Hollow Knight: Silksong

A new hero, a new kingdom

Silksong puts Hornet, the needle-wielding princess from the first game, at the centre. Captured and carried off to the kingdom of Pharloom, she escapes and begins a long climb towards the Citadel at its peak. Unlike the silent Knight, Hornet speaks, and her dry, confident lines give the adventure a clearer lead character. The story itself is still told mostly through the world: its inhabitants, its ruins and the fragments of lore scattered along the way.

Faster and more acrobatic

The biggest change is how Hornet moves and fights. She is quicker and lighter than the Knight, can sprint and grab ledges, and strikes diagonally downwards in a dive. Silk is the core resource: it builds up as she lands hits and is spent on healing or on powerful silk skills. A full spool lets her bind her wounds and restore three masks at once, which makes healing faster but also a bigger decision in the middle of a fight.

Crests reshape her attacks and playstyle, and tools add further options, from throwing weapons and traps to passive upgrades and utility items. Tools are replenished with shell shards, which adds a layer of resource management. Combat rewards aggression and precision more than patience, and the best fights feel like fast, deadly duels.

A world worth getting lost in

Pharloom is huge and varied, stretching from moss-covered caves and bone-strewn depths to swamps, bell towns and the gilded halls of the Citadel. As in the first game, maps have to be bought from a travelling cartographer before an area makes sense, and getting lost is part of the design. Quests posted on the wishwalls give reasons to return to earlier areas, even if some of them are simple errands. Exploration is richly rewarded with upgrades, shortcuts, new tools and secrets hidden behind false walls.

Difficulty that divides opinion

Silksong is hard from the very start. Several early enemies deal two masks of damage, some bosses sit at the end of long runbacks, and the rosaries used as currency can feel scarce. For many players, that struggle is exactly the appeal: every new area has to be earned, and every boss victory feels deserved. For others, it will be the reason to put the game down. Updates since launch have softened some of the sharpest edges, but this is still one of the more demanding games in the genre.

Art and sound

The hand-drawn art is among the most beautiful in the genre, with detailed backgrounds and fluid animation that make Pharloom feel alive. Christopher Larkin's score gives every area its own character, from quiet, melancholy themes to grand boss music.

Platforms

Silksong is available on PC, Mac and Linux, PlayStation 4 and 5, Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S, and Nintendo Switch and Switch 2. It was part of Game Pass from day one, and the Steam version is Steam Deck Verified.

Summary

Hollow Knight: Silksong is a worthy successor: bigger, faster and more generous with ideas, at a price that is modest for the amount of content. The difficulty is both its greatest strength and its greatest barrier. Those who embrace it get one of the best metroidvanias available.