LogFAQs > #955396118

HK is a weird one for me to evaluate, because when I found out how much depth there really was to the story, I was mystified and also transfixed...but at the same time, a lot of it is kinda weird. The Pale King's plan to deal with the corruption was to birth a bunch of soulless kids and hope one of them could serve as a vessel to contain it? And oh look, it didn't work. What a surprise.

It's also incredibly easy to miss, as KP pointed out, so you really have to go digging to find it. In that regard, it's very rewarding for the people who uncover it, and very irrelevant to anyone who doesn't. Team Cherry certainly decided rather than presenting the story, to simply suggest at it enough that eventually the fanbase would come together to figure it out. Personally, I think it's obscure enough that it deserved to be docked a bit for that.

Where HK really excels is its ambiance. The game reeks of a vibrant, breathing world. The story serves to further enhance that, but I'm not sure how much of a two-way street it is. That's a funny thing to say, considering the discoveries you make through the world are the inferences you mostly need to draw any conclusions at all about the story, but seeing as it's possible to reach and defeat the final boss without even finding the most important parts of the story -- I thought I had done a pretty solid job of exploring Hallownest and had a lot of trouble finding a way to access one of the three required sub-bosses that forced me to explore even more, and I still never completed several important components of the "full game" until prompted by an online guide -- I understand why someone might not fully embrace this story.

That said, it is rather interesting and unique, and the delivery is one that reinforces the curiosity that should drive the entire game, so I think there's certainly something of value here. Supposing that you find it.

8/10

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