Hollow Knight Silksong Review
Silksong is an unapologetic metroidvania with extreme difficulty and plenty of backtracking. It’s palatable because the combat is precise, and the battles are fair with one minor exception we will discuss later.
The last game that was able to burrow underneath my skin in a similar way was in early 2022 when Elden Ring released, which I don’t think is a coincidence. These two titles share plenty of similarities including the oppressive world, demanding combat, and rich lore that’s available if you want it, but it’s the retro design philosophy that makes both titles so engaging.
Silksong is Team Cherry’s Elden Ring
Provide players with a massive, sprawling world full of mystery and intrigue. Then encourage exploration through curiosity and not waypoints. Silksong took at least seven years to develop and it shows because the magic comes from exploring Pharloom to the fullest. Going off the beaten path constantly rewards the player and as a bonus you will become less frustrated and discover a plethora of items that will greatly aid your journey.
For the brave souls who are up for the challenge, Silksong will go down in history as a quintessential metroidvania experience.
Silksong Review
If, by some chance you have been living under a rock since 2019 when Silksong was officially unveiled, it’s the follow-up to Team Cherry’s massively successful metroidvania masterpiece that went on to sell over 15 million copies. In Silksong, you play as Hornet, a dangerous and agile NPC from Hollow Knight that you met and squared off with numerous times.
Most people are probably assuming that Silksong is just more Hollow Knight, and why shouldn’t they? After all, Silksong was originally intended to be nothing more than a small DLC, an additional playable character for reaching a stretch goal on the original Kickstarter.
Here’s the thing: Silksong is much more than a simple sequel with enough sweeping changes to feel like an entirely different game. The feeling is reminiscent of Alien to Aliens or Terminator to Terminator 2: Judgment Day. Technically, all three are sequels with some shared DNA, but they are a big departure from the point of origin.
It begins with major tonal difference, but also stretches to the mechanics, systems and gameplay.
The shift begins with a major tonal change. If Hollow Knight was gothic horror, Silksong tips the scales even farther towards darker territory with a strong foreboding sense of horror with imagery and compositions throughout to accentuate this difference. It begins from the very first scene, Hornet is shackled and held captive for reasons unbeknownst and after escaping, Hornet finds herself in the middle of dark lands of Pharloom on a quest for answers. The journey gets darker as the game progresses with some of the later areas being especially bone chilling and haunting.
While the tonal shift might be subtle to some, the bigger and much more tangible departures from the source material are the new mechanics and the gameplay. Silksong moves and controls very differently from Hollow Knight, but still has a recognizable feel.
One of the most iconic moves was the ability to attack downwards or “pogo”, which has been replaced with a downward angled attack and while you can eventually find ways to unlock a more traditional move-set, Silksong wants you to play different and you should because it’s very rewarding. Hornet also moves much faster and as a result the world feels more grand and imposing.
You will still gain essence from attacking enemies, but the system works very differently. You no longer heal one heart at a time, instead you heal three at a time, which can constantly shift the balance of a battle. It’s also not a button that you can hold and you just need to press it, but if you are hit at any point during the healing process, it will be completely wasted. The new healing ability is a very risk vs reward gambit. The other big gameplay change is that you can also use silk to use a special attack ability instead of using it to heal, which is once again another decision for the player to make.
The big mechanical difference is that the charm system is gone and has replaced with a crest system. This is probably in part to many games emulating this in some variation, but also in part because Team Cherry wanted to evolve it. The crest system has slots to equip perks, but it also has a special skill. This is a unique way to offer everyone a different way to play that isn’t the charm system.
There are also quests, bounties and wishes that you can claim and do, which address one of the major concerns with the original and how it felt like there was a lot of aimless wandering and empty backtracking. With the bounty and quest system, you are provided with extra incentive to explore Pharloom to the fullest.
If all of these differences that elevated Silksong to a completely different echelon, it also improved a lot of the little details as well as retained all of the elements that made the original beloved. The hand drawn world is still stunning with every corner hiding something magical to discover, but also it feels more alive with improved cinematics. Combat is still extremely fair and satisfying, but has also been expanded. The list truly goes on and on.
Silksong Criticisms
There is no way to sugar coat the issue that most will have: Silksong is relentless from beginning to end. For the most part, this isn't a criticism because it almost always feels fair, but it’s very important to note that for some people, Silksong will be too hard, especially those that might have gotten caught in the hype. Combat begins very tough and only increases, but as mentioned it’s always fair except for one instance. Near the end of Act 2, there was an arena battle that not only felt uninspired as you had to battle ten waves of enemies, but it also didn’t feel fair and should’ve been relegated to a side quest.
The one issue that this high level of difficulty brings is that due to the inherent difficulty of Silksong, you will find yourself constantly in front of difficult bosses and it’s hard to know if you are in the right place or not. With some of the difficult platforming sections, there are environmental cues that alert you that you aren’t in the right place. When it comes to combat, you truly have no idea if it’s just a hard challenge or you stumbled into a fight you shouldn’t be at.
Your journey across the lands of Pharloom will take you to some stunning locations, but they lacked the same visual impact of Hollow Knight. There are plenty of thematically distinct areas in Pharloom, even some that felt Zelda inspired, but they were are part of a same spectrum of visually darker tones. Silksong lacked the visually variety of Hollow Knight including the bright yellow vibrancy of The Hive or the emerald greens of The Royal Waterways, the purple mist of Fog Canyon, or the pink hues of Crystal Peak just to name a few of the more iconic locations. However, I'm inclined to think that the world being darker and more impressive is to be more in line with the tone of the story.
Flying enemies are headaches in every game, but in Silksong they seem to know the exact distance to stay away to be safely out of your reach at almost all times.
Was Hollow Knight: Silksong Worth The Wait?
If there are people that don’t like Silksong, it’s probably going to be because the game is too difficult, which is a valid critique. The counter argument is that Silksong is extremely fair, meaning that with focus and determination anything is possible. As a result, Silksong provides a sense of pride and accomplishment that few games can, which is due to climbing the metaphorical mountain.
Theodore Roosevelt said “Nothing in the world is worth having or worth doing unless it means effort, pain and difficulty” Learning a new language or a musical instrument are very difficult skills to learn with no easy mode, but as a result are extremely gratifying. I’m not opposed to games having difficulty options as it opens up the game to more people and doesn’t diminish the value for anyone who finished it on harder levels, but I also don’t think that a game needs to offer it.
Expectations and hype eventually do more harm and tip the scales in the wrong direction, as reality has a hard time aligning. Silksong have incredibly managed to exceed expectations. Silksong is the exception and not the rule where the sequel overshadows the original in every way, which is impressive as Hollow Knight is one of the best metroidvanias of all time.
Aimless backtracking has been remedied with quests and wishes to give purpose to retreading older areas. Corpse runs that are too hard have been aided with cocoon that fill your spool of silk and rosaries that can be strung to lock them to your inventory. The empty world has been given life as it feels more alive with spoken conversations, higher quality cinematics and evolving areas. The world feels bigger, giving you options to explore if you’re stuck.
During development Team Cherry said because they weren’t in a rush to release the game, they would only do so when it matched the scale and quality of Hollow Knight. Silksong doesn’t match the scale and quality of Hollow Knight, it outshines it, as Silksong will be remembered as one of the greatest metroidvanias of all time.
