In the 8 years since the release of Hollow Knight, the gaming world’s adoration of the indie darling and anticipation for its sequel have both grown immensely. What was seemingly a breakthrough success for a small dev team has morphed into one of the biggest indie games of all time with over 15 million copies sold, putting it in the indie pantheon with titles like Stardew Valley, Undertale, and Cuphead and inspiring countless other games with its deft blending of Dark Souls, precision platforming, and exploration. My love for that game is no secret as I have written extensively about Team Cherry’s debut opus including calling it the Metroidvania to Rule Them All and naming it one of the 25 Greatest Games of All-Time, and I have spent years awaiting this moment. With an entirely new set of expectations for the follow-up, could the tiny Australian studio deliver for a second time or have they already used up all their best tricks and magic?

The Good

Being Worth the Wait

Let’s get the most pressing question out of the way first – Yes, this was absolutely worth the wait. Silksong was initially announced way back in 2019 as DLC to Hollow Knight and slowly (and I do mean slowly) grew into its own massive title. After claiming the game would come out in 2023, the devs went eerily internet silent for over two years until the grand launch announcement two weeks prior to release. In that time, the hype built up to unfathomable heights as the original’s fandom reached larger audiences and hit an even greater fever pitch. It would have been very easy to get a game that was good, but did not live up to expectations. From the opening moments, it’s abundantly clear that the game was worth the wait, and I caught myself thinking “wow, they really did it”.

Movement

If Team Cherry had just given us more Hollow Knight with a different protagonist, it would have still been an amazing experience, but what we got feels wholly new in large part due to the increased emphasis on movement. Hornet is in essence a deadly shinobi without the patience for discretion and not just a brave knight. The moment to moment gameplay is incredible thanks to her wide array of skills including floating, wall climbing, double jumping, and perhaps gaming’s best implementation of a dash mechanic. Everything takes a bit to get used to, but once you do, it is practically effortless and freeing. At its core, Silksong is a Metroidvania with the heart of Celeste, and remembering that is key to survival. I cannot wait to see the insane acrobatics speedrunners manage to pull off.

Hornet

While I loved my little knight bug in Hollow Knight, Hornet is one of the breakout characters of the year. She is far more lethal and bad ass, and by not being a silent protagonist like her predecessor, it really adds to the experience as it gives her appreciated additional agency and provides the player with a better read on the world itself. There’s a moment encountered in The Slab that will absolutely solidify her in the hearts of all who play this game.

The Crest System

Hollow Knight had a great deal of playstyle customization allotted by its charm system, and Silksong takes it a step further with crests. Crests impact you attacks (especially your downward strikes), what and how many tools/charms you can bring along, and they all impart some special skill related to healing. I imagine you could have wildly different playthroughs depending on what you choose to go with. It seems like the early favorite (and what I used almost exclusively once I got it) is the Reaper Crest which plays the most akin to what people are familiar with from Hollow Knight, while also amping up precious silk production and having a balanced set of charms and tools available.

Tools

Technically everything you add to your crest is called a tool in this game, but I am going to specifically be talking about the red ones since the yellow and blue are essentially charms from HK. Now, aside from normal attacks and silk skills, Hornet can bring along a variety of tools to throw at enemies which range from blasters to spikes to floor tack traps. They really liven up combat and can provide a much needed lifeline in a boss battle. Just be sure to do the Rite of the Pollip quest to get the most out of them.

The Most Perfectly Programmed Game

I have never seen such a carefully and lovingly programmed game in my life. Team Cherry mentioned in an interview that they eventually had to stop making new characters because the knew they would never release the game if they kept it up because their process was so fun to implement. It is clear how much went into designing every movement and encounter. They used those 7 years of production well. While concerns about difficulty have arisen (more on that later), not once did I feel things were unfair.

Interactions with Enemies and the Environment

There are plenty of little flourishes that show the extra time and budget that went into making this sequel. Perhaps the coolest of which are the ways enemies interact with one another and how the environment is a much bigger factor. There are small touches like ants carrying off beads, shards, and fallen bugs, and larger things like the abundance of traps that keep you on your toes and make the world of Pharloom seem vastly more alive than Hallownest.

Music

“Song” is in the title, so perhaps I should have been expecting this. Music plays a far greater role in Silksong than in the original. Yes, Christopher Larkin absolutely delivers on the soundtrack once again, but the world itself is also more musical with Hornet being able to play her needolin and characters sining along with it. Not since The Legend of Zelda has music been this integral to a non-rhythm game.

Sherma

Now, if we are going to talk about the role of music in the game, we also have to talk about everyone’s favorite bug, Sherma. This overly optimistic pilgrim can often be found singing and smashing two needles against one another to praise the gods. While they could have been a throwaway joke or overstayed their welcome, seeing their growth throughout the game was fantastic, and she must be protected at all costs.

Shakra

Silksong‘s map maker has a lot more to provide than just details about the current area. They also are a formidable warrior who will occasional assist you in battle and whose own personal journey to find their master provides some of the best narrative moments in the game. While her singing may not be getting quite the love and attention that Sherma’s is, it is thoroughly haunting and beautiful and provides a real sense of achievement anytime you hear it and know you’re about to unlock a map. If any character in this game is deserving of a starring role in a sequel 7 years down the line, it’s Shakra.

Penance Vibes

This game gives major Blasphemous vibes as the world of Pharloom is centered around a crushing and failed theocracy built upon cruelty. The sense of penance is evident throughout the many insane trials you must endure and even in having to pay for salvation (saving/health restoring benches). Silksong is more difficult not just for no reason, but because the world itself is that much harsher than the Hallownest we knew.

The Goodest Bug

Fast travel in this game mainly takes place through the Bellway riding atop the Bell Beast, who is the goodest bug and gets some memorable moments to shine in the late game. The gentle purring they do while you wait by their fast travel post provides some much needed soothing feedback in an otherwise unforgiving world.

Fleas

Players quickly fell in love with the adorable grubs in HK, and this game’s version, the fleas, provide just as much adorableness which also adding quite a bit to the narrative. There are more kinds of fleas to interact with, and you can follow them on their own pilgrimage that sees them relocate throughout the kingdom as their caravan grows. The final resolution once you have found the last flea and reached toward the end of the game is also an absolute delight that I do not want to spoil.

Narrative

Far more care was put into the world building and narrative for Silksong. Yes, there are times when it does not all make sense (I mean it is a world of weird little bugs after all), but every inch of the game is teaming with lore and telling the story of the fall of Pharloom and its people while providing a deeper understanding of Hornet.

Quests

For the most part, quests are far more spelled out here than in the original. You can actually pick up quests in towns or from NPCs and often see info about them on your map. This keeps things moving along a lot nicer for most of the game and is cleverly used to help you find new areas while tracking lost merchants or deadly beasts. Sure, not every quest is a winner as some fall on the simple fetch quest/busy work side of things, but the vast majority are yet another welcome addition to make the world noticeably more sprawling and alive.

Playing and Discussing with So Many People

One of the biggest draws of playing a game like this at launch is being able to discover everything along with everyone else. Much like with the release of Elden Ring back in 2022, talking about Silksong with your friends brings you back to swapping tales on the school yard (just with hopefully fewer tales of fancy). Checking in on the progress being made with people on The Gamers Week Podcast Discord has been among the most rewarding parts of my day recently, and I have been constantly amazed at how different all of our journeys have been.

The Act Structure

The game is broken down into 3 Acts, each of which could have been its own game. Each act is fairly self contained and opens up new skills and areas that keep the pacing superb. Much like the spelling out of quests, the act progression also give you a nice indicator of how you are doing in the game.

Growth

Hornet herself grows in power throughout her journey in Pharloom, but the real growth I want to talk about here is that of the players themselves. As highlighted before, this game has ratcheted up the difficulty from Hollow Knight. By the time I hit Act 2, I did not know how I was going to survive the rest of the gauntlet being thrown at me, but about midway through that Act, I found myself feeling confident and able to take on any challenge. Even when I would bang my head against the wall failing against a particularly tricky boss for an hour, I could always sense myself growing both in my abilities and in my pattern recognition skills. It never felt impossible once it really clicked, and each new boss taken down gave a tremendous rush.

The Game’s Size

This one almost made it into the mixed bag section. Pharloom is massive compared to Hallownest, which was no slouch itself. 50 hours in, I still found myself discovering new areas with wildly contrasting aesthetics and gimmicks from what I had seen before. It was truly incredible, but I was beginning to wonder if I will ever replay this game as the sheer size seems daunting now that I know just how much bigger it is. After reaching 100% completion in the game, I can safely say the answer to that is yes I do want to replay it, and I cannot wait to see how different it is the second time through knowing what I know and seeing if I can hit any of those speedrunning achievement benchmarks that looked almost impossible the first time around.

The Switch 2 Pro Controller

Following my time with Silksong, I am now thoroughly in love with the Switch 2 Pro Controller after initially worrying it might not be as good as the one for the OG Switch. I probably played the game in docked mode 90% of the time because those bosses and gauntlet battles really require a larger screen and a better controller. While, the basic controller functions proved excellent for surviving the harsh world of Pharloom, the real highlight was in the rumble which showcased simple effects like raindrops exceptionally well in a way that was much closer to the PS5 DualSense than anything I have seen in a standard rumble before. My sole very minor gripe is that I wish the back buttons could be mapped to multiple button presses at once allowing for easier deploying of tools, which require either “Up” or “Down” and “R”.

The Devs’ Sense of Humor

After one particularly grueling stretch, I finally encountered a bench and said out loud “oh thank, Jesus” only to immediately be hit by a trap once I sat down. In less adept hands, that would have come across as cruel, but here it feels far more like a “ha ha” moment being thrown at you by the devs. There are plenty of other instances of your seeming safety being quickly compromised, but they never made me angry. Rather I would just think “you got me there, Team Cherry”.

Team Cherry

In a world full of corporate greed, especially in gaming, it is a breath of fresh air to see how Team Cherry is handling things. This small two person team (ok they really have a third programmer too who they hired on) made insane amounts of money with the 15 million copies Hollow Knight sold. Instead of doubling down and asking a kingly sum for their sequel, they sent out a 50+ hour game at just $20. They even decided to support the Kickstarter backers of the original by giving them free codes to the game and not sending out review codes ahead of time, so they could be the first to play. They have a certain good guy mystique the internet has ascribed to them, and I think that is going to be rewarded handsomely with people double dipping and supporting this game.

The Mixed Bag

The Early Game Economy

At first, I was a tad upset with what I thought was a broken economy. You need rosary beads to buy things like maps and unlock benches, and early on it feels like you are constantly too poor to keep up. However, in Act 2 once you hit the Citadel, the sudden shift in the economy helps drive home the narrative about this broken theocracy.

Attempting to Download the Game at Launch

I probably spent over half an hour trying to download Silksong as soon as it released on digitial storefronts. The problem was, that it promptly crashed every storefront from the high demand. It was only mildly annoying, though, as I was quite proud of Team Cherry for managing to do what big studios wish they could.

Bilewater

Veterans of Dark Souls will instantly recognize the influence of those games’ poison swamps on Bilewater. In truth it is a well thought out and realized take, but in practice it sure is frustrating to not be able to heal because you fell in the gross maggot water again. I thought I was done with this place forever, but last night I discovered an item exists there that I did not have yet. I cannot tell you how unenthused I was to take on that particular quest.

Unlocking Act 3

You receive your first game ending after Act 2, but the game has a third Act that can be unlocked. I spent approximately the same amount of time attempting to unlock Act 3 as I did actually playing it (15 hours). With all the improvements made to quests and guiding the player, this was the one time that the game’s pacing gets off-track and I felt lost. So, why is this in “mixed bag” and not “bad”? Well, because despite being overly convoluted here, the gameplay is too fun to really mind.

The Bad

The General Discourse Around the Game

What goes up must come down. The first few weeks of discourse around this game have been shockingly predictable. Initially, there was the massive hype leading up to the release and an ecstatic launch day as people celebrated its success every time it broke a new record for concurrent players on Steam. Then came all the articles complaining about the game’s difficulty. It’s the same discussion we have every time there is a new Dark Souls game, and it was highly reminiscent of what happened when Elden Ring‘s Shadow of the Erdtree DLC dropped.

So much was made about the game being too hard that it overshadowed how much people were enjoying this latest classic. And, looking at Steam Reviews and Metacritic which hover between 90-92% for critics and players alike, a lot of it seems to have been for clicks as the vast majority of people are in love. While Team Cherry has made some adjustments to the early game to improve approachability and onboarding, I do laud them for making the game they wanted to make. Hornet is a deft hunter and a more capable warrior than the nameless knight was, and the challenge she faces reflects that. The game never feels unfair rather just very finely tuned. I do not think it is bruisingly tough just for the sake of being so. As a result, the game is not going to be for everyone, and that is ok. It should be less of a condemnation of needing to “git gud” and rather a realization of the central conceits of these types of games. It would be different if the game felt mean, but rather it seems like Team Cherry saying “we know you can do it. just keep trying and learning”.

The Likelihood of Being Able to Enjoy Hollow Knight as Much Again

I am extremely concerned that the original may be ruined for me forever by how much more fluid the movement and gameplay are in Silksong. Will it feel too slow and lacking after all the improvement here, or will the legacy of that masterpiece still endure after I have seen what it can be when it reaches its true potential? Perhaps with some time to put Silksong in my rearview, I will want to go back, but right now I cannot imagine doing so.

The Verdict

Hollow Knight: Silksong is the masterpiece that was promised. The joy and expertise Team Cherry has in crafting their bug filled world is evident throughout, and they clearly used the 7 years it took to make the game to deliver on their well understood vision. Silksong is what happens when a development team gets to make their dream game with all the tools already in place from previous efforts. It will greatly reward and challenge even the most skilled Hollow Knight players through a beautiful marriage of graceful platforming and challenging but rewarding combat. For some, the difficulty may be too much to overcome, but for those who gravitate toward games where you constantly learn from your failures, they will be rewarded with one of the most singular experiences in gaming today.