Hollow Knight: Silksong is the most talked-about topic among players worldwide. But one thing players keep talking about is how tough it is, especially early on. There have been numerous reviews about bosses being brutal, damage can hit hard, and runbacks feel long.
While some people love all these major changes in the Silksong universe, others feel it’s punishing and not fair. Replying to this, Team Cherry has addressed these concerns and made it clear that it’s not unfair for players; it is made in a certain way.
Why Silksong Feels Significantly Harder
Hornet is Built to be More Powerful
Horent is powerful in so many ways; more mobility, more skill options, and overall a faster, more intricate moveset than the Knight from the original game. Because of all these abilities devs had to make enemies stronger so that they can match Hornet’s abilities and make the game interesting.
Greater Damage, No Margin for Error
Unlike Hollow Knight, bosses in Silksong deal with a significant amount of damage. Some damage, like double mask damage, makes you lose two health units even with one hit. This raises a serious concern that there is less margin for error.
Freedom of Path or Chaos
Sliksong offers a variety of choices when it comes to choosing a path. You can either follow the main path, or it feels so difficult that you are forced to take side paths, explore alternate routes, pick up upgrades, or revisit areas. Sometimes you have to take a detour to build up strength, pick up tools, and come back again.
Steep Difficulty – But Not Dead Ends
During their statement, they confirmed that there is movement where difficulty spikes hard. But in those hard times with the bosses, you can mitigate and explore elsewhere to level up, find better tools, learn enemy patterns, or even skip the challenge temporarily until you feel confident to compete with the bosses.
Where are Players Feeling Frustrated
Runbacks / Repetition
Runbacks are the major source of frustration for players in-game. When they fight through long stretches of enemies just to reach a boss, and these bosses take away players’ two health units with one stroke (players die fast), they feel tedious. Now they have to traverse the same sections and collect resources again.
Damage Spikes
In Silksong, this is a constant concern for players worldwide. There are a few attacks in-game that take off two masks that feel harsh, especially if they seem random or unavoidable.
Punishment
Players think there are certain sections in-game that fall more on the side of punishment than fair challenge. They have to learn the pattern and still get punished, as the game is too harsh for them.
Visibility of Alternatives
If you ever want to take a detour, then it’s not always obvious. Sometimes you just take the wrong detour and think the section you are in is there to be crossed or the boss is there to be beaten.
What Developers Think – A Dev Perspective
High Tension and Engagement
Devs think that when you are just one hit away, it creates a sense of tension and excitement for players. And when you achieve something with hard work, it creates a sense of achievement, making it more meaningful.
Growth and Skill Rewards
Hornet uses a variety of tools to move, evade, dash, and more. When players invest their time picking and mastering them one after another, they feel rewarded.
Each Player Expression
Sliksong offers a variety of paths that players can explore, find upgrades, and choose tools. It makes players adapt the game to their style. A player can brute force through or strategize and explore; it’s their expression altogether.
Respecting the Game’s Genre
It is a Metroidvania game, and it often focuses on exploration, backtracking, risk, and reward. Silksong leans into that and keeps the steep difficulty for players who like challenges, while offering ways (by giving paths) to soften the blow.
Critic’s Corner: What We Think
Undoubtedly, ‘Silksong is hard by nature‘. But a fair trade! Bringing Hornet in-game with lots of abilities, tools, skillset, and more, it is only fair to make the enemies stronger. The combination of Hornet’s arsenal, upgraded enemies, and open paths means the challenge scales. But the devs have also left other paths for you where you can take a step back, explore other areas, collect more upgrades or tools to come back even stronger.
One thing that developers could have included is more frequent checkpoints. It would have saved a great amount of time and effort for players who die during a boss fight and have to run back all over again.
Our Quick Suggestions
- Learn enemy patterns: Their attack timing, tells, and evasion windows. Don’t just rush into enemies, strategies, and then make your move.
- Safe zones: Enter the safe zones or benches to rest and upgrade yourself to become stronger than ever.
- Alternate routes: If you get stuck in the main path, then seek out side quests or alternate zones.
- Slow Down: You can always take a step back and collect more upgrades or tools.
So with a little persistence, learning, and sometimes a bit of humility, you can definitely make it through Sliksong. If you got stuck in any part of Hollow Knight: Silksong, then do let us know in the comments section below. Also, check out Silver Bells Locations in Hollow Knight: Silksong.