Hollow Knight: Silksong Review – An Unforgettable Climb

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Hollow Knight takes you on a journey into the ruined kingdom of Hallownest, where you slowly explore its depths to uncover the mystery of its downfall. You’ll try to figure out why some of the kingdom’s bug inhabitants have turned into mindless, aggressive creatures while others haven’t, and ultimately, what your purpose is. The game doesn’t offer clear answers or a straightforward path; for most of the experience, you’re left to explore out of pure curiosity. It rewards you with pieces of Hallownest’s rich history if you do. It’s one of my all-time favorite games, and I think its sequel, Hollow Knight: Silksong, is even better.

Silksong feels very similar to the original game, almost as if it began as a large expansion. Players, especially those familiar with the series, will quickly recognize the gameplay – bouncing off enemies and hazards with downward strikes, desperately healing during tough boss battles, perfectly timing parries, and feeling relieved when they reach a save point. It’s a comfortable experience for fans of the first game.

While not entirely identical, Silksong strongly resembles Hollow Knight. Hornet’s opening attack is her signature downward strike, though this can be customized. The game retains the fluid, acrobatic combat, the satisfying feeling of overcoming difficult bosses, and the joy of finding new areas to explore – all hallmarks of the original. Team Cherry successfully replicated the excellent gameplay loop from the first game, and it remains a standout feature in Silksong.

Silksong is more focused than its predecessor. While many players loved getting lost and discovering hidden beauty in the first game, others wanted a more straightforward experience. Silksong delivers that with clear waypoints for main objectives, quest boards in hub areas advertising optional side quests, and an in-game menu tracking your progress. Compared to Hollow Knight, it’s much easier to navigate and complete Silksong, as you always know where to go and how to advance, creating a smooth and consistent journey.

Hornet is much more agile than the player character from the first game. She can climb ledges, heal while airborne, and has all the original movement abilities like double-jumping and wall-jumping, plus new ones like sprinting, a grappling hook, and gliding. This makes the platforming in Silksong more enjoyable and less punishing than in Hollow Knight. Hornet has more mid-air control to recover from mistakes, and there are more safe areas and healing spots between challenging sections. It’s still difficult, but a single wrong move is less likely to send you back a long way or leave you feeling incredibly frustrated. You can relax – Silksong doesn’t have anything as relentlessly difficult as the Path of Pain… and that’s a good thing! (Team Cherry, please don’t add one in an update – I like being happy!)

Combat in Silksong is a significant improvement, mirroring the faster pace of movement and exploration. Enemies are tougher, but Hornet is much quicker and has more ways to attack. While the game starts gently, the combat quickly becomes fast-paced and only intensifies as you progress. New enemy types are introduced gradually, preventing you from feeling overwhelmed. Compared to the previous game, there’s less emphasis on waiting for openings and more on active, strategic fighting. Hornet feels powerful and agile, encouraging players to be aggressive and accurate. She can’t take much damage, so you need to confidently engage enemies and deal your own attacks to gather silk – a resource used for her most powerful abilities and healing.

Battles, particularly against human-like enemies, often play out like intricate dances, reminiscent of fencing matches. The fantastic music during these fights sets the pace, guiding how quickly you need to react and move to succeed.

So far, Silksong feels challenging but fair, even though some boss fights are incredibly frustrating. It’s noticeably more difficult than Hollow Knight when it comes to boss battles – losing usually means a longer journey back to try again. There are fewer save points and bigger areas, so you’ll often have to navigate hazards and enemies to get back to a boss, losing health along the way. Plus, the bosses hit much harder than those in Hollow Knight, taking away more health with each hit.

While the game can be tough, you can find helpful items like crests, charms, and tools that make things easier. For instance, equipping the Magma Bell charm cuts the damage you take from fire in half, making the fiery Father of the Flame much more manageable. The tricky Sister Splinter, who uses annoying summons, becomes easier with the Reaper crest, allowing Hornet to bounce off the summons and stun them. This crest also helps you gain silk faster for healing. Combine that with the Guarding Bell charm, which lets Hornet reflect attacks while healing, and you can send Sister Splinter’s strongest attacks right back at her, potentially stunning her and opening her up for attacks.

Silksong doesn’t directly tell you to hunt for new crests, charms, and tools to create different combat styles. This can make some boss fights really frustrating, particularly if you prefer sticking to a familiar setup and don’t like exploring extensively to find upgrades.

Two of the most annoying early challenges-Moorwing and Sister Splinter-have been made easier with updates after the game launched, so this issue might be fixed. However, I personally experienced them before the updates, so I can’t say what they’re like now.

One of the biggest changes in Silksong compared to Hollow Knight is the main character, Hornet. Players first encountered her as a challenging boss in the original game. She’s a skilled warrior, raised and trained by three different queens, and she’s unique because she’s the only character who hints at a dark secret hidden deep within Hallownest-a secret the king tried to bury after failing to protect his kingdom from a devastating plague. With Hornet’s help, you can become a more capable hero than the king, discovering the root cause of the infection that’s now consuming Hallownest and finally confronting it.

Throughout much of Hollow Knight, players gradually understand that Hornet is the true hero Hallownest needs. She possesses the skills, knowledge, and lineage – stemming from three queens and a god – to save the kingdom, and is likely the last of a powerful group of spider mages. However, she can’t fulfill the role of the Hollow Knight because she’s an individual with her own thoughts, feelings, and personality. Having been raised and loved, she lacks the necessary emptiness to become a true hollow vessel. Ironically, the very qualities that make her exceptional prevent her from saving her home.

In Silksong, Hornet’s past is directly tied to her journey. She was taken to the kingdom of Pharloom as a captive, and while she manages to escape, she ends up at the very bottom of the kingdom. To truly be free, she must confront those who originally captured her. This makes her quest different from the first game, where the player character descended into darkness; Hornet must climb her way back up.

While any vessel *could* have attempted this task, Hornet is far better suited for it. Her intelligence, strong leadership, and unwavering principles motivate others to follow her, both literally as she climbs through Pharloom, and figuratively, as they strive for a better life. They’re inspired to find purpose, overcome hardship, and become selfless individuals. Unlike Hallownest, which required a single sacrifice for renewal, Pharloom needs a leader – a warrior princess – to unite its people and rebuild their lives.

Even without knowing the backstory from the first game, Hollow Knight, Silksong is a great experience. The game brings back the Weavers, a spider tribe thought to be extinct, and explores Hornet’s family history. This gives her a strong reason to explore the new world of Pharloom and makes her a more relatable character. Like the secrets surrounding the Vessel in Hollow Knight, much of Hornet’s personal story is found in optional quests. However, Silksong makes these quests easier to find and complete, which helps you unlock the later parts of the game. I haven’t finished exploring everything yet, but what I’ve seen so far – the writing, music, and visuals – has completely changed how I view both Silksong and Hornet’s overall story within the series.

Hollow Knight: Silksong builds on everything fans loved about the original game, making it a must-play for anyone familiar with the series. The sequel streamlines the story with clearer direction and improves the platforming with a more agile protagonist. While it’s a safe evolution – refining what already worked brilliantly – the quality of the first Hollow Knight makes this sequel just as important. Hornet’s adventure is well worth the anticipation.

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2025-09-24 16:11