Celeste vs Hollow Knight
The short answer
Celeste is a precision platformer; Hollow Knight is a metroidvania. Celeste is a series of single-screen challenges with instant restarts and a story about anxiety. Hollow Knight is a huge interconnected world with real combat. Both are excellent and they scratch different itches entirely.
What they have in common
Both are 2D, both are hard, and both are unusually kind about it — Celeste with assist mode, Hollow Knight with generous benches.
Pick Celeste if you want to master a movement system.
Dash, climb, and about four hundred rooms that each teach you one thing. Deaths cost you a second. The B-sides and C-sides are among the hardest platforming ever designed, and none of it is compulsory.
Pick Hollow Knight if you want a world to get lost in.
Forty hours, a map you have to earn, and combat that keeps deepening. Much less about pure execution, much more about exploration.
Frequently asked questions
Should I play Celeste or Hollow Knight?
Celeste is a precision platformer; Hollow Knight is a metroidvania. Celeste is a series of single-screen challenges with instant restarts and a story about anxiety. Hollow Knight is a huge interconnected world with real combat. Both are excellent and they scratch different itches entirely.
What do Celeste and Hollow Knight have in common?
Both are 2D, both are hard, and both are unusually kind about it — Celeste with assist mode, Hollow Knight with generous benches.
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* Affiliate links. We may earn a commission at no extra cost to you.
More head-to-heads are on the comparisons page.
