Have you ever had one of those moments in a relationship – with a partner, family member, friend, fictitious universe, application, kitchen implementation, whatever – where do you realize that you rely on them/is more than fit? Thanks Hollow Knight: SilksongI just had one of them and it was my relationship with video game maps.
When I started SilksongThe discovery that I did not have a map about which I could refer to in an early game, inspired me what I can describe only as a gentle panic. If I remembered he was playing the original Empty knight I would expect it better, but I only played for a few hours and Empty knight He was celebrated seven years ago.
Silksong This is Metroidvania, which means that it is a game of exploration and discovery, branched routes, hidden entrances, shortcuts, castles and keys, and mysterious fascinating points to which you will have to return later. This is basically a maze. All this is coded in its species and immediately understandable, even if you haven’t played yet Empty knight. To play, know how essential it is to understand the environment in which you are in, see how everything goes together, and find out when and where you have to withdraw.
That is why I started playing without a map, even in relatively elementary initial areas, so destabilizing. I do not expect that Metroidvania will give me all his geography on a plate-this is not a game on the open world, and I am not a monster-but I do not have a visual guide after where I already threw me at the loop. Without the assist of the map, I felt like I couldn’t keep my whole thing in my head. Really, I was so worried that the game expected … I would apply my memory.
So much was emphasized when I finally met SilksongMAP seller, Shakra. (I say it as if I discovered her organically, and not feverishly looking for a guide to her location.) Shakra is a great work: an impressive, fierce warrior with a perfect singing voice. She sold you a fragmentary game map, but only if you discover it in every up-to-date area.
Shakra also presents the daily functions of video game map as individual purchases: benches icons (saving points) and rapid traveling places for other suppliers and for themselves; a pen that can add to the map and distinguish where you have already been; Markers that you can leave with interest. Even a compass that allows you to see where on the map is a skill that should be bought and equipped at the expense of a different skill.
Of course, I spent some time grinding rosary beads (game currencies) to get as many of these functions as possible. But despite this, when I enter a up-to-date area, I haven’t purchased the map yet, Silksong He is ready to cut off again under me – to feel threatened, careful and lost.
Division of all the convenience of the map into its components and periodically take it again, shakra and Silksong The Cherry programmers team teaches me how it is a privilege – and what ball can become for both players and designers. Will I not fully get involved in the game world and I do not understand it at a deeper level if I have to keep it in my mind during the game?
Perhaps Shakra herself puts it best in an early exchange with the character of the Hornet player:
Hornet: Your charts and tools show good skills, Shakra. I met few who would match your talent.
Shakra: cartography! Peh. Bakallo! It is a craft trick among my tribe. The most essential thing is to keep a pointed mind while traveling.
Cave chart, memory of travel, knowledge of its place in the Kingdom: engaging a task for the warrior’s mind.
“Knowledge about your place in the Kingdom.” Well, Silksong definitely taught me mine.
