Review-in-Progress – Hollow Knight: Silksong for Nintendo Switch 2

Six and a half years after Hollow Knight: Silksong was announced as a full-fledged follow up to Hollow Knight, it’s finally in our hands. In the time since its announcement, Silksong’s hype and popularity have grown to almost mythical proportions and now that it’s here we have to ask, can it live up to the hype? Does it have to? I consider the original Hollow Knight a shining example of what the metroidvania genre can offer, and this very website gave it a perfect 10 when it was released on the Nintendo Switch in 2018. I’d like to think that I’m coming into this with a level head and that my expectations for the followup haven’t grown alongside the meme-ification of Silksong’s hype train, as all I ever wanted was more of what the first Hollow Knight offered: sprawling exploration of an atmospheric world with tight, challenging platforming and combat.

Thanks to Team Cherry’s dedication to their initial Kickstarter backers – remember, Hollow Knight: Silksong began its life as a DLC expansion to the original Hollow Knight, funded through Kickstarter – they chose not to send out review codes, reportedly feeling it would be “unfair for critics to be playing before Kickstarter backers.” Because of this, critics, guide writers, and journalists the world over are scrambling to put together coverage for one of the most anticipated games in history as quickly as they can. That leads me to exactly what I’m doing here, which is writing a Hollow Knight: Silksong review alongside my journey through Pharloom as I discover Silksong at the same time as everyone else. It’s a fine line to walk between taking the time to enjoy a game I’ve been eagerly looking forward to and writing a review for a game already so popular that it brought every storefront it was available on to a grinding halt yesterday morning. I plan to walk that line with a review-in-progress, evaluating Silksong in phases as I take my time with it. I’ve spent several hours with Silksong thus far — so without further ado, let’s dive in.

 

 A Less Hollow Journey

 

Hollow Knight: Silksong begins with Hornet, the Knight’s “rival” and supporting character from Hollow Knight, caged and bound, being transported through an unknown kingdom by veiled bugs. As the caravan crosses a bridge a small, glowing bug alights on Hornet’s cage and the seal releases, allowing Hornet to release silk strands and shatter the bridge, plunging into the abyss below. What follows is a journey back up to the surface, where Hornet eventually makes her way to the small encampment known as Bone Bottom. Bone Bottom is the starting point for pilgrims making their way to worship at the Citadel, located at the very top of Pharloom, and it’s here that Hornet starts her journey to the Citadel as well, intent on finding out exactly why she was captured.

 

 

As I dove into my exploration of Pharloom, I found that Silksong’s adventure feels more lighthearted than Hollow Knight’s. Not that everything is bright and colorful – there’s still a grim atmosphere and sense of foreboding throughout the lands of Pharloom, but where Hollow Knight’s adventure felt dark, mysterious, and isolating, the early steps of Hornet’s journey feel much more social and joyful. It feels like the start to a grand adventure — akin to a Legend of Zelda game as opposed to something more lonely like Metroid. Don’t get me wrong, Silksong is very much a metroidvania and still feels like a Hollow Knight sequel, but little touches like the side quests Hornet can take on being called Wishes (complete with a flash of “Wish Granted” on the screen when you complete one) or the cheerful tunes you’ll find Pharloom’s residents singing or humming as you come across them make things feel much more jovial. It’s a vibe that I really enjoy, and I’m glad Team Cherry decided to make the “moods” of each game so distinct while retaining a brilliant sense of style between them. Silksong still feels like Hollow Knight, just flavored a little differently.

 

Needle Point

 

You can definitely feel the love that Team Cherry put into designing the game around Hornet. Her movements are more graceful, ground attacks with her needle are swift, her jumps are just a touch floatier, and she is incredibly acrobatic. New to Hornet’s moveset is the ability to grab a ledge and automatically up if you fall just short of landing on top, and if you jump just after grabbing the ledge she’ll vault upwards gracefully. She also has a different downward aerial attack than the straight-down slash that players are used to from Hollow Knight, instead diving at an angle with her needle. This new attack definitely took some getting used to since I was so used to bouncing off of enemies from straight above them in Hollow Knight, but the longer I played the more comfortable I felt with it. It feels more acrobatic to pogo at an angle as Hornet, and slowly getting the timing of it down certainly feels a lot cooler, especially when you can manage to do it in the midst of a fight.

Team Cherry certainly took Hornet’s acrobatics into account when designing the platforming in Silksong, taking a chance to really flex their level-design muscle. Even early on you’ll come across some difficult to cross gaps or ledges that are just out of reach unless you can pull off a few tricky moves in sequence, and they are an absolute joy to stumble upon and stubbornly attempt over and over. It’s the kind of level design that really pushes the player to try out anything and everything they can think of to get somewhere that maybe they’re not supposed to be yet. Each time I’ve come across a new movement ability or found out I could chain certain actions together, I’d run off to see if there was anywhere I could push it to the absolute limit.

 

 

In a similar vein, one of my favorite things about Hollow Knight was learning tough fights by attempting them until I had perfected my reactions to the enemy’s moves, and Silksong has that in droves. There are definitely a few tough fights early on that will push you to quickly get the hang of how Hornet moves and fights, or to take advantage of brand new skills and tools like a quick and powerful spear attack or throwing knives. Could I have left some of them well enough alone and came back later with upgrades to make the fight easier? Probably, but sometimes stubbornly overcoming an obstacle is the point. I’m sure as the game progresses there will be fights or platforming puzzles that will have me pulling my hair out, and I can’t wait to see them.

 

The Pilgrimage Continues

 

I’m sure there is plenty of Hollow Knight: Silksong left for me to discover as I make my way across Pharloom, and I plan to put in all the time I can to discover it all. Having a handful of hours of actual gameplay under my belt now, my early impression is that Silksong is set up to be an extremely special game, completely separate from the legendary amount of excitement surrounding its release.

 

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