This is part 1/4 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 Pale Heir, the seal, raised and trained to prime form, in its days before an idea was instilled... the Pure Vessel.
Final scores:
Telegraphing: A (7 points)
Randomness: A- (6 points)
Downtime: A- (6 points)
Ambiance: A+ (8 points)
Fun: A+ (8 points)
Total score: 35 points (7 average, A grade flat)
Breakdowns
Telegraphing
Yes, an A for telegraphing. Why?
PV has amazing telegraphs 95% of the time. But there's exactly ONE move where I think it fails: the Jump.
The jump just... happens. There's no proper telegraph for it, so if you're too close to PV, it'll immediately hit you with no way to react. Supposedly, it only happens when you've been airborne for too long, so it's likely intentional, as a way to punish being in the air for too long.
Other than that... it's got great telegraphs. But that jump has ended too many Radiant attempts for me to count.
Randomness
An A-. Yes, that's my final score for it. The reason is because there are quite a few random aspects to PV that I feel are slightly unfair. Firstly is the Focus attack. Oftentimes, I'll try and move in to attack PV, but an orb will spawn right on me, and I won't be able to move quickly enough. Other times, PV moves WAY sooner than usual, when the orbs haven't even dissipated yet, meaning I can't see or hear cues signaling that there's an attack coming. Second is the Soul Daggers attack. I'll use my shadow dash, and PV will rush me, leaving me no time to react. If I try to counter it by going up, he might jump, leaving me once again with no time to react. Speaking of the jump, PV's Lunge is also annoying. PV often sticks itself at the edge of the arena, so if it lunges down at you and you're too close to the edge, you can't move anywhere else in time, and you get hit.
Downtime
Listen. This would be an A+ if PV's stagger didn't last for as long as it did. Its length allows you to get in two normal heals, which is fine, right? It deals double damage, so you can double heal. But the window for getting the two heals in is so precise, you typically can't get them in, and you're immobilized by the time PV picks itself up, meaning you get hit and lose both the heals anyways! A-.
Ambiance
I mean... is this a question? The chains surrounding the arena, the glyphs lighting up on the floor, and the haunting, ironic vocals of the song? Enough said, A+.
Fun
I love trying to beat PV on Radiant. I've been trying on and off for a while with varying success, and it's just great. It's such a fun boss overall. I love it. It's such a great challenge, and I love coming back to fight it every once in a while.
