Hollow Knight: Silksong

It’s very rare that the launch of an indie game manages to crash digital shopfronts, but the sheer level of anticipation for Hollow Knight: Silksong after a six-year wait caused waves across Steam, PlayStation, Xbox and Nintendo Switch, all of whom were unable to keep up with the demand (source). I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t part of that problem, feverishly refreshing my Nintendo Switch 2 every half an hour until the ‘purchase’ button reared its ugly head.

For the uninitiated, Hollow Knight became an unexpected hit when it launched in 2017, receiving a number of free updates that introduced new story elements and combat challenges, thus cementing the game as one of the best Metroidvanias of its kind. Since releasing, there have been many attempts to recreate that feeling, causing a much-needed resurgence in the genre and bringing classics back to the fore – in 2021 we would even get the first original side-scrolling Metroid game since Fusion in 2002 with the launch of Metroid Dread, breaking the cycle of remakes and 3D titles to rejuvenate the original formula.

Even though Hollow Knight has become the benchmark for all conversations about modern Metroidvanias, Silksong seeks not to elevate this but to approach it in a new way by giving players control of fan-favourite character Hornet, who utilises a more agile and aggressive skillset – fans and newcomers alike will soon find themselves on equal footing with brand new moves and manoeuvres to learn.

On the surface, you will find familiarity in the story Silksong presents to you, a ballad about bugs divided across unique biomes, all becoming hostile due to some mysterious force that shares your likeness – you will soon stumble across more clues about the world as you explore further (and rest assured we won’t be spoiling any of it here!) to climb to the peak of Pharloom and discover its many mysteries.

Comparisons to the original may feel overused as I talk more about Silksong, but it’s important to compare both games, particularly when talking about combat. Hollow Knight was a game about versatile combat, where each strike was short and sharp – you were never directly challenged to move in any unique or clever way, but waiting could be just as important as striking when playing as the Knight. This isn’t true of Hornet, who begins with the grace of a dancer, attacking at a reduced rate but with much better range – interestingly, the developers even used some of Alucard’s animations from Castlevania: Symphony of the Night as inspiration for backsteps and strikes, creating a more graceful range of motion.

If you aren’t keen on this style of play, luckily the game also offers a number of crests – a form of loadout system that lets you use different types of tools and equipment along with an altered moveset. Fans of the first game will find the Crest of the Wanderer particularly helpful if you can’t escape the muscle memory, as it provides a very similar moveset to Hollow Knight, including faster strikes and a downward slash – though I would recommend trying all of the different crests and tools at your disposal, as different bosses require different tactics.

The biggest change comes in the form of healing; where Hollow Knight would heal one mask for the cost of one third of your soul, allowing you to break out of the heal when you were in imminent danger, Silksong instead offers you an instant increase of three masks for an entire spool of silk (this game’s equivalent to soul) but binds you in place as you heal. It adds greater risk, but the ability to heal on the ground or in midair also increases your room to manoeuvre in difficult fights.

Something about the way the world around you grows and evolves is still so sublime, with environments reacting to your strikes (whether through background details or interactable elements), friendly characters moving through the world as you progress and an ever-increasing cast of bugs to smash, squash and smush, all of whom feel at home in their respective biomes. Even though changing environments have been a core part of Metroidvanias since as far back as the first Metroid on the NES, nowhere does it feel as impactful as here, even improving massively on the first Hollow Knight with a wealth of direct interactions with the world. This can include traps and pitfalls built seamlessly into the world, as well as enemies and NPCs feeling aligned with their respective areas. 

One thing that may be off-putting to some is the general consensus that Silksong is significantly more difficult than the previous entries and, in fact, other games in the genre – there’s definitely some truth to this idea, given the increased damage taken and the variety of enemies thrown at you fairly early in the game, as well as a number of well-hidden traps and tricks that make the infamous Deepnest bench look comfortable. For those who are coming to the game without any prior knowledge, be warned that the game has a significant difficulty curve – trial and error will quickly become your best friend, but you won’t find any options to alleviate this difficulty. The comparison to Dark Souls may seem cliche, but if you struggle to enjoy intentionally difficult games, you may find yourself bouncing off Silksong.

What stands out is not that the difficulty has increased but simply changed – with new controls, a new world and an unfamiliar cast, suddenly all of the safety you expect to find in other genre staples has been lost. The use of parallels to Castlevania: Symphony of the Night is not just surface level, as it too shook up the expected formula, taking away your abilities and forcing you to learn the routes through Dracula’s castle, hiding everything from you until it was the perfect time, giving you what you needed only as you earn it.

In making a comparison to Dark Souls, it’s also important to talk about currency and its place in the world – similar to how souls operate (as well as Elden Ring’s runes and even Hollow Knight’s geo), the main currency of Silksong is difficult to retain. This time taking the form of rosaries, in fitting with the themes of pilgrimage through Pharloom, your primary currency can be collected from enemies or at certain gathering points before being exchanged for goods, services and information throughout the world. Upon death, you will swiftly lose all of your held currency and leave behind a cocoon, giving you a single opportunity to trek back and collect it before it is lost forever.

Two huge differences are presented in Silksong’s approach, firstly with the introduction of items that allow you to hold bundles of rosaries without losing them on death (akin to the Hero and Warrior Souls in Demon’s Souls), but most notably the inclusion of a second, persistent currency. These ‘shards’ serve very little financial purpose in the game but instead are spent to refresh any tools at each bench, ensuring you remain stocked up ahead of tougher battles.

This shaken-up version of the comfortable Hollow Knight formula might not resonate with everyone, but it keeps up with the tradition inherent in Metroidvania games – never let the player know what you have in store until it’s already too late.

Aside from leaning heavily into poetic license, I feel it’s important to address the question on everybody’s mind – does Silksong surpass its precursor? All the way through my time with the game, I have had this question on my mind, and the honest answer is: it doesn’t matter. The game is incredibly fun, blindingly unique and often infuriating in all the right ways – who cares how it ranks against Hollow Knight when we can just enjoy the fact that both games exist? I know I will for another few hundred hours.

Also, it has been confirmed by Matthew Griffin that attacking the Bell Beast is, in fact, a form of petting it. Good news all round. (Source)