As you read this, know that I have played, and finished, Hollow Knight. Silksong is a beautiful game, with tight controls, and a sterling example of a Metroidvania, but it IS hard. Too hard? I don't think so. I have completed one runthrough, and gotten the basic ending, and will now be playing again to try and unlock otehr endings. I've more or less been playing blind, which is how I prefer it. Know that if something seems too hard, you can come back later.
My first encounter with this game was the teaser that shipped with one of the Baldur's Gate Games. It was heavy with cinematics, and dark and brooding scenes from the game. And at the time, I thought "that doesn't look like I'll enjoy that." The marketing for the game at the time of release was awful, and the game could have easily have disappeared into obscurity. However, years later I cam upon a reference to the game in a discussion about some other RPG, comparing the story of that other game, which was possibly Mask of The Betrayer, to Planescape:Torment, the discussion running that the story approached the greatness of the game you are currently reading a review for. Now "know" that one of the things that I really appreciate in a game is story and character development, and this game certainly hits the mark in this department. The characters all have their own nuance and complexity, and your own player character has a checkered history which, as an amnesiac, you come to appreciate as the story progresses. The torments of your traveling companions becomes your own, as the player, and you find yourself empathizing with the characters in a way that modern cRPGs, or indeed games in general, seldom even approach let alone replicate. The game's strength is definitely in its story, which is superbly told with the professional voice acting and rich and appropriate soundtrack. The mechanics of the game itself are a little unwieldy, although improved by various community patches, but it is certainly forgiving to new players due to the relaxed approach the game takes with death and dying. It has tremendous replay value, as various quests and conversation options are available only if you fulfill certain behaviour, ability or class requirements, and you will find yourself wanting to play through again. There are 7 possible NPCs, and on my first play though I only ever found 5 - the player is certainly not spoon fed - each with great voice acting and extremely quote worthy dialogue. Most of the dialogue is not voice acted, however, so if you hate reading... learn to like it, as it will be worth it for this absolute gem of a game. Despite its slightly clunky combat (which is not a great issue as there are only three necessary fights in the entire game) and its lo-res appearance on modern systems (and there are community patches to amend that anyway), you should buy this game. It's now been re-released and is available at your local video games store. But why would you when you can get it on GOG for $10?
