Crowsworn, announced during the Xbox Partner Preview show on Nov. 20, is looking strikingly similar to Hollow Knight, from its style to movement to the flashy combat. Though a roguelike more than Souls, the game takes liberal inspiration and might be paving the way for Hollowlikes to come.
Crowsworn combines numerous genres to produce a unique, flashy, and fast-paced 2D side-scrolling experience, obviously taking liberal inspiration from the formula that made Hollow Knight into the phenomenon that it is.
Though we’ve only seen one trailer, the game immediately struck a chord with every fan of the Hollow Knight series who might have completed Silksong recently and was back to yearning for more after seven years of drought.
From its art style, color palette, lighting, and just about every possible aspect, Crowsworn screams Hollow Knight at every single point of its presentation. Look at this picture and tell me you don’t see it.
However, where it appears to diverge sharply is its speed of combat, roguelite elements, and generally a more visceral approach that is far removed from what Hollow Knight has gone for. Guns, blades, and glory are the name of the game in Crowsworn, it appears, and though it bears a striking resemblance to its source of inspiration, the overall gameplay loop seems to be markedly different.
We will have to wait to get our hands on the thing to actually see how dissimilar the game is from Hollow Knight, but one thing remains true: we might be entering an era where merely imitating Metroidvania and Souls elements is not enough. New games must serve as reference points, in turn spawning their own subgenres, which I will now call Hollowlikes. I would’ve said Silksongs, but I kinda think that’s copyrighted.
Either way, Hollow Knight-inspired games are going to rise sharply following the success of Silksong, and it seems Crowsworn is the first of many to open the gates. But it may have stuck too close to the source; we’ll see.
If you want to learn what else was shown during today’s preview, you can do so here.
