A New World of Silk and Song
My son was very excited about the subject of today’s review, Hollow Knight: Silksong. He played the first Hollow Knight to death, finishing up on, I think, 105% completion (I’m pretty sure that isn’t how maths works, but never mind).
But I never played the first game, so I am coming to this, the second game in the series, entirely fresh. Coming from Team Cherry, the game features the same protagonist as the first game, but a whole new world. Can we survive and thrive, or are we likely to end up a hollow shell by the side of the road? Well, judging by my aging reflexes, the chances of the latter look somewhat more likely!
Grab your needle and let’s see what’s in store…
Playing as Hornet, we are captured and taken to a new world, a world “of silk and song”. I wonder where the subtitle for the game came from, eh? Anyway, we start at the bottom of this new world, and are told that we need to ascend to the peak of the kingdom in order to figure out what is going on. Sounds pretty straight forward, yeah?
Well, it isn’t going to be that easy, as there are a wide variety of enemies who seem to take an instant dislike to us. Can we teach them the error of their ways with our needle, rising to the occasion? Well, that’s up to you and your thumbs! The story is uncovered slowly as we advance, so I’ll not spill, or indeed spoil, anything here.
The Art of the Needle
The way the game is presented is worthy of spending a bit of time on, as Hollow Knight: Silksong looks and moves in utterly bewitching ways. The animation of Hornet and the enemies is just beautiful, the design of the characters we meet is top notch, and the backdrops of the various biomes left to traverse look stunning. The game is basically a side scrolling platformer with some combat mixed in, or rather it’s a side on brawler with a little light jumping thrown in!
Everything runs as smooth as silk (song). I could go on, but you get the picture – Hollow Knight: Silksong has been made with love, and it positively oozes out of the screen as you play.
A Haunting Orchestral Score: Audio and Atmosphere
Sound is equally good, with a haunting orchestral score that underscores the action on the screen. The way the bugs talk to each other, and how Hornet says “Ren!” or what sounds like it when she heals herself, along with the cries of combat, all works perfectly together. All in all, the game looks and sounds great. That’s the line for the accolades trailer right there!
A Dance with Death
The last thing to chat about is the action on offer, and again the news here is pretty good. The controls are where we’ll start, and they are as sharp as the point of Hornet’s needle: if a little hard to get to grips with for a noob like me. The thing that annoys me is the downward attack. You see, you’d think that pressing down when you are in the air would do a downward attack, yeah? Well, it seems that Hornet can only work in diagonals, and so timing is an issue. There are certain sections of the game where you have to use the downward attack to bounce off objects in the scenery, or even off enemies to make it across gaps, and I have really struggled with this.
Obviously, the more you play, the better you’ll get, but to me it seems to make things harder than it needs to be.
Rosaries, Spiders, and Combat
And it isn’t like Silksong needs to be made any harder, as it is already on a comparable level to, say, Dark Souls. It may seem an odd comparison, a 2D platformer and a huge open world game, but there are parallels. When you die in this game, for instance, you drop all the rosaries that you were carrying, and have to get back to the point that you died in order to grab them again. Obviously, this is easier said than done, particularly as the map that you can buy isn’t the most detailed in the world, and just navigating about is pretty tricky.
Talking tricky, so is the combat, with enemies complete with attack patterns that you need to learn. The weird thing about most of them though is that hitting them isn’t enough to stop their attacks, so picking when and how you attack is as vital as anything else. And whoever designed the big skull spiders, that are like bloody tanks, is off my Xmas card list for ever!
The bosses kick the challenge up even more, and learning their patterns is critical. Luckily, as Hornet goes through the game, new abilities and gear become available, helping to up the damage output. There is also a silk gauge to keep an eye on, which is how you can perform the special attacks, and crucially, when it is full, enables Hornet to recover some of her health. Killing enemies will refill the gauge, so there is a definite balance to be struck between attacking and trying to avoid the enemies.
A Beautiful but Brutal Adventure
Hollow Knight: Silksong is a beautiful, infuriating, visually stunning game with a lot to offer the dedicated player. If you are a veteran of the series, then the enhancements found here will add to your enjoyment of the series (according to my son, at least). For newcomers, the game is punishing in just the right way – not so hard it makes you cry, but hard enough that you think “I know what I did wrong, let’s go again!”, all until 2 in the morning…
Important Links
The Wait is OVER – The Legendary Hollow Knight: Silksong is OUT NOW on Xbox Game Pass & Play Anywhere – https://www.thexboxhub.com/the-wait-is-over-the-legendary-hollow-knight-silksong-is-out-now-on-xbox-game-pass-play-anywhere/
The Hugely Anticipated Hollow Knight: Silksong Leads a Week of Superb New Game Pass Additions – https://www.thexboxhub.com/the-hugely-anticipated-hollow-knight-silksong-leads-a-week-of-superb-new-game-pass-additions/
Download Hollow Knight: Silksong on Xbox (and Game Pass) – https://www.xbox.com/en-GB/games/store/hollow-knight-silksong/9n116v0599hb
