5/5 ★ – Pixelguy9's review of Hollow Knight: Silksong.

After six and a half years, it brings me such an immense sense of joy to finally be able to say that not only is Hollow Knight: Silksong easily an incredible game, but it without a shadow of a doubt one of, if not the greatest indie triumphs of all time. This game took Hollow Knight, already one of my favourite games of all time, and somehow managed to improve it in almost every way. One of Hollow Knight: Silksong’s immediate standout features is its downright masterful art style. Hollow Knight’s aesthetic was already the game’s strongest aspect, yet its sequel was easily able to top it thanks to the wealth of new areas and unique colour palettes, not to mention the smallest of details given such care in the design department. From the vibrant greens of the Moss Grotto to the polished gold surfaces of the Citadel, Hollow Knight: Silksong’s art is never dull, nor does it ever feel repetitive or uninspired. Hollow Knight: Silksong’s visual variety is extremely useful given the sheer scale of the world, far more intricate and vast than Hallownest. There is plenty of contrast in the individual areas too, with some being small, barely more than a couple of rooms, and others, such as the aforementioned Citadel being so large that they contain multiple areas within. Overall, the world of Hollow Knight: Silksong shares the same interconnectedness that made the first game so special, while expanding it to a scale I’d argue has never been seen in the genre. In addition to the improvements seen to the game’s world, Hollow Knight: Silksong might just have some of the most satisfying gameplay I’ve yet seen in a 2D game. Every move feels fluid and agile, with new abilities such as the Swift Step and the sprint it enables completely changing the way the player interacts with the world and the way in which it is designed. Others like the Clawline act as satisfying traversal tools, while more traditional abilities make their return such as the Cling Grip and Faydown Cloak, allowing for wall climbing and double jumping respectively. In addition, Hornet’s core move set has changed, most noticeable in the diagonal stab when performing a downwards attack with the default crest equiped. The crest system as a whole offers more than Hollow Knight’s charm mechanic, providing unique move sets and passive effects for the player to experiment with or switch depending on the situation, while also allowing for special tools to be added in various slots designated by the crests, further letting the player customise their build. However, like Hollow Knight, by far the most discussed part of Hollow Knight: Silksong is the bosses. For the most part, Hollow Knight: Silksong’s bosses are extremely solid fights, with only a couple I wasn’t a fan of, including Sister Splinter, the Savage Beastfly, and Groal the Great. Other than these three, most of Hollow Knight Silksong’s bosses are fantastic. Lace and the Fourth Chorus are particular early game highlights, while the Cogwork Dancers, Trobbio, and Grand Mother Silk being my favourites from the game’s second act. The third act also holds some strong fights like the First Sinner, Crust King Khann, the Clover Dancers, and Lost Lace all being very solid. However, my biggest complaint with these bosses is that often times, the run back to the boss is an egregious length, with the Last Judge and Groal the Great boasting what are by far the worst. As well as this, most of the bosses in Hollow Knight: Silksong will deal double damage with every attack, and although I wouldn’t change this for all the bosses, there are certainly a few in particular who have no right dealing that much damage; the worst offender being the rematch against the Savage Beastfly, dealing double damage, while summoning enemies that can also deal double damage, above a small platform he can destroy that floats over lava that deals- well, I’ll let you figure out the rest. These cases aside, the argument can be made that most, if not all of the bosses in Hollow Knight: Silksong are well designed and thoroughly enjoyable. Most of them anyway… While I failed to touch on this aspect of Hollow Knight in my initial review of that game, something worth bringing up for Hollow Knight: Silksong is the vast array of charming characters that Hornet meets on her journey through Pharloom. Hornet’s ability to speak in Hollow Knight: Silksong also provides us with many conversations that give much insight into her own character and perspectives. Each person she interacts with is so well animated, voiced, and brings so much joy whenever they appear once again. Whether it be following the sound of Shakra or Sherma’s singing, or watching as Garmond and Zaza join you in fighting a group of enemies, every interaction with Hollow Knight: Silksong’s NPCs is a treat. Finally, it wouldn’t be one of my reviews if I didn’t talk about this game’s phenomenal score. Hollow Knight had an amazing soundtrack, and although I believe Christopher Larkin knocked it out of the park once again, I think that soundtrack is still my favourite of the two. Like the first game, Hollow Knight: Silksong places heavy emphasis on frantic strings, with bells and other unique instruments added for the various foes you face and areas you travel to. The game lacks much musical callbacks to Hollow Knight, with ‘Red Maiden’ being the only song I’ve noticed use any sort of theme from Hollow Knight, but this allows the game’s entirely original score to really shine. Some of my favourite tracks include ‘Enter Pharloom’, ‘Strive’, ‘Bone Bottom’, ‘Lace’, ‘Widow’, ‘Bilewater’, ‘Phantom’, the previously mentioned ‘Red Maiden’, ‘Choral Chambers’, ‘Songclave’, ‘Cogwork Dancers’, ‘Awakening’, ‘Nyleth’, ‘Sands of Karak’, ‘Last Dive’, ‘Lost Lace’, and ‘Sister of the Void’. Overall, Hollow Knight: Silksong has an incredible soundtrack, and these songs are worth a listen even if you haven’t played the game. Hollow Knight: Silksong is easily one of the best games I’ve ever played, and considering how long I and so many others waited, I’m so happy the game was worth it. Although the difficulty and some of the changes to the mechanics have been divisive, I firmly believe that Hollow Knight: Silksong is not only somehow a better game than the first Hollow Knight, but is the greatest indie release of all time. I look forward to seeing where Team Cherry go from here, and hope that their games continue to shine as bright as this. With that being said, some updates during development this time would be appreciated…