I have recently played Hollow Knight: Silksong, the followup to Team Cherry’s critically acclaimed metroidvania Hollow Knight, and these are my thoughts.
Issues
- Economy
- Difficulty
- Occasional Unfun Areas
I would not consider this game for everyone, The game carries a very large degree of difficulty which only ramps up as the game goes on, though the game states you don’t have to play the first hollow knight, you probably should, as Silksong is much harder than base hollow knight, I found playing hollow knight and the skills learned from beating its bosses were all much needed wisdom to beat silksong, with many copies of the most difficult enemies from hollow knight, many with new mechanics that make them magnitudes more difficult, as well, the games economy is much more aggressive, needing money for many more things and enemies dropping astronomically less than they would in the first game, making it sometimes difficult to pay for fast travel and save points, or important items such as this games charms, mask shards, or spell materials, all of which cost significantly more than most things in the previous game, and The game occasionally has sections that aren’t very fun, though they are brief, and are not any reason I wouldn’t recommend the game.
Visuals
Visually, the game is lovely. The hand drawn Art makes every area feel very complete, and the whole game have a general sense of beauty, with much more vibrancy than hollow knight, and the visual storytelling and design language are both very good, even areas that may not be fun to go through are very fun to look at. The lush green of the grassy areas, the haunting blue of infected sand, and the golden halls of the later areas all lend to making this kingdom feel much more alive than the one in hollow knight, contrasting the much more vitalized kingdom in comparison to hollow knights dead one, every area in silksong seems to carry its own unique feel that makes pharloom feel diverse compared to Hallownest.
Music
The games music is quite good as well, not every song is amazing, but there are enough pieces of music that I think are masterpieces for me to consider the soundtrack top tier, the haunting organ of the foggy areas, the dramatic singing of the lategame bosses, the intense orchestra of the higher beings, and the stringed melodies of battling beasts all lend to feeling like every place is different in a sense, and differentiates very differently from when you are hunting Monsters to people.
Conclusion
All in all, I think the game is a masterpiece and anyone willing to take on the challenge will have a very great experience in the game.