Gleamlight Publisher Responds To Accusations Of Game Being A Hollow Knight "Ripoff"

It isn't just the art style, the animation, movement, and even some of the sound effects look and sound like Hollow Knight. I'll wait and see before I call it a straight-up rip off, but yeah, it's hard to argue that it isn't.

Then I guess every fps ever created is ripping off Wolfenstein 3D. Who cares. Let people make what ever the f@*$ they want.

Just like with that Cuphead ripoff...

@Joeynator3000 Or the one PS4 game that looks like BotW and that guy broke his PS4 in protest lol.

@Spoony_Tech I'm not a Sony person so i didn't know that one. xD

I think this is a prime example of how dumb the general gaming audience is. Having more of something you like is not a bad thing. Mind-boggling how whiny people are about this. The more HK inspired games we get the better! This and Greak looks really nice. HK is a top 5 game of the decade, of course its going to be influential. Also the difference between taking inspiration from and ripping off is lost on a lot of people. In fact, people using "rip off" to describe games is a clear indicator for me not to trust their opinion, as they clearly don't put much thought into them.

@Joeynator3000 It was a story here lol.

https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2019/08/random_zelda_fan_smashes_ps4_in_rage_as_breath_of_the_wild_clone_genshin_impact_is_revealed

I am so done with people being so negative about literally everything lately. Even when a game is accepted as being original, people whine (I’d love to use a different word, but let's be civil) about looks, moves, colors, story, setting, etc.. Just quit it people, let developers make their games, play m, then have an opinion on if you like it or not and then move on. If you think you’ll hate it before even playing, don’t touch it and move on.

Developers have a hard time as is. Being bullied by half of the globe is definitely not going to help them create new content for us.

People say they comment because of love for the franchise, but lately there is so much negativity it’s more like people are frustrated with their lives and want to lash out where they can. Just stop it people, move on, live and let live.

I thought it was Hollow Knight lol

Well, at least the title is getting a lot of attention...but whether it translates to sales is another issue.

@Spoony_Tech Oh yeah, that game...eh, aside from the visual style that game doesn't really seem like a BotW ripoff. shrugs

This game actually looked really slow and boring tbh. It was one of the weakest games of the whole presentation. I don’t blame them being defensive about it, but it didn’t present at all in a way that interests me when it eventually does come out. That Hollow Knight sequel though... that’s a day one purchase

I Can't Believe It's Not Hollow Knight! Seriously, that was my first impression and I'm glad I'm not alone in thinking this.

...but then they're all copies of super mario... or to coin the 90's phrase all FPS games are 'Doom clones' (sorry Wolfenstein). Metroidvania anyone? Who cares!! Why so negative! And most of these comments are just copies of the first one anyway!!

So I guess when a band or artist creates a new defining style and then other artists enjoy it enough to do their own take on that genre, they are ripping it off and are not entitled to exist? Better go on the warpath, everyone, we have a lot of catching up to do.

Most of it didn’t look like stained glass to me. It looks like Hollow Knight. That’s not an indictment, I’m just calling it like I see it.

Little Briar Rose is very promising looking game, that actually looks like beautiful stained glass.

@codyf Well said. I couldn't put it any better myself. People have a choice - you either buy the game or you don't. It's that simple.

Well I thought they were the same developers. The resemblance is uncanny. Hollow Knight was great though, so I'm excited.

I love Hollow Knight and can't wait for Hollow Knight Silksong. The source of inspiration and influence for Gleamlight are obvious, but it doesn't look like a bad game. You can call it a rip-off, but at least it rips off from the best. And to be honest, 50 seconds of gameplay isn't enough to form a complete picture of the game.

This game is a rip off of many things, mostly Hollow knight and the main character is Orko from Masters of the Universe. There is also influence from Bloodstained. I think this developer sucks for doing blatant rip offs. Even though I liked the trailer, he is not getting my money. Instead I will get Silksong, Bloodstained DLC and watch some good old He-Man episodes.

Playing through Hollow Knight right now and when I first saw gleamlight it didn't remind me of it at all. Gleamlight looks boring as swear word.

Edit looking at it again on a big screen and paying attention it definitely is ripping of the style for the world and the main character. The enemies look unique and that's about it. Still looks boring.

I think it’s more concerning that the main character is obviuosly a rip-off of Orko from He-man😳😂

Why do people keep defending games that obviously didn‘t only “draw inspiration“ from another game but flat out copied most of it? I mean if Hollow Knight wasn‘t such a recent and succesful game then nobody would care perhaps but since it is it‘s hard to not call this game a rip-off.
And I get it, there are a lot of Metroidvanias out there so technically you could call them all a Super Metroid or Castlevania clone but the point is they‘re not. They expand on the formula and put a personal spin on it. This game as far as the trailer goes doesn‘t do so.

I thought it was a hollow Knight expansion.. clearly I was mistaken 😂

Developers: Let's make a fun game.
Gamers: Um, this game looks like it copied such and such game.
Developers: Our game took everything, I mean inspiration from that game.

The title even rhymes!!

The color palette is definitely more Hollow Knight than stained glass. Stained glass was super colorful, not blue and gray. But it’s not a bad thing, Hollow Knight was heavily inspired by Dark Souls after all.

And Hollow Knight is an Ori ripoff.

"GLEAMLIGHT IS A BOOTLEG HK!"
"EP IS A BOOTLEG CUPHEAD!"
"POLYROLL IS A BOOTLEG SONIC!"
"RBUK IS A BOOTLEG UNIKITTY!"
Jesus Christ, just shut up and at least let the game release first before judging it as a ripoff. I have seen so many people call so many games and cartoons ripoffs this year. If we only had one game for each genre, the vast collection of games we have now would be non-existing. Art inspires art, and as long as the developers try not to copy the existing work frame by frame and add their own ideas to the mix, then it isn't copyright infringement.

I thougt it was a hollow knight sequel when It first got unveiled but im still interested. It definitely has the look of hollow knight to it so they can't be caught off guard by the fact that people are saying it. Nonetheless, it's looking like decent one to add to my probabaly list.

On a side note though: there's a few games I see on the eshop that remind me of hollow knight and i don't recall anyone talking about it.

Yea, I don't usually pile on for stuff like this, but as someone who beat Hollow Knight after dozens and dozens of hours... that's a Hollow Knight clone lol

I'd worry more about the blatant ripoff of a Masters of the Universe character if I were the Gleamlight developers.

@Ricowtje Or maybe people are just voicing criticism and it has nothing to do with their mood.

I think it's fair to say it's not inspired. Doesn't mean it won't be fine or even a decent game. Just call it what it is though lol. No reason to limit communication about it.

Yeah, if people think something is a rip-off of something else they have more than a right to say that they think as such.
It really does look like it's copying HK, and I can say that confidently even though I haven't actually played Hollow Knight, lol. They could've at least admitted they were inspired by it.
Also, an imitation isn't necessarily as good as the real thing. I find it weird that some people are acting like someone copying something good automatically means we get more good things, it doesn't really work like that. But time will tell, and hopefully the game becomes more distinct and proves to be more than just a hollow Hollow Knight.

It looks bad honestly lol.

Looks like a rip off to me, however I loved hollow knight so more of the same is cool. Just wish they didn’t do the aesthetics so similarly. The minimal lighting and dark haze gets annoying in abundance.

I get the argument that Hollow Knight itself borrows from Dark Souls and Metroid/Castlevania but Hollow Knight does A LOT to really stand on it's own feet. Hollow Knight is different in that it somehow takes from all it's influences, with keen eyes, and with great construction and confidence and crafts something that feels fresh yet classic. Those ideas refined to a higher point. Hollow Knight does enough to establish itself as THE HOLLOW KNIGHT indie darling and for many one of the best in the genre and what many would call a "modern masterpiece" title.

I do feel like this game does look like it's ripping from Hollow Knight's "style". I don't really care if a creator wants to make another cuphead or another hollow knight but I think it's disingenuous to not have a conversation about this trend and some of it's problems. Obviously this kind of thing has happened in gaming since gaming's birth. Rampant ripping off had it's role in the game crash.

I don't think the problem itself is wanting to make your own Metroid or Ninja Gaiden. The problem is that when it happens in a trend like this than it's less about artistic intention (like in the case of Hollow Knight which truly honors it's source material while simultaneously expanding and making a new experience out of it.) It's more like cashing in on a recent financial and pop cultural success of a title. It's lifeless and soulless. Just from this last indie direct , Not only did I see a Hollow Knight-like game, but I saw an Overcooked-like game, and a Monster Hunter-like game. We recently saw a cuphead-like game and at the game awards I saw a Chinese Seikiro-like game. This trend leads to me to believe more in the financial driven reasons to pursue these choices who ALL just happen to be huge hits.

That's NOT always the case sometimes you'll see developers make their own version of another game and it's so blatant but it's also because the original source was really lacking in some ways and their version ends up being the best version of that experience so it comes from a noble place of not just mimicking. However I don't think the new cuphead-like or hollow knight-like game look or match the source's ambition. Like if you were going to do that than GO BIG OR GO HOME. Than it would be fine. However that's not even the case either with these games and with Silksong coming out and being the actual BIGGER and more ambitious version of Hollow Knight than it also makes it look more suspect in direction as well.

At the end of the day people and companies looking to make a name in a flooded gaming market are gonna do what they're gonna do. Make something maybe with less soul, honor, and ambition than the source. Plenty enough gamers may be satisfied with the lesser meal or enjoy it enough until the main course is served again by the real deal. However it's annoying to also complain about people pointing out these industry trends and calling them out for what they are as well. The inspiration is obvious so just say the obvious here. It's whatever.

The only thing that bugs me is seeing fans of Hollow Knight not honor enough what it's creators did and what makes Hollow Knight actually unique and it's own thing. To act like whatever these guys are doing is just the same. Hollow Knight is so refined and constructed with such care that Hollow Knight is Hollow Knight. An inspired yet elevated experience. To see something on the other hand inspired by something that was inspired by something else and not even show the same level or promise yet its eh... Not saying it can't exist but people should still know what they're getting into and acknowledge what's happening with a observant eye.

Honestly, while it's the same genre and the game happens underground, I find it a stretch to say that it's a hollow knight clone. I've seen a multitude of games with similar style and also using the background art in this way. It's nothing new and it's not going to be the last time.
Hollow knight looked better, smoother and the atmosphere it created was simply incredible. Nevertheless, everything they used has been used before one way or the other except maybe not in the combination that we saw in hollow knight.

I still wonder why people whining about lookalike games. If everything needs to be original, there should be like 100 games max in the world as all the games of today own at least something that looks like it’s copied from another game.

If people think they can do it better, why not create your own game then? Prove the developers they should do better, who wants to bet 99% can’t?

Like I previously stated, stop whining and don’t play it if you don’t like it.

That was my very first thought when I saw it too.

Yeah, this is quite clearly emulating the feel of hollow knight, though the animation sucks to your assmar, piggy. Hollow knight felt hand-drawn, this feels like flash animation. Flash animation wearing the skin of something better. HARD pass.

Fans of a handdrawn metroidvania accuse another handdrawn metroidvania of being a rip-off?

That's rich.

We've had at least a hundred metroidvanias the past decade. Some of them are going to look similar.

@AnotherGoblin
Plagiarism, though?
What exactly is this game borrowing that warrants such a word?

The more the merrier. Bring it on.

Looks and sounds like hollow knight but worse. But anyway, just release it and let the audience be the judges.

What i do see in the trailer is pretty lackluster tho. But maybe I'll play both to compare. Look at that, capitalism is the real winner here!

When convenient, it is "inspired by"... when not "rip-off"

Loved Hollow Knight - but lets be realistic - it was "like" other games of the genre I had played just with better art.

I'll take another game like "them" on Switch (great on the platform)... but this needs a bit of work.

Wow. I can see why people are saying it looks like a copy and intentional or not it looks very similar to HK. The good thing is that game is awesome so hopefully this will be too!

Well, it's suspiciously close, people who say otherwise probably never played Hollow Knight, it has lots of areas and some of them were similar to the ones in Gleamlight, plus... everything else? Lightning, movement...
Even if you say there's nothing wrong with inspiration, the developers denied inspiration themselves
I'll give them the benefit of doubt though, maybe it was just unfortunate, must feel so bad releasing your work and something else pretty similar was released first

Wait until everyone learns that Hollow Knight takes after Castlevania.

If you like Hollow Knight and this turns out to still be good, then congrats, you have another good game like Hollow Knight. That isn't something to complain about, imo.

Hollow Knight takes inspiration from Metroid and Castlevania which is fine,but this game pretty much looks like a copy paste job,which is not ok in my book

i have no idea what the hell everyones talking about

all the simularities i see people claim is minor at best

just because a game has similar elements, doesnt mean its a ripoff

he's a tiny guy with a tiny sword in caves in a metroid vania, thats really it

chill out

Welcome to 10s of thousands of years of art, someone had a similar idea to someone else. Who knew it was possible?

@koekiemonster lol me too, at a first glimpse i thought it was a new dlc

Rip-off or not, all that matters is whether it's fun. I hope there's a demo, because it seems like there might be trouble finding an unbiased review...

Well the first thing I thought when seeing the trailer was how it looked or at least made me feel the same way as Hollow Knight, watching it. That may not have been intentional on their part, but the fact remains. And that's a great game to be compared to, so no worries as far as I'm concerned.

The problem here is that unlike Hollow Knight that was clearly different from Castlevania, this has similar environments and enemies. Not to mention the attack animations and sound effects seem to be virtually identical. I have no authority to seem something a rip-off, but I can understand why people compare the too. It's almost too uncanny.

@NullPointerExcep
For 'metroidvania' as a genre there has been quite many entries in the years before Hollow Knight that you could compare it to, rather than going for quite old actual Metroid and Castlevania games.

Again with the "ripoff" buzzword. That sound you hear, dear fans, is the whole industry since at least the late 80s laughing at the notion. It's one thing to verify and call out actual plagiarism (which, however, the studios involved are generally capable of by themselves, and naturally have a keener perspective in), but following remarkable examples and trying on some elements for oneself is pretty much how games and franchises become genres. Magical Doropie drew a lot of Mega Man comparisons up to sprite and animation similarities but also had its own distinct plot and lore and arguably did some things better than (or even ahead of) the Mega Man games. And the plethora of top-down JRPGs that followed Dragon Quest? And the plethora of kart racers with renowned characters and various items that followed Mario Kart? And all the stuff we condescendingly label "Zelda clones" and "Soulsborne clones"? Or that recently announced game we panned for "copying Cuphead" rather than appreciate that Cuphead's impact may be giving the retro animation styles a chance for some longevity in video games and even possibly some resurgence beyond? Without these so-called "clones" and "ripoffs" there would be no Hollow Knight either.

And I don't recall a second of HK vibe in Gleamlight trailer myself. How much of HK even boasts a primarily stainglass-inspired style and lack of traditional UI the trailer openly advertised? The screenshots compared in the comments above only serve to make the differences starker.

@codyf no matter what u say it’s still a rip-off

@Pod agreed agreed, but I was just trying to show that HK and GL simply have more similarities between them than anything else
Still kinda baffled people don't see where comparisons are coming from, you just dismissed it as just both being hand-drawn, somebody else just dismissed it as both having tiny characters with a tiny sword in caves, and yeah, it's both, plus character movement, and dark souls inspired story-telling
To be fair, the designs are not bug-themed plus the upgrades could be drastically different, but for what was shown, they're similar
Still, kinda evil calling it a rip-off, at least reviews will clear things up

My biggest concern was how the premise of stained glass artwork was not nearly living up to its potential in this game. They really should go a step or two more towards that goal.

Makes sense for it to be atmospheric, with light being localized with a premise like that, which is a part of the aesthetic that is similar to Hollow Knight, and I did think of Hollow Knight, but I think the term "rip-off" is thrown around a bit too flippantly, and like others have said, like it or not, games build on previous games.

Hollow Knight could be considered a rip-off of a couple other games I can think of with this same broad stroke, and the developers don't hide their influences. I do prefer when something is an original mash-up or take on previous games, and I'd put Hollow Knight more into that camp than this one appears to be so far.

Also, as @Kirby_Girl seems to suggest, allowing for some influences, even to a high degree, also can give us something that stands on its own and is quite more than a sum of its parts. Hollow Knight is nothing if not cohesive in theme, atmosphere, game play, and feel. That goes a long way to covering its direct influences and making it rise above the fray into something greatly appreciated by gamers.

I suppose you could just make a scale between carbon copy and wholly unique, but even that would discount how well it all works together and how fun a game is, which is probably much more important to someone who wants to play a good game.

@codyf nah lol Wolfenstein 3d didn't have height (shooting enemies above) nor platforming so Doom lol would be better to say.
Character looks like Orko from he-man lol.

The more high quality Metroidvanias / action platformers the better. Just as any game in general.

But I must say I was really let down by the art style, specially after the guy mentioned something like "a beautiful word inspired by stained glass" etc. I just can't see that in the game itself, as for me the art does not stand out, seems generic.

@MrVariant no it wouldn't. I'm using the first fps made as an example

@Sac_instead who cares. Get the f@#$ over it pleeb.

@codyf just having fun. It's like comparing platformers to original Mario when Mario 3 added more.

Wah wah wah. So what if it is? The whole media industry thrives on taking inspiration and/or twisting things they like from others.

Where would the entire game industry be if they didn't?

@NullPointerExcep
I see the similarities too. Though as you say, calling it a rip-off is a stretch. Particularly when none of what Hollow Knight did was original enough for a comparison to be called "Hollow Knight style" instead of "Dark Souls style". ^^

Everything nowadays for the most part is inspired by other games of the past, I don't think you should judge a game as a rip off until it comes out. If you play the game and it hits the same exact beats then yes at that point call it a rip off.

Hollow knight looks soooo much better!