Friend had Hollow Knight in his library - had never played it

I am a victim of this on a regular basis. Some months when the Playstation Plus account has 2-3 free games I will download them or at least do whatever it is called when you acknowledge that the game is free and add it to your library. If you don't add it to your library during the month it is no longer free in the future. Therefore, I always add to library but frequently these titles just get lost in the void as the months go by. This is because when I find a game that I actually like, it normally takes me weeks to complete it because I am a casual gamer. Despite almost all of my content being about video games, there are many days that pass where I don't game at all.

I know there are tons of other people out there that have this same issue and have a massive library filled with games that they have never actually played. This particular friend of mine gives up on games very easily because he has a jailbroken PS4 and therefore never actually pays for the games. When a game gets a little bit too tough, he just deletes it. I don't know of any game that he has actually completed since I've known him. He might have, we don't talk about gaming all the time or anything.

I was at his place and scrolling through his library and said "oh you have Hollow Knight, I love that game... what did you think of it?" He said he forgot he had it and has never played it.

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I was adamant that he install it immediately and promise me to stick with it a bit because as I have said many times, I believe it to be one of the best games made in the past couple of years. It's certainly one of my favorites from the past few years.

As the game began he let me show him the ropes because I do actually recall feeling as though Hollow Knight was too difficult at first and honestly, it is for most people.

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Even at the very beginning of the game i can attest to the fact that this game is TOUGH.... However, it isn't difficult in an unfair way but more of a you have to learn to be patient and time your jumps and strikes accordingly. This is not a mad button mashing game.

It also has some of the tightest and most responsive controls of any game that I have ever played before, especially for a small studio like Team Cherry this is really impressive.

Anyway, i went back a few days later and he was still stuck on the first boss so I don't have much hope that he will keep going in this gem of a game but he did say that he really likes it, he just realizes that he really sucks at it.

I did the first boss for him and beat it on my first try even though I hadn't fought that particular boss in jesus, probably over a year. There is something about Hollow Knight where you learn real quickly that it is a good idea to go ahead and let bosses and even regular enemies go ahead and attack you before you even try to strike back. You need to learn their patterns before you are going to have a chance at getting past a boss. Even once you understand it you have to make sure to not get greedy. Get a few shots in and then back the fuck off.

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Although he is very far away from even having any idea what I am talking about I promised my friend that if he manages to defeat the Nightmare King I will buy all of his drinks at a bar of his choice one night. If you have played Hollow Knight you are almost certainly familiar with the Nightmare King and realize that there is probably not much chance that I am going to have to buy those drinks. Not for someone who gives up on games so easily anyway.

When I was showing my friend the ropes in this amazing title and when I went and defeated the first boss for him I was suddenly reminded about how amazing this game is. If I don't find a new Metroidvania game to scratch that itch soon, I may just go back and replay this one from the start. There are very few games that I can say that I would even attempt this with, but Hollow Knight is certainly one of them.

I'm actually kind of envious of my friend who gets to experience this all for the first time.