Highlights

  • Crowsworn is an indie game influenced by both Bloodborne and Hollow Knight, implementing unique visual, atmospheric, and combat mechanics.
  • The game draws inspiration from Hollow Knight, featuring similar visual style, combat mechanics, progression, and boss battles.
  • Crowsworn captures the Gothic and moody atmosphere of Bloodborne, with its dark world, plague doctor mask, and cosmic horror undertones.

Mongoose Rodeo is working on a game called Crowsworn, which looks like it could be the lovechild of Bloodborne and Hollow Knight. Crowsworn is far from the first indie game to be inspired by Hollow Knight, but it seems to be implementing some interesting visual, atmospheric, and mechanical changes, potentially shaking up the moment-to-moment gameplay of the Metroidvania formula.

Hollow Knight and Bloodborne are both unique when it comes to their impact on the games industry. Specifically, both titles made a huge splash upon release, and would wind up becoming wildly influential in the worlds of AAA and indie gaming, despite being stand-alone releases; Hollow Knight's sequel still doesn't have a firm release date, and a Bloodborne sequel has never been confirmed. If anything, though, the fact that both of these games have yet to receive follow-ups may be encouraging other developers to take inspiration from them, as both players and game-makers hope to recapture the spirit of these seminal titles.

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Crowsworn Wears Its Bloodborne and Hollow Knight Influences On Its Sleeve

Games like Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown draw from Hollow Knight, while brooding Soulslikes like Lies of P are clearly inspired by Bloodborne, but few games seem to pull from both wells. Enter Crowsworn, a 2D Metroidvania platformer that takes more than a few cues from both Team Cherry and FromSoftware.

Crowsworn's Design Fundamentals Are Like Hollow Knight's

Anyone who has even a passing familiarity with Hollow Knight will likely be able to see its impact on Crowsworn. Mongoose Rodeo appears to be adopting a visual style that is quite similar to the 2017 Metroidvania classic, but the parallels run deeper than that: several key Hollow Knight quirks and features seem to be present in Crowsworn, with the straightforward yet precise hack-and-slash combat and tight traversal mechanics being among the most apparent. Progression mechanics and boss battles also appear to be similar to Hollow Knight.

Even specific aspects of Hollow Knight 's combat, such as 'nail-jumping', appear to be included in Crowsworn .

The Atmosphere and Aesthetic of Crowsworn Feel Right Out Of Bloodborne

A key part of Bloodborne's unique identity is the atmosphere that comes by way of its setting and visual style. The game's dreary, Gothic, moody aesthetic is central to its overall legacy, and it looks like these elements have bled into Crowsworn, which translates some of Bloodborne's lore-specific motifs and iconography to the 2D Metroidvania framework.

Crowsworn features a dark and Gothic world, transformed into an apocalyptic nightmare reminiscent of the plague that befalls Yharnam in Bloodborne. The player-character dons a plague doctor mask and typical 1800s formal attire, and wields a scythe and a pair of pistols that feel like they would be perfectly at home in Bloodborne. These stylistic choices, on top of the disturbing undertones that seem to pervade the game (evident in inclusions like the decidedly more macabre take on Hollow Knight's charm system), channel the energy of FromSoftware's cosmic horror classic.

One could argue that Crowsworn may be too similar to its influences, but there is reason to be optimistic about the game, as while it's highly evocative of both Hollow Knight and Bloodborne, blending the unique elements of those games could lead to something fresh and exciting. If Crowsworn manages to throw in enough of its own original ideas, and maybe even improve upon certain aspects of Hollow Knight or Bloodborne, it may very well end up being a special experience, and a great companion piece to the next Hollow Knight or Bloodborne game, if the latter ever ends up coming to fruition.