During my time playing video games, certain games have earned a prominent place on my imaginary shelf. These titles, which are special to me, are categorized as gateways to new gaming genre horizons that they introduced me to. Max Payne for third-person shooters, Age of Empires for RTS when I played exclusively adventures because of Monkey Island, and so on. One of these is Hollow Knight, not because it was the first metroidvania I had the chance to try, but because its difficulty and philosophy contributed significantly to my understanding of the Dark Souls mindset. Unlike, for example, the more action-combo Guacamelee, Hollow Knight is the type of game that could be defined as a slow burner. Seven years after its release, I now have the honour of presenting its sequel, Knight: Silksong. And I say honour because Silksong is a game that, if "a picture is worth a thousand words," we would have to write many eloquent volumes about its elegance and quality.
For those who don't know, Hollow Knight was released with minimal publicity and marketing. Personally, I saw its first images in a random Reddit post where an anonymous user wrote, "Check out this game two friends of mine are making." This game happened to become one of the benchmarks in the metroidvania genre, as it combined abstract storytelling, high difficulty, and the beautiful aesthetics that came from its hand-drawn graphics. Silksong followed roughly the same marketing strategy; silence. Beyond its announcement, from a DLC to a fully standalone project, Team Cherry's interaction with the public was minimal to the point that it reached meme status in the community, which borderline questioned the game's existence and, by extension, its release. The result was that the hype reached unprecedented heights from the announcement of the game's release date. This, combined with the complete absence of pre-orders, led to a serious load on all servers across all digital storefronts for every platform (EGS was and remains safe). Does Hollow Knight: Silksong deserve all this hype and praise? After the coveted 100%, we are in a position to answer.
In Silksong, we take control of Hornet, whom we first met in Hollow Knight as a boss fight, then as a companion who provided important details about the world until the end of the adventure. We find ourselves imprisoned in the Kingdom of Pharloom, with no idea why. A small white butterfly lands on us and helps us escape. From then on, we seek to unravel the silken web of Pharloom's world, the primordial evil that haunts it, and help its inhabitants find peace.
The story of Silksong touches on many concepts and deeper themes than one might expect. The contradiction and conflict between individuality and the collective, immortality and its cost, the dichotomy of choices and consequences, the concept of the soul through artistic expression or its absence through mechanical execution of actions are just a few of the issues that one can discern. The latter (the purity of soul) in particular is conveyed so intensely throughout the game, even through small references (such as a short dialogue with Sherma). All these themes are presented to the player in a variety of ways, mainly through the environmental narrative or the song and music that plays a primary role in the game. For me, the story is perhaps one of the best that anyone can experience if they want to absorb every element that the game has to offer, even above the superb technical aspects that we will discuss below.
Of course, the story itself (i.e., the content) would be meaningless if the form was not of equally high quality. This is achieved through both the hand-drawn environments that bring Hornet's every movement to life and Christopher Larkin's music. From the very first area, it is clear that this is something special. The superimposition of three or even four layers in the background to clearly render the parallax scrolling as Hornet moves, the grass that seems to respond to her slightest movements, and even her own fabric when she changes direction abruptly, all contribute to the realistic, interactive painting we see before us. As for the soundtrack and the entire score, all I can say is that we are lucky as players that 2025 was a golden year for games with musical scores such as Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, Silksong, and Hades II. On the contrary, award judges will have a very difficult job deciding which one deserves the best of the year, since they are all diamonds, each for its own reasons.
If I could reduce the game to its basic concepts, I would choose three: combat, exploration, and platforming. Starting with the first, there are now several reviews that describe the game as fairly difficult and relentless. This is certainly one side of the coin. As I mentioned at the beginning of the article, Hollow Knight has always been a game that required the player to adapt to its pace and take a more reactive approach rather than taking the initiative themselves. The same applies to Silksong, with the difference that Hornet, unlike Knight, is much more acrobatic in her movements, offering the movement and grace of a deadly ballerina. It stands to reason that every enemy is designed to challenge this range of movements, and any comparison with the first Hollow Knight makes Silksong the winner. Even the simplest enemy bugs have at least 2 to 3 moves in their arsenal, significantly increasing the difficulty.
This does not mean that Hornet is immune to the actions of her enemies. On the contrary, the existence of different Crests modifies Hornet's movement and, therefore, the gameplay to such an extent that each playthrough can be completed in a completely different way. During my playthrough, I preferred to stick with the Hunter's Crest (which the game gives you from the start) as I was used to the Hornet's side-pogo. Experimenting with and properly managing the Crests is what determines how easy the player's life will be, unless you decide to deliberately play in "hard mode." The same, if not more, applies when it comes time to face one of the game's 40+ available bosses (many of which are optional). For example, I was stuck for a reasonable amount of time on one boss (Father of the Flame) because I insisted on improving my acrobatic skills based on the battle design. Reading up on it afterwards, there are at least two or three different tools, i.e., separate weapons/skills with limited use that we "load" onto our Crest, which triviliase the battle.
This is the pattern of the game, which under normal circumstances pushes a player (who has good intuition and is not suicidally stubborn, like yours truly) to explore the enchanting Kingdom of Pharloom. Indeed, when discussing with our community, the only certain conclusion was that no one had an identical or even similar playthrough. Of the game's three acts (with Act 3 being completely optional), the first opens up with alternative paths that distract the player. This magic of exploration, like playing a game in your youth, can very quickly be replaced by a sense of chaos and overwhelm. You need a good memory and map markers to remember the (temporarily) inaccessible secret passages or sections that you may want to revisit in case you forget. In any case, Silksong rewards this exploration with different environments, stories, and exceptional visual aesthetics (I reserve my reservations for Bilewater, which is deliberately designed to be a difficult endgame area).
One element that increases the game's difficulty is platforming, the third pillar of the game. I have already mentioned Hornet's pogo jump, the move she makes by hitting enemies or spikes with her weapon to jump upwards. This is one of the acrobatic moves, but unlike Hollow Knight, here its use is absolutely necessary if you want to finish the game. Things get a lot easier with the acquisition of the Clawline (my personal favorite skill), which allows you to throw Hornet's needle weapon forward and pull yourself toward it. You will have to master this requirement, as there are points that will test you a lot until you manage to coordinate your movements and pass them. I couldn't end this section without mentioning Team Cherry's decision to organically integrate Hornet's ledge grab from the beginning, a very small detail that, when incorporated into your repertoire, adds extra grace to the heroine's movement and flow.
Beyond these three elements of the game, looking back with a broad perspective, I must say that apart from certain gauntlets (which may again be the result of my own stubbornness), Silksong is brutally fair. Special mention should be made of the design of the bosses, which have completely different approaches – from bosses that do nothing but spawn minions, to those that have literal choreography and require you to master your reflexes. It is also noteworthy that, except for one instance (Bilewater, seriously, go away Bilewater), runbacks are not that punishing, as long as you take advantage of all of Hornet's abilities. In the end, I didn't find Silksong as brutal as other metroidvania games (e.g., Nine Sols), but it's definitely one of the most demanding ones out there right now.
The reasonable question that arises, therefore, is: what is the element that detracts from Silksong's perfection? For me, it is how grandiose the project itself was. Don't get me wrong, Silksong is huge and oozes passion in every corner. The average player will get many hours of enjoyment (at a very low price) from the satisfaction of overcoming a difficult section. The seven years of development of the game are put into better perspective when you manage to unlock Act 3, where you realize the resources required to deliver such a project scope (we won't say more to avoid spoilers). However, this scope leads to a feeling of exhaustionfor someone who plays obsessively, as if the game will never end; it may have benefitted being a tad shorter. All of this applies to the first playthrough, of course, but after completing it and without having done everything (there is content even after 100%), I wanted to take a break and do something else. This break will last until the next DLC or until some time has passed.
Ultimately, Silksong, like the first Hollow Knight, is a benchmark for metroidvania games. The map design and how its sections are connected is masterful and worthy of a seminar. The combat is as difficult or easy as your experimentation with the available arsenal will allow. Exploration will bring you joy in itself, as few games do at the moment. The story will make you think, it will raise questions about your beliefs (religion or not, collectivity and loss of identity through it, will an apparent good act have good consequences, etc.). And all of the above is presented with high aesthetics and music. Because if nothing else, music is medicine for the soul, especially when the song is made of silk.
RATING - 96%
96%
Silk smooth.
Hollow Knight: Silksong will be a benchmark for metroidvania games, just like its predecessor. Its increased difficulty, combined with exploration and progressive endings, promise many hours of gameplay.
