Hollow Knight: Silksong – First Impressions
The wait is over: after six years spent in purgatory, Hollow Knight: Silksong has been released to everyone's absolute satisfaction.
Delivered at a price of 20 euros, the game manages to attract not only ardent fans but also casual players who caught the hype later – a fact that made the first day of launch set a record of over 500k concurrent players on Steam and caused network problems for all four major gaming platforms due to the high number of buyers.
If you participated in the collective madness on Reddit or Discord over the years and managed to keep the hope of release alive, despite the oppressive doubt that the game would ever see the light of day, then you deserve all the praise. But if you're hearing about this title for the first time now and are wondering, "What's the big deal?", don't worry, because now you have the chance to try not one, but two of the best Metroidvania-style games ever created.
It remains to be seen if Team Cherry has managed to deliver the much-coveted sequel that will satisfy old fans while leaving room for newcomers to the series.
I have skills, they’re multiplying
During the five hours of gameplay spent on Switch in the company of Silksong, I can say that the experience is both familiar and alien compared to the original. The basic mechanics are still there: you have the same ability bar, this time replaced by silk instead of spirit, which you can use to recharge your life masks or to use special powers. You have benches available to save your progress, and you'll relatively quickly get a compass and a map for orientation. Attacks are reminiscent of the style from the first game, and the hit feedback is just as satisfying.
Here, however, the similarities stop, because Hornet is a completely different character from the original protagonist. She is much more acrobatic, thanks to her diagonal aerial lunges and the fact that she doesn't lose momentum when bouncing on enemies' heads. These things bring greater fluidity of movement but also introduce a steeper learning curve for the uninitiated.
I couldn't help but notice that the game is quite difficult in places. Besides platforming, you'll encounter ordinary enemies who will remove two life masks without any problem, compared to the first game where this was reserved for only a few. Moreover, some have quite high resistance, requiring at least six hits to take them down.
But you're not defenceless either, as Hornet now has, in addition to abilities, various devices you can use offensively. With their introduction, a distinction was also made between charms and tools, so you no longer have to sacrifice a charm slot to keep the compass active, as it will now fall under tools, which is pretty cool.
Pharloom my beloved
The game's graphics are truly wonderful and manage to capture attention from the very first moments. There's a real mastery in the outlining of different level elements, and there's a great attention to detail: the moss you walk on compresses when you step on it, enemy remains catch fire if they fall into lava, and various background props shake after an explosion.
Pharloom is not only vividly coloured, but it's also "alive". In Hallownest, you were a resident of a deserted and dead world, and adventurers were very rare. Now, however, we'll see the other side of the spectrum, as you'll find a multitude of friendly insects you can interact with. And here's another element introduced: Hornet can speak, unlike the Knight, and this allows you to get to know her better through various dialogue moments.
Not only that, but through this ability, the concept of Wishes is also introduced – which takes the place of traditional quests and sidequests, in a slightly different form. From my experience so far, I can say that they are quite simplistic: collect three fruits or find twelve items, nothing revolutionary. However, the reward received for fulfilling wishes is often generous, so it's worth completing them.
Conquering the silksanity
I was eagerly awaiting the launch of Silksong, and now that it's out, I can't get enough of it. There's a fantastic satisfaction in conquering a difficult jump or defeating a boss you've been stuck on for a while – and I haven't specifically touched on this topic because I don't want to spoil any surprises for you; what I can tell you is that they are much more skilled than in the first game.
Very quickly, I'd like to point out that the performance on a normal Switch V2 so far has been fantastic. Everything runs very smoothly, and I haven't seen any technical bugs throughout the entire gameplay session.
I confess that I am truly captivated by Silksong and yearn for the moment I can continue my progress. We'll see if it manages to maintain the tempo throughout the game's duration, but the beginning is very promising.
Played on: Nintendo Switch
Release date: 4 September 2025
Developer: Team Cherry
Publisher: Team Cherry