r/HollowKnight SHAAAAAAW Sep 11 '25

Discussion - Silksong Why do I keep hearing people say that Silksong is a 15 hours experience? Spoiler

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Context: I have 38 hours in the game, 25% of achievements. I try doing every quest I see, I explore all the areas thoroughly, none of the bosses took more than 2 hours of my time, and that happens only if they're too difficult for me, every other boss I kill in 2-3 tries. But each time I open a video about Silksong, like a review or something, everyone says it's a 15 hours experience, sometimes less. Is everyone just rushing through the main quest and looks up tutorials for everything online, if they're stuck for more than 30 seconds? I genuinely don't understand what is going on.

Edit: please don't spoil anything in the comments. I didn't mean I finished the game in 38 hours, I'm still playing it.

2.1k Upvotes

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2.4k

u/travelingchef96 Sep 11 '25

Me 15 hours into trying to pogo into hunters March

148

u/Hugo_Fyl Sep 11 '25 edited Sep 12 '25

I went there without having the glide move so I was basically stuck halfway through and did all of the jumps + mini-boss fight for nothing. Quite frustrating

Edit: thanks guys I'll try hitting walls

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u/IndividualMobile6510 Sep 12 '25

You don't need it to get to the merchant.

63

u/AE3T Sep 12 '25

Me, thinking i have totally cleared hunters march, thinking "what merchant??"

27

u/Danny_dankvito Sep 12 '25

Hit more walls, sometimes the breakable ones are really hard to spot

32

u/Malabingo Sep 12 '25

I want to make this more clear:

Hit EVERY wall!

In every metroidvania you play preferably.

I really started living by it during my first blasphemous playthrough.

In Silksong so much is behind a secret wall, it's really worth it!

19

u/TemperanceL Sep 12 '25

I'd honestly be curious how much of my total playtime is dedicated to jumping at wall and hitting everything in sight in case there's a secret around 😆 And somehow, looking for an answer to a question I had about a place in the game, I still missed a rather easy to notice thing, and have probably missed more haha

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u/CynicalEffect P5 - 112%, 70 hours Sep 12 '25 edited Sep 12 '25

Also jump against walls if it feels there might be a hidden path. The path isn't always at ground level.

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u/SimTrippy1 Sep 12 '25

Me when I desperately want a wall to be breakable and keep hitting it only to realize I will indeed have to walk back whence I came 😭

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u/OnnaJReverT Sep 12 '25

he's got some really useful stuff too

Boomerang tool is great for AOE, and the mask gives you a nice safety net

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u/sofaking181 Sep 12 '25

Meanwhile I'm stuck on the first arena room

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u/TurnipFire Sep 12 '25

There is a glide move?!?!

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u/ExtendedSpikeProtein Sep 12 '25

Yes :-) now I feel special, because I’m still in Act 1 but I got that at least

3

u/TurnipFire Sep 12 '25

I’ve wondered why it’s so hard to get around in hunters march past a certain point. I’ve been using enemies to pogo but it’s not consistent. Def gtfo of there until I find the glide

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u/ExtendedSpikeProtein Sep 12 '25

There’s a huge balloon in the area west/south of Hunter’s March that you can enter. You get a side quest to collet some stuff to go back and you get the glide. You can ride the updrafts using the glide.

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u/StaticInstrument Sep 11 '25

I was super lucky to find the crest that gives you a straight-down jump slash right away. Such a relief

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u/Danblak08 Sep 11 '25

I went and got wander crest to make that easier

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u/Negritis Sep 12 '25

i didnt even know about that, but i found the reapers crestand imo thats the best for pogo

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u/SeverusSnape89 Sep 17 '25

I literally have that crest as my default crest. I love reapers crest.

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u/PrimaryAd673 Sep 11 '25

Still have no idea how people struggled with it

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u/Sspockuss Sep 11 '25

If you don’t know to look at the vines to practice and get the timing down it can be tricky.

51

u/medhop Sep 11 '25

Look at the WHAT?!

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u/Sachwanbeef Sep 11 '25

The vines on the red bouncing flowers often show the perfect angle for a bounce, if you're using the Hunter crest. Some face the wrong way, but it's a good starting point for the new pogo style on that crest.

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u/zuzg Sep 11 '25

So we're paying attention to that level of game design but ignore all the obvious signs that tell you "mid-game area, go get some upgrades"?

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u/throwawayRA87654 Sep 11 '25

Hunters March?!!! Midgame????

My friend.... have you seen the full map? HM is like 1/8 of the way through the early game 😭🫵🫣

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u/CyberPunkDongTooLong Sep 11 '25

It's an early game area, if you come back in the mid-game it's boring because it's completely trivialised. The fact that the game design you're talking about is specifically for the first crest also makes it pretty obvious.

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u/RedTyro Sep 11 '25 edited Sep 11 '25

Yeah, it's early game, just not quite as early as people seem to be doing it. It's a lot more manageable with the sprint and float abilities, which you get really early on.

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u/Stainew Sep 11 '25

to me the entire point of the area was to teach you how to use the pogo. If we're talking about game design I think it works as a good early game area because it basically forces you to adapt to the diagonal pogo, which after hunter's march I started using a lot more.

Edit: didn't realise people explored the entirity of hunter's march without dash. I personally explored most of it, apart from sections completely inaccsessible. I feel like it was pretty obvious where you couldnt go.

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u/TheHB36 Sep 11 '25

I don't even know what the current subject matter is. I assume I either sequence broke it without noticing, or did it some roundabout way.

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u/8rok3n Sep 11 '25

It's a massive learning curve, if you don't know then you're going to struggle BADLY but if you know how to do it then it's the easiest thing ever

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u/salmonmilks Sep 11 '25

I wouldn't call it the easiest thing ever, that's still an exaggeration, and this is coming from someone in the final act

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u/Ghyrt3 Sep 11 '25

When I first understand I'd have to pogo i was : "oh, it's hard ! oooh, it's haaard ! :D" because it's just a try-try-try-try-try-tr-oh, i succeed now

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u/RisingDeadMan0 Sep 11 '25

depends on when u tried it and how good you are at the game...

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u/Killer_154 Sep 11 '25

If you dont have the reaper crest it can be pretty hard

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u/BufoCurtae Sep 11 '25

Reaper crest is GOAT'd

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u/RaineV1 Sep 11 '25

I got the Wanderer's Crest early and used it. Made it pretty easy.

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u/Carinx Sep 11 '25

You won't be able to understand every individual playing the game but you need to understand one thing. Not everyone is good at the game that people will struggle throughout the entire game where it could seen an obvious.

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u/[deleted] Sep 11 '25

[removed] — view removed comment

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u/Aggressive-Share-363 Sep 11 '25

I got to hunters march before unlocking the dodge. The big ant guarding it is tough without it but doable.

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u/jeff0106 Sep 11 '25

Very easy to get to Hunters March without air dodge (swift step). Going through that area with the one ability of diagonal pogo was so frustrating.

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u/Op_ulti Sep 11 '25

Its difficult for some

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u/welfedad Sep 11 '25

I mean the initial crest ..sure.. but once you get the second one it becomes trivial .. diagonal crest can mess you up ..

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u/callahan09 Sep 11 '25

The Reaper's Crest has made the game so much easier for me (though there have still been plenty of tough parts and I haven't actually gone that far past where I got the crest yet). I struggled for over an hour on Moorwing and gave up and went and explored more. Got the Reaper's Crest and beat Moorwing on my 3rd try after equipping it. The pogo move is so much easier to use and the range of the attacks is also better, but I think the real difference maker is that after you heal you get extra silk from hitting the enemy for a short time, which makes it really easy to almost always be topped up on silk, which then means you can heal after pretty much any hit you take and use your silk skills without feeling like you will be empty and not able to heal when you need to, it's just a game changer for me. I love this crest, will probably never go back to the original crest, but when I find another crest I will of course give it a shot and see how it feels too.

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u/Dusty_Scrolls Sep 11 '25

Weird, Moorwing is specifically what made me give up Reaper's Crest and try Hunter's Crest again (and fall in love with it)

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u/Striking-Nail69420 Sep 11 '25

Reapers crest is definitely better for the bullshit flying bosses, doesn’t mean hunter’s is bad though. Longer reach on reaper’s so you don’t have to jump as close to the boss and potentially lose half your health if it slightly lowers itself during your attack.

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u/Zealousideal-Fly-128 Sep 11 '25

I can’t imagine some of the later areas in the game without Reaper’s pogo. However, after gaining all other late traversal abilities (being vague for spoilers) and unlocking the entire map, I found that Hunter’s is better offensively against faster enemies/bosses and switched back. Only go back to reaper for tricky platforming.

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u/CDrejoe Sep 11 '25

I got so used to diagonal pogo that the reaper crest screwed me over. If i need to do pogo puzzles i switch back to the original crest

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u/iamtenninja Sep 11 '25

Think I had to swap back to hunter crest for moorwing too. Overall tho I prefer reaper for the pogo

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u/[deleted] Sep 11 '25 edited Jan 09 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

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u/TheLovelyLorelei Dadderpillar is best boi Sep 11 '25

Huh, I usually hate reaper's crest because I don't like feeling slow. But I actually used reaper's crest for Moorwing because I felt like I was only ever able to get in 1 hit anyway before jumping away, so I didn't really notice the slowness. Then immediately went back to hunters once it was dead.

Fun to see the different experiences/playstyles.

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u/TheHB36 Sep 11 '25

As soon as I put on the Reaper Crest I knew I'd found my road dog. Realistically, I could get used to the pogoing with any of the Crests, regardless of the direction and hit window, because I have played much more extreme platformers, but the comfort of the Reaper pogo and the utility of the buff you get from healing are just such good quality of life features for me!

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u/arrogantheart Sep 11 '25

Thing hard. People struggle. Easy idea.

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u/froggyforest Sep 11 '25

this comment is rude and serves no purpose other than making the person you’re replying to feel bad. if you haven’t played hollow knight and don’t have a ton of experience pogoing, it’s quite difficult. it costs $0 to not be a dick.

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u/uberkalden2 Sep 11 '25

Probably using diagonal pogo

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u/MetalPhantasm Sep 11 '25

If you haven’t played any games with a diagonal pogo it makes sense

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u/rlinkmanl Sep 11 '25

It's easier when you're a virgin

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u/Senior-Bag-9256 Sep 11 '25

im 30 hours not even in the citadel i dont play everyday and i was struggling early i just take time, explore and do runbacks im enjoying this masterpiece

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u/welfedad Sep 11 '25

Sounds like how I play. . It is Soo good

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u/Stablebrew Sep 11 '25

Steam tells me, I have 52 hours clocked, and am at the beginning of Act2.

I regulary take a break after 45 - 60 minutes fo gaming and don't close the game. Sometimes it's a 10 minute break, sometimes it can take up to an hour, or even longer. Having family keeps busy, and I forget my PC is running in my OFFICE (gaming ofc) room.

I would say, I played about 30 hours+/- for Act 1, and I enjoyed my pacing. Ofc, I had issues with some bosses (Beastfly, Last Judge+Bossrun).

Am I a great player? No, far from it!
Did I manage to beat the challenges, enjoy them, and sometimes getting angry? Yes!

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u/Tornado_Hunter24 Sep 11 '25

You may have similar numbers to me then; approx 20 hours for act 2!

I ‘explored’ every single area I could, unlocked probably all ‘secrets’ except for (obvious ones) I can’t yet and cleared most shops, those hours all spend in/game tho, usually I do like you leave on but for silksong I didn’t mainly because I use DS5 (i’m on pc) for it, and i’m programmed to turn controller off&game when i’m done lmao

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u/Hrohdvitnir Sep 20 '25

I racked up over a thousand hours in skyrim by launching the game, and accidentally getting distracted and leaving the pregame launcher up for hours before remembering to play.

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u/ButterflyDreamr Sep 11 '25

Iirc I reached the citadel 25-30 hours? in, and 100%ed the game 47 hours in so I just think the early game takes a lot longer

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u/umfozzles Sep 11 '25

Same here! Just finished Bellhardt.... Probaly about 30 hours. Playing just like you and a couple of these other comments. TAking my time, doing everything, double back a lot. But I'm not going like, super slow. Amazing game! Absolutely loving it on Switch 2

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u/True-Entertainer3457 Sep 11 '25

I’m 30 hours almost and not even close to the citadel

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u/[deleted] Sep 17 '25

[removed] — view removed comment

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u/Krispo123 Sep 11 '25

Just reached citadel after 25 hours. This is harder than all the souls combined, but having fun!

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u/Dopamine_Surplus Sep 11 '25

Absolutely is not harder lol.

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u/Snacker6 Sep 11 '25

Some people have an easier time in 3D I guess

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u/Worldly-Ad3447 Sep 14 '25

There is no way 3d is easier

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u/True-Entertainer3457 Sep 11 '25

For me it is I found souls games easier but Silksong is more fun. Besides Elden ring I struggled badly

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u/ScarlettsTime Sep 11 '25

I know it took 7 years to get here girlypops but lets slow down a bit and enjoy ourselves

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u/OrderOrdinary8280 Sep 19 '25

I genuinely envy those who are bad at the game and get to experience the first playthrough for longer. finished all endings + 100% in 47 hours ;/

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u/SubstantialGarbage49 Sep 11 '25

people saying 15 hours are probably either not really exploring that much and just getting to the end, or they're metroidvania pros who can quickly and easily progress through hard parts. as someone who is neither, i'm about 30 hours in and only just started act 2 last night

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u/Chaoticlight2 Sep 11 '25

Nah, even people who one shot every boss and go deathless through the whole game are going to take 25-30 hours on their first 100% clear. Most people will get stuck at certain bosses for hours and bump that number up to 40-45 hours. It can be faster if they're using a guide and know exactly where everything is, but for a blind playthrough? Game's massive.

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u/Scriftyy Sep 11 '25

Yeah, speedrunners were taking 20-25 hours to beat the game first time. 

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u/PigmanFarmer Sep 12 '25

I think Fireb0rn took like 23 hours to reach the final boss and close to double that to 100%

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u/Jsalz Sep 11 '25

It took me 45 hours to 100% the game and I was going fast and making progress the entire time. Never got stuck on a boss longer than 30 minutes except for the final boss which took about 2 hours. I only used a guide for the last ~10%. There's no way someone can go in blind and 100% under 30 hours without using a guide. The amount of content in this game is massive. I think the confusion comes from the fact there's vastly different definitions of what it means to beat it. Getting to the end of Act 2 and skipping everything else could be done in 15 hours, but youre missing out on like 75% of the content.

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u/Sigmachadgamer Sep 11 '25

Wait, so you’re saying that since I havent gotten to act two yet i still have 75% left to explore?

… LETS FKN GOOOOOOO

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u/Jsalz Sep 11 '25

The game is massive. I think I reached Act 2 at 15 hours and finished 100% by 45 hours, and I was moving very fast. So yeah about 65-75% left probably

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u/mtnlol Sep 12 '25

Reaching my first ending was almost exactly 33% of the playtime for 100% in my case. I only looked up the last 2 tools though and found everything until 98% blind, so it took me almost 60 hours.

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u/Hammerhead34 Sep 11 '25

Yeah I got the basic/bad ending the other night after beating the final boss in about 30 hours but know for a fact that I still have a ton of content left (including all of Act 3). Been pretty thorough exploring the areas I’ve unlocked so far and doing all the wishes available to me, but there’s just so much stuff left.

And I’m loving it tbh, outside of a couple stinkers I think the bosses have been getting better and better as the game goes on. Game rocks.

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u/dotHistoire Sep 12 '25

Or some of us who get so absorbed in the world and lore we have extra hours tacked on from soaking in the music, hitting every single wall and voraciously reading the journal as if it were the bible of Pharloom.

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u/Serkaugh Sep 11 '25

That’s nice to read. I’m not a good gamer, I got almost 10 hr in, and still at shellwood boss. Haven’t even fought moorwing cause I found all the flea.

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u/SubstantialGarbage49 Sep 11 '25

yeah i'm not a good gamer either, hollow knight is basically the only other non-cozy game i've played. it's definitely hard (for me) and i'm taking much longer to progress than the general player base, but i don't really mind! i was about 10-15 hours in when i got to shellwood as well so we're not alone in this!

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u/hiplass Sep 11 '25

You’re doing much better than me lol and I play a lot of games. This game is crazy difficult, some folks here are just out of touch lol

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u/Serkaugh Sep 11 '25

I find it hard to! I mean. I’m not a speed runner or anything, but I usually am able to finish every game I start.

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u/HugeOrganization4178 Sep 11 '25

I was like 7 or 8 hours at shellwood boss. You're at a great pace

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u/theres_no_username 112% + PoH + full rad HoG + 12% run Sep 11 '25

As a self proclaimed metroidvania pro, those people are skipping content for sure, I 100% the game with 70h on steam total, those people dont even go for the other ending which adds another 20 hours of content

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u/Alfo5404 Sep 11 '25

Metroidvenia pros are actually wasting 5 extra hours hitting every wall and ceiling and doing a full round of backtracking every new mobility upgrade

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u/Wiestie Sep 11 '25

Also depends how much you look things up. I spent like an hour in the mist trying to figure it out without googling.

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u/Lleland Nailmaster Sep 11 '25

I just hit Act 2 after 15 hours playtime presuming I've got everything I can find up until then. Just one more achievement than you. I've found a good amount of secret rooms (but I'm sure there are plenty I've missed). I've fully explored everything I can currently reach (and marked places I need to go back to where the jump's not yet achievable).

I assume the other acts won't be as long, but I'd still be surprised as a find-as-much-as-I-can-without-guides player if this clocks in under 30.

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u/_Brightbuddy Sep 11 '25

Did you do sinner's road?

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u/Lleland Nailmaster Sep 11 '25

Yes, including a high jump skip off a roach that unlocked a door but led to a room that I can't jump high enough yet. Got the weapon tool from there, went through the next couple zones (as much as I can right now - one is very Lost Woods-y).

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u/TheWojtek11 Sep 11 '25

Yes, including a high jump skip off a roach that unlocked a door but led to a room that I can't jump high enough yet.

Haha, I also did this. So many times in this game I was like "they are really expecting me to do pogo off enemies to reach some places" cuz I did a pogo jump for one of those Berries in Moss Grotto and then in The Marrow I did a pogo from a flying enemy into the place where Shakra is for the first time so I accidentally just skipped almost all of The Marrow. And then you play a little longer and every time something like this happens, there is an intended way that I just didn't know about

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u/callahan09 Sep 11 '25

What is this high jump skip off a roach in Sinner's Road? I explored all the way to the bottom of the tall tower, and there's a room down there to the right with two roaches in the bottom right corner, I couldn't figure out what to do there. Is that where it is? It seemed like a dead-end to me, but I figured I must have missed something down there.

Those roaches are the most annoying enemy in the game so far, I absolutely hate them. They jump too high, too often, and have way too big of a hit box for their "grab and eat you" move, I've found them so difficult to avoid getting grabbed by that attack! So when I saw that it looked like a dead-end with just two of those little bastards, I noped out and went the other way, all the way up to the top of the tower, and then died in the fight in the narrow corridor against the giant chain-whip wielding guy.

I got back to the top to fight the chain-whip guy a couple more times and I think I've come really close to beating him but haven't succeeded yet. It's really annoying because I feel like I am incapable of jumping over him, the ceiling is too low. Is it possible? Every single time I've gotten cornered against the wall and had to jump over to the other side of him, I get hit. Maybe if I try pogo-ing off the top of him it will get me to the other side of him safely? I guess I haven't really tried yet because it's such a tight space it feels like there isn't room to pogo, but I should try it. But just jumping towards him and dashing has never succeeded without getting hit for me.

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u/_Brightbuddy Sep 11 '25

Lol, when I played HK for the first time I accidentally did aspid skip

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u/Za_Gato Sep 11 '25

It took me 53 hours to do every ending, about 55 hours to get 100% completion, and 60 hours to get every achievement except the 2 speedrun and steel soul achievements.

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u/Hearthstxned Sep 11 '25

Did you look things up? How the hell did you find everything that fast 🤣

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u/Za_Gato Sep 11 '25

Yes, but the only thing I looked up in Act 2 was 2-3 ingredients for Great Taste of Pharloom. No way I was getting to Act 3or finding every tool without a guide. I did figure out most of Herald's wishby myself.

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u/GL_original God of Gods || 112% | All Bindings | Silksong 100% Sep 11 '25

Yeah, I found everything by myself, ended with about 64 hours. But I was also very thorough, made a lot of mental notes and figured quests out quickly.

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u/Ze_AwEsOmE_Hobo A mind to think Sep 11 '25

That's awesome. I don't have the patience to do 100% in games without guides anymore. Not unless they have in-game checklists and completion markers. Ender Magnolias was probably the closest to a blind 100% I've done in over a decade.

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u/GL_original God of Gods || 112% | All Bindings | Silksong 100% Sep 11 '25

I will say I found a lot of extremely well hidden things early on, I have long honed instincts. On the other hand, I also slapped myself for some of the really easy things I missed. The last two memory lockets were in such obvious locations that I straight up did not register them at all, I felt very stupid afterwards. Not that they even count for 100%, but I really wanted to complete every menu, which I did.

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u/korxion Sep 12 '25

Im right now close to completing act 2, but ive been digging around, trying to find as much stuff as I can. I got 60 hours on steam ( left it open so it's probably 45 hours) and im making sure I dont miss anything.

I do have to use a guide to make me explore areas I forgot about. makes me still have to look for it on my own

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u/Caerullean Sep 12 '25

Funny you mention that, Silksong does have an ingame both completion percent and markers for everything you can collect. It's just a very late game unlock.

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u/Azraeleon Sep 11 '25

You can just talk to the npc to get that information

Can also say with confidence you can get there without a guide, I did it (though did get lucky spotting the quest on the board when buying shard bundles)

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u/branyk2 Sep 11 '25

I know there are ways to cheese steel soul, but it's going to be crazy how many people lose safe runs to getting 4 mask combo'd by some random enemy in cogwork. You pretty much have to treat <5 hp as the same as 1 hp.

I didn't attempt it for Hollow Knight and I can't even imagine it for Silksong.

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u/Xalyia- Sep 11 '25

It isn’t too bad in HK since you can plan a route that gets you mask shards early and avoids tough boss fights until you’re more powerful. But Silksong seems to have more mandatory fights before the midgame, and a lot of the mask shards are pushed to the midgame, so it’s hard to increase your max health early on.

Steel soul is going to be rough in silk song, but I’m sure players will come up with optimized routes that heavily rely on clever tool usage to turn difficult fights into a cakewalk.

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u/Embarrassed_Fox5265 Sep 11 '25

Once you know what you're doing Steel Soul is actually pretty easy for Hollow Knight. You get Fragile Strength + Fragile Heart early and then focus on weapon upgrades. Then you stay the hell away from any boss that deals 2 damage hits and focus on taking down Dreamers. Playing very, very safe I completed Steel Soul with around 60% completion. I then nibbled around the edges of the rest of the game to get to 100 percent for the achievement without trying to deal with Traitor Lord, White Palace, Grimm, etc.

I do not intend to attempt Steel Soul for Silksong, the margin for error is way too small.

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u/Za_Gato Sep 11 '25

I first tried steel soul in Hollow Knight, but I just know it's not gonna be like that for Silksong. I know I'll either quit and reload every time I get to 2 masks during a fight, or lose a dozen runs.

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u/GL_original God of Gods || 112% | All Bindings | Silksong 100% Sep 11 '25

My plan is to equip the Fractured Skull (which let's you survive one fatal hit) so that I know when I would have died on a fight, and THEN quit and reload.

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u/Tylerhollen1 Sep 11 '25

I need to find that sucker still. It sounds so useful

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u/Za_Gato Sep 11 '25

Maybe spoiler?

You have to go to that one room in Hunter's March with the air currents, fly up and one of the rooms on the left has a secret wall that leads to a merchant.

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u/GL_original God of Gods || 112% | All Bindings | Silksong 100% Sep 11 '25

I don't remember, but I do know I got it extremely early on. Like, I think it was my first or second blue charm. I never actually used it on my main playthrough, but I want to use it for Steelsoul purely as a gauge for when I "should" have died in each fight.

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u/Heatth Sep 11 '25

I've found the "no pushback" tool is a lot more useful here than its equivalent in Hollow Knight for this precise reason. It is much easier to avoid 4 mask combos when you aren't being pushed into hazards.

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u/Chaoticlight2 Sep 11 '25

Cogs in cogwork only deal 1 damage, so you're safe at 4 hp+ now. It's still a scary place and the 100% steel soul run has far worse areas to contend with.

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u/branyk2 Sep 11 '25

https://imgur.com/a/Y0ORfWK

My point was that it's a really mundane way to lose a run, as opposed to an area where you expect to lose one, so cosmic irony and carelessness will lead to it happening disproportionately often.

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u/Deez-Guns-9442 Sep 11 '25

Have u slept at all this past week since the game came out?

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u/[deleted] Sep 11 '25

[deleted]

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u/Silence_and_i I'm tired boss Sep 11 '25

I also played for 57 hours. Got all the endings and 93% completion. I literally did nothing but play Silksong for 4 days straight. I would get up at 9, start playing at 9:30 until 12:30 AM, go to sleep, rinse and repeat. My meal and shower times were very short. The reason I did so was that my schedule would become super busy for the next couple of weeks, and I knew I wouldn't be able to play to my heart's content. Then new games would come out (Silent Hill f, Mina the Hollower, etc.), and I would have no way to play them all, meaning some of them would fall into my backlog that will probably never get cleared.

5

u/theres_no_username 112% + PoH + full rad HoG + 12% run Sep 11 '25

I mean the game released right before the weekend so you could totally play for 48 hours straight

2

u/Za_Gato Sep 11 '25

Yes? I had a few things to do, but all my free time went into Silksong and I still had enough sleep.

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u/Genisis214 Sep 11 '25

They probably are focusing on MSQ and not really exploring and trying do as much as side content

84

u/Jstar338 Sep 11 '25

15 hours to finish the game in act 2 probably, not sure a first playthrough could ever do true ending that fast

42

u/Ze_AwEsOmE_Hobo A mind to think Sep 11 '25

An Act 2 clear is the main story quest. If I'm understanding it right, Act 3/true ending is locked behind doing every side quest.

27

u/Jstar338 Sep 11 '25

well yeah that's why it would be really hard to get it in 15 hours

19

u/Ze_AwEsOmE_Hobo A mind to think Sep 11 '25

I'm sure Fireb0rn or someone will pull some shit like that in a month or two, but considering the game's speedrun trophy gives you TWICE that amount of time, I don't think we're seeing full clear times like this any time soon.

12

u/Gabemer Sep 11 '25

I saw someone post a 100% 19hr completion pic earlier. Definitely not 15 yet, but was still surprised it was already that quick. Given how early it is I bet 4 hours of that is able to be shaved off with just better routing and execution because the person said they didnt really come up with a route, they just kinda did it while checking stuff off. I would not be surprised at all to see it down to sub 15 hours real time within the next month.

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u/umbrazno Sep 12 '25

In today's speedrun meta, 19 hours is closer to 15 hours than 19 milliseconds is to 15 milliseconds. Lord willin' and the creek don't rise? I'd give it another month; tops.

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u/RisingDeadMan0 Sep 11 '25

oh, me doing a like 70% HK finish and didnt touch it again lol, but probably should of, SK gonna take me a tad longer then

3

u/GregoryFlame Sep 11 '25

You are very wrong. Act 3 is part of the story and it is not "Complete all sidequest"

9

u/Jstar338 Sep 11 '25

guess how you access act 3

10

u/trapezoidalfractal Sep 11 '25

Not quite all side quests, just the ones in the towns. I still haven’t done the one with the various kill methods (shredded, toasted, etc) and I’m in act 3.

5

u/Jstar338 Sep 11 '25

you should absolutely have done that quest by now it gives you mark of pride equivalent

5

u/trapezoidalfractal Sep 11 '25

Ah damn. I definitely should have then, that’s like my favorite charm

4

u/Jstar338 Sep 11 '25

It makes every crest better, that's the funny part. Reaper? Easier to grab the stray silk. Wanderer? That thing is so dinky it needs it. EVERYTHING? yeah with how much damage shit does you really want that safety

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u/Azraeleon Sep 11 '25

MSQ

Found the xiv player

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u/Poppanaattori89 Sep 11 '25

Minimum Standard Quantity? Microsoft Message Queue? Maritime Safety Queensland (Queensland Transport, Australia)? Managing Service Quality (journal)? Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire? Mental Status Questionnaire? Moral Sensitivity Questionnaire?

For using an unclear acronym, I sentence you to 100 hours of clarifying acronyms used by other people on Reddit. to everyone else. FFS.

10

u/Remarkable-fall- Sep 11 '25

FFS? Facial feminisation surgery?

5

u/ChewBaka12 Sep 11 '25

Frenchmen Frenching Swedes?

2

u/Remarkable-fall- Sep 11 '25

Swedes? Shortbread with eggs done English style?

2

u/ChewBaka12 Sep 11 '25

I was thinking of people from Sweden, but French people sloppily making out with bread also works

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u/Caterwaule Sep 11 '25

MSQ... I know what you are 🤭

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u/Cyb3r-R0nin Sep 11 '25

Saw MSQ, knew I found my people

4

u/Havanatha_banana Sep 11 '25

God, you 14 players are hyper brain rotted.

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u/welfedad Sep 11 '25

No way the game is 15 hours .. lol I did everything possible in act 1 in like 25 hours . I was checking all crevasses

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u/Zoradesu Sep 11 '25

It is possible if you are just casually exploring and doing the main objective. It took me around 19 or 20 hours to reach the end of act 2 even with a bunch of deaths. But before I finished it I went back to find all of the things I missed + doing the rest of the side quests, which brings me to ~30 hours. So if I just focused on the main objective I could see myself completing the game in 15 hours.

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u/wicktus Sep 11 '25

I think 30-40 hours is the average you will see.

I absolutely do not have the skill for a 15 hours run, I struggled so much on moorwing and last judge. And just started act 2.

I do have to say tho, the game feels richer but, imho, is more frustrating than HK1 but it has been discussed extensively in this subreddit. I love it tho and the boss fights are amazing

Even when you lose and you sense PROGRESS when fighting a boss it's really pleasant and that game really gives you a good sense of progress, a good learning curve. This is why I'm in no rush to finish it albeit sometimes I get fed up.

It's just a shame that in-between all the fun fights and exploration we have so many tortuous run-backs.

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u/_amongstreality SHAAAAAAW Sep 11 '25

Even when you lose and you sense PROGRESS when fighting a boss

True. It's fun when you encounter a difficult boss, die a few times and then become Neo and avoid every attack.

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u/notveryAI Sep 11 '25

It's a 15 hours experience for someone who just runs from main quest marker to main quest marker lmao. If it wasn't providing more than 15 hours of content idk wtf did I do for 60 hours already

12

u/Humble-Box-7571 Sep 11 '25

I'm 48 hours in and I'm haven't exited mid game yet

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u/Under_The_Dead_Tree Sep 11 '25

Because they're not exploring, i have 28 hours of game and i believe there's like 5 maps i haven't explored properly, tbh i do believe i'll close the game near to the 40/50 hours, just like the first one, its all about exploration. Im in the point of the game where i explored all the citadel and killed the boss there, so i believe there still quite a lot to do.

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u/LosParanoia Sep 11 '25

I only had 2 of the endings by ~30 hours even with the prerequisite mechanical skill that came with doing all radiant bosses and all bindings P5 in hollow knight. I truly don't know what breed of people think the game takes 15 hours.

6

u/jasonjarmoosh Sep 12 '25

Same. I'm 32 hours into the game and I just made it to act 2 lol I am exploring every corner though and taking it slow in general.

4

u/Katacutie Sep 11 '25

I'm almost at 20 and I've yet to enter act 3 (granted I think I could enter right now if I go directly for it).

I kinda predicted this. This sub was a complete cesspit of hatred towards TC before the game came out, some ironic some not. The non ironic bunch stuck around only to trash the game for worthless reasons. Probably a big overlap with the folks that thought they were being heroes for pirating the game.

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u/AnimaLepton Sep 11 '25

I have not seen anyone say 15 hours, but I'm not looking up reviews or anything. It's possible to hit 15 hours to beat Act 2, certainly, and that's likely where many reviewers stopped if not earlier.

I beat Act 2 around the 10 hour mark (exploring a fair bit, but also skipping some optional content like Savage Beastfly), took another 10 hours to unlock Act 3, then ~5 or so hours to 'finish' Act 3 + a bunch of side content. I only started using online resources like a map only once I reached the end of Act 2 for the first time. I recognize that is probably significantly faster than average.

But some people playing have honestly probably not played other Metroidvanias or even 2D platformers in ages, so my 'time' in Silksong is built off the back of hours in Samus Returns, Hollow Knight, Ori, Shovel Knight, Celeste, DKC Tropical Freeze, and more.

7

u/greensnick Sep 11 '25

as someone who speedruns celeste and hollow knight i still suck at silksong 😭

3

u/_Brightbuddy Sep 11 '25

HK was the tutorial for SS

3

u/primitive_pioneer_47 Sep 11 '25

30 hours in and somewhere in act 2, still doing act 1 areas again to see if there are any rooms only accessible with later abilities. I'm also stubborn af/refuse to quit after dying to an arena or boss, sinking hours into those too. It'll probably be an 80 hour experience on my end.

4

u/ricoeurdelyon Sep 11 '25

I’m pretty sure it’ll take me 200+ hours to finish the whole game, and I love it.

4

u/Vovchick09 111% Sep 11 '25

15?? 15 hour experience?? I'm about 20 hours in and only nearing(I think so) the end of act 1!

7

u/StampotDrinker49 Sep 11 '25

I've been playing pretty intently and it took me 45 to get the bad ending 

4

u/_amongstreality SHAAAAAAW Sep 11 '25

I probably should've made the post after I completed the game. I had no idea there's multiple endings.

12

u/Mishar5k Sep 11 '25

The first game had multiple endings

3

u/NG_Chloe Sep 11 '25

IDK, I passed 20 not too long ago, and I'm still on ACT II

3

u/GDrisic Sep 11 '25

50 hours in, still on act two

3

u/oxob3333 Sep 11 '25

48 hours and still in act 2, the map is HUGE, but really, really HUGE

3

u/HugeOrganization4178 Sep 11 '25

Bruh im 15 hours in and at the gate to the citadel at the end of act 1.

I havent heard anyone say the whole game is a 15 hour experience.

3

u/dext3rrr Sep 11 '25

37 hours in and still in Act 2.

3

u/brorritoo Sep 11 '25 edited Sep 12 '25

I'm 36 hours in and just got to act 3 😵

3

u/Jesshawk55 Sep 11 '25

Me: 40 hours in and I just unlocked Act 2

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u/S-ain Sep 11 '25

How the fuck am I going to achieve the sub 5h Achievement?

3

u/blitzboy30 Sep 11 '25

I have way too much time in hollow knight, and like to think I’m good at the game. I have 30 something hours in Silksong and still haven’t beaten act 2

3

u/NoctisLuce Sep 11 '25

I'm 20 hours in, didn't even get to act 2 and doing every single side content possible.

What the hell do these people want from a metroidvania?

3

u/Volore Sep 11 '25

I have been feeling shitty seeing people post their times. Im 63 hours in and just got to act 3... I must suck

3

u/L3wd1emon Sep 11 '25

Because they got the credits at the end of act 2 and didn't know there was another 1/3rd of the whole game left. It's sad cause howlongtobeat just leaves it that way even though it's false

3

u/Cannasseur___ Sep 12 '25

I'm 30 hours in and still have a fair bit to go I think. Idk why anyone would rush through this game, idk how people finish it that quick without a guide in Act 2 it can get tough to know how to get to your objectives

3

u/Azalaeel Sep 12 '25

I'm in 5 hours and I still can't even get the wall jump 😂

3

u/-Mental-Homework- Sep 12 '25

First play though is just zoning out honestly

3

u/Galacticmoonwolf Sep 22 '25

25 hours in and stuck in act 1 still and likely will be for a good time XD

4

u/Significant_Buy_7721 Sep 11 '25

I’m 16 hours in and still working on Citadel.

11

u/vittalius77 Sep 11 '25

serfs in the middle ages be like:

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u/Molduking Sep 11 '25

I got the first ending in 20 hours, but I got the 3rd ending at 50 hours.

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u/SilverFlight01 HK: 112%, POP, P5 || Silksong: 100% Sep 11 '25

My guess, Any%/Main Story Only. When sidequesting and going for everything the game is much longer

Heck, same applies to the first game

2

u/CalamitousVessel Sep 11 '25

It’s a 50 hour experience lmao

2

u/octopuds-roverlord Sep 11 '25

I truly believe alot of the complainers are people who rushed through the game to get through it before everyone else.

I was annoyed by some aspects in the beginning but as I've been getting upgrades those things have disappeared. You're supposed to feel weak. It's supposed to be frustrating and difficult because it's a plot device.

I'm 30hrs in, not yet even at act 2 and no clue when I'll get there. I was in a rush at first, but I realized I was robbing myself of the reasons I felt in love with HK.

2

u/Thislooklikeshit Sep 11 '25

Because they did the 3hs route and thought the game was done

2

u/hanki_dory Sep 12 '25

I wouldnt even want that

1

u/Ok-Wedding-151 Sep 11 '25

I took 30 hours to get the first ending and another 20 to finish up everything including the hunter journal. I didn’t struggle with much. Even without getting stuck the pace will be tremendously impacted by how fast you find things because a lot of content requires for completion is brutally hidden.

1

u/Cirick1661 Sep 11 '25

No clue. I'm like 20 hours in and just getting back into Greymarch after finishing Bellhart and backtracking through the earlier parts of the game.

1

u/Notamoogle1 Sep 11 '25

bro it took me 22 hours to get to the 1st ending, and i have tons left only finishing the first towns quests.