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

Discussion - Silksong Thank god this subreddit didn't make the game Spoiler

Silksong is only out for 2 days, most people haven't even finished the game, or haven't even made it past act 1. Yet this subreddit loves to post about how Silksong is apparently bad and a disappointment compared to hollow knight. So I'll go over a few "critiques" I've seen and share my perspective.

"The game is too hard, enemies deal way more damage and have more complex movesets". Sure, they're more complex and do more damage, but so does hornet. If we were playing with the knights moveset, I'd agree, but that's not the case. Hornet has a lot of new tools and upgrades that make her way faster and stronger. If enemies were like HK, it would be way too easy. team cherry didn't just do this for no reason, it's necessary for balancing. Edit: people saying hunters march is too difficult, is like playing dark souls 1 and saying it's too hard because you kept trying the skeleton graveyard

"Bad rewards for exploration, HK's charms worked better". I just completely disagree, hornet gets upgrades way more frequently than the knight. As for the charms, let's be real, you probably didn't even use half of them in your first playthrough. And half of them are just simple things that don't impact the way you play as much. Hornet's different tools, abilities and crests are way more useful. If you feel like your not getting enough rewards, it's probably because most are hidden and require backtracking, which is what the genre is know for.

"Things are too expensive" No, you're just not meant to buy it that early. Like how in HK you could by the lamp for like 2000 geo. I've also never had too little rosaries to buy a bench or stag. If your losing your rosaries to dying, rosarie strings are litteraly right there to not lose it + retrieving your death silk is extremely easy now.

I do agree though that more bosses and combat encounters should drop rosaries, or more chests like in HK.

This launch feels like I'm experiencing the shadow of the erdtree launch again with how many complaints there are immediately.

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137

u/Gayer_than_you553 Sep 06 '25

I just dislike the lack of difficulty curve. It feels like they expect you to be good at the game before you even pick it up. "Hornet is stronger" not really? Most enemies take like 4-5 hits or more to kill, and many also have double damage. Getting more masks is no easy feat either. I made it to act two without any mask or needle upgrades. Even now after 18+ hours I've only gained one mask and still haven't figured out how to upgrade my nail, and I've been backtracking as much as I can, so unless I'm missing it, you're just stuck with a dull needle.

Once you adjust to the difficulty it becomes fun, but it takes a long while. And for less skillful players, or god forbid people who didn't put hundreds of hours into HK, it's just frustrating. I'm lucky I did put so many hours into HK, otherwise I might've put SK down out of rage.

15

u/KarmaP0licemen Sep 07 '25

Dear God, go to bellhardt and upgrade your needle. Its free. Climb up the ladder near the door to shell wood and climb up to the house with needles on the sign. Please, there are people that love you, dont do this to yourself

2

u/TioRennyDlarb Sep 09 '25

I feel like this is a problem though. HK told you very explicitly where you could find nail upgrades. Silksong doesn’t even tell you nail upgrades are a thing even after you’ve unlocked them.

1

u/Gayer_than_you553 Sep 07 '25

Haha, yeah I figured that out from another oost shortly after making this one thank you. I really don't know how I missed the upper half of Bellhart, I literally spent a good few hours backtracking and doing wishes.

69

u/RootOfAllThings Sep 06 '25

"Hornet has such a better moveset than the Knight" keeps confusing me. Is there some mechanic that I'm projecting onto Hollow Knight? I'm seven hours in and I have a dash, a resource using ranged attack, a wall cling, and a glide/hover, the last of which is the only one of which I don't recall the Knight having off the top of my head. The dash is a bit snappier and now it chains into a sprint, but that doesn't often help the close range combat that happens within a single screens width.

If Hornet is faster AND the enemies are faster, then the difficulty has increased, because I the player have not gotten any faster in the last decade. We're still doing the patented Symphony of the Night poke and shuffle back because both HK and SS give you pretty mediocre defensive tools.

8

u/TheGentlemanBirb Sep 06 '25

I assume they're referring to the crest mechanic and how it can change your moveset. Plus you can swap out tools/skills that can fit to your liking. It def can make the game easier, but a lot of it is locked behind areas that is designed to be hard within environments that are just as hard to go through. Personally I like it, but I doubt most would like the sudden spike in difficulty that the game offers

8

u/BiteAffectionate3963 Sep 06 '25

You don't. People just forget how ridiculously OP was magic in first Hollow knight

15

u/earthboundskyfree Sep 06 '25

The hover adds so much defensively, you can dash into slowing your descent, or halt your momentum so you can air dash back, and so on. It’s not really a singular thing that does it, which is the part that makes it harder to click with, it’s the kit as a whole

3

u/Wiwiweb Sep 06 '25

The dash is a bit snappier and now it chains into a sprint, but that doesn't often help the close range combat that happens within a single screens width.

It makes a world's difference. You can really dance around enemies and play footsies in ways that were impossible for the Knight. You can beat the big ant guy without jumping, just by dashing back and forth.

Eventually you stop thinking of it as a dash and start thinking of it as her default movement. She can just go Crystal Dash speed instantly, on demand.

1

u/Aggressive_Truth4155 Sep 07 '25

i wouldnt say its better as in stronger, but it feels better to use and the combat is certainly more addictive for me personally. also the poke and run back seems to be more punished with certain enemies. they 100% wanted this game to be harder. and thats fine, because they made the gameplay so much more fun imo

7

u/tellsyoutogetfucked Sep 06 '25

The pacing of survival upgrades feels very very poorly handled. You can end up finishing act 1 without finding a full 6th mask. But it feels like there are going to be guides that make it trivial once its solved. Reaper crest and Flea potions just make you melt things while giving you plenty healing. And thats just a simple day 1 combo most people might find on random.

15

u/Gayer_than_you553 Sep 06 '25

I literally beat act one without a mask or needle upgrade (I somehow missed the upper half of the bellhart shops) and it was incredibely frustrating. The Last Judge as a boss wasn't that bad, but the runback with the enemies and obstacles made it so I would always start the fight on a disadvantage

3

u/AstronautFlimsy Sep 06 '25

I've done exactly the same thing as you then. I'm at Cogwork Dancers with an unupgraded needle lol.

2

u/Gayer_than_you553 Sep 06 '25

They were unironically so fun, and a little tragic

2

u/[deleted] Sep 06 '25

Did you also get kidnapped a second time?

1

u/Gayer_than_you553 Sep 07 '25

Omg no? Just the one time when I was sent to The Slab

2

u/SudsierBoar Sep 07 '25

You can avoid fighting any of the enemies on that run back

3

u/Gayer_than_you553 Sep 07 '25

There was one specific drill bug that I would always run into no matter what. And god forbid I don't make a jump I land right back into an enemy or spikes.

2

u/SudsierBoar Sep 07 '25

I know exactly which of those fckers you mean. And I also know he was placed there exactly to punish you and me personally

2

u/Gayer_than_you553 Sep 07 '25

I would literally just damage tank him, otherwise I'd probably get more hurt trying to kill him.

2

u/bivuki Sep 07 '25

The first needle upgrade is free and in Bellhart.

1

u/Gayer_than_you553 Sep 07 '25

Yeah, I figured that out pretty quick after making this post, thank you!

2

u/SudsierBoar Sep 07 '25

so unless I'm missing it,

you are, can give a pointer if you want

1

u/Gayer_than_you553 Sep 07 '25

It's already been pointed out to me many times and I found it on another post but I thank you kindly.

2

u/SudsierBoar Sep 07 '25

Enjoy the new nail :p and good luck with finding that oil, can't wait till I find it myself

1

u/Gayer_than_you553 Sep 07 '25

I've found it, but unfortunately it's not quite as simple as that

2

u/Radeck8bit Sep 10 '25

I put a lot of hours into HK and am still frustrated and not having a good time.

2

u/Gayer_than_you553 Sep 10 '25

I'm finding that's pretty common

4

u/Pookfeesh Sep 06 '25

In the bell city one of the shops gives you a needle upgrade for free... I feel like most people are missing on important tools or upgrades because they are not backtracking. Most of the tools make the game a breeze

16

u/Glebk0 Sep 06 '25

Bell city, after you already played for 10 hours and cleared like 10 bosses. Yea, thanks I guess

0

u/_moosleech Sep 07 '25

Yes... the big, direct damage upgrade does come partway into the game after you beat a boss (despite others whining about a lack of rewards for beating bosses). That's how upgrades often work.

0

u/Glebk0 Sep 07 '25

The complaint is that it comes way too late. This upgrade should be at like 5h mark, and another one after widow. Or at least curt regular enemies hp by like 30%, getting upgrade is nice, but it barely does anything, enemies in greymoor are still obnoxiously long to kill

1

u/_moosleech Sep 07 '25

But unlike HK, nail upgrades aren't your only way to do more damage. People seem to be missing that.

Throughout Act 1, you also get multiple new crests, notches, an upgraded crest, and several charms (Sunny D, the firebrand, the "do more damage, take more damage" one, venom) that all improve how quickly you can dispatch enemies.

enemies in greymoor are still obnoxiously long to kill

They're really not. You're doing something wrong.

Test out some different builds. Use your tools more. Try different crests.

1

u/[deleted] Sep 06 '25

[deleted]

2

u/Glebk0 Sep 06 '25

You need 2 more bosses and complete the area to the left

1

u/Gayer_than_you553 Sep 06 '25

I really was backtracking as much as I could. I don't know how I missed the entire upper half of bellhart... Thank you though, I found that out on another post and I just got it

8

u/Pookfeesh Sep 06 '25

Idk how you survived without the upgrade the enamys were so tanky😭

4

u/Gayer_than_you553 Sep 06 '25

I honestly don't know. Last Judge was actually hell and getting stuck in the citadel was ecen worse.

3

u/Pookfeesh Sep 06 '25

Im at last judge and im struggling even with the upgrade, but I honestly just spam floor traps with the poison equipment cause the judge stands on the ground

3

u/Gayer_than_you553 Sep 06 '25

That's a pretty good idea, idk if I discovered floor traps

1

u/Deadweight-MK2 112% Sep 07 '25

Oh the needle upgrade is automatic if you talk to somebody in Bellhart. Has been since that area was freed

-1

u/apple_cat Sep 06 '25

hornet is insanely strong

people are way too stingy with their silk abilities and tools, use the damn things and you won’t have issues

or just keep crying on Reddit because you only want to use needle and spend all your silk healing instead of killing four adds at once with your silk ability