God of War vs Hollow Knight
God of War is an action-adventure action-RPG game from Santa Monica Studio (2005) while Hollow Knight is an open-world platformer game from Team Cherry (2017).
What each one is
Steam files God of War under Action-Adventure and Action-RPG. In contrast, it files Hollow Knight under Open-World and Platformer.
His vengeance against the Gods of Olympus years behind him, Kratos now lives as a man in the realm of Norse Gods and monsters. It is in this harsh, unforgiving world that he must fight to survive… and teach his son to do the same.
Forge your own path in Hollow Knight! An epic action adventure through a vast ruined kingdom of insects and heroes. Explore twisting caverns, battle tainted creatures and befriend bizarre bugs, all in a classic, hand-drawn 2D style.
At a glance
| God of War | Hollow Knight | |
|---|---|---|
| GamingPickz Score | 8.6/10 | 8.9/10 |
| Steam rating | Overwhelmingly Positive (96%, 184,172) | Overwhelmingly Positive (97%, 559,290) |
| Critic aggregate | 93/100 | 87/100 |
| Price | $49.99 | $14.99 |
| Install size | 70 GB | 9 GB |
| Steam Deck | verified | verified |
| Released | 2005 | 2017 |
| Developer | Santa Monica Studio | Team Cherry |
Prices and Steam ratings are read live and move over time.
God of War vs Hollow Knight, point by point
Each facet side by side. A round is marked won only where a figure settles it; feel and "which is better" carry no mark, because no number we hold decides them.
Genre and premise
God of WarAction-adventure action-RPG gameHollow KnightOpen-world platformer gameWhat each is filed as. Each game describes itself in full above; we do not judge a premise.
How it plays
God of WarAction, Story Rich, MythologyHollow KnightMetroidvania, Souls-like, PlatformerThe tags players apply most, in order of votes. A read on feel, not a verdict.
Reception
God of WarScore 8.6 · 96% on Steam · 93 criticHollow Knight ✓Score 8.9 · 97% on Steam · 87 criticThe GamingPickz Score is a composite of player sentiment, critics and popularity, computed the same way for every game.
Content and scale
God of War184,172 reviews · 70 GBHollow Knight559,290 reviews · 2 add-ons · 9 GBReach and footprint, not quality: more reviews or a bigger install is not a better game.
Price
God of War$49.99Hollow Knight ✓$14.99Read live from Steam and subject to change.
On a Steam Deck
God of WarVerifiedHollow KnightVerifiedValve's own Deck compatibility rating.
Hollow Knight takes 2 of the marked rounds to 0. That is only what a number can decide, not which you will enjoy more.
The two on the grid
Compare the whole catalogueGod of War and Hollow Knight on the axes the GamingPickz Score is built from, on the full 0 to 100 scale so each dot is its real position. Change either axis to compare them on any measure.
2 games have both
Players. The share of Steam reviews marked positive, pulled toward the catalogue average in proportion to how few reviews stand behind it. A game with 200 reviews moves a long way toward the average; one with 200,000 barely moves at all. Without this a title sitting at 100 percent on nine reviews outranks Half-Life 2 at 98 percent on 278,000.
Popularity. A blend of two things that are not the same. Audience is how many people wrote a Steam review, which is a floor on how many played it. Reach is how many language editions of Wikipedia document the game, which is cultural footprint rather than sales. A game can score high on one and low on the other: a huge free-to-play title has audience without reach, and a landmark console exclusive has reach without a Steam audience at all. Where both exist they are averaged; where only one does, that one carries it.
- PC
- PlayStation
Every point links to that game's entry. The value map and the reception map are fixed views of the same data.
How positions are decided
No paid placement, no favouritism, live third-party data
- Placed by the published method, not by us. Every coordinate is computed from the axis definitions and weights printed on this site. Nobody moves a point. See the axes.
- Nothing here is paid for. No sponsored placements, no promoted slots, no arrangement of any kind affects a position. If that ever changes it will be labelled and sit outside the ranking.
- No favouritism, including our own. The 16 games we have written full reviews of are scored by exactly the same formula as the other 1,510, from the same third-party inputs, and they land where it puts them. Our own opinion of a game does not enter its coordinates.
- A position is not an endorsement. It says how a game was received and what it costs, not that we recommend it. Where we do recommend something, it carries a written review with a name on it.
- Fetched from live third-party data. Player sentiment from Steam, critic aggregates as published on store pages, prices checked hourly, attention from Wikipedia. Each figure carries its source and the date it was read, and we do not adjust any of them.
Which to pick, by what you want
- The higher-rated of the two: Hollow Knight (GamingPickz Score 8.9)
- The cheaper right now: Hollow Knight ($14.99)
- Lighter on storage: Hollow Knight (9 GB)
- The safer bet by weight of reviews: Hollow Knight (559,290 reviews)
What they have in common
Both are tagged by Steam players with:
ActionSingleplayerStory RichAdventureOpen WorldExplorationAtmosphericSouls-like
Where they differ
MythologyCombatThird PersonRPGHack and SlashViolent
MetroidvaniaPlatformerGreat Soundtrack2DDifficultIndie
Tags players apply to one game and not the other.
Difficulty and who each is for
By the tags players apply, God of War is demanding, for players who want a challenge. Hollow Knight is demanding, for players who want a challenge.
System requirements, side by side
| God of War | Hollow Knight | |
|---|---|---|
| Minimum GPU | NVIDIA GTX 960 (4 GB) | GeForce GTX 560 Ti (1GB) |
| Minimum CPU | Intel i5-2500k (4 core 3.3 GHz) | Intel Core i3-3240, AMD FX-4300 |
| Minimum RAM | 8 GB | 4 GB |
| Install size | 70 GB | 9 GB |
Can your PC run them? Check each against your own kit: God of War · Hollow Knight.
Accessibility features
Steam store pages declare 12 accessibility features for God of War and 1 for Hollow Knight. A declaration is a floor, not a review.
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Common questions
How different are God of War and Hollow Knight in scope?
God of War has drawn 184,172 Steam reviews and installs in 70 GB. Hollow Knight has drawn 559,290 Steam reviews, ships 2 add-ons and installs in 9 GB.
Is God of War or Hollow Knight better?
By the GamingPickz Score, Hollow Knight rates higher (8.9 to 8.6). That is a composite of player sentiment, the critic aggregate and popularity, not our taste. "Better" also depends on price, length and platform, which the table above lays out.
Which is cheaper, God of War or Hollow Knight?
Hollow Knight is cheaper right now at $14.99, against $49.99. Prices move, so this is read live from Steam and can change.
Do you rank one above the other for a fee?
No. Neither game, nor anyone else, pays for placement or a verdict here. The order and every figure come out of the same public data the rest of the site uses.
Related comparisons
How we compare, and what we will not do
The GamingPickz Score is a composite of player sentiment (adjusted for sample size), the critic aggregate and popularity, computed by the same code every ranked list on this site uses. The Steam rating label is Valve's own, reconstructed from the positive percentage and review count. Prices are read live. We do not write an opinion of which game is "better": we report the numbers and say which wins each measurable question above.