First of all, let’s talk about the good. It’s beautiful, charming, and utterly engaging. The map also feels HUGE. Hornet ability to speak adds to her character and helps the exposition in a way that was lacking in Hollow Knight. It feels both familiar (to players of Hollow Knight) but also different at the same time. Hornet’s moveset feels very different, faster, fluid and acrobatic. There’s no copypaste enemies from the first game. They all have very different moves – some of which (the flying ones) can be rather frustrating. The bad: Controller inputs – Maping the tools to use joystick + the same button that you use for silk skills is an odd choice. It’s so frustrating that 10-20% of the time you try to use a tool, your silk skill is used instead. Lock in type gauntlets are much harder than in Hollow Knight. More rounds of enemies. And more enemies on screen. It’s utter chaos. And not in a good way. Making matters worse, when you get hit, most of the screen goes dark, so for a few seconds, you can’t see what these enemies are doing, and therefore which attacks they are telegraphing. The worst ones are the boss fights who call on hoards of regular enemies. These bizzarre design decisions are ameliorated in the first act by the fact that you can 1) go elsewhere and explore, find tools that might help, 2) find another way or in some cases 3) not bother as some are entirely optional. However, in Act 2 things get worse. I’ve reached a point where a gauntlet has multiple rounds, and then a boss. I’ve spent hours on this so far. I’ve heard even if you beat the boss, there’s another 5 rounds to go. What on earth were TC thinking? This is a key rout for finishing the game. In Hollow Knight all the really difficult stuff was optional (Pantheons , Trials, Path of Pain). I think Team Cherry have completely misjudged the majority of HK players. Sadly, after 75 hours, I’ve realised I won’t be completing the game. I’ll continue playing and exploring for now. But I know I won’t be getting past that 10 stage gauntlet, unless I find some magic tool that gimps all enemies. It’s a shame – it’s frustratingly close to being a perfect game. If you played HK, enjoyed White Palace, beating Nightmare King Grim, all 3 trials, all pantheons, and path of pain – then this game is for you and a 10/10. If you didn’t do all those things, but enjoyed the exploration and chill vibes of the first game, then sadly, Silksong might end up being a frustrating experience that leaves a bitter taste in your mouth - 6/10
