Hollow Knight and Ori and the Blind Forest. Two of the biggest Metroidvania games ever created. Two beautiful animated characters in worlds full of wonders and fantastical elements. So, where is the catch? As the audience demands, we must pick a winner between those two!

To do that, we’ve prepared a few categories in which we will compare those two games to settle this thing once and for all. And there will be some considerable fighting there, for sure.

So, if you are interested in the battle's outcome on everyone’s mind for the title of best Metroidvania game, well then, you are in for the treat.

We have played, conquered, and replayed those games once more to see with our own eyes which game slaps better and which slaps only partially as well as the other.

Without further ado, let’s get on with the show.

The first area of combat is – the gameplay itself. Hollow Knight has been referred to time and time again as Dark Souls of Metroidvania. And – for a reason. The boss fight is something to look forward to at every level; the unique style makes you feel trapped and hollow inside, and power-ups are organized similarly to what we’ve seen from From Software.

Ori and the Blind Forest, on the other hand, is something completely different. It’s not all about fighting and getting back for the wrongs of someone, is it? It’s solving puzzles, precision platforming, and gaining new abilities to be an even brighter little fluff ball.

In this case, we must call it a draw. We cannot argue that the way Ori and the Blind Forest differs from Hollow Knight is better or worse. It’s just different. Round One = Draw.

So you may be wondering which one the combat round will sway for. Well, you will probably not be surprised. There are a lot of challenging bosses to combat, and all of them are highly entertaining to fight with. With the talisman, you can change how you fight in a matter of seconds and suit your playstyle to any boss.

Ori also has a lot of options when it comes to fighting, but most of them are pretty useless in the end. The only thing that Ori excels in when it comes to combat is movement. It looks great and is also pretty useful in the direst of situations. In Hollow Knight, though, you just have many more options in the end.

So, when it comes to combat in the Metroidvania Genre, Hollow Knight takes the cake, eats it, and spits it out because it doesn’t have to prove anyone anything. It’s just a pure fantastic gaming experience.

Controls, camera, and everything in between – this is how this round should be named, honestly. Why? Let’s just say that in the case of Metroidvania games, the movement may be limited but can make or break the game if done the wrong way.

Let’s start with the Hollow Knight. Because this game focuses so much on fighting, everything is focused on a single frame. And – you can’t take any chances, so there are not many “special” movement circumstances that you need to watch out for. Everything is precise and stiff at the same time.

With Ori, it’s a different story. There is this fantasy world feel throughout the whole game's progress. Rather than fighting enemies, you search for multiple solutions to puzzles, so the camera angle changes multiple times. Ori has many more movements than Hollow Knight, so it was a challenge to get it on the right course for the developers, especially in certain areas.

Luckily, they managed to show this beautiful world and make it so easy to roam around. In this case, the only fair winner we can point to is Ori and the Blind Forest. Just for how magical it feels to search through those mystical lands.

The story is a big one in this case, as both games focus on the single-player experience, and if that sucks, well, there is nothing left.

The fundamental difference between those games is their approach to telling the story. Ori is a classical tale where you work through the Blind Forest and get rewarded with some explanation of what is happening in this crazy world.

In the case of Hollow Knight, it’s something completely different. You feel the story in how the world makes you think. You understand through bits and pieces what is going on, and by that, you try to make sense of this world and your character.

Hollow Knight is also a much darker story. It’s not this colorful world, full of magic like in the case of Ori and the Blind Forest. There is a lot of sadness, hollowness, widespread fear, and depression.

On the other hand, Ori is like a Spielberg film for kids. There is a scary part, but it’s a challenge and adventure to overcome those things and become a better person. If you play Hollow Knight, you feel like the hardship is the essence of the plot. If you play Ori, exploration and growth are the essence.

None of them are boring, and both will make you cry as the progression goes, so in the end, it’s up to you what you like and what you don’t particularly enjoy. But both are good in their own way, so in our book, that is a draw.

And to add to that, there is world-building. Both games do it exceptionally well, and you can see that a master craftsman was in charge of doing it the right way.

Hollow Knight is a grim reality where you search through the Hollownest to find clues on what exactly is happening. To understand everything, you need to read descriptions and come to your conclusions. There is also this exciting mechanic called the Dream Nail, where you can reveal your enemies or NPCs' most secretive thoughts. It’s incredibly creepy but also so interesting to follow.

The Ori is something completely different. The world-building, in this case, comes from narration and riddles. The metaphors are based on myths and are somewhat biblical and religious. Everything is enigmatic and explained through large portions of text on the screen. Some people will enjoy it, and some will be interested in getting it through the gameplay and visuals rather than telling you what’s what.

We prefer something a little more subtle, so in our book, that is a point for Hollow Knight.

We had our plots, combat system, secrets, and history. It’s time to discuss something you see first when launching the game – visuals.

And, it’s only a matter of opinion, but both of them have a pretty unique art style that you either love or hate. It’s up to you in the end.

Hollow Knight is darker and more gothic in how the world is presented. The graphic design is not that detailed, like in the case of Ori and the Blind Forest, but it is much sharper in what it wants to highlight. But – it makes the whole thing repetitive and monotonous in the end.

When it comes to Ori, on the other hand, it’s a festival of colors, with multiple things happening in the background, diverse worlds that you go through, incredible animations, and just overall – a deep and wonderful world full of surprises.

So, as you probably already know, the point has to go to Ori. You can see that a lot of time was dedicated to making it shine, which shows in the end. We cannot overlook that.

So, both games are platformers at heart, so let’s check out how they do in the platforming department.

As we’ve stated before, Ori is much more flexible than our lovely Knight and can move much more freely throughout the game. You can go throughout the game as a platformer and nothing else. It makes perfect sense too.

Hollow Knight, on the other hand, moves mostly in combat. You have a wall jump available, dash, double jump, and everything, but it is just not on the same level as Ori. It’s not a diss or anything; it’s just a difference in the focus of both games. The point goes to Ori, without a doubt.

The other important aspect of most Metroidvania games is the skillset. And we have a lot to talk about in this case. Both games create excellent mechanics to level up and make you feel like you are getting better and better in the game.

In the case of Hollow Knight, there is this charm system where you can put different skills. The same goes for the mentioned Nail, which can be upgraded by getting pale ore from the nailsmith. It can change the outcome of the boss fights, so always have the best possible skillset available.

On the other side, we have Ori with a basic and understandable RPG skill tree. Kill an enemy, get the upgrade, pick up the one thing you want to get better at, repeat, and that’s pretty much it.

It’s not bad, but it feels pretty basic in the end. Although, it is no surprise as Ori relays mainly on the platforming elements rather than getting dirty into some combat, so you have to understand that it was not a priority for the developers.

Nevertheless, the point goes for Hollow Knight.

So, who is the winner in this battle for the single best piece of Metroidvania games? Well, as it turns out, the winners are…the gamers! Both games are fantastic, but Hollow Knight wins in the more important categories in our opinion. So if you’re hesitating, checking out our great knight is the right choice!

When it comes to making a game the right way, the developers of both these titles showed us how it should be done. And we are happy to say that both of those titles deserve a number one spot on our private list.

We are so glad you took the time to check out this article. We hope that you enjoyed our breakdown, even though there were no winners other than you yourself.

If you are interested in checking out more fun and incredible games, be sure to check out our great library. We have lots and lots of great offers just waiting for you to pick them up.

And if you want to find more articles like this, we have many of those as well, so feel free to browse through them! We will see you at the next one!