Within the City of Tears, there was always a beautiful song, as if mourning the prosperity that had passed.
Later, after obtaining the "Dream Nail," striking this NPC could yield one Essence, but it would permanently kill the NPC. The song could no longer be heard, and the empty city would be left with nothing but the endless sound of rain.
The bosses were powerful. With each boss battle, you would realize that you were growing step by step.
Just as the Mantis Lords taught you, only by becoming stronger could you survive in this seemingly gentle world of bugs.
The difficulty of Hollow Knight certainly existed, but as one comment put it: "It's not only those who clear Absolute Radiance or Pantheon Five with all four bindings who are Hollow Knights. Every Little Knight who dares to raise their blade against the gods is a Hollow Knight who has inherited the will of those who came before."
In the game, we could also meet another traveler: Quirrel.
He was an NPC who, like the protagonist, traveled across Hallownest and bore witness to its prosperity. We could encounter him throughout our journey and witness this epic adventure together.
Hallownest had actually long since ceased to prosper. The king's departure and the arrival of the plague had left this once-thriving kingdom particularly desolate.
Yet Quirrel, this fellow traveler on the adventure, remained open-minded and optimistic. He marveled at the beautiful scenery atop the dangerous Crystal Peak, and in the gloomy City of Tears, Quirrel sat on a bench and reflected, "The heart of Hallownest... even in its decline, it is so magnificent."
Or rather, it was precisely the spirit forged by Hollow Knight's difficulty that made Quirrel's dream dialogue feel so fitting when the Little Knight walked this path and raised