Hollow Knight
The difficulty of Hollow Knight got attention from reviewers and was talked about as challenging; Vikki Blake of Eurogamer called the game "ruthlessly tough, even occasionally unfair". For Nintendo World Reports Adam Abou-Nasr it also seemed unfair—he had "so frustratingly hard that I cannot recommend this game" angrily scrawled in his notes—but "it eventually clicked". Destructoid "never found any of the bosses to be unfair".  Destructoid and Nintendo World Report reviewers felt a sense of accomplishment after hard fights. Critics compared it to Dark Souls, noting the mechanic of losing currency on death and having to defeat a Shade to regain it. Destructoid liked this feature, as well as the holding down of a button to heal, because "they circumvent a couple of issues games have always had, namely appropriate punishment for failing, and a risk-reward system".