Summary
- The Howling Cliffs are bland and empty, offering little to explore and lacking challenges or interesting characters, ranking lowest in Hollow Knight.
- The Abyss is lore-heavy and important, but lacks much for players to do, with a dark and empty atmosphere that doesn't offer much interaction.
- The Hive, while visually unique, offers limited activities and is quite linear, with only a boss fight and a few secrets to discover.
Created by the independent developers at Team Cherry, Hollow Knight is a massively popular Metroidvania-style 2D platformer that took the indie game community by storm upon its release in 2017. Featuring an adorable silent knight protagonist, the story of Hollow Knight takes place in the fictional kingdom of Hallownest. The world of Hollow Knight is vast, beautiful, and full of mysteries, and venturing deeper in this desolate setting raises more questions about the kingdom.
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The colossal world of the game is divided into a number of areas that are interconnected with each other in a maze-like fashion. All these locations are visually distinct and beautiful in their own ways, and some of the areas might provide a more pleasant experience in contrast to others. With all being said, here is a list ranking all the locations in Hollow Knight.
19 Howling Cliffs
The Borders Of Hallownest
The list starts off with probably one of the most boring areas of the game. The Howling Cliffs comes in at the last position on this list just because of one thing: the area is empty. There is not much to do in the Howling Cliffs and, for an area this big, it feels desolate.
The area barely offers anything, with only a handful of things to obtain, and there is no merit in going back to this area for re-exploration later on. The Howling Cliffs lack almost everything, be it challenges in the form of enemies or platforming, or even a good area soundtrack or interesting set of characters waiting to meet the Knight, thus putting it at the rock bottom of this list.
18 The Abyss
Origin Of Void
Home to the Silent Knight, the protagonist of the game, The Abyss is a dark and eerie area buried in the depths of Hallownest. The Abyss is one of the locations in Hollow Knight that is lore heavy and is extremely crucial to the plot of the game.
The Abyss is home to The Void, a substance used in the creation of the Knight. The area is quite large, but the majority of it remains dark and empty, and while the area is heavily important in the game's storytelling, there is not much to do for the player while exploring it.
17 The Hive
The Hidden Kingdom Of Bees
The Hive is somewhat of a unique area to Hollow Knight. This location looks different from any other area in the game, and there is only one way to enter, making it isolated from the other areas in Hallownest.
The Hive is a hidden area of the game and, despite being a secret location, it offers barebones activities to the players. The area is quite linear, with a decent boss fight and a few secrets and shortcuts to discover, but there is not much else for players to do in this beautiful golden honeycomb-patterned area.
16 Royal Waterways
A Labyrinth Of Sewage, Pipes, And Tunnels
If one was supposed to describe Royal Waterways in a single word, "sewers" is probably the best fit. The Royal Waterways are a series of sewage pipes that support the City of Tears, another area of the game that will be covered later.
The Royal Waterways is flooded with sewer water, piles of trash, literal dung and maggots. The enemies and bosses in this area are quite nasty, and while that fits the theme of the area for the aforementioned reasons, the Royal Waterways ranks low on the list for just being really gross.
15 Infected Crossroads
The Infection Overtakes Hallownest
The Infected Crossroads is technically the second area of the map, except it gets infected as players make progress through the game. The Forgotten Crossroads consists of The Black Egg Temple and, because of the Knight’s actions in the coursehis journey, the infection is set free from the temple and affects the starting location of the game.
The Infection severely changes the area by blocking paths, forcing the Knight has to travel an unnecessarily long path to move from one place to another. The enemies that once infested Forgotten Crossroads also become infected, becoming more dangerous even after death, as they now explode. The Crossroads act as a bridge between a number of areas, and once they are infected, they heavily impair the player's ability to move freely, making this area a lot less likable.
14 Ancient Basin
The Caverns Below The Capital
The Ancient Basin is a dark, desolate, and eerie location in Hollow Knight, located right beneath the dirty sewers of the Royal Waterways. The area is a little too quiet, and is infested with thorns and Shadow Creepers.
The Ancient Basin is a very silent and empty area that signifies the ruins of a once prosperous kingdom, but apart from the lore, palace grounds, and the tram route, the area has little to offer to players. Some might some appeal in this location of Hallownest, but apart from the fact that the Pale King had his kingdom built in this location, this area has not much else to offer.
13 Godhome
Tresspass In The Home Of The Gods
Introduced in the game with the Godhome DLC, Godhome, as the name suggests, is the home for Godseekers, the creatures who worship gods from other lands. This location is accessed by using the Dream Nail on Godseeker, who can be found in the junk pit.
While it sounds ironic that the true location of Godhome is in a junkpit, the palace in the dream realm looks divine. Godhome consists of gold pillars and archways that look beautiful. Godhome has the toughest challenge for the Knight (and the players) in the form of five Pantheons. These Pantheons serve as the ultimate end game challenge of Hollow Knight, and players looking for extreme challenges will find this place to be a hidden treasure.
12 Dirtmouth
The Fading Town Where The Journey Begins
Dirtmouth - The Fading Town is where the adventure of Hollow Knight begins. The area serves as the origin of the game where the Knight begins an epic journey to save the ancient Kingdom of Hallownest. Dirtmouth is an area which has little to offer in terms of exploration, but players will have to return to it again and again.
The Ghost town, which is almost empty in the beginning, starts become get lively as the Knight progresses through the game. Dirtmouth is the ultimate destination to rest, upgrade, and plan the next exploring quest for players, and the only place where players can read the 52 precepts of Zote, if one understands what they mean. The many charismatic NPCs that eventually fill in Dirtmouth's empty homes make it a jopy to return to, even if it's a depressing little town at the outset.
11 Resting Grounds
Where The Dead Conduct Their Rituals
The Resting Grounds got their name for a reason. They act as the resting place for the dead. The place serves as a resting spot for the Knight as well, and a variety of interesting characters can be found in this ghost town of an area.
The Resting Grounds consist of a variety of sub-areas, from the vast blue lake to the ghostly town where the Knight can find the shrines of the Dreamers. From the spooky catacombs where players can attempt the Delicate Flower Quest, to the Spirits Glade where the dead rest in peace, the Resting Grounds are a cozy place, and not overly challenging, but they make for a nice location the Knight will return to again and again from various routes.
10 Forgotten Crossroads
The Beautiful Highways Of Hallownest
The very first area players explore, the Forgotten Crossroads serve as a teaching guide for the players, as they make players aware of the controls and the most important NPC of the game: Cornifer – The Mapmaker.
The Forgotten Crossroads do a good job as a beginners' area, and act as a bridge to the other locations in Hallownest. The name of the area implies that it was once a bustling zone full of life and now forgotten, and as players navigate through the game, the area will be infected and become truly forgotten, more than just in name.