How Hard is Hollow Knight? What Most People Get Wrong

You’ve probably heard the rumors. People talk about Hollow Knight like it’s a digital meat grinder, a 2D Dark Souls designed specifically to make you throw your controller across the room. There is this aura of "elite gamer" energy surrounding it that can be, honestly, a little off-putting. If you’re hovering over the "buy" button and wondering if you’re actually going to have a good time or just pay $15 to be miserable, the answer isn't a simple yes or no.

It’s complicated.

Most people focus on the "hardness" like it's a single, flat wall. It isn't. Hollow Knight is more like a mountain that starts with a gentle slope and ends with a vertical cliff made of ice and spite. Whether the game is "too hard" for you depends entirely on where you plan to stop climbing.

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The Myth of the Brick Wall

When you first drop into Dirtmouth, the game feels lonely, but not necessarily brutal. You’re just a little bug with a dull nail. You jump, you slash, you collect geo. Early on, the difficulty is about navigation more than combat. You’ll get lost. You’ll die to a random mosquito because you misjudged a jump.

But is it hard? Not really. Not yet.

The "Dark Souls" comparisons are everywhere, but they’re mostly skin-deep. Yes, you lose your money when you die. Yes, you have to run back to your "shade" to get it. But unlike a FromSoftware game, you aren't managing complex stats or worrying about a "build" that might be broken. You just need to get better at moving.

The early bosses, like the False Knight or even Hornet (the first time), are basically teaching you the rhythm. They have three or four moves. You watch, you dodge, you hit. If you can beat a standard Super Mario level, you can get through the first five hours of this game.

Why the Difficulty Feels "Different"

One thing that catches people off guard is the lack of a health bar on bosses. It’s a psychological mind game. You’re hitting this giant beetle for three minutes, and you have no idea if he’s at 90% health or 1%.

This creates a specific kind of tension. You start to panic. You try to "squeeze in" one last hit when you should be dodging. That’s usually when you die. In Hollow Knight, greed is the biggest killer. The combat is incredibly fast—significantly faster than Dark Souls—but it’s also very fair. Every single hit you take is your fault. That realization is either empowering or infuriating, depending on your personality.

The Mid-Game Spike: When Hallownest Stops Being Polite

Around the time you hit the Mantis Lords or the Soul Sanctum, the "how hard is Hollow Knight" question gets a new answer. The game stops asking "can you jump?" and starts asking "can you dance?"

The Mantis Lords are the gold standard for game design. They are fast. They are relentless. But they are perfectly telegraphed. Beating them isn't about having high stats; it's about entering a flow state. If you’re struggling here, it’s usually because you’re trying to "tank" damage. You can't. You have very little health, and healing takes a long time. You have to find the "windows" in the boss's animation.

The 112% Problem: Where the Pain Lives

This is where the reputation for extreme difficulty comes from. Hollow Knight has a massive amount of optional content. If you just want to see the credits roll, the game is a 7/10 on the difficulty scale. Hard, but manageable for most.

But if you want the "True Ending" or that 112% completion stat? That’s a 10/10.

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The Path of Pain

There is an optional platforming area called the White Palace, and within it, a sub-area called the Path of Pain. It is exactly what it sounds like. We’re talking Celeste or Super Meat Boy levels of precision. You will spend hours—literally hours—in a single room trying to bounce off a sawblade to reach a ledge.

The Pantheons and Godhome

Then there’s the Godmaster DLC. This is the part of the game that only about 5% of players ever actually finish. It culminates in the Pantheon of Hallownest, a gauntlet of 42 bosses in a row. If you die on the 42nd boss, you start back at boss number one.

It is a test of mental endurance more than anything else. Most people who play Hollow Knight will never beat the final Pantheon. And that’s okay. Team Cherry (the developers) tucked this away as a gift for the "super-hardcore" players. You don't need to do it to enjoy the story or the atmosphere.

How Hard Is Hollow Knight Compared to Other Games?

Let’s look at the stats. On Steam, about 23% of players have beaten the "base" final boss. However, only about 6% have achieved the "Pure Completion" (112%) achievement.

Honestly, the hardest parts of Hollow Knight are significantly more difficult than anything in Elden Ring. In Elden Ring, you can level up, summon a friend, or use a "cheese" build. In Hollow Knight, there is no leveling up your skill. You can upgrade your sword a few times and find some charms, but at the end of the day, it’s just you and your reflexes. There are no summons. You can’t bring a friend to help you kill Nightmare King Grimm. You just have to "git gud."

Is It Too Hard for a Casual Player?

I’d say no.

The brilliance of the design is that the hardest stuff is hidden. You have to actively go looking for the things that will make you cry. If you just follow the main paths, explore at your own pace, and use the map, the difficulty curve is actually very smooth.

The game also gives you tools to mitigate the struggle. If a boss is too hard, you can leave. Go to a different area. Find a new charm that gives you more health or longer reach. Unlike a linear game where a boss is a hard gate, Hollow Knight is a web. There is almost always somewhere else to go.

Tips for Staying Sane

• Don't hoard your Soul. Use it to heal or use it for spells. Sitting on a full tank of magic while you're at one health is a rookie mistake.
• Listen to the audio. Every boss has "tells." Usually, they make a specific sound a half-second before they attack.
• The "Pogo" is everything. You can slash downward while in the air to bounce off enemies and spikes. Master this early. It’s not just a trick; it’s a core survival mechanic.
• Buy the Wayward Compass. Seriously. Not knowing where you are adds a level of "difficulty" that is just frustrating. Just use the charm slot and keep your sanity.

Final Verdict

Hollow Knight is as hard as you want it to be. It offers a beautiful, atmospheric world that anyone with a bit of patience can explore. But it also contains some of the most punishing, precise, and soul-crushing challenges in the history of the 2D platforming genre.

Don't let the "hard" label scare you away from one of the best games ever made. Just know that when you see a wall of sawblades or a boss with a flaming cloak, you’re entering the optional "expert" territory.

Actionable Next Steps: If you’re starting out, focus entirely on finding the Map Shop in each new area first. Reducing the stress of being lost makes the combat much easier to handle. Once you have the Dash and the Wall Jump, go back to the Forgotten Crossroads and practice "pogoing" on the easy enemies there; mastering that one move will reduce your death count by 50% in the mid-game.