Hollow Knight - City of Tears (Indoors + Outdoors) | Reacting To Video Game Music! 

When you reach the City of Tears, I'd say it's like entering the second act of the game. The world opens up a lot more after you get here. You don't hear the song like this in the actual game exactly, but the song does seamlessly transition depending on whether you're indoors or outdoors. The first part of this video switches between the indoor section and the outdoor section (the soft piano version is indoor, outdoor uses the vocals and those crescendos), but at the end both are playing simultaneously.

City of Tears was the moment where I was like “I want to help this world. No matter how screwed it is”.

Hollow knight is generally considered the best overall metroidvania to come out in recent years. Definitely worth the playthrough, it's combat/platforming mechanics have inspired many MANY games that followed it. Not only is it a unique game in terms of looks and premise, but the gameplay side of things still is one of the most refined feeling in the entire genre.

City of tears is a weird location. It feels like the end of the game for players new to it, but its where the game really starts to even have a direction. If you're a souls player, it's anor londo; midgame shift that feels like the end of the game You approach from inside a building, meeting one of the first npcs you ever met again, the music is muffled and you take a break with him to talk and rest, before you descend into what feels like a very big modern area. You ride the elevator out of the tower you arrived in and the city proper greets you, with rain pouring despite being deep in a cavern and the "vocals" kick in when you're outside. Anytime your indoors the vocals mostly lie dormant. There's even an area where everything fades out an npc does her own rendition of the song. Hollow knight SPIRALS into a huge world, its significantly bigger than most people assume it is when starting and each area has its own feel. The operatic soul sanctum, the rustic greenpath and even the somber city of tears. I'd probably say it's my favorite game outright. incredibly snappy combat, lots to explore and the world is this wonderful mix of being very oppressive and scary yet unique and homey

The transition in the game is so well done. The quiet, piano driven part plays through the first few rooms of the level, where you make your way through a building. You see glimpses of the world outside, but it's not until you step outside into the rain and see the full breadth of the setting - a magnificent steel city, reaching far into the caverns above, drenched in an eternal, never-ending rain - that you hear the choir, the strings, the swells of the full orchestra. Hollow Knight is a game about exploring the ruins of a fallen kingdom, and this is the first time you really get to see just how magnificent the kingdom used to be, and how much was lost when it fell.

The soul sanctum takes this melody and creates an epic boss theme id think it’s worth a listen (tho for all that is holy listen to Grimm and nightmare king)

If you do play Hollow Knight, make sure to play it alone in the dark. It's not a horror game per se, but it's dripping with atmosphere, and creates an immersion that is honestly unmatched. I can't think of another game where I ever lost myself in it as much as this. That makes the very melancholic abd introspective tone of the game all the more bittersweet, which is probably the perfect adjective to describe this game. Even one of the characters, looking over the city from a tower says something along these lines: "I'm not sure if I should be sad it's ruined, or happy that I still get to see it."

Song mentioned in this video; Philip Wesley - Dark Night Of The Soul ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-RSATB6x6j8Y.html

HK is easily one of the greatest games ever made. The music, the story, the lore, the ambiance, the art, is all perfect. The exploration is engrossing and vast, and, of course, the combat is crisp and extremely satisfying.

Finally more Hollow Knight! I hope you can get around to my request too. Glad you like the songs so far

Listen to the Grimm troube or nightmare king Grimm and trust your gonna LOVE those because they're super metal

The sequel to Hollow Knight is supposed to finally be coming out within the next year or so. Hollow Knight - Silk Song. Same composer as the original so I'm sure we'll be in for a treat.

Hollow knight is one of the few games that actually let me get lost in its world (figuratively and literally). The unique atmosphere is what originally drew me in (the ost is amazing but also love the storybook art style) but the attention to detail in characters and environments made me want to explore every inch of the world. The ost is mostly composed by Christopher Larkin along with a few other very talented artists. You’re spot on with the classical inspirations for most of the soundtrack and the way songs are used. With the large maps associated with each area there are typically many different variations of tracks depending on the situation. The ost overall is very diverse but if I had to describe it I’d say melancholy, nostalgic, and unresolved, but still somewhat hopeful. Something that can be a road block in these types of games is the fact that it can be easy to get lost, but what I love about hollow knight is that many of the places you get “lost”in end up giving you something new to gain or remember for later. It was a good thing to keep in mind when I felt stuck. The same studio is creating a kind of sequel called hollow knight: silk song (no release date yet), so look out for that!

A long forgotten majestic kingdom, that has fallen into ruin. You can see remnants of that majesty, through the damaged intricate buildings, the scalped statues, the beauty in all of creation in this city, the central fountain on the screenshot, but also in the music. Only it feels abandoned, lonely,. Its always raining in this city, so the title is very fitting. It also feels sad, cause you can feel that this was once the center of the whole world, but no more. Something happened, but part of that beauty can still be felt. Yeah, that's hollow knight. Amazing feelings all throughout, "show" not "tell" kind of storytelling. The insane artwork and the mesmerizing music was all that you needed, to read the story. Beyond beautiful. A masterpiece indeed.

I really like this theme, very glad your reacting to it. If you would like to listen more music from hollow knight I think that you would love "Grimm\ Nightmare King" Grimm is a boss in hollow knight, and known as one of the hardest bosses in the game. He's also my personal favorite character in hollow knight, if you would like some lore I would gladly give you some. Grimm is the master of the "Grimm Troupe" which goes around the world looking for dead or dieing kingdoms, they do this so they can get the rest of the dead kingdoms essence, which they feed to the god they worship called the "Nightmare Heart" they do this so that the nightmare heart can live and so the troupe master Grimm can be reborn. I really love hollow knight, and the lore is even better! really hope you give the music or the game a try. But anyway that's all I got to say, so cya! (Keep up the great content btw!)

I think you would love this game, Jesse - to be fair, everyone does.

You should definitely try this game, it has the same quality as AAA games, don't get fooled by the 2D aspect.

As beautiful as the in-game theme is (even without the rain), i don't understand why anyone would recomend it instead of the official City of Tears ost. It's shorter, sure, but so much sweeter. Either way, I'd love to see you react to more Hollow Knight!

This (game, but also specifically this track from it) is one of my biggest motivators for wanting to learn piano. There's soooo many good background tracks and every breakdown I've heard has left me wanting to know more about music theory and how to play. Resting Grounds a really good one for piano as well, that's the main one I've been spending time trying to learn

this game is peak storytelling.

Hollow Knight is a masterpiece. Strong recommendation if you like metroidvania type games.

the game is a fun metroidvania with an amazing fitting soundtrack. i remember peaople saying if old musicians from 300 years ago made music for games, it would sound like hollow knight's soundtrack. i hope you will listen to more of it, and i think you might enjoy the game.

You can't hear this specific version in game iirc but the versions you do hear are pretty similar

The City of Tears is my absolute favorite part of the game. It just oozes atmosphere, and frankly the music alone doesn't do it justice - you NEED the visuals working in tandem (along with the lore) to really grasp the magnitude of it all, of the tragedy that has befallen bug kind. I prefer the outdoor variant, because it's louder and more dramatic.

Hollow Knight is one of the best games created! It's so good: story, game mechanics, level design, story and MUSIC. I wish I could re-experience it for the first time again, hope you enjoy it on your own time :)

I love this theme so much. Oh yeah you can hear it both together in game

SOMEONE PLZ, request him a mantis lords plus sisters of battle. i wanna see the same faces he did on hornet video. ps: yeah,all the ost of this game is made by the genius Christopher Larkin, some things he do in this game is INSANE. the thing i most wait about the sequel of hollow knight is not even the game, of course i hoping to play this game, but i want to see the new songs larkin has made to this new game.

You really need to hear "sealed vessel", which is the final boss of the normal ending

Omg you have to play Hollow Knight

That’s an interesting composition of the song, tho I contend this is a song that is best heard in the game.

This may be my favorite standalone track from any video game ever

If you're looking for some real "MOOD" from the Hollow Knight OST, Crystal Peak has got you. And Greenpath is ready to assist. And if you're looking for a completely different kind of mood, this 'Press On Our Way/Final Destination' mix from Lost Judgement has got your back. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-2Fc85SIjv4k.html

Hollow Knight is great, but also fairly difficult. You should still play it though, I think ;D

Hope we get more!

9:55 not exactly, but yes!

Hey Jesse! Was in the Nier stream and recommended this :D

i will never forget the time i accidentally Dreamnailed Marissa

Ngl I had forgotten Philip Wesley from my 16yo playlists that I lost along with my old Spotify account. Gotta go back to listening to him

Nightmare king grimms ost would be cool. But no need to make it a priority.

PLEASE look into the path of pain ost. This isnt a game, its pure art.