I loved Hollow Knight except for the same issue. By the time I gain a new traversal skill, I have so many paths to explore that I can’t remember them. Became all about meticulous backtracking, gave up.

Decided to give it another go. This time I found a map online, removed all icons and edited the image so it was just a simple outline with no spoilers. Printed it out. Marked it with notes and colour-coded symbols as I played. Made more progress, and exploration was way more fun.

Then I moved house and lost the map… I really love the game but just haven’t gotten the desire to try again just yet. No idea how everyone does it with just those way-too-limited in game map markers