Video Game Harmony

Hollow Knight
Released: February 24, 2017
Developer: Team Cherry
Composer: Christopher Larkin

On this month in 2017, the game Hollow Knight was released. It may have seemed like just an average indie game at the time, but it has since become one of the most iconic. I started out not expecting much, but I could tell it wasn’t just any ordinary indie game afterwards as it took me about twice as normally usual to complete, coming in at over 30 hours!

I remember thinking the gameplay was cool, but I vividly remember thinking “this soundtrack is awesome!” This is why I think it’s necessary to go through every single track in the game.

Hollow Knight:

The main theme that we hear in the menu doesn’t seem typical. It’s much sadder than the music you’d normally expect to witness when first starting a game. I’ll admit I wasn’t sure what to think upon first listen, but it’s grown on me. Now it’s become one of the tracks that I most associate with Hollow Knight. I always hear those high starting piano notes when I think of this game. It’s sad to come to this once thriving kingdom that’s now a wasteland.

Enter Hallownest:

Now it’s time to enter that wasteland. This uses the same motif as the main theme, but picks things up a bit. The journey begins here.

Dirtmouth:

The hub of this post-apocalyptic place feels a bit relaxing, but also depressing at the same time. A piano once again brings the sad feeling, with a violin only bringing it out more. It’s at the surface of Hallownest, so it’s less infested than much of this realm (and there are no bad guys to fight), but you can feel that things aren’t like they used to be.

Crossroads:

It is now time to begin the descent. This place is how you get to basically everywhere. While this area has become run down, there’s a great bit of curiosity as we continue to explore the depths of Hallownest. Just like most tracks in the game, it changes tempo when enemies are encountered. Towards the end of the track it gets much more mysterious. I don’t feel so safe here as I did in Dirtmouth…

False Knight:

This is one of the first big bosses we get to fight. It’s the main motif again, but with violins and now we’re obviously fighting something. The violins really bring out adrenaline as we fight the TONS of bosses encountered in Hollow Knight.

Greenpath:

I could be wrong, but it sounds like the intro is played with harps. This place doesn’t feel infested with darkness or post-apocalyptic. It’s been infested, but with lots of vegetation, and it’s kind of nice. The music sounds a bit playful. Sure I have to fight some enemies, but this is a place I’d like to just chill. The harps bring a bit of levity to this part when we’ve been swinging our nail at a bunch of enemies so far.

Hornet:

Well so much for feeling relaxed. Hornet gave me so much anxiety whenever I had to fight her. Those strings can be relaxing but also so intense when they’re piercing through my speakers! They pierce through my ears just like her weapon pierces through the knight.

Reflection:

And now after you’ve died for the 50th time you at least get what’s called a “vibe check”. To learn more about what that is, watch this video.

I want to go back and fight the boss as soon as possible after I die, but the game says “stop and take a breath first”. It’s like the game knows how to counsel me.

Mantis Lords:

The harpsicord goes nuts here just like the mantis lords do. So much is happening in the music, just like so much is happening in this fight. It’s almost like music reflects the gameplay or something.

City of Tears:

This moment stuck out the most to me when I first heard it within the game. It’s so sad and so beautiful at the same time. Tears were almost coming from my face just like they were coming from the city. Everything about this is amazing, from the harp playing to the vocals by Amelia Jones. It made me want to play this on the piano and I about sprained my fingers attempting to learn it. I should probably start with the main theme first.

Dung Defender:

I couldn’t believe it when I found out this was actually a boss in the game. I don’t think the music takes it too seriously though, since it feels more adventurous than intense. I wouldn’t know exactly what music to play when the boss is throwing balls of poo at you. I guess this works though. I’m glad the music doesn’t try to put too much weight on this battle because, well, it’s a dung defender. I think that explains enough.

Crystal Peak:

So many emotions came from this. It’s kind of chill but ominous. In a way it sounds like music that would emanate from a crystal. It’s really ambient-like until you start fighting enemies of course.

Fungal Wastes:

We had Greenpath, so now let’s take that in a different direction with a place infested with fungi. It seems like this place isn’t meant to be taken that seriously. I mean, you literally fight giant balloons. The score makes it feel like this place is silly, and somewhat disgusting at the same time.

Decisive Battle:

Some real loud percussion here! From the name and the percussion you can tell that there are real stakes with this battle.

Soul Sanctum:

Wasn’t expecting to hear an organ, especially right next to City of Tears. An interesting choice to say the least. Makes it feel creepy, until the battles start and then it’s just scary.

Resting Grounds:

As the name implies it’s good music to rest to, but also to cry to because it’s really sad. If you ever want to cry yourself to sleep then listening to this is the way to do it. This place feels empty, just like my life. )`:

Queen’s Gardens:

If there’s ever a place with lots of vegetation then a harp is a good way to capture that feel. This doesn’t feel sad. Even though it’s mostly devoid of people (or bugs in this case), it feels like a nice place that can be joyous. A good example of making lemonade out of lemons.

The White Lady:

Feels medieval. It’s like we’re meeting royalty here. I don’t remember much about the White Lady from when I played, so maybe I never encountered her in the first place, but considering she simply goes by “The White Lady”, it sounds like she’s important.

Broken Vessel:

It sounds like a beast is emerging in the intro, which in a way it is. This boss, which is basically a corpse at this point, is ready to take you out. It may not move the quickest, and the music doesn’t move that fast either, but it’s still a tough one.

Kingdom’s Edge:

It’s really sad, and it feels like we’ve reached the end, or edge, of something. Somewhat relaxing, but foreboding at the same time. I know that danger is coming.

Nosk:

I don’t think I ever fought Nosk. It looks like it’s a creepy crawly though, and the strings really have that feel with the constant plucking. It gives me the heebie-jeebies!

Dream:

It’s time to sleep. It’s time to dream. Its time to feel like you’re floating. It’s time to feel like there isn’t a care in the world. That’s what you feel here.

Dream Battle:

However I do feel like there’s something to care about here. It’s not as intense as other boss music, but has a little bit of energy to it. Its kind of like when you are trying to run towards something in a dream but it keeps feeling farther away because it isn’t really there. It’s a mix of pounding boss music and ambience.

White Palace:

There is so much in this game and so much that isn’t required to complete it. The White Palace is one example, and it’s one place that I skipped entirely. From the music, though, it sounds dramatic and sad. It’s as if things can never be the same again, and all you can do is move on.

Sealed Vessel:

Spoiler alert to those who haven’t played the game: And now we reach the place we’ve been trying to get to this whole time. At first it’s just some ambient sounds. You wonder what’s coming. Are we finished? Is there more? Is there another boss battle? If you’re tired of the boss battles then you’re hoping there’s no more, but if you’ve been playing this game so far then you know better. As you can probably guess at this point, the music is intense, but it’s also bold, loud, and really sad, especially as it goes on. If you’ve played the battle then you may remember that when you get to a certain point in the fight the music changes and feels really depressing. The sealed vessel literally starts stabbing himself to get some of the lava stuff to come out and deal damage to you. You feel like there’s a personal connection that the knight we’ve been playing as has to this character, but what is that connection? You’ll have to read the theories to get an idea.

Radiance:

There’s also Radiance, the possible final boss, but I didn’t fight them. It’s a big bombastic mix of organ, piano, and strings, just like many of the fights in this game. There are apparently multiple endings, but it just depends on what course you take.

And then if you’ve been listening to the officially released soundtrack, it concludes with the same theme heard in the menu, and that’s what’s heard during the credits. I don’t know all the endings to the game, but I know the one I got left me confused and thinking “what just happened?” Hearing this theme again left me sad. It was a different kind of sad because I was glad to finish the game, but still sad. It made me wonder, what was the protagonist’s goal?

Well, my goal today was to talk about the entire soundtrack. I cannot tell you how many times I had a “whoa! this is cool!” moment during the game because of the soundtrack. It brought me into the experience of the game completely. As soon as I was finished I had to go listen to it on its own and it was just as entertaining then. It’s something I listen to on several occasions. The boss music is good for working out, the relaxing music is good for sleeping, and a good portion of the soundtrack I’ll listen to at any point doing regular everyday tasks. Christopher Larkin did a magnificent job with this soundtrack, and I could not recommend it higher. I give this 5 stars only because that’s the limit I put on the ratings, and would give it higher if possible. In my opinion this is one of the greatest game soundtracks of all time!

★★★★★