Hollow Knight Silksong Review: The best sequel you will ever play
When Hollow Knight released on the Nintendo Switch in 2018 it was a surprise hit for me. Like no other game before Team Cherry managed to give me Dark Souls vibes in a 2D Metroidvania while still having its own identity. Seven years have passed and Silksong has become almost a meme at this point. After years of silence, I did expect Silksong to be a good game but I never expected it to exceed its predecessor in such a big way.
Act 1: A journey full of surprises
Silksong doesn’t hold your hand for too long. After a very short and beautiful cutscene and a very small tutorial area, the game straight away opens up its beautiful world to you. You have one simple goal in mind. Reach the citadel.
Similar to Hollow Knight in each region you first have to find the NPC who sells a map to you. This simple yet smart design choice makes every region feel thrilling at the beginning. There are always tons of ways to go and secrets to find.
Silksong also does a very good job of giving you the feeling of exploring a real and mysterious world. The fact that Hornet speaks and isn’t a silent protagonist also helps make the world feel more alive. In the first few hours you still move rather slowly but after unlocking some of Hornet’s abilities her movement becomes very fluid and extremely fun to use. Combat and boss encounters are challenging but never unfair.
One of the aspects where you can really feel the seven years of the development time is Silksong’s gameplay. Every move, attack, and jump feels tight and responsive. Team Cherry managed to achieve a level of polish I normally only would expect from a Nintendo game like Donkey Kong Bananza. The same goes for its level design. Every region of Silksong feels smartly designed and connects beautifully to the whole game world. All of this polish is very needed because it really demands a lot of you when it comes to platforming.
It’s just a joy to explore this world also because of the beautiful graphics, audio and all the attention to detail. Every region looks and feels distinct, NPCs react in surprising ways to your actions, and the backgrounds are filled with tiny details and moving parts. The world feels alive in a way I’ve never seen in a 2D game.
The first 15-20 hours of Silksong honestly were the most fun I had in gaming in a very long time. The whole of Act 1 feels like a complete game on its own with tons of side-quests and secrets. If Team Cherry would have called it a day after Act 1 I wouldn’t have complained at all. To me Silksong’s Act 1 is a flawless masterpiece. But the game doesn’t stop here for better or worse.
Act 2: One Step Too Far?
In Act 2 things become a little bit more controversial to me. First, you will spend a lot of time in the region of the Citadel. This region offers more challenging platforming. Here is one of the moments where the game can become a bit mean. I would never call it unfair but there are moments where you have to do a lot of platforming without any checkpoint. Those are moments where Silksong can feel frustrating.
Which brings me to the topic of friction in games. Silksong offers no difficulty or accessibility options. I personally love this decision. Team Cherry had a clear vision for the Game. They want you to feel lost and scared at times. They want you to feel the struggle and for the most part this works. For 90% of the game I felt like they nailed the difficulty. Most encounters and platforming felt challenging but fair, rewarding and fun. Exactly how a game like this should feel.
It’s just at the very end of the game where I feel like Team Cherry overdid it a little bit. Without spoiling it, to me it’s clear that the Devs want you to go back and explore old regions to find more upgrades once you almost reach the end. Sadly this is the one part that felt a bit clumsy and badly designed to me. If I see that the end is in reach I just don’t feel the motivation or desire anymore to go all the way back and explore again the old regions I already spent 20 hours in before. I really wish they would have implemented this part in a better way.
A masterpiece with small flaws
There are tons of little other things that Silksong nails in my eyes. I love how they included different crests that you can find that change your whole attack patterns and movement. The way they included tools that are really impactful and fun is also genius and great. Team Cherry managed to design a game that always feels thrilling, rewarding and simply fun to play.
Yes, the game isn’t for everyone. It is hard and it might not be for you but that is fine. Games are art, and nowadays I feel like there aren’t many developers left who truly follow their visions without compromise. Similar to Blue Prince earlier this year, Team Cherry did exactly that and while I still think they went a little bit too far in the end I really have a lot of respect for them for doing this. I’m pretty sure at this point Hollow Knight: Silksong will be my Game of the Year and I really feel blessed that I could experience this game. Thank you Team Cherry!
Rating: Masterpiece