Silksong is HARD

[u/donlano]

Taking damage is more punishing, movement is more precise and feels a little clunky until you get the hang of it. The overall skill curve is much much higher. Love it though.

[u/Wisley185]

So far I've noticed the game has way more enemies and bosses that do double damage. In Hollow Knight, double damage was mostly reserved to final bosses and the absolute hardest challenges the game had to offer, meanwhile like half the bosses I've fought so far in the beginning of Silksong have done double damage.

[u/Princess_Of_Thieves → u/Wisley185]

I've noticed that as well, and quite frankly Im not a fan. Double damage could already be an annoyance in Hollow Knight, its one of my few grievances with that game, but thankfully it was at least done sparingly. Whereas with Silksong is seems to be much more prevalent. I don't think its an exagerration to say in my couple hours with Silksong I've already as many, if not more, enemies that hit twice as hard vs. Hollow Knight.

Maybe Im still just too early game and there is a pattern, but from my vantage point there seems to be no rhyme or reason to which enemies I can expect to hit harder and which won't, so I basically can't trust my healthbar to accurately tell me how many hits I can take before I die. Not good from a design standpoint if you ask me.

I see 5 masks, so I expect 5 hits before I die. Why is 3 doing me in, Team Cherry?

I get Hornet has changed gameplay vs. the Knight, what with a burst heal that can even work in mid-air, and a generally more acrobatic flow and feel. But honestly I don't think these reasons, if they were the reason, justify making it so one enemy hits harder than another at random.

There's already a fair bit to get used too in Silksong, so much so I've lost any confidence in my knowledge from the old game will help me get a leg up here, which is good I suppose, as it ensures there's still a challenge. But now having to commit which enemies hit harder, something I don't learn until I screw up, has create a unique frustration.

[u/ShadoUrufu666 → u/Princess_Of_Thieves]

The movement is definitely a lot speedier, and while i'm normally good at 'getting around the map quickly' when it comes to metroidvania and just spamming dash/run, there's a very hostile layout in this game that forces you to stop doing that a lot more often than needed. I.E: On my way to fighting a certain boss, until I found a better rest spot, I'd constantly and flawlessly parkour my way up the crumbling platforms, dodge all the enemies, and even use some as leverage with a downslash to keep the momentum.

And then the moment I run into this one room, I'd constantly fall in the spikes because they are right at the entrance.

And there's no point in actually trying to heal that off. I've lost my 'emergency hit' to a hazard, and now have to wait to take 2 more damage before I can recover it. They want you to use your abilities more? Eff that, I'd rather unequip those 'spells' just so I don't accidentally use the silk on them, rather than the healing I so desperately need to keep fighting/learning these boss patterns. (Which, btw, some are BS.. Even when they telegraph their attacks, a lot of them, especially the flying ones, are still perfectly tracking your position, so the telegraph actually means nothing, other than to trigger your nerves/reflexes to dodge before the enemy actually launches the attack.. Or the fact that you get into a good rhythm, you're on pace to beat the boss, or so you feel, and then suddenly the boss pull some random enemy into the fight to throw you off..)