Hollow Knight really did revolutionize the Metroidvania genre, really rewarding the players' approach and skill levels in a game that was uniquely memorable at the time of its release. Understandably, it did very well commercially as a result, and the sequel picked up the reins and maintained that legacy, even if it didn't thrust it forward further.
As such, there have been plenty of games in the intervening period that aim to capture a similar magic, and in fairness, there are quite a few that managed to do so in some capacity. In fact, there's one game in particular that was created over the course of just a few days that, as well as being brilliant in its own right, could evoke some of the same feelings that Hollow Knight does.
Over on Steam, you should be able to find the store page for Deepest Sword, a challenging physics platformer where the goal is essentially to get to the end and plunge your sword into a dragon. As you might expect from that description, it's not a game that takes itself very seriously, and it's chock-full of innuendo and smutty humor.
Underneath that, though, is a genuinely brilliant game...
