your weapon? Good luck figuring that out!" - raocow (paraphrased).

[Ditocoaf]

I think he was looking at the markings on the sign and trying to interpret those. The sign could very well be an arrow pointing the way to... whatever.

[Sebby19]

Huh, I thought that was a heart mask piece in the shop. Oh well.

At 5:07, you slashed the ceiling and a lot more dust was shaken off. Maybe you cracked open something hidden? Try jump straight up next time you're there.

[tirakai]

I don't think there's any point in buying the map custom markers (except for completion's sake I guess), a big benefit to this being a video series is that the viewers will keep track of anything worthwhile that was missed. I'm sure there some people that'll keep track of stuff.

[Crow]

on that note would it be a bad idea to like, make a list of all the obvious places raocow can still go? because i worry that in a game this large stuff is just gonna get missed, and especially if it's like, mandatory to progress, there could be a lot of aimless wandering trying to find the plot because of brief playsessions making it impossible to keep track of everything

like for example from today's vid:
1. unlock the elevator
2. upgrade the nail
3. explore the remaining rooms in the right of the city

stuff like that, not like, pointing out where to go next or anything but more like a checklist of memory refreshers

[Sebby19]

I remember that's been done in the past (all in spoiler tags, ofcourse), as far back as AUS.

[tirakai]

A lot of the point of this game is exploring and finding your way yourself, at least for now, he can just look at the map and figure out where he can explore since there's lots he hasn't seen. So yeah stuff like that where he's found it and might forget later.

I'm also thinking stuff he missed on screens he's already been to that's not as obvious, like missing hidden rooms and unmarked passageways other players might only find by checking a finished map online. Places to keep track of for cleanup later rather than saying where to go next. Like about 5 min in in the latest video

there was a couple rooms at the side of the small elevator shaft he wall jumped up that he didn't go into

.

[Stink Terios]

Guess who has two thumbs and didn't find the Nailsmith until 90% through the game?

No wonder I didn't like it very much.

[warpio]

A lot of the point of this game is exploring and finding your way yourself, at least for now, he can just look at the map and figure out where he can explore since there's lots he hasn't seen. So yeah stuff like that where he's found it and might forget later.

I'm also thinking stuff he missed on screens he's already been to that's not as obvious, like missing hidden rooms and unmarked passageways other players might only find by checking a finished map online. Places to keep track of for cleanup later rather than saying where to go next. Like about 5 min in in the latest video

there was a couple rooms at the side of the small elevator shaft he wall jumped up that he didn't go into

.

I have to say, one thing that would've definitely helped with this is

if he had bought the custom map markers from Dirtmouth as early on as possible. These things are the only way to keep track of what you still need to come back for in the rooms you've already been in (besides Parama's idea of having someone manually keep track of all of it). Unfortunately raocow still hasn't realized what these things even do and is choosing to go without them. I made the same mistake in my first playthrough too and ended up getting hopelessly forever stuck at 82% completion after I did everything I could think of.

[FPzero]

I don't think there's any point in buying the map custom markers (except for completion's sake I guess), a big benefit to this being a video series is that the viewers will keep track of anything worthwhile that was missed. I'm sure there some people that'll keep track of stuff.

I think there is just so that he doesn't have to read a list of notes ahead of recording and can instead see whatever points of interest he left for himself at any given time.

Speaking of the map, raocow if you're looking at the pause menu and scroll to the map tab, you remarked early on that it just kind of shows an overview of the way the areas connect to each other. Well, if you press whatever your jump/confirm button is while looking at that zoomed out fullscreen map, it'll zoom in and show you all of the maps you've explored all on one big scrollable map. This might be helpful in the future so that you can look at how areas connect to one another and so you can see the maps for areas that you aren't currently in. You can also get to this zoomed in map instantly by double tapping the map button at any time.

[bbbrrr_it_cold]

I've been trying to keep a list of things he's missed that might be hard to remember to come back to, but I am of the same belief as tirakai - at least for now, raocow is pretty likely to find those things on his own. I do think he'd benefit from the map markers...but I also know that, if it were me, I wouldn't want to use them, regardless of how helpful they'd be.

Also, we'll have to see how much completion raocow wants to do (

especially since the max is now 112% and you can lock yourself out of parts of that, thanks Godhome...

). If he wants to just play until he beats it and not worry about cleaning up every last thing, I'm sure we can help him find the stuff that's important to him to get.

[Sebby19]

So, about that badge that protects you while you heal...

Changing topic, it appears the game as cranked up the intensity a notch with those wizards. And not only can the Soul Master fakeout his dive attack, but apparently your victory as well. You almost had him on your first try!

Surprised you didn't go back to upgrade your nail as soon as you could. Could have prevented your death there.

[tirakai]

BTW, about getting back to those bosses after you died

there was a breakable wall at one point you missed that would've taken you right through to the nearby bench room and made the return trip much, much faster

.

[FPzero]

Great job fighting the Soul Master. You almost had him first try! It speaks to this game's explorational qualities that I didn't discover this fight until probably 20 hours into the game after having explored many more places, upgraded my nail and increased my max health a fair bit. It also speaks to how good this game is about letting a skilled player access dangerous areas and succeed even if they're "underequipped". I also didn't discover the item trader until even longer into the game

I'm pretty sure the game respawns you at the fight so that you're required to learn how it handles audiovisual cues for the ground pound.

As I said in the YT comments, carrying around that much money in what's still your early-ish game and traveling into dangerous areas like the Soul Sanctum is just anxiety-inducing. You should definitely take the time to spend some money on the things you want to buy, like that nail upgrade and the elevator.

[Crow]

(

especially since the max is now 112% and you can lock yourself out of parts of that, thanks Godhome...

)

can you let me know what this is so i don't miss it myself?

also boo introducing permanently missable stuff in a game that otherwise didn't have it, not pleased about that

watching raocow play this game gives me a lot of anxiety apparently especially when he carries large sums of money into dangerous areas instead of going to upgrade his weapon the first chance he gets

[10204307]

I don't think there's anything in the game that's actually permanently missable? At least, nothing added by the Godmaster update. Godmaster added 5% to completion, those things being the Godtuner and the pantheons, excluding the final one that includes all of the bosses (and thank god for that.) It's impossible to miss out on any of those.

[Koops]

Would it not have been a faster respawn point for raocow, if he sat down on the bench next to Cornifer, the map bug? I wondered why raocow didn't go to that place since it's closer to the boss fight.

[bbbrrr_it_cold]

can you let me know what this is so i don't miss it myself?

also boo introducing permanently missable stuff in a game that otherwise didn't have it, not pleased about that

I don't think there's anything in the game that's actually permanently missable? At least, nothing added by the Godmaster update. Godmaster added 5% to completion, those things being the Godtuner and the pantheons, excluding the final one that includes all of the bosses (and thank god for that.) It's impossible to miss out on any of those.

So, apparently, I was incorrect. You don't miss percentage, the game just REMOVES THE BOSS FROM THE PANTHEONS. Gray Prince Zote is part of the third pantheon, but if you don't save Zote, they just remove that boss. And it sounds like, regardless of your choices, both he and Nightmare King Grimm appear in the last pantheon. Go figure. I guess what I read prior about missing them preventing you from doing those pantheons was incorrect. My apologies.

[underFlo]

Would it not have been a faster respawn point for raocow, if he sat down on the bench next to Cornifer, the map bug? I wondered why raocow didn't go to that place since it's closer to the boss fight.

yeah it would've, there's a destructible wall from the Soul Sanctum side of the nearby elevator shaft that would've cut most of the backtracking.

I really enjoyed the length of this episode, honestly. A lot of the past episodes felt a little short to me but I think this one's a lot better! Though of course longer recording sessions can get draining so if we're back to shorter episodes I totally get that.

[Awoo]

raocow, keep up the good work! You've done super well even without the nail and other upgrades you could have got. This speaks more to your raw skill as a player than anything as far as I know, since I've never played the game.
It's pretty nail biting watching you go into areas with as much money as you have, but that makes it also super entertaining, and makes me want to root for you even more. I look forward to these videos more than any throughout the day.
You're good at things that don't exist (video games), please keep being awesome :3

[FPzero]

Even though you can't make notes with the markers, I ended up using the different colors of markers to symbolize different things. For example, since I explored a lot more before finding the ground pound, I tried to use the red markers to note where some of the areas I'd seen the rumbling floors were so I could go back later. At one point I'd used up all 24 of the markers I had purchased just marking random things here and there that I wanted to come back and see. But you've been making steady progress as far as getting new upgrades goes, so you may find less use for the markers than I did.