Summary
The continued wait for any news regarding the eventual release ofHollow Knight: Silksonghas led to the creation of an indie Metroidvania vacuum that has seen some incredible games attempt to fill its space. The latest of these is Kumi Souls’The Last Faith, an excellent Gothic horror Metroidvania that clearly errs more on the side ofCastlevaniathanMetroidand has some obviousBloodborneinspirations as well. Interestingly,The Last Faithalso began its life as part of a Kickstarter campaign, and the title traces its development back to roughly a year after the initial announcement ofHollow Knight: Silksong, making both games genre contemporaries of sorts.
Beyond both games being indie Metroidvanias,The Last FaithandHollow Knightare each part of a growing subgenre within action-platformers known as Soulsvanias thanks to the inspiration they pull from FromSoftware’s flagshipDark Soulsfranchise. Taking this inspiration somewhat literally,The Last Faithis practically a 2DBloodborne, and it also happens to have some similarities with another of the more recent acclaimed games in the genre –Blasphemous. More than its Soulsborne inspirations, though,The Last Faithmixes combat and platforming in the same satisfying way that the best Metroidvanias do, and anyone waiting forSilksongowes it to themselves to give it a shot.
How The Last Faith is Perfect to Tide Over the Wait for Hollow Knight: Silksong
Finely Tuned Platforming and Well-Paced Metroidvania Upgrades
A good Metroidvania has to incorporate satisfying traversal across its large, interconnected map as one of its core tenets.Hollow Knight’s successwithin the genre rests on how tightly-tuned and responsive controlling the Knight feels, andSilksongpromises to improve on this element in some fairly definitive ways according to developer Team Cherry.
Mostly, though, the best Metroidvania titles drip-feed upgrades and abilities in such a way that backtracking never feels like a chore, simultaneously incentivizing players to explore every biome and scour every room in search of secrets. One of the things that makesThe Last Faitha compelling Metroidvania is the game’s clear understanding of these mechanics.
The Last Faith’s protagonist Eryk already starts off being fairly nimble and responsive, regardless of which starting class players happen to choose. It isn’t long into the game’s adventure that Eryk begins to acquire various upgrades aiding in traversal, such as a ring granting the ability to move heavy blocks or gloves that allow him to bounce back and forth between walls likeRyu fromNinja Gaiden.The Last Faithhas an impressively large map with some varied biomes and tricky platforming challenges, but just likeHollow Knight, opting for fast travel isn’t nearly as appealing as bounding from one end of the world to the next.
The Last Faith Understands the Value of Combat Depth
One of the primary means that players could use to shake up their approach to combat inHollow Knightwas the game’s charms, with some of them proving to be entirely transformative and practically necessary for certain builds.The Last Faithlacks a convenient charm system, something thatHollow Knight: Silksongpurports to upendas well, but it does implement a more traditional,Dark Souls-style approach to builds.
Players are given a choice of classes at the game’s outset but then have the ability to allocate skill points in various stats and get immediate readouts of how these skills will impact Eryk’s performance. And, just likeHollow KnightorDark Souls, rushing into encounters without observing enemy behavior and movesets is a surefire recipe for disaster. Surprisingly,The Last Faithstrikes an enjoyable balance between Soulslike difficulty and the cannon-fodder enemies of many indie Metroidvania titles in a way very similar toHollow Knight.
Weaker enemies will quickly fall under Eryk’s blade, but tougher, more complex foes will require a delicate dance back and forth before toppling.Hollow Knightis both one of the earliest Soulsvania games and one of the subgenre’s best thanks to its understanding of what makesboth Metroidvanias and Soulslikestick, andThe Last Faithis positioned as an excellent successor in the wake ofSilksong’s prolonged absence.
