Would I like Hallow Knight if I didn't like [this thing] in The Messenger (spoilers for Messenger)

Spoilers for The Messenger in here.

I've heard a lot of complaints about certain aspects of Hollow Knight (which I haven't played) in regards to its map system. I'm also currently playing through the end game of The Messenger and feel that the locations of that you can warp to from the hub makes it feel like forever when you're trying to go somewhere specific (especially considering there's limited portals). This kills momentum for me when I'm going around, either trying to collect coins from certain areas or exploring as I work my way through figuring out what I need to do next. Now, It's not the "figuring out what I need to do next," part that I have a gripe with, I love that sort of thing. It's the part where engaging with that means having soo much to traverse because of the limited locations of Portals.

With that said, do y'all think I'd have the same sort of complaint in Hollow Knight? Would love some expanded thoughts on this as well.

Getting around in Hollow Knight is mostly pretty quick once you've unlocked all the warp points etc, I'd bet you can reach pretty much any point on the map in about 2 minutes or less from the nearest station. The bigger issue is more about finding them and figuring out where to go next. There are some issues with certain places being much quicker to reach than get back home from though, although you get a custom teleport eventually that solves that problem.

real talk: i never found the map system in hollow knight annoying. everyone's mileage will vary- but once you understand how it works (and prioritize filling it out)- it became a non-issue for me.

there is a decent amount of backtracking and double-backing you have to do to get around in the world. if it hooks you, you will return to the same areas several times, and there will also be times where you don't know where to go (and again, end up retreading). but once you've identified your point A and point B- getting from here to there doesn't take very long. and like @ares42 mentioned- once you're later in the game and jumping around becomes more necessary, there is an item that grants fast travel to 1 point of your choosing, so if you place it in a hub you'll make it even easier.

tl;dr- yes, there are limited fast travel points and it will be a schlep occasionally to get around. but for me it was a largely painless experience.

The complaints about the map system are usually very exaggerated - not to sound condescending but if you can read a basic map then you will be good to go. If you're in a C shaped part of the map then it shouldn't be that hard to discern where you are in the game world. That said, Hollow Knight has a pretty damn big map and there are plenty of "metroidvania" type locations that you can't access without certain abilities so there is an element of backtracking in the same way any one of those games has it. Sometimes it's ok because you're going to a place around the corner that you remember has a wall you can now climb. Sometimes it's at the other end of the game world which means warping to the nearest location and travelling there, and sometimes possibly having to travel right back.

As mentioned above, your mileage with that sort of stuff will vary. One thing I need to underscore here - the act of backtracking is definitely there so if you want something a little more A-to-B for a change of pace then this isn't really it. That said please don't let the general map comments detract you from trying the game because in the grand scheme of an otherwise really well crafted and highly unique title it's a non-issue.

Just about everything I would say was just handily provided by @humanity, but the one thing I can add further to that is that I am currently in the endgame of The Messenger and am having the same issue you are having; I had no such problems in Hollow Knight/Hallow Knight.

Yeah, I will echo what Relkin said. I gave up on the Messenger at the endgame once it was clear they wanted the player to retread areas multiple time to do wrote puzzles.

I will add that I found Hollow Knight is much more satisfying to play overall. To this point, I have returned to it multiple times to dig closer to the true ending, and to find other surprises, so it may be a matter of preferring the gameplay overall, and not so much that the two games are paced drastically different.

I think forcing you to sacrifice an accessory slot for a fundamental aspect of the genre is a pretty bad design choice. Have the blank map be filled out as you find things or whatever but don't force me to give up something else that is much more mechanically useful to have a feature that should just be stock standard.

But that is all in the progression, once everything is unlocked I never found it to be much of a hassle getting around quickly. At least once you build in an understanding of where everything connects.

Thanks y'all.

@relkin@sawtooth it's good to hear from people who had comparable experiences in The Messenger endgame. I still enjoy the fights and when I don't feel like going through the possibility of going somewhere far away only to find out I was wrong, I just use a guide. Hasn't taken anything away from the experience cause that game goes places and I love it.

@flashflood_29 said:

You will love Hollow Knight then. There is a LOT of that.

I haven't played The Messenger, but I'll say that the mapping system in Hollow Knight is fine, except I do wish there were more warp points. If you're like me, you'll spend a lot of time going back and forth to the map screen to figure out where to go, even if it's somewhere you've been a few times already. There is an item fairly late in the game that relieves the backtracking a bit though.

Just play the game. It's amazing.

I loved Hollow Knight, but I probably spent several hours of my playtime just running back to warp spots. It reminded me of The Messenger a bit, but the difference is that HK made it feel like my aimless wandering was constantly leading to new discoveries. It just has a lot more to do than Messenger (which I also enjoyed but caved and bought the shopkeeper hints).

@csl316: Oh I 100% bought the hints once I didn't have anything to save for. A lot of the time, my dead end wandering wasn't because I was wrong, but because I couldn't remember how to get to where I was thinking. The puzzles and hints were somewhat easy to understand/decipher, but marking it on the map saved so much time.