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‘Dearest Hollow Knight…’ An Epistolary of the Highest Admiration

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This letter was found buried amongst the private letters of Sir Benjamin McNeill the first, amateur gamer of not-so-great renown and gaming opinion-giver of modest baring. It is believed that it was penned just before he suffered from one of the most severe cases of thumb blistering ever recorded, due to over usage of the D-pad while obsessively playing Team Cherry’s Metroidvania game: Hollow Knight. Hence, rendering him inept at gaming for days. It is a truly tragic tale.

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June 23rd, 2017 ahk (after Hollow Knight)

Dearest Hollow Knight,

I pen these words with the utmost respect and admiration, to bare my soul to you, with regards to how I feel having basked in your presence for 50 glorious hours.

It has been merely three months since I last played you, yet it feels like your presence is ever at my side. Understand, dear Hollow Knight, that I have never been quite the same after having played you. I am as giddy as a school boy, who has just experienced his first video game and cannot help but cajole in reverie at being by your side, always.

Whenever I commence my laptop, I am graced with an image of you, your gracious and subtle art style, forever captured as my desktop background. Hollow Knight, my Dearest, you must understand, never have I been so completely enraptured in a games world, characters, music and gameplay, since Final Fantasy VII! Please pardon my outburst, but I never imagined, not in my wildest dreams, that a video game could ever affect me in this way, ever again. Yet you, Hollow Knight, have made it so.

Even attempting the most mundane of tasks from everyday life, such as acquiring goods from my local grocery store or walking along the London city streets to partake in the services offered by public bus, have become a constant reminder of you, Hollow Knight. While on these frivolous errands, via my earphones, I am graced by the majesty of your soundtrack. I have never been one for video game soundtracks outside of the act of gaming itself, yet yours has utterly enraptured me in its beautiful orchestral symphonies.

You see, Hollow Knight, I have forever been a fan of Metroidvania games. They have often served me as a wonderful distraction, hours spent exploring, discovering, upgrading and progressing throughout countless worlds such as: extra-terrestrial planets with Metroid, Arabian inspired magical worlds with the half Genie hero Shantae, enchanted blind forests with Ori or haunted demon filled castles in Castlevania. Yet, as truly great as these worlds are, none of them come close to the hours upon hours I spent within your mysterious, underground, insectoid kingdom, all but abandoned to madness and decay.

But Hollow Knight, I need to apologise to you. It has come to my understanding that I wronged you. Not so long ago, I penned together a list of my own making, grading and placing you on a top 10 list of best Metroidvania games, to be published within the World Wide Web. It hurts to say it now, but I only placed you as third. You must understand however, that I felt I couldn’t possibly place you ahead of Super Metroid, the game for which you quite possibly wouldn’t even exist! I also felt it strongly deplorable of me to even consider placing you ahead of Castlevania Symphony of the Night! A game that almost single handily solidified the genre from which you were born, not to mention one of my utmost favourite games of all time! Utter madness! Oh, Hollow Knight, what a fool I have been.

You see, Dearest Hollow Knight, I did not understand the importance you would come to have for me at the time. I was too blinded by the classics and past loves to understand that you truly deserved to be crowned as my number one. Over the months since penning that infamous list, you climbed your way up and engrained yourself in my brain as top of the list. Your stubbornness and refusal to let me go, got to me in the end! But you earned it Hollow Knight. By Jove, you earned it, goddammit!

I will be returning to you once more, fairest Hollow Knight, and surely, I will be forever after. You have come to be a must-have and must-play, that I will forever recommend to anyone who wants to listen. You will always be, now and forever, my GotY.

Yours Sincerely,

Sir Benjamin McNeill

Post Scriptum: Seriously though, Hollow Knight is f***ing awesome!

Video games have been a passion of mine from the very first time I played one, at the age of five on Amstrad!( Never heard of it? It was an 80s thing) From then on, I developed a great love for video games and have always owned some form of console throughout each generation of gaming, from the NES to the PS4. Call me a casual if you like, I was probably gaming before you were even born, kiddo.

Gaming

Helldivers are angry at Arrowhead because the community manager was fired without due process

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Throughout history, it has become evident that, in the face of tyranny, those who cherish liberty and democracy will stop at nothing to defend them. They will fight relentlessly, using every last round of ammunition and shedding the final drop of blood. In a stunning turn of events, it appears that developer Arrowhead is facing a potential revolution, as previously loyal Helldivers 2 players who once supported the developer are now expressing their outrage. They passionately advocate for justice and the inclusion of the undemocratically dismissed community manager, who has affectionately been nicknamed “General” Spitz, into the official in-game lore.

In typical fashion, an overnight Change.org petition (courtesy of RPS) has garnered nearly 4,500 signatures at the time of writing. This is an attempt to make Arrowhead reevaluate their decision to let go of Spitz, a community manager who has been an integral part of the community since the game’s release. In the midst of the PC/PSN account linking debacle, Spitz, like a game critic sensing the winds of fate, rallied the community on Discord (as seen on Twitter) to express their discontent through reviews, refunds, and other means. It enhances our influence in the discussions with Sony. They completely disregard our discord.

After the chaos subsided the following day (yesterday), Spitz addressed the community, describing this action as “almost.” It hasn’t exactly resulted in their termination. Shortly after, a final transmission was confirmed where Spitz disclosed that they had been released, expressing their resilience by saying, “Every war has its casualties.”

On May 7, 2024, around 11:45 PST, the Helldivers Discord community made an interesting discovery. It seems that the community manager, Spitz, had been unexpectedly removed from his position, and any evidence of his previous involvement in the discord was completely wiped out. This incident seems to have ignited a revolution, with Helldivers demanding the immediate reinstatement of Spitz and his immortalization in the game for his self-sacrifice.

“We strongly advocate for the official canonization of General Spitz in Helldivers lore. Embracing the spirit of liberation. Supporting democracy. For the betterment of the game and its devoted community.

It’s interesting to see how this situation unfolds. Arrowhead CEO Johan Pilestedt himself commends the determination of players in the Sony showdown, but there seems to be a hint of contradiction here. “General” Spitz provided us with some thought-provoking words to ponder: “I was well aware of the potential consequences when I made my statement about refunding and altering reviews; nevertheless, I remain steadfast in my position. I fulfilled my role as a representative of the community, just as I was expected to.

Spitz is no longer the Community Manager.
byu/Tabub inHelldivers

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Ciri from The Witcher expresses her hope that fans will give Liam Hemsworth a fair chance in his portrayal of Geralt

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Netflix’s The Witcher has been at the forefront of the recent trend of video game IP transitioning to TV, alongside HBO’s The Last of Us and Amazon’s Fallout adaptations. In 2022, it was announced that Henry Cavill would be stepping away from his role after Season 3, making way for Australian actor Liam Hemsworth to become The White Wolf in Season 4.

In an interview with Collider (courtesy of Eurogamer), Freya Allen, the actress who plays Ciri in the series, has reached out to fans who may find the change to be a challenge. Allen expressed his view of the situation, acknowledging that it may not be ideal and that fans can be quite critical. He mentioned that he doesn’t want to speak on behalf of Hemsworth, but based on his understanding, it seems like Hemsworth is aiming to inject some heartfelt elements into the project. I’m eagerly anticipating his performance after all that training. And he’s truly a delightful individual. I hope people give him a fair chance, you know?

It’s unclear why Henry Cavill decided to depart from the show, despite his previous commitment to stay for the entire seven seasons if needed. Netflix has announced that The Witcher has been renewed for a fifth season, which will be the final installment of the series.

 

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CEO of Helldivers 2 commends the remarkable determination displayed by the community during the intense Sony showdown

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The experience for Helldivers 2 players has been quite turbulent lately, and we’re referring to a community that is accustomed to leaping from great heights into the most intense and terrifying battlegrounds imaginable. In the midst of a highly debated PSN account requirement for PC players and facing intense backlash, Sony has made a surprising reversal, yielding to the overwhelming force of public opinion. The CEO of Arrowhead, Johan Pilestedt, has displayed an intriguing attitude throughout this challenging period. He has shown remarkable composure, actively engaging with community managers and experiencing the difficulties they face firsthand.

Pilestedt expressed his admiration for the community’s determination and praised their ability to work together on Twitter, following Sony’s reversal. He sarcastically expressed gratitude towards Sony for their “prompt and efficient choice to make PSN linking optional.”

In the future, Pilestedt expressed his vision of working closely with PlayStation and the players to establish a groundbreaking benchmark for the concept of a live game. The aim is to foster a strong partnership between developers and the community, ultimately resulting in an unparalleled gaming experience.

What are your thoughts on the commotion surrounding Helldivers 2? What are your thoughts on Sony’s involvement, Pilestedt’s attitude, and the community’s reaction? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments section below.

 

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