I agree, the game turned out a bit too similar to Hollow Knight. I replayed it recently and still finishing the pantheons, it's basically hijacked my brain and I can't get inspired by anything else. Still, it was fun to create something similar to prove that I can. I was thinking that the gameplay of Hollow Knight is pretty simple, and wouldn't take a lot of time to implement, so I wanted to try it.
So far coming up with original ideas for a game is something that I'm struggling the most. I should definitely try to be more creative and experimental in my next jams.
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I know exactly what you mean. As a rule I try not to work on game concept that’s directly inspired by anything I just played for that reason. Recently I wanted to make a platformer and played Celeste for inspiration, found myself making Celeste. So I can definitely relate.
As an exercise in making an HK-style combat loop I think this game is a huge success, seriously. Good luck in your future efforts!