One thing of note in Hollow Knight is how there are a couple of choices to make, which will influence the outcome of certain characters. This may even affect what will be available to you at the end of the game. And in some cases you might not even realize that there was a choice to begin with.
A couple of Zelda games have done something similar, where the most notable examples are Oracles of Ages & Seasons (with the animal buddies and the son of Bipin & Blossom), The Minish Cap (with the two houses for the three Oracles and Gregal), and Skyward Sword (with Cawlin's letter and Peatrice).
On the one hand these kind of choices make a second playthrough more interesting, because they will let you experience something different, but on the other hand they won't let you get an "ultimate" save file, because you can't have it all in one. You really have to pick what you like best, essentially, or play through the game multiple times to experience it all or not to miss anything important.
In any case, it helps to know what choices there are in Hollow Knight to take this into consideration for a second playthrough or maybe even your first. Most of them have something to do with the death of a character and – as already mentioned – you may not even realize that you have a direct influence on some of these.
Spoilers for the game ahead!
Zote
Probably the most obvious case is Zote the Mighty, who is in need of saving twice in the early game, even though he won't be admitting to it. At first you will find him in the fangs of a Vengefly King at the top of Greenpath, later on he will be stuck in a net at Deepnest. If you leave him during the first time, he will be found dead later on for the "Neglect" achievement.
Most people will probably rescue him during the first playthrough and learn to regret it. He is later found at the Coliseum of Fools for a good joke, but he will then settle at Dirtmouth, where he will tell lies about his victories at the coliseum to Bretta, another character you have rescued. Bretta is at first totally in love with the knight, but if you rescue Zote, he will become her new obsession.
This obsession will manifest in one of the more difficult dream bosses (as part of Hidden Dreams), the Grey Prince Zote. By letting Zote die, this boss won't ever appear in the game, not even at Godhome, where you can make that part of the game a bit easier for yourself. But you will be missing one entire boss...
The Nailsmith
After forging the Pure Nail, the Nail Smith will ask you to strike you down with it, his ultimate creation. And you might be inclined to do so for the fact alone that he has charged you 4000 Geo just a minute ago, despite not having any use for the money with his death wish in mind. But if you spare him, he will settle down somewhere else and find a new passion. It's quite cute. As with Zote, both scenarios will lead to different achievements.
Cloth
Moving on to a case where there is no clear choice, but just different way of how events can unfold, we have Cloth, a seemingly mighty warrior, who is on her search for an equally mighty foe. She is quite cowardly, however, and likes to do hide underground.
At one point you will be able to rescue her from monsters at the top of the Ancient Basin. Depending on when you do this, her fate will be quite different. If you haven't beaten the Traitor Lord at Queen's Garden already, she will join you in the fight and die during the end of the battle. She's happy, however, where now she can join her friend Nola in the afterlife.
But if you have already beaten the Traitor Lord at Queen's Gardens, she will appear at Dirtmouth, unhappy that she was unable to find a proper opponent. She will then leave Hallownest to search elsewhere. Unless you never talk to her at Dirtmouth, she will be gone from the game world at the end in both outcomes, so it doesn't make a real difference at the end. But it's interesting to experience both scenarios nonetheless.
The Grimm Troupe
After having fought Grimm for the first time, you will notice that there is something off, because the map shows four flames for the last part of the ritual, instead of the usual three. The flame at the Distant Village is carried by Brumm, the accordion guy, and he will pledge to put an end to this endless cycle of ever-repeating rituals. If you then meet with him at the Howling Grounds, where you've first summoned the Grimm Troupe, you can now ban them.
Afterwards you will meet Nymm at Dirtmouth, who seems to be Brumm without the influence of the Grimm Troupe, and he will give you the Carefree Melody Charm, which is arguably a lot better than the Grimmchild. Nightmare King Grimm will still be fought at Godhome, so unlike the Grey Prince Zote this is not a boss that you can remove from the Pantheons to make them easier for yourself. But at least you're potentially not missing out anything else by choosing this route.
However, be aware that banning the Grimm Troupe will also get rid of Divine, who puts your late game Geo to good use by turning your three fragile Charms into unbreakable ones. Make sure that you've finished your business with her before banning the Grimm Troupe.
This whole choice of banning can also be missed entirely. In my case, I did the last set of flames from right to left, meaning that the flame at the Distant Village was my last target. As soon as you have collected three flames, however, the fourth one will be gone. So, I wasn't even aware that there is an option of banning the Grimm Troupe, before I looked this up on the Hollow Knight Wiki.
Again, there are different achievements tied to each path. If you want to obtain all achievements, you have to play both variants.
Spirits
Once you've obtained the Dream Nail, you will come across a lot of spirits all around the world of Hallownest. You can listen to them and let them be, but you can also destroy them with the Dream Nail for one Essence.
On my first playthrough I made it my mission to destroy every single soul out there, mainly because I thought I was supposed to in order to collect enough Essence, which was a bit of a challenge on the Spirits' Glad due to Reveke. And during my second playthrough I let everyone "live", where the option to talk to the spirits again is certainly more valuable than the measly bit of Essence you get from them, because it offers some interesting dialogue here and thee.
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