Hollow Knight: Silksong Review — A Big Adventure for a Small Bug

Discussing Hollow Knight: Silksong is just as fascinating as playing it. I’ve already written two pieces about the project — first impressions and a dedicated article on difficulty. And the fact that there are still plenty of topics left to cover shows just how multilayered Team Cherry’s game turned out to be. Before release, it seemed strange that development dragged on for so long, but now you wonder — how did such a tiny Australian team manage to put together Silksong in only six years?

In the aforementioned first impressions, which can be seen as a prelude to this review, I immediately noted how different the new kingdom of Pharloom feels compared to Hallownest, both in atmosphere and grandeur. That initial wow-effect actually never fades, even across the 50 hours of playtime.

Even though you’re playing a two-dimensional metroidvania with a seemingly simple visual style, Team Cherry pours so much effort into the design of each location, into attention to tiny details, that Pharloom feels like a real, living place.

Every zone of the kingdom has its own unique tone and mood that draw you in from the very first minutes. For instance, in the desert, where powerful sandstorms appear from time to time, hungry worms lurk beneath the dunes, and you constantly come across the shells of pilgrim beetles fallen on their way to the sacred Citadel, you feel disoriented and uneasy. It’s as if it’s not Hornet who is trapped in this inhospitable land, but you yourself — as if you’ve been torn away from the comfort of home and dropped into a place you desperately need to escape.

The world of Hollow Knight: Silksong also becomes immersive thanks to the many quirky NPCs that inhabit it. The levels are full of characters to interact with — far more than in the original game. Each has a distinct personality and motivation. Some set out on perilous pilgrimages with optimism, some only wish to stay home and enjoy good food, while others try to manipulate Hornet for their own benefit — not always altruistic. One of the most memorable examples is a fly that runs a sauna for other insects just to peek on them.

But the most memorable character is Hornet herself. As the driving force of the narrative, the sequel’s protagonist is a huge step forward compared to the Knight. Hornet climbs to the top of the world to understand her destiny, and as her personality unfolds along the journey, you grow more invested in her.

In conversations with NPCs, the warrior shows not only courage and determination but also a softer side. She genuinely sympathizes with the weak and tries to help them. Sometimes she even teases bugs who attempt to trick her, which makes her portrayal livelier. Her journal entries about enemies are equally amusing: for instance, she considers particularly fluffy insects to be especially cute.

Compelling locations, characters, and a relatable protagonist are already strong incentives to keep playing. But as expected, Silksong captivates most of all with its gameplay. Like any good metroidvania, it thrives on exploration, platforming, and boss fights — the genre’s key aspects, which the sequel largely nails.

At first, I was slightly concerned about the game’s more linear structure, but it soon became clear that in terms of freedom, the new project doesn’t fall far behind the original Hollow Knight. This time the developers simply make the main route through the world more obvious, while keeping the alternatives less apparent.

In the opening hours, zones are connected so that eventually the player meets an NPC who upgrades Hornet’s cloak. This allows her to glide on air currents and reach the Marsh Fens area. But there are other options: you can access it via dangerous worm tunnels on the far side of the world or by completing a quest for flies who ask you to find five of their kin.

So the game remains non-linear, but it’s harder to get lost. The world map now marks the location of the Citadel, and if you generally stick to the main road, you’ll naturally reach it. This fixes a core problem of the original, where many newcomers gave up, yet it doesn’t break the branching structure for explorers who love combing through every corner. Optional locations and hidden tunnels are still abundant.

Navigating the map is a joy thanks to Hornet’s agility and responsive controls. She clings to ledges, flips in the air, and the abilities she unlocks only make traversal faster and more fluid. The dash can be chained multiple times, Hornet has a sprint, she can glide, and her wall-climbing feels much smoother than in the first game.

That said, you’ll need to get used to Hornet’s downward strike, which lets her bounce off certain objects like balloons. This move is crucial for platforming. At times it feels unintuitive, but later you can solve the issue by finding one of the so-called crests.

Crests replace the original’s charm system and add much more variety to gameplay. They completely alter Hornet’s moveset — it feels like controlling a different character.

For example, the Wanderer’s Crest effectively turns her into the Knight from the first game: her needle’s range shortens, but her attack speed rises significantly. Crests also determine the number of tool slots — how many offensive or defensive items you can equip. As a result, build customization in Silksong is far more interesting and deeper than before, since the heroine changes on a fundamental level.

Speaking of tools. How actively you use them largely decides the outcome of boss battles. Triple kunai and floor spikes combined with an item that grants all tools bonus poison damage can easily cut half the health of a dangerous foe. That’s why completing NPC side quests is vital: they often reward you with useful items.

Even with tools, though, Silksong’s combat isn’t easy. This is a deliberately hardcore game: its trials emphasize the story’s central theme. Characters constantly remind you how perilous the pilgrimage to the surface is, and you feel that danger firsthand.

As a fan of soulslike games, I’d say the overall difficulty balance sits at the level I’m used to: challenges and fights are tough, yes, but fair. Still, the key phrase here is “overall.”

Unfortunately, about 15–20% of the content slips into frustrating hardcore territory. The kind that makes you want to tear your hair out and take long breaks between sessions. Sometimes Silksong feels so punishing that it’s as if the developers are outright mocking you.

For example, in one area you encounter pesky flying enemies with ranged attacks, a poisonous swamp, and swinging spiked orbs you must bounce across. A single mistake — and you’re done. And when you finally reach what looks like a checkpoint bench, it’s broken. Want to fix it? First, clear an extremely tough platforming challenge. Died? Start the entire level over.

There’s enough questionable design like this to consider it a downside. It’s the sequel’s only serious flaw, but it can’t be ignored. It’s not entirely clear why it happened: perhaps Team Cherry spent too long testing the game on a narrow group of Hollow Knight veterans.

More often than not, the issue isn’t the boss fights themselves, but the nine circles of hell you must endure just to reach them. Some equivalent of save statues right before the hardest trials, like the Stakes of Marika in Elden Ring, would eliminate most of the frustration.

That said, a recent patch that eased the first act clearly shows that Team Cherry listens to criticism and acknowledges when they’ve gone too far. It’s quite possible that the most painful difficulty spikes will be smoothed out in future updates. And then, about six months from now, we’ll have a game that’s extremely hard to find fault with: atmospheric, beautiful, featuring outstanding world design, engaging platforming, and deep mechanics.

But what about you? What did you enjoy or dislike about Silksong? Share your thoughts in the comments.