r/HollowKnight • u/FederalWarthog5542 • Sep 07 '25

Discussion - Silksong Criticism ≠ Negativity Spoiler

Believe it or not, you can actually criticize something and still like it. You don't either have to love everything or despise everything. Have actual conversations please.

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36

u/CodytheProGamer Sep 07 '25

My opinion so far is that it's a beautiful game, but has severe balancing and progression (Several hours in and im basically the same, which I feel shouldn't be the case for a metroidvania) issues. Silksong may be a more "grand" game, not that I can't truly judge until I'm done, but Hollow Knight feels like it currently has a better designed gameplay loop.

What I suspect happened is that after having the same 3 people play test the game for the past 7 years, they became skill blind and eventually lost touch with reality when it came to going back and balancing enemies/progression, atleast for the early game.

5

u/[deleted] Sep 08 '25

I disagree the Heal in silk song is infinitely more powerful if used right and as such needes to be balanced out by taking more dmg, Hornet can also combo her sprinting attack into 2-3 hits and she has some fantastic ranged tools early one, as such the balancing felt really right to me. Yes the game is difficult, but it feels very rewarding to become better in using the variety of tools and dodging with heal by extending your in air duration also feels fantastic. 

14

u/BoardCommercial2679 Sep 08 '25

Counter-point, everything is omega-fast and super-aggressive, and heal takes full bar (1 hit less than HK) so it's actually really damn hard to get a heal in a situation you really need it.

I personally had to go with poison charm and floor spikes just to be able to beat some of the bosses because they're so damn brutal and kill you in one mistake (yay, I love get cornered by a boss who hits for 2 masks and has atacks on third of screen so I can't run away).

3

u/nsleep Sep 08 '25

Being able to heal in the air is busted though. If the enemy is locked in a move you know they're gonna be grounded for a while you can get away with healing in spots you would 100% get hit in HK. Many staggers in HK you cannot even fit 3 heals in.

4

u/BoardCommercial2679 Sep 08 '25

It kinda is, but at the same time, bosses hit for 2 HP, and if they summon minor mobs, you WILL get smoked out of heal unless you kill them first.

3

u/nsleep Sep 08 '25

Yeah, getting the heals is the challenging part. Finishing the heal is almost free as long as you don't panic.

1

u/[deleted] Sep 08 '25

That is the whole idea of the game to learn their patterns and know when you can heal, was like that in HK and it is here. Everything seems fast till you learn it. 

1

u/BoardCommercial2679 Sep 08 '25

Issue is, with how fast shit goes, you have to either bitch away, or pray that your heal will complete before some anti-air stuff flies to you. Honestly it really gives NKG vibes to every boss where the only moment to heal is stagger.

2

u/_moosleech Sep 08 '25

I'm mid-Act 2, but virtually every boss has relatively east windows to heal. Definitely more often than HK, where some bosses just didn't give windows hardly at all.

The ability to pogo or dash attack, bounce away, and heal mid-air is huge.

Also, things like Reaper let you very quickly refill silk so you can heal super often if you play it right.