Hollow Knight Lovers now have another excuse to play the game again. A group of ambitious fans has finally completed an impressive project: Hallownest Vocalized, a mod that brings voice acting to the game. It is available free for PC players and can be installed using the Scarab Mod Launcher.
This mod has an absolutely enormous scope. Not only main characters now have voice acting, but also bosses, ghosts, corpses (lol) and numerous item descriptions – including knowledge tablets, amulets and all descriptions and notes of the hunter’s journal. According to the YouTube video description more than a hundred voice actors
Hollow Knight had some sort of voice narration prior to this mod, but one that was gibberish in the language of bugs. Like many die-hard fans of the game, I’m incredibly attached to these original vocalizations. Shopkeeper Iselda greets you resignedly [sigh] fathercries the dung defender HOME HOME HOME
But the idea of a community project that brings voice acting to the actual text displayed is incredibly compelling, both as an example of what a fan community can create and as an artistic perspective. While Hollow Knight Lore is a bit controversial – I may have seen one too many Mosbag Videos – It is agreed that the gift (or curse) of sentience was given to the beetle-dwellers of Hallownest. Voice acting adds even more credence to this idea by bringing their voices to life. It also improves accessibility for people with visual impairments who find it difficult to read small text.
It’s worth noting that there are over 40 different people who have provided voice acting for Grubben, suggesting that each Grub has its own distinct speaking voice. Color Me Fascinated! (On the downside, folks downloading the mod will have to put up with the fact that Zote can talk.)
It’s an exciting way to keep busy while we all wait for the release of silk song, Hollow Knightthe eagerly awaited sequel.
