As I’m in the middle of my playthrough of NORCO—which I’m enjoying a lot so far, but more on that soon—the Hollow Night: Silksong hype train has been barreling at me from pretty much all directions: Steam, Nintendo’s eShop, the PlayStation store, Reddit, and the whole internet itself seem to be either crashing and/or on fire after the near decade-long wait for Silksong finally came to a close early Thursday morning, when the internet was finally allowed to remove their clown makeup and readied themselves to play this mythical, unicorn of a game in the flesh.
After scrolling through Reddit and Twitter, and seeing pretty much universal praise (aside from those who just don’t like Metroidvanias or didn’t enjoy the first game [I totally understand these kinds of games are punishing at times, so they’re not for everyone]), I decided to put everything else on hold (including sleep; yep, it’s 4:00am right now) and dive into Silksong for a modest hour (which became nearly four).
Here are my impressions thus far, as someone who loved 2017’s Hollow Knight and loves Metroidvanias:
The Good Stuff
- The world is drop-dead gorgeous: Beautiful environments, animation, and sound design, which do a fantastic job of pulling you into the unfolding journey. Just like in 2017’s Hollow Knight, the atmosphere is spot on.
- Hornet plays as a strong lead; although the game doesn’t provide you with a lot of deep lore or exposition, the story still feels good and comes across as compelling, with Hornet’s chief, simple goal being to simply make her way up through the labyrinthian world. Unlike the previous game’s silent hero, Hornet does provide some Hollow Knight-themed gibberish voice acting here (paired with normal text dialogue), which, to my slight surprise, helps her come across as more three-dimensional and personable. Her character’s animations are also really satisfying; I especially love the way her red dress billows in the wind as you run forward.
- The music is very atmospheric and often ethereal, which fits the tone and environment perfectly.
- Finding beads and collecting shards (which both serve as currency in this world), as well as discovering hidden rooms, all feel satisfying. Very much a game for those who love to explore and find hidden stuff.
- While hit-or-miss (as mentioned below), pulling off the diagonal downward attack does feel pretty slick against specific, traversal-related platforms. The acrobatics in these moments offer great-looking visual flair as well, which plays well into Hornet’s natural athleticism and dancer-like physique.
…The So-So Stuff
- So the map isn’t the best (at least so far), but it’s serviceable. Map markers could allow more precise placements (i.e. by allowing the player to zoom into the map more; I’m always dumbfounded when Metroidvanias limit how many markers you can place or how far into the map you can zoom in, though the game does let you purchase more markers a little later on).
- Certain areas on the map are left looking “undiscovered” even if you’ve already been there (i.e. corridors/openings that appear as though you haven’t been through them yet, causing you to go back and then realize you’ve already been there… making you look at the map again and annoyingly scratch your head). This can result in occasional confusion and needless backtracking, hurting the game’s pacing.
- The downward attack, at least for combat, is almost useless. It hits at a fairly-wide angle and is very fidgety in actually landing on a foe, resulting in needless accidental health damage; the only real use I’ve had for it, at least thus far, is for maneuvering over platforms specifically made to be bounced over (pictured below).
- It’ll very likely unlock soon, but the lack of a dash early in the game has made Hornet’s movements just a tad too sluggish (but again, I’m sure the ability is close at hand, since I’ve come across two areas that now require it).
Is it Earth-shattering? No, but it’s still damn good.
Hollow Knight: Silksong’s long, long wait has made it seem like this is the game to end all games, due to its near-impossible expectations after constant delays and the promise of something truly special, especially since the first game was such a smash hit.
I loved 2017’s Hollow Knight and love Metroidvanias in general, so I might be a bit overly-familiar with the genre and its mechanics, but while Silksong doesn’t feel like it’s reinventing the wheel or bringing something brand new to the table, at the same time it doesn’t have to—So far, it just feels like a really great game that, while a lot like its predecessor, largely elevates everything to a higher degree.
The fact that I couldn’t put the game down, and very, very reluctantly decided to put my Switch 2 to sleep after nearly four hours straight, is proof, in my eyes, that this is a game that’s worth your time and is easy to lose yourself in.
If you’re on the fence on whether to give it a try, whether you want to wait or aren’t sure if the tough combat is your cup of tea (by the way, combat doesn’t feel excessively punishing either, just take your time with the bosses and/or come back later to a stronger, optional foe), I’d say jump on in and let yourself be absorbed by this beautiful, melancholic labyrinth. (You don’t need to have played the first game either.) For $19.99, it’s a straight-up steal.
