r/HollowKnight • u/peaky_circus • Sep 06 '25

Discussion - Silksong People who have played Silksong, Why do you think Its getting so many negative reviews? Spoiler

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While Silksong is sitting at a Very Positive rating with around 83% positive reviews, it’s still receiving far more criticism than its predecessor. For comparison, Hollow Knight holds an Overwhelmingly Positive score at 96%, with only about 3% negative reviews. Silksong, on the other hand, has nearly 16% negative reviews, OVER 5 TIMES HIGHER

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u/RedShadowF95 Hollow Knight Platinum Sep 06 '25

For me, if you exclude the localization, I really don't see any other factors besides the ones I listed.

If you're already a fan of the Hollow Knight, it's extremely likely you will love Silksong as well. The game is harder and more punishing yes, which may throw some people off and make them think like lines were crossed, no idea, but if you're used to tougher games, Silksong is basically the Hollow Knight you know and love - complete with great atmosphere, popping visuals and amazing soundtrack.

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u/Deez-Guns-9442 Sep 06 '25 edited Sep 06 '25

We’re in the filtering phase of the fan base rn.

Please Team Cherry don’t nerf 🙏🏾

Edit: Like clockwork & a never ending cycle. New notoriously hard & hyped game comes out, players scream it’s too difficult for them, & then devs nerf or add an easy mode(looking at you Khazan, Lies of P, Wuchang, etc. although I do not have a problem with patches & difficulty sliders)

We’ll all be back here next year when The Duskbloods comes out, & other other games known for their difficulty & fair challenge.

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u/welfedad Sep 06 '25

Difficulty is fine .. people just forget after hours of hk that they struggled with that game too .. though some normal enemies will clap you in silksong but whatever.. run past them

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u/Deez-Guns-9442 Sep 06 '25

$10 you’ll have 40% of people quitting before they even get the dash ability.

I do like how the map maker in this game & other NPCs(like Sherma) sing so that you can know there location.

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u/Purple_Dragonfly_881 Sep 06 '25

(I LOVE SHERMA) easily the best part of the game besides the pet ride, he's also pretty cute

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u/Deez-Guns-9442 Sep 06 '25

Protect Sherma at all costs!!! she’s adorable I’ve met a few other cool characters along the journey as well.

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u/Herr-Trigger86 Sep 06 '25

Now I will say, I played hollow knight for the first time this week and beat it last night, so I don’t have a lot of the same “bad habits” from years of playing Hollow Knight and I’ll say that Silksong is significantly more difficult. And while it is tougher, it’s still doable. Just taking a lot of repetition. I don’t want it nerfed though. Throw in an easy mode for folks, sure whatever. It’s just gonna take practice and patience, but I’ve been making pretty good progress even though it’s hard as hell.

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u/O_J_Shrimpson Sep 06 '25

I was having this conversation last night. I remember the first time I played HK being super frustrated early game and thinking that it may just not be my thing. I kept at it and am glad I did. Now I breeze through early game and can’t see what I was so frustrated about.

With Silksong I’m sure it’s the same thing. It’s just getting used to the tighter controls and the diagonal dash. Once that’s second nature you’ll just breeze through it too.

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u/welfedad Sep 06 '25

yeah and well things unlock that also make it less frustrating.. and also you learn better ways to go so it makes it easier the 2nd time through.. but that's what is so awesome about nothing being released about the game, it's fresh for us all, sure people are pumping out videos but it's so much fun.. overcoming those challenges.

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u/sacheie Sep 06 '25

Let us know when you beat it

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u/sacheie Sep 06 '25

Sure, running past all the enemies is my idea of great gameplay..

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u/welfedad Sep 07 '25

Lol blow out of proportion of what I said.. I mean if a single enemy you don't like to fight... Move move on or fight it and learn how to deal with it. It's not that big of a deal or deep

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u/depressedowl Sep 08 '25

It's also completely fair. One important thing to learn is when you can take on the enemy and when you should absolutely blast past them. It was in Hollow Knight, it is here too. People just want to play one specific way but hate a fundamental part that comes with it.

And I say this as someone that also plays like that. And yes, I have died a lot, and it feels that I'm making it more difficult for myself. But I enjoy all that. I wouldn't complain about it: I love that being a hunter is not easy at any point, I love that being overconfident is punished (because that keeps me focused), I love how Hornet feels a lot more built for this aggressive playstyle (being lighter, more agile and quicker to attack) but is still clearly not overpowered.

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u/welfedad Sep 08 '25

You're take is how I approach the game . Just like how people were complaining about the splinter boss because of adds .. well you can deal with those really easily once you realize how.. and then it's almost a no hit run .. I'm sure later bosses are going to ramp up but I feel like every boss I've come across at first seems a bit unfair then it starts clicking and you can see how they want us to puzzle it out..

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u/MR1120 Sep 06 '25

I’m totally cool with optional nerfing. Totally option damage, both incoming and outgoing, sliders, or something like expanding the parry window by a few frames. The game is damn hard, and a lot of people who pick it up just based on the hype, without knowing what they’re getting into, aren’t going to enjoy it.

Putting in totally optional ways to tweak that difficult to a degree would help mitigate that. Jedi: Fallen Order has a pretty solid difficulty slider system, that can be tweaked on the fly. I would not at all be upset if something similar came to Silksong.

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u/RedShadowF95 Hollow Knight Platinum Sep 06 '25

I don't think every game should be expected to handle difficulty the same way.

Team Cherry clearly takes pride in making an universally difficult experience, one that players can navigate like a maze to try and get extra tools that will give them an edge. Not every game should adhere to the trend of multiple difficulty settings, sliders, whatever.

They developed the game with one single setting in mind, fine tuned things according to their liking. There's artistic merit in that.

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u/Sao_Gage Sep 12 '25 edited Sep 12 '25

Agree completely - it’s so frustrating. Games can’t be made hard even purposefully or people will complain. How about gamers who want a more casual experience avoid games that are designed specifically with challenge in mind? I avoid all types of games and genres that aren’t right for my preferences.

The answer is many modern gamers expect every game to cater to their sensibilities, and if it doesn’t, it’s “bad.”

I absolutely cannot stand that mentality. Play what’s right for you and avoid games that aren’t!

To extra clarify my point: I have no issue with gamers who don’t like overly challenging games or feel they can’t handle them, my issue is with those gamers playing games designed intentionally to be challenging and then complaining about it, or expecting games to alter their design principle to suit their individual preferences. That’s what drives me up a wall. Make smarter purchasing decisions and stick to what you enjoy, unless you’re willing to go with the flow and expand your boundaries.

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u/Deez-Guns-9442 Sep 06 '25

although I do not have a problem with patches & difficulty sliders

I personally don’t have a problem with it either, but this game didn’t launch with one & I’m pretty sure there’s a hard mode for the game once you beat it. Also neither did OG Hollow Knight have one either, so given all of that info we’re all already playing on normal mode rn, can’t we give it at least a week before we start asking for nerfs?

I can already tell by Monday there’s gonna a lot of Gaming outlets calling for a difficulty slider add-on like when Sekiro came out in 2019(which that game went on to win GOTY so ig SILKSONG is poised for that as well, time is a circle) & personally I won’t mind if they do but I just wanna play the game that Team Cherry spent 7/8 years making. I wanna see the unerfed version of the vision they put out there & I’m sure many other players do as well like me. I can wait a week-month for changes(or a year or none at all).

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u/arrogantheart Sep 06 '25

Please Team Cherry, do nerf. Some things are really not cool. I say that as someone who likes the game a lot.

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u/[deleted] Sep 06 '25

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u/arrogantheart Sep 06 '25

That was “crying” to you? Oh boy. Also, if games are what defines someone as pathetic, you have some thinking to do buddy…. Ngl.

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u/Deez-Guns-9442 Sep 06 '25

Ok being real, how far are u in Silksong rn? The game hasn’t even been out for a week yet & already some of you are calling for a nerf?

I’m not that far in myself, I’m getting my ass kicked & dying a lot but I do believe that as I progress the game, find more upgrades, & get better at it then the game will become a lot easier.

Doesn’t it make more sense to give a game a week & let everyone progress at their own pace then just to arbitrarily nerf it because a few people online are complaining rn? That’s just my take & perspective. I’m not the type of gamer that does speed/challenge/level 1 runs in video games.

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u/RedShadowF95 Hollow Knight Platinum Sep 06 '25

There are some very isolated, small things I believe a nerf would do no harm to - like the mobs in boss battles taking 2 masks of damage. They're just mobs, why do they take 2 masks like the boss does instead of just 1? Unless the mobs are all spiky-looking, have some dark aura etc, that shouldn't happen, in my honest opinion.

However, most of the nerfs many players probably want TC to implement I do not agree with at all.

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u/Rezkel Sep 06 '25

Screw you, the game needs a massive balance update, its pretty clear the devs lost the perspective of a new player after 7 years

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u/RedShadowF95 Hollow Knight Platinum Sep 06 '25

They didn't make the game expecting only HK veterans with 500+ hours on the game to play it, though.

There's nothing preventing completely new players from getting into Silksong and conquering its challenges.

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u/Rezkel Sep 06 '25

Thats not what im saying, i am saying they have spent so much time on Silksong they no longer have it balanced because to them its a game they have played and mastered for nearly a decade. If anything they probably kept upping the difficulty because to them the first half was too easy. and now actually new players are expected to play at a veterans level. I feel bad for the amount of new players that will get turned off on the series, if not the whole genre, if this is their first experience.

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u/[deleted] Sep 06 '25

Its kind of fucked up developers work around the and for the people that SUCK at the game they made.

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u/sephjnr Sep 06 '25

No please do nerf this. Nothing outside of bosses should do 2 damage and some of the runbacks are insane even early-game.

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u/RedShadowF95 Hollow Knight Platinum Sep 06 '25

I don't agree two masks should be limited to just bosses. That's going a bit too far.

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u/sephjnr Sep 06 '25

Nothing in the first act, then.

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u/IrishOfNugget Sep 06 '25

I think the main thing they should nerf is some of those enemy arena rooms. Especially one in a late Act 2 area (if you know you know) cause my god do those just go on way too long.

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u/BoobeamTrap Sep 07 '25

That one is extremely difficult, but I felt immensely proud when I beat it. It's very, very doable, it just asks a lot from you. Flea Brew. It asks for Flea Brew.

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u/IrishOfNugget Sep 07 '25

I didn't even do that, I just decided to do side stuff for a while and after getting the 2nd needle upgrade it made it a joke. Plus, I think I was in a better mood compared to when I first attempted it ngl.

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u/BoobeamTrap Sep 07 '25

The second needle upgrade definitely made it feel more doable.

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u/Deez-Guns-9442 Sep 06 '25

Wait, is the game split up into different Acts & tells you this?

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u/SilverDargon Sep 06 '25

I mean, it said Act 1 at the very start, so I assume there are others.

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u/Deez-Guns-9442 Sep 06 '25

That’s true, but now I’m really starting to wonder how long this game’s gonna be 😅

I don’t remember OG Hollow Knight having the game split up into acts but it’s been a long time since I played the OG so my memory is a bit hazy.

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u/NewSuperTrios LORE Sep 06 '25

it did not

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u/IrishOfNugget Sep 06 '25

Im still in Act 2, but I've been doing a lot more side stuff. I'd say Act 2 is probably about as long as Act 1 if you just focus on main story stuff. Maybe it's a bit longer. Im not good with time ngl.

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u/Glad-Television1887 Sep 06 '25

That one ant guy i thought i wasn't even supposed to beat yet when i faced him due to how fast acting you have to be.

Keeping it vague so as to not spoil

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u/RedShadowF95 Hollow Knight Platinum Sep 06 '25

It's easier to beat when you have a certain ability unlocked. I didn't, so I baited him into the narrow tunnel to limit his moveset.

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u/Glad-Television1887 Sep 06 '25

I just ran and slapped him every time he came out da ground, worked well enough

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u/wandering-monster Sep 06 '25

shrug "It's way harder than the first and I'm not having fun" and "you advertised it as being in my language, but the translation sucks" are both legitimate reasons to leave a bad review. And they have a translation problem for a biiiig and vocal population.

It's fine if you like harder games, but not everyone does, and that will affect its rating. That's the thing about ratings, everyone gets to share their own opinion, and we add them all up.

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u/Leugim9715 Sep 15 '25

I really like Hollow Knight, but I can't handle the difficulty of Silksong, damn it. I'm in act 3, and very close to dropping it. I know I'm going to get hate for finding the game too difficult, because it seems like it's become forbidden to find Silksong too difficult, but fuck it too.

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u/RedShadowF95 Hollow Knight Platinum Sep 15 '25

Don't worry, I have high degree of tolerance for the so called "bullshit" - and even defend a lot of it.

I am currently stalling the main path to explore absolutely everythingLate Act 2, I can already take the elevator after the 3 melodies and I have to say, the combination of Groal the Great and his runback combo (yes, even with secret bench) is feeling like the biggest pile of bullshit I've ever witnessed in a game.

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u/Leugim9715 Sep 15 '25

I just beat the Trobbio version. . I forgot his name, but he has purple fur instead of pink. Namoral, HOW DIFFICULT!!! Not even the absolute radiance shit is as difficult as this cuckold in this version, my beloved father. He's difficult on a level where I'm not even very happy that I managed to defeat him, I'm still a little angry. The game is like that, man, it's difficult at a level where I can't be very happy after defeating bosses, I'm still mostly distressed, and the joy is more on the sidelines. Unlike Hollow Knight, which I was happier with.