After years of anticipation, Team Cherry has finally delivered the long-awaited sequel to their acclaimed Metroidvania masterpiece. Hollow Knight: Silksong doesn’t merely continue the story of Hallownest, it transcends it, creating a new world that feels both familiar and refreshingly innovative. At $20, this game offers exceptional value that rivals titles twice its price, delivering an experience that justifies every moment of the extended development period.
The Kingdom of Pharloom: A Visual and Auditory Feast
Graphics: A Hand-Crafted Marvel
One of Silksong’s most immediately striking aspects is its visual presentation. Team Cherry has elevated their already impressive art style to new heights, crafting a world that feels both hauntingly beautiful and vibrantly alive. The fallen insect kingdom of Pharloom presents a stunning variety of environments, from the moss-covered grottos that whisper of ancient secrets to the gleaming gilded cities that showcase the kingdom’s former grandeur.
The hand-drawn animation work deserves particular praise. Hornet “wields her needle with acrobatic grace, weaving traps and executing dashes in a captivating dance of lethal artistry,” and every frame of her movement feels deliberately crafted. The character animations demonstrate a level of fluidity and expressiveness that surpasses the original Hollow Knight, with Hornet’s movements feeling more dynamic and responsive than her predecessor’s more methodical approach.
Environmental storytelling through visual design remains one of Team Cherry’s greatest strengths. Each area tells its own story through carefully placed details: crumbling architecture hints at past glory, while overgrown vegetation suggests nature’s inexorable reclaim of civilization. The misted moors create an atmosphere of mystery and melancholy, while the promised ascent to the shining citadel provides a compelling visual goal that drives exploration forward.
Pros:
- Exceptional hand-drawn art style with improved animation fluidity
- Diverse, atmospheric environments that each feel distinct
- Strong environmental storytelling through visual design
- Technical performance that maintains smooth framerates even during intense combat
Cons:
- Some players may find certain areas too similar in color palette, particularly in darker underground sections
- Occasionally, visual clarity can suffer during chaotic multi-enemy encounters
Combat: The Dance of Steel and Silk
Lethal Acrobatic Action Refined
Where Hollow Knight’s combat felt deliberate and methodical, Silksong transforms battle into something approaching high-speed ballet. Reviews consistently note how “Silksong makes combat so much more enjoyable, on top of making it quicker, and reworking healing to be a far more fast-paced, viable option.” This represents a fundamental shift in design philosophy that pays significant dividends.
Hornet’s moveset feels expansive from the outset, with her needle providing both offensive capabilities and traversal options. The integration of her silk abilities creates combat scenarios that feel genuinely three-dimensional, allowing for vertical escapes, trap-setting, and creative approach angles that were impossible in the original game. The “huge suite of deadly moves” promised by the developers delivers on its premise, offering players multiple viable approaches to most combat encounters.
The difficulty curve, however, requires careful consideration. “If Hollow Knight was demanding, Silksong is merciless. Even ordinary encounters are sharper and more aggressive, while boss fights push you to your breaking point.” This increased challenge will delight veteran players seeking greater tests of skill, but may prove overwhelming for newcomers to the series.
Tools and Mechanisms: Crafting Victory
The expanded arsenal system represents one of Silksong’s most significant improvements. Rather than simply collecting charms, players now craft and customize their equipment loadout through a more involved system that encourages experimentation. The variety of weapons, traps, and mechanisms available creates meaningful choice in how players approach both combat and exploration challenges.
Pros:
- Faster, more dynamic combat that feels responsive and fluid
- Expanded moveset offers multiple solutions to combat encounters
- Improved healing system integrates better with the pace of battle
- Weapon and tool crafting adds meaningful customization depth
Cons:
- Significantly increased difficulty may frustrate players expecting the original’s challenge level
- Some combat encounters can feel like drawn-out battles of attrition
- Learning curve for new mechanics can be steep
Exploration and World Design: The Metroidvania Formula Perfected
A Kingdom Worth Discovering
Pharloom represents a masterclass in Metroidvania world design. The interconnected nature of the kingdom feels organic rather than artificial, with pathways that make logical sense within the world’s geography. The progression system cleverly gates areas behind both ability requirements and narrative context, ensuring that new discoveries feel earned rather than arbitrary.
The quest system adds welcome structure to exploration without compromising the genre’s emphasis on discovery. “Silksong is a highly customizable experience, filled with deep combat, beautiful and haunting vistas, and lots of mechanical puzzles.” These quests range from traditional fetch objectives to complex multi-stage adventures that reveal deeper lore about Pharloom’s history and inhabitants.
Shocking Quests and Ancient Mysteries
The promise to “hunt down rare beasts and solve ancient mysteries” proves well-founded. Many of the game’s side quests offer genuinely surprising narrative revelations that contextualize both Hornet’s journey and the broader world. The integration of these quests into the main progression path feels natural, avoiding the common Metroidvania pitfall of side content feeling disconnected from the primary experience.
Pros:
- Excellent world interconnectivity that rewards exploration
- Meaningful quest integration that enhances rather than distracts from core gameplay
- Strong sense of progression that maintains momentum throughout the 20+ hour experience
- Mechanical puzzles provide welcome variety to the gameplay loop
Cons:
- Some quest objectives can be unclear, leading to extended periods of confusion
- Backtracking, while reduced from the original, can still feel excessive in certain late-game sections
Boss Encounters: Legendary Challenges
40+ Legendary Bosses: Quality and Quantity
The boss design in Silksong represents perhaps the game’s greatest achievement. Each of the 40+ major encounters feels unique, with distinct attack patterns, visual designs, and mechanical gimmicks that prevent the battles from feeling repetitive. The variety ranges from agile hunters that match Hornet’s speed to massive constructs that require entirely different tactical approaches.
The difficulty scaling of boss encounters deserves particular mention. Early bosses teach fundamental mechanics while remaining accessible, but the challenge ramp accelerates significantly in the game’s latter half. “At its worst, though, it is extremely punishing, forces you into repetitive segments, and feels occasionally purposefully irritating.” This criticism, while valid, should be understood within the context of the game’s target audience, players seeking substantial challenge will find these encounters rewarding rather than frustrating.
Pros:
- Exceptional variety in boss design and mechanics
- Clear progression in teaching combat concepts through boss encounters
- Memorable visual and audio design for major battles
- Multiple viable strategies for most encounters encourage replay value
Cons:
- Difficulty spikes can feel extreme, particularly in the final third of the game
- Some bosses have extremely high health pools that can make battles feel overly long
- Limited checkpointing before certain encounters can increase frustration
Audio Design: Christopher Larkin’s Triumphant Return
Orchestral Excellence
Christopher Larkin’s return as composer proves to be one of Silksong’s greatest assets. The orchestral score expands significantly beyond the original’s already impressive soundtrack, incorporating symphonic elements that give major moments additional emotional weight. The melancholy melodies that defined Hollow Knight’s atmosphere remain, but they’re joined by more triumphant and energetic pieces that match Hornet’s more dynamic personality.
The boss themes deserve special recognition, with each major encounter featuring music that perfectly complements the visual spectacle and mechanical challenge. These tracks manage to be both memorable as standalone pieces and effective as gameplay accompaniment, a difficult balance that Larkin navigates expertly.
Pros:
- Expanded orchestral arrangements add emotional depth
- Boss themes are consistently excellent and memorable
- Audio design effectively supports both exploration and combat
- Strong integration between music and gameplay moments
Cons:
- Some ambient tracks can become repetitive during extended exploration sessions
- Occasional audio mixing issues during intense combat scenarios
Performance and Technical Aspects
Polished Presentation
Silksong launches in an impressively polished state, with stable performance across platforms and minimal technical issues. “Hollow Knight: Silksong is already one of the most successful games of 2025, with its launch breaking pretty much every digital platform while going on to surpass 500,000 concurrent players on Steam alone during its first 24 hours.” This launch success speaks to both the game’s technical stability and its eager reception by the gaming community.
The game’s optimization allows it to maintain smooth framerates even during the most chaotic combat encounters, ensuring that player deaths feel like skill issues rather than technical limitations. Load times are minimal, reducing frustration during the inevitable retry attempts that the game’s difficulty demands.
Steel Soul Mode: The Ultimate Challenge
Testing Mastery
Steel Soul mode returns as the ultimate test of player skill, presenting an even more formidable challenge than its predecessor. This mode transforms the entire game into a test of consistency and mastery, where a single mistake can end dozens of hours of progress. The mode feels carefully balanced for players who have thoroughly mastered the base game, rather than serving as an artificial difficulty increase.
Value Proposition: Excellence at $20
Exceptional Bang for Your Buck
At $20, Hollow Knight: Silksong represents extraordinary value in the current gaming market. The game offers 20+ hours of content for completionists, with multiple difficulty modes and extensive replay value. “Hollow Knight: Silksong is rated ‘Mighty’ after being reviewed by 45 critics, with an overall average score of 92. It’s ranked in the top 0% of games and recommended by 96% of critics.”
When compared to $60 AAA releases that often offer less content and polish, Silksong stands as a testament to what focused development and clear creative vision can achieve. The game’s scope and ambition rival much more expensive productions while maintaining the tight design sensibilities that made the original special.
Final Verdict: A Worthy Evolution
Pros Summary:
- Exceptional visual and audio presentation that surpasses the original
- Significantly improved combat system that feels faster and more dynamic
- Excellent world design with meaningful exploration and quest integration
- Outstanding boss design variety and quality
- Incredible value at $20 price point
- High replay value through multiple difficulty modes
Cons Summary:
- Significantly increased difficulty may alienate some players
- Some boss encounters feel overly long due to high health pools
- Occasional clarity issues during complex combat scenarios
- Limited checkpointing can increase frustration with difficult encounters
“Hollow Knight: Silksong is a near perfect followup to its justifiably revered predecessor. Unfurling from its cocoon, this Metroidvania has evolved on just about everything I loved about the original.” This sentiment captures the essence of what Team Cherry has accomplished, not merely a sequel, but a genuine evolution of their formula.
Silksong succeeds in the most challenging task facing any sequel: honoring what made the original special while pushing the experience into new territory. The increased difficulty and complexity may not appeal to every player, but for those willing to meet the game on its terms, Silksong offers one of the finest Metroidvania experiences ever crafted.
For $20, players receive a game that easily justifies its price through sheer content volume, but more importantly, through the quality and craftsmanship evident in every aspect of its design. In an industry often criticized for prioritizing monetization over player experience, Hollow Knight: Silksong stands as a beacon of what focused, passionate development can achieve.
Conclusion
A masterful evolution that sets new standards for the Metroidvania genre, held back only by its occasionally punishing difficulty curve and some pacing issues in boss encounters. Essential for fans of the original and highly recommended for anyone seeking a premium indie game experience at an exceptional value.