"I'm picking it up a lot faster" Hollow Knight newcomers and veterans respond to the first few hours of Silksong

Silksong is real. It’s finally here. I’ve played about seven hours of it already. Whether it’s exploring the first few screens of the world and happening upon Bone Bottom or plucking away at the first real test of a fight against Lace, the game uses the same formula as Hollow Knight and wields it to equally incredible effect.

I’m something of a Hollow Knight megafan: I own the original game on Nintendo, PlayStation, Xbox and PC, and have beaten it at least once on all platforms (though I’ve never quite managed to overcome the Path of Pain – I’m too old and slow for that now, I think).

My initial read of Silksong is a simple one: it’s harder, faster, and more complex than its forebear, but that’s no bad thing. As I wrote yesterday, Team Cherry is artisinal in its use of game design to empower the player, and Silksong proves that on a sophomore attempt, the developer is no less keen eyed and sadistic in its approach. I’ve not played enough to put a score on the game yet, but my initial thought is: this is an all-timer. We’ll see if that holds water once I hit the end-game.

But you don’t just care about what I have to say, do you? Let’s go to the wider Eurogamer team – made up of all different levels of familiarity with the series – to see what everyone else has to say about Silksong now that the servers are back online and we can all actually play it.

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Marie – Guide Writer

Hollow Knight familiarity level: Played a bit of the first one, never managed to get too deep into it.

Impressions:

I am, quite welcomely, blown away so far with Silksong. I’ve just reached the end of The Marrows, partly because I keep finding myself getting distracted by the detailed designs in each area and also because I keep revisiting Sherma to hear their song on repeat. The music in Silksong alone is enough to keep me coming back for more.