GamesThis Metroidvania isn’t even trying to hide the fact that it ripped off Hollow Knight’s skin and is wearing it like a jacketWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
GamesThis Metroidvania isn’t even trying to hide the fact that it ripped off Hollow Knight’s skin and is wearing it like a jacketWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
Deviator’s new trailer incidentally coincided with the release of Pokemon-like survival gamePalworld, which hasdrawn some criticismfor overlap with creature designs from the actual Pokemon games. But Palworldwishesit could rip something off this hard. Deviator does not simplylook likeHollow Knight. It assimilated Hollow Knight like The Thing. It put Hollow Knight through a vegetable sheet cutter and clothed itself in layers of Hollow Knight peelings.
It’s not just the UI, though it is also totally the UI. It’s in the main character’s walking, jumping, slashing, and dashing animations –especiallythe dash timing. It’s in the layered environments, the bioluminescent biomes, the toothy spikes, spinning saw blades, and stocky platforms – all eerily familiar. It’s in the bug-like enemies that crawl around, the resource caches you hit with your totally-not-a-Nail, the alabaster architecture, and the way bosses scream and shake and then vanish in a puff.
Here are some different style of levels that will appear in our official version of the game, The Church, The mechanical city, The Prison, and ‘Hitvis’ —— an academy of sages, but also full of collision of concepts.#DEVIATOR #indiedev #indiegame pic.twitter.com/M4uYG9OfZ6January 17, 2024
Here are some different style of levels that will appear in our official version of the game, The Church, The mechanical city, The Prison, and ‘Hitvis’ —— an academy of sages, but also full of collision of concepts.#DEVIATOR #indiedev #indiegame pic.twitter.com/M4uYG9OfZ6January 17, 2024
On Twitter, Chinese studioGamisaid in November that its team of five developers has been working on Deviator for two years. The game is described as a 2D hand-drawn Metroidvania where combat revolves around parrying attacks. I’ll tell you right now that if you were to try and trap me like a rabbit, your best bet would be using a Hollow Knight-like, parry-powered Metroidvania as bait. I’d ordinarily be all over this kind of game, but Deviator has gone so far into unrestrained copycat territory that I’m struggling to get over my suspicions and am having a hard time actually liking it.
Translation errors aren’t doing Deviator any favors – “very easy, but I’m dying,” the Steam page exclaims – but I’m willing to chalk that up to the language barrier for the time being. (The “FPS: 16” counter in its lead Steam image isn’t helping, either.) I’m trying really hard to give this game the benefit of the doubt as some sort of overwrought love letter, but it’s just so blatant. Deviator has a Steam demo coming February 1, so that’ll be a chance to see if it can at least walk the walk.
Meanwhile: Hollow Knight Silksong playtester apologizes after telling players"there simply are no f****ing updates."
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1Nemesis review: “A magical sense of tension”
1Nemesis review: “A magical sense of tension”
1
Nemesis review: “A magical sense of tension”
2Arcs review: “A whole lot of game in a small package”
2Arcs review: “A whole lot of game in a small package”
2
Arcs review: “A whole lot of game in a small package”
3Path of Exile 2 review: “A stellar start to a thrilling and brutal dark adventure”
3Path of Exile 2 review: “A stellar start to a thrilling and brutal dark adventure”
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Path of Exile 2 review: “A stellar start to a thrilling and brutal dark adventure”
4Indiana Jones and the Great Circle review: “The best adventure Indy has embarked on in over 30 years”
4Indiana Jones and the Great Circle review: “The best adventure Indy has embarked on in over 30 years”
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5Marvel Rivals review: “So preoccupied with trying to be like Overwatch that it forgets to play to its own strengths”
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Marvel Rivals review: “So preoccupied with trying to be like Overwatch that it forgets to play to its own strengths”
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1Sonic the Hedgehog 3 review: “Keanu Reeves as Shadow is wasted whilst Jim Carrey steals the show”
1
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2Mufasa: The Lion King review – “It’s no Hakuna Matata but this Disney origin story is a class above the 2019 movie”
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3Kraven the Hunter review: “The insistence on an R-rating helps save this, with a decent helping of bloodthirsty action”
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4The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim review – “An uninspired expansion of the most iconic screen take on Tolkien”
4The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim review – “An uninspired expansion of the most iconic screen take on Tolkien”
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5Nightbitch review: “Amy Adams' disappointing dark comedy is all bark and no bite”
5Nightbitch review: “Amy Adams' disappointing dark comedy is all bark and no bite”
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5Cobra Kai season 6, part 2 review: “Returns to the sort of hard-hitting form that made it such a fan favorite in the first place”
5
Cobra Kai season 6, part 2 review: “Returns to the sort of hard-hitting form that made it such a fan favorite in the first place”