This is part 4/4 of a series where I'll go over four major Hollow Knight bosses and their design. These four are considered some of the hardest in the game, and I want to go over them because I want to express how much I love them, but also why I don't like them.
Major spoilers for Hollow Knight, of course.
Pure Vessel/Sisters of Battle/Nightmare King Grimm/Absolute Radiance
To cover what I'm grading these bosses on...
Rubric
| A (6-8 points) | B (3-5 points) | C (0-2 points) | F (-3 points) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Telegraphing | Attacks are incredibly well-telegraphed in advance. Attacks will catch you off-guard if you're not paying attention, but they're not hard to react to if you're paying attention. | Attacks can seem unfair at times, catching you off-guard, even if you're paying attention, but are generally fair. | Attacks are constantly coming at you with no clear or immediate indication that they will be, but are still not completely unfair. | Attacks have essentially no telegraphing. |
| Randomness | Attacks have little to no RNG involved in them. Where there is RNG, it is used fairly, and you can still predict what's going to happen and/or react to it in time. | Attacks have some form of unfair RNG, making a death to sheer unluckiness possible. | Attacks are mostly RNG-focused and/or are so hard to react to in time that an unlucky death is common. | Attacks are a complete gamble. You might get hit, you might not. It's still possible to react in time, but often not. |
| Downtime | The fight is fast-paced, but still allows for enough breaks to heal during it. | The fight has inconsistent amounts of downtime. Sometimes there's enough, sometimes there's too little, sometimes there's too much. | The fight either has too little downtime or too much downtime, making it either unfair or too easy. | The fight either allows no breathing room or unlimited breathing room, even to those who don't have the fight memorised. |
| Ambiance | The song and arena match the fight perfectly, with the song being something unique, and the arena being amazing to look at. There are also little details that elevate the fight even further, like sounds and effects. | The song and arena are possibly not that good of a fit. There is also a lack of smaller details. | The song and arena are unoriginal and unfitting. They are not good, even on their own. | Team Cherry and Christopher Larkin are good, I don't think this tier could ever be pulled on them for ambiance. |
| Fun | A very fun fight that can be done hundreds of times in different ways without boredom. | A somewhat fun fight that you might return to when you're bored. | A fight you never go out of your way to redo. | The fights you dread in the Pantheons. |
Today, we're doing the source of the infection, the scourge that plagues the kingdom, a god fighting to not be forgotten, attuned at the peak of Hallownest... Absolute Radiance
Final scores:
HOT TAKE WARNING
Telegraphing: A+ (8 points)
Randomness: C+ (2 points)
Downtime: B (4 points)
Ambiance: A- (6 points)
Fun: F (-3 points)
Total score: 17 points (3.4 average, high B-)
Breakdowns
Telegraphing
Oh, how I hate this boss. But I'll say — the attacks are actually properly telegraphed well in advance. The sheer randomness of it all is what makes it a problem. A+.
Randomness
Yep. C+. These attacks are so stupidly random and I hate them. Truly, if these attacks were just a liiitle more consistent, I might actually like this boss.
Downtime
Alright... a B. Ok, hear me out. AbsRad does double damage and absolutely rushes you. It's possible to get in some emergency heals, but the heal windows are so inconsistent that you're better off just powering through. The only reason this is this high is because it's thematically correct. An angered God, rushing you down with all her might.
Ambiance
A-. I'm sorry, I've just been hit by those stupid suns too many times because they blend in. Other than that? The music is great, the arena is grand, etc, etc. Another reason it's lower is because you don't have the siblings backing you in the final climb.
Fun
This stupid moth took me so many practice attempts, just to have inconsistent results. I'm taking no arguments for this grade in particular — F. You can have your own opinions on how fun this fight is, but don't even try to get me to budge on mine.
