After playing the original Hollow Knight properly, I was absolutely stunned at what such a small team could accomplish with enough heart and determination. The team in question is Team Cherry, and with the universal eagerness anticipating the release of its sequel, they have been flung straight into the limelight. Memes and jokes throughout game shows like The Game Awards, Summer Games Fest, and Gamescom have all asked the question: When is Silksong coming out? Team Cherry managed to keep everything under wraps, with what was suspected to be a game that was never going to be released. However, straight after Gamescom’s teasing of its release, Team Cherry took matters into their own hands and gave us the release date of September 4th, just two weeks after the announcement. Since there have been many conversations with Team Cherry, media outlets questioned what has taken so long, and their answer was a beautiful one. They were having so much fun making the game that they simply did not want the process to end, with the internet going on to crown this as the only game ever to be in ‘development heaven’. Targeting a September 4th release, no review codes were to be sent to outlets; everyone would experience this game at the exact same time. Since then, after over 50 hours, I have rolled credits on Hollow Knight: Silksong, and it is a worthy sequel to its fantastic predecessor.

Instead of the Knight from the first game, Silksong sees you take control of Hornet. After previously serving as a side character and recurring boss fight, this time you see Hornet’s story and her own personal quest. Captured and taken from the Hallownest, Hornet is brought to the strange world of Pharloom. Breaking free from her captors, Hornet decides to seek out why she was captured and what is going on in the peculiar land around her. Learning of a grand Citadel that serves as a destination for a pilgrimage, Hornet believes that to be the place where answers are kept. Controlling Hornet, you must traverse the beautiful yet dangerous world, fighting through its many zones that are filled with brutal enemies, bosses, and some unforgiving traversal challenges. As opposed to the slower moveset of the Knight, Hornet is much more agile and methodical with a full new arsenal of tools and items to help her fight and zip around the world. This is particularly useful because, instead of the like in the first game, where you are delving deep into the Hallownest, ascension to the top of the citadel is the main goal. In a game that feels bigger in scale, it is also much more intense in difficulty and this game is a true test of might for anybody looking to take it on.

The world of Pharloom is very different from the Hallownest, both in its overwhelming beauty and enormous scale. As soon as you drop into the starting area of Moss Home, filled with rich greenery and shimmering light, it is immediately apparent that this game is taking on a much different aesthetic than the dark grittiness of its predecessor. There is still the series’ token gloominess around, particularly in areas like the Wormways or any of the weavnests, but Silksong is definitely much brighter and bursting with colour. This does work well due to its prettiness, although the atmosphere is very different from Hollow Knight. For example, there is nothing anywhere near as atmospheric as that of the Deepnest in the first game, though there are some that come close. The excellent Citadel serves as one humongous area that is full of zones within, and all of that has a really intriguing and mystical vibe. This is where the strength of the game’s soundtrack really starts to hit the spot, too, with the exceptional haunting choirs of the Choral Chambers. Every area still feels very distinct from one another, whether it be the tight tunnels of the Wormways, the glistening green of Moss Home or the absolute plagu-ridden hellscape that is Bilewater. It is a joy to explore all of these areas, perhaps if not for Bilewater, and look in every nook and cranny in search of a new tool, boss or perhaps an opening to a new area entirely.

Exploration and traversal are Silksong‘s true highlights, and this is thanks to the wonderful implementation of the Metroidvania template and the excellent abilities it yields. It is always a rush to get a new traversal ability, like the wall grab or the hook-shot, and run back to all those points where you know you could have used them before, eager to see the secrets you narrowly missed earlier. It is such a bulletproof gameplay trope that will never get old, especially if you love exploring as much as I do. A lot of the time, getting through areas with your new abilities requires a test of your new traversal abilities, and they can get very difficult. The Hunter’s March area, for example, is covered in red spikes and can only be traversed through mastery of your pogo (attacking downwards) ability. Areas like this are very difficult and Team Cherry is definitely asking more of players here when it comes to platforming segments. The most crucial step of this, though is whether the reward is worth it, and very often, it is. Whether it’s more rosaries, which act as a currency, more shards to replenish your tools, or new tools entirely, it is always worth a look around. As mentioned, this exploration can even open up entirely new areas, or some brutal hidden boss fights that have their own rewards to claim. I have never been much of a collectables person, but these tools that are scattered across the world do function as them, and the fact that they are useful is just a great bonus. Finding towns along the way up Pharloom gives way to another new addition to Silksong, the wishes. These are essentially just side quests that you accomplish either for individuals or the village quest board, and they, too, will give you rosaries to buy new tools and items, or even tools immediately on completion. Though relatively simple, they add a bit of dimension to the characters of the world, and they also allow for clearer goals, rather than just having to guess what on earth to do in a character’s questline. It is by no means holding your hand, though, and it strikes a good balance of helping you but also letting you roam free.

Combat is the main event for all the masochists that play these games, and I can easily say that this is one of the hardest games I have played in a while. Where Team Cherry asked a lot for platforming, they ask a lot more when it comes to combat. It is still simplistic in that you hit things to gain silk, and then bind that silk, when you have enough to heal yourself. Binding heals three lives at a time now, but with how difficult everything you face is, this certainly does not help as much as you would think. Enemies are much faster, adapting to your own speed increase, and in response to faster healing, they also hit much harder and mercilessly. So many basic enemies will wipe you out in seconds, due to a lot of them doing two lives per hit. There has been a lot of conversation on the internet about how fair this is, and while you could argue to just get good, Team Cherry has made a patch since release, toning this down for some of the earlier areas, so they must agree to some extent that it is unfair. With how many different tools you have and how fast and agile Hornet’s movement is, I think that the enemies hitting harder makes sense, and having them difficult towards the beginning certainly forced me to stop playing Silksong like I would play Hollow Knight. Whilst boiling down to the same idea, these are fundamentally different games when it comes to combat, mostly due to how much you can expand your arsenal and moveset in Silksong. Gaining new crests completely changes your moveset and method of attack, and the difficulty forces you to settle into the one that suits you best. For me, I stuck with the Hunter crest, preferring to be on the move constantly and delivering hits fast. Bosses are really tough, but they can all be beaten once you master your moveset and it becomes muscle memory. Some of the best fights in the game, like the First Sinner or the Cogwork Dancers, try to bring out the best and most smooth marriage of players and their moveset, making you react without thinking, and nothing feels quite as good when that all comes together and you beat those bosses with a triumphant and satisfying exhale.

Hollow Knight: Silksong is unbelievably tough, but I enjoyed every minute of it. It has some slightly annoying things that have not aged well, like its needlessly long boss runbacks, but overall, this is a package that has to be worth the wait for those who have had to be so patient. It is the perfect evolution of everything good about the first game, expanding on the world, characters, and its methodical combat. It will upset you with its brutality, but then it makes you feel on top of the world when you beat some of its harshest challenges. Perhaps the biggest thing to celebrate here, though, is Team Cherry. This game is pouring with love and care, where you can clearly see they were having so much fun making it. To make all of this, with easily 50 hours of content, and only ask for £16.75, shows the lack of ego and generosity that these folks have. The release of the original game, the wait for this one, and its release blowing everyone away is one of the most beautiful success stories in the gaming industry. Silksong is a wonderful game that I will continue to explore and thoroughly enjoy doing so.