Silksong did the impossible, made the original Hollow Knight look like a prototype, a base game for a bigger, more complex and refined experience.
Both games have their own merit so I think it doesnt really matter which one you play first so if you like platform games,a good story and curte bugs, both Hollow Knight games are mandatory.
There's a sometimes tenuous balance between fun and frustration in games, where the frequency with which a game tilts towards the latter determines overall enjoyment. For me, as a middle-of-the-road skill level Hollow Knight enjoyer who didn't complete much of the harder endgame content in the first game, Silksong is a fun, challenging game that occasionally stops being fun, but not often enough to be a dealbreaker.
Other reviews do a good job of nailing down the specifics of why some of us feel this way and the general theme is that the difficulty sometimes feels needlessly punishing or excessive as opposed to fair with the necessity to "git gud". On the other hand, the more I play the game the more it seems to offer solutions or workarounds to at least some of this, for which it deserves credit. Learning the movesets of the more difficult bosses and seeing progress after each attempt does actually feel satisfying--most of the time. The environmental/biome challenges like platforming and fighting normal enemies seems worth it--most of the time. For me, on balance, the equation is still favorable after 30 hours of game time.
I would say that regardless of my complaints, the game and its predecessor are a phenomenal value for the price paid. It's entirely worth it for players to get a feel for the mechanics via the great first game before jumping into Silksong, which I think is potentially the intended path.
Game looks nice but some part are too hard. Compared to first game now most of enemies and all bosses deal two mask damage. Hours i spend playing were frustrating, fun and enjoyable. Game is not for people who have weak nerves.. Only recommend it to people who enjoy challenging games and are very patient because you will keep dying. You will die a lot.
Exploration was big part of first game but here i think rewards for exploring are not that great. Crest system is also disappointing. I would have preferred something more similar to first game charm system. Most of tools also are kinda bad.
Fans of first game will enjoy it but difficulty spike will probably turn couple of people off. If you are new player i recommend first play Hollow Knight then this one.
After 30 hours, i´m frustrated. You have to run forever to get anywhere, and there´s nothing but boss fights, enemy rooms or fetch quests... The game looks nice enough, but it´s nothing special, and the price is fair.. However, due to the repetive gameplay and the resulting monotony, i´ll will putting it aside.