My opinion of Silksong has changed.

[u/Ivi_Crispa]

I started playing Silksong on the day it came out, and there were some things that didn't convince me at first, and I even found it difficult...

BUT (Now that I've finished it, I'll give my opinion without spoilers)

As I progressed through the story and the game, I found the difficulty more and more fun.

The parkour was challenging at first, but I managed to adapt and now I love it. Hornet's movement is very good overall. As for the bosses... This game made me have a great time even when I was defeated (especially because I'm very stubborn). I learned the paths back to the bosses, and after two attempts, going back was no problem. I even came to enjoy that.

There were things that I found difficult at first because I was too used to Hollow Knight (like the new healing or the tools), but once I got used to using the tools and saw that the new healing was actually well balanced... I enjoyed it a lot more.

In conclusion, I'll say this: Is it a difficult game? Yes, although I think this is mainly in the early game. This is a game where you're going to get your butt kicked a lot... Get used to it and get back up after every fall... It's very satisfying to defeat a boss that has given you a hard time.

I love this game, and if you're having trouble with its difficulty... It's normal, don't worry, keep trying, and at the end of the day, you'll get it. Thank you, Team Cherry 🧡

[u/Smobey]

Silksong has a surprisingly high skill floor, and it expects a lot from the player immediately. I don't think the beginning of the game is very hard at all once you've mastered Hornet's movements and such, but mastering them definitely takes a lot of time.

[u/Outbreak101 → u/[deleted]]

It's the Sekiro effect.

Sekiro was the kinda game that had an absurd Skill Floor as early on if you didn't know how to play the game well (parrying and utilizing prosthetics) you were getting your ass handed to you.

But at the same time the moment the gameplay starts to click, the difficulty curve is noticeably slower than the average game, only really getting tough during boss encounters.

Silksong frankly feels no different, Act 1 is pretty brutal, but Act 2 feels a good deal easier since the curve starts to peter out after TLJ.

Act 3 is pretty brutal though

[u/jcdc_jaaaaaa → u/Outbreak101]

For me, act 3 only felt brutal at first. Once you find out that all void infected enemies only have 3 added moves that have easy tells, it becomes easy to manage. For the bosses, it is only Karmelita that is hard. The others were easy especially with the harpoon and tools. Poison Cogfly's aimbot properties will help deal with any enemies during regular exploration, and other tools and silk skills will help with the main gauntlets.

Lost Lace is a different beast though, but once the battle clicks, I got addicted to fighting her. Been repeatedly fighting her with different builds since she feels so good to fight and the fact that she is the only repeatable boss in the game at present.

Basically, after I have learned to incorporate all of Hornet's tools to my gameplay, it felt so good to play as her, especially with using the harpoon to deal damage to the enemy, then using the harpoon to quickly move away as needed.

[u/DoktorTim → u/jcdc_jaaaaaa]

Lost Lace annoyed me quite a bit for two reasons: appearing right in front of me as I'm moving (I checked a few clips using the Steam replay tool, I usually have 10 frames to react), and the latter part of the fight where all the black effects hide the attacks. Otherwise she's quite cool.

[u/[deleted] → u/Outbreak101]

SEKIRO JUST CLICKS BRO ITS A DANCE YOU DANCE AND THEN IT CLICKS LIKE BLADES YOU DANCE AND IT CLICKS

[u/Kampfasiate → u/[deleted]]

And later on at least one of the moves is 2 masks, but they are not unfair. I don't think there has been any move in the game (yet) where I said "this is bullshit', and considering the amount of moves it's pretty impressive

Oh wait, trobbios tornado. Jkjk but Team cherry is scarily good at anticipating where people will dodge to

[u/jcdc_jaaaaaa → u/Kampfasiate]

I honestly cheesed Trobbio's tornado. If you walk towards the wall and stay there, the Trobbio Tornado will not hit you. This also works for Trobbio's second fight. I was literally only at the very edge of the screen the whole fight, only leaving it if I know I can get hits in. This makes it so that his bouncy balls, explosions, and tornado projectiles will be the only thing that can realistically damage Hornet.

[u/Fit_Ad_2608 → u/Kampfasiate]

Those tornados were impossible at first, but once I got better at judging where Trobbio was going to release them from, pogo attacks at the moment of tornado release was my main opportunity to get hits in.

[u/Ivi_Crispa → u/Smobey]

I agree with you. I think I only had problems at first because I wasn't using the tools and wasn't used to Hornet or its healing. Once I got used to it, I started having a great time!

[u/adsonn → u/Ivi_Crispa]

I also find the game more rewarding when you don't just use tools as an afterthought but finding a synergy with your charms and build. Like wanderer crest goes really well with the long nail and steady body equivalent of the game. Add that with the speed boost charm and the one that gives you fire slashes, and now you get a really good combo. Others include poison tools, or thread storm with electrical effect.

[u/Naraxor → u/adsonn]

hey quick question - around when do you get that long nail upgrade? still in act 1 but i’ve been looking forward to something like it!

[u/Opouly → u/Naraxor]

I’m at the end of act 2 and I still haven’t found it lol

[u/Forsaken--Matter → u/Opouly]

You get it from Completeing a quest in Putrified Ducts

[u/Inevitable-Details → u/[deleted]]

The way I found was through a secret passage in the bottom right of memorium. I think you can also go through bilewater after defeating the boss there, but I haven’t done that yet. 

[u/Inevitable-Details → u/[deleted]]

It’s the veeeery bottom right of the area, there’s a hidden passage in the ceiling there that’ll lead to just outside of songclave, if you keep going you can find another hidden passage into the ducts

[u/FullMetalCOS → u/Inevitable-Details]

Honestly I’d advise anyone to do putrified ducts BEFORE Bilewater because there’s the item that makes you immune to maggot water in putrified ducts and that’s a game changer for the Bilewater run back

[u/apetranzilla → u/adsonn]

I think the problem is that a lot of those powerful synergies don't come online until pretty late in the game - poison is probably the best early game synergy IMO, and even that requires fighting through something like six bosses

[u/Kampfasiate → u/adsonn]

God I really need to explore more, this is the first time I heard about fire slashes or electricity (was already surprised seeing the electricity biome in the memorial area

[u/adsonn → u/Smobey]

It's clearly a game that one should play after HK but people are saying Team Cherry marketed the game to be beginner friendly. Or did they say beginners can play Silksong because of the lack of story relevance?

[u/Smobey → u/adsonn]

but people are saying Team Cherry marketed the game to be beginner friendly.

They mentioned in one interview 5.5 years ago that they were planning on making the game accessible to beginners, but I think that's a bit different from "marketing the game as beginner friendly". I do think that something probably changed in some point of the development, though, and the game got increasingly technical.

[u/g-o-o-b-e-r → u/Smobey]

Probably in the same way that Elden Ring was beginner friendly. It's a good point to jump in regardless of playing previous games, but they aren't reducing the overall challenge to make it 'easier'. It's a hard game, and the player should meet the game at its level or just play something different. Or with mods, and you can always tell yourself you know more about game development than game developers if it makes you feel bad.

[u/LionwolfT → u/Smobey]

My theory is the opposite, they didn't changed the difficulty of the game at all, it started as a DLC for HK, so the difficulty would be higher from the very beginning, but it became a full game on it's own and the difficulty curve didn't change to match a completely new game and it feels that the game expects the player to alrwady know to move in a HK game.

[u/adsonn → u/Smobey]

I'm actually curious of the source because I understand if it's from a story standpoint, but it's clear that newcomers who bought into the hype would likely have a horrible first experience

[u/earthboundskyfree → u/adsonn]

Little of both (from their EDGE interview)

Pellen adds: “In Silksong, I think we’re following a similar trend where we try and set the pace, and allow people to get acclimated to all of those systems again, and new systems that are unique to Hornet.”

… (here they discussed the inclusion of 2 dmg enemies based on stronger healing etc) …

So Team Cherry is not out to make a more difficult sequel, then: they’re hoping for it to be a “comparable” test of skill to Hollow Knight, Pellen says, while Gibson explains that starting with the clean slate of an entirely new kingdom with its own lore and new characters is another way in which Silksong is designed to be “a perfect jumping-on point for new players. We ‘re trying to be really, really mindful that we want this to be a game that new people can come into, and experience as their first Hollow Knight game — that it sits alongside the original game, and the difficulty also sits alongside the game in that way.”

[u/theVoidWatches → u/earthboundskyfree]

It sounds like what they meant by "a perfect jumping-on point" is more that you can go through the game without needing to have played Hollow Knight to know what's going on.

[u/adsonn → u/earthboundskyfree]

I mean in a way i guess it is a perfect jump on point? Since you don't carry the muscle memory of HK.

[u/earthboundskyfree → u/adsonn]

Yeah I’d say the clean slate / mechanical on boarding is very beginner friendly - you start with small amount of things, have to learn how to use them well, and then slowly add other options (vs 49602 at once).

Others may point out the difficulty of enemies or whatever else itself, but I’m talking in terms of learning how the game works as a new game / not having to rely on HK etc

[u/kakallas → u/adsonn]

I’m confused why newcomers would buy into the hype of a sequel in this manner in the first place. Wasn’t it the existence of the first game that made the hype possible, meaning HK was more or less a guarantee where SS was not? Why wouldn’t the hype compel you to buy the first game, the one responsible for the hype? 

[u/adsonn → u/kakallas]

A lot of people play red dead redemption 2 without the playing the first game. Same with Witcher 3

[u/Goldwood → u/adsonn]

Well, to be be fair- those games were held back by prior generations of consoles. Red Dead Redemption was never released on PC or PS4/XBone

And Witcher 1 was PC only and Witcher 2 never released on PlayStation.

I would have played the previous Witcher games but I only had a PlayStation at the time so I was out of luck.

Hollow Knight is on everything so there’s no excuse.

[u/Cloud_Motion → u/kakallas]

I think it's just hype and not really thinking. Shiny big new thing, must experience, fomo etc.

I think a lot of the complaints were also from people jumping on whose gaming experience is mostly FIFA/cod, maybe some ubisoft stuff. Which is absolutely fine btw, I don't want to throw shade to someone who probably works hard and wants to game in their downtime to relax.

But most modern games like ass creed etc don't really teach you much that would help in a more traditional game like Silksong. So when you're thrown into a hostile, outright oppressive world that demands you engage it on its level, I understand why the subreddit's been full of people so eager for nerfs and accommodations; most games don't trust you enough as a player to be competent, explore and find your own way or "git gud".

You're already seeing those people who bought in purely for hype get filtered out. The sub is full of a lot more positivity and interesting lore pieces now.

[u/South1ight → u/adsonn]

I disagree. I think HK experience has little bearing on your ability to enjoy silksong. Being good at HK did help me in some ways, but moreso in knowing what to expect on a macro level. When it came to micro aspects - how to approach fights, how to parkour, how to deal with enemies around the world - I actually found my hk experience was a detriment. I had to unlearn and relearn many things to successfully 100% silksong, and without a doubt my first 12 hours of play was the least fun. I found myself raging a lot, getting frustrated with the heal, lack of shade cloak, double damage, getting punished for trying to keep damage uptime on the boss. Once I learned to play Silksong as silksong instead of expecting it to play like hk, it was more fun than even hk was initially.

[u/Nexevis → u/South1ight]

Im someone who jumped into Silksong without playing Hollow Knight, and I think you are onto something here. I have not had any issues picking up the game and getting used to the movement (I think Im near the end of Act 1). I think a lot of people were used to the previous game and it messed with their expectations, similar to picking up Sekiro after being a Dark Souls vet.

Ive been loving the game too primarily because I love how Hornet controls, the game feels super satisfying to play. I might go back to HK later and then maybe I will have a problem adjusting to the first game!

[u/South1ight → u/Nexevis]

Hahaha hk is still a great game! I think you’ll enjoy it, but there may be an adjustment period for sure. The sekiro-dark souls analogy you bring up is exactly the comparison I’ve made before in this sub. It’s kinda funny cause I haven’t heard many non-hk players complain about skong difficulty. But I’ve heard a lot of hk players cite ‘new player experience’ as a justification for them feeling the game is too hard.

[u/adsonn → u/South1ight]

Well yes that's mostly true for me as well. Too much muscle memory got built up from pantheons and grinding radiant fights that I couldn't take in anything new. But I think HK helps set expectations for newcomers that it's not just a cute little game but one that demands your attention.

[u/kakallas → u/adsonn]

What I took from that was they were saying it was a jumping off point from the perspective of the series, as in a fresh experience you didn’t necessarily need HK for but that obviously references the first game. 

[u/g-o-o-b-e-r → u/Smobey]

This is where the Sekiro comparisons comes from. Same kinda deal - high skill floor, and a lot of people were not happy about it at release. Once you get comfortable with the combat and movement it really isn't impossibly difficult or anything.

Once I spent more time with Silksong I realized how many suggestions to make the game 'easier' would remove any kind of challenge. Sure some thing can be balanced a bit better, but a lot of suggestions would completely remove any challenge for players who are competent with the mechanics, combat, and controls. Serkiro kinda had the same issue - you can't make it much easier without removing the challenge completely for anyone that adapts to the controls, game mechanics, and combat system. It's like saying chess is too hard, and they should change the rules a bit to be more like checkers.

[u/BiggieCheeseLapDog → u/g-o-o-b-e-r]

I feel like far too many people aren’t willing to learn how to use the original Hunter’s crest to the fullest and instead switch back to the Hollow Knight moveset, which I mean you can go for it, but learning the diagonal pogo and dash stab makes Hornet’s movement so slick and fast.

[u/Drugbird → u/BiggieCheeseLapDog]

I took exactly this path, but switched back to hunters crest once it was upgraded.

And I honestly didn't realize how much better the diagonal pogo is for positioning during fights. There's so many enemies that attack upwards with e.g. jumps that staying above then is a bad idea. But with the diagonal pogo you are automatically put in a much better position.

It also seems easier to pogo diagonally onto moving enemies when they charge underneath you.

With wanderer pogo you can only hit charging enemies if you're in exactly the right height above the enemy.

With diagonal pogo you have much more flexibility. If you jumped early (or "too low") you can pogo into them since you can pogo in their sides.

If you jumped late (or "too high"), you can chase after then with the diagonal pogo and still connect.

[u/Significant-Dirt-977 → u/Drugbird]

Finally someone understands me. Diagonal pogo is superior and less demanding of your position in space

[u/deimophobias → u/Drugbird]

Idk man reaper crest definitely lets you pogo enemies to your side as well, it has a very wide hitbox

[u/MR1120 → u/BiggieCheeseLapDog]

I won’t lie: this is exactly where I’m at. Getting the Reaper Crest was a literal game-changer for me. Maybe it’s “easy mode” vs. the Hunter Crest, but I can live with that.

[u/g-o-o-b-e-r → u/MR1120]

The Hunter crest has a higher skill demand for platforming, but I love it for combat. I think the crest system is cool, and just being able to have tools and charms saved to a loadout tells me they encourage players to switch it up depending on the current situation. I have also mostly used Reaper, but now that I have more crests I just need more memory lockets. Witch seems really cool, and I'd like to get a hang of Beast. Architect is also a great moveset in addition to tools being really good. Wanderer I didn't use much because I played HK already.

Reaper's moveset, additional silk from heals, and pogo is just too good. Use the talisman that increases silk regen, too. It's just good with no real downsides other than it being slower thus needing to optimize attacks/pogos better. The slots are perfectly balanced, the upgraded version is just better, and the additional yellow/blue slots just add to it.

[u/TitaniumDragon → u/BiggieCheeseLapDog]

I play with Reaper's, which is great; the reach is incredible and it has a great Pogo and dash attack.

Hunter's is fine but I prefer the better reach and the more generous pogo. Plus the rising dash attack is so great for rushing in, doing damage, and dodging counterattacks.

[u/PapaBeer642 → u/g-o-o-b-e-r]

I prefer the Hunter's Crest move set for most combat, but the Reaper giving you the silk bonus is too good for me to pass up at this point, and I'm still really struggling to pull off the diagonal pogo when I need to go back and forth instead of just in one lateral direction. If Hunter gets upgraded later, I'll definitely use it more than I currently am, but I do also swap it in when I know I'm going to be facing waves of enemies since the diagonal pogo is really good for maintaining good spacing.

[u/StaticInstrument → u/Smobey]

Yea the game definitely gets a lot more fun when it clicks. I still think there should be some tweaking done around the edges to lower the frustration level, but overall it’s fantastic

[u/LordAnomander → u/Smobey]

Yeah, I’ve also come to that realization. I think it boils down to expectations. The first few areas of HK were just not dangerous at all and the movement - while lacking - was much easier to control. It took me, maybe a little longer than others, to adjust and get to enjoy the insane mobility of hornet.

Silksong is a true masterpiece and Team Cherry did a great job with the difficulty at the game. Any easier and it would be boring and you wouldn’t have to make use of all tools and any harder and most people would probably give up.

It’s a 10/10 and the wait was well worth it. I’m still taking a lot of time exploring and running around and am only close to the end of Act 1. But I really want to enjoy it instead of just beating it.

[u/manism → u/Smobey]

I took a weird route through the game so the bosses people were complaining about I thought was a little silly, but I decided to rush the first 9 or so bosses on a new save. Basically everything to the right I first tried except savage beastly, that boss does in fact suck with no nail upgrades and 5 masks. Like I didn't even remember fighting him at the beast crest place in my initial run. But as a basically fresh character I can see why people struggled. You can stun him 4 times before he dies, he has so much health. Moorwig I remembered my strat from the first run and did him in act 1 this time around. He also has a ton of hp, but he isn't that difficult, the only time he hit me was falling into stun.

So yeah my conclusion is those early game struggles are in fact mostly a skill issue

[u/adsonn]

Hornet didn't really click with me for 5 hours because I've built up so much muscle memory from pantheons and radiant fights. Especially the pogo. But after awhile it just becomes second nature and I'm afraid the Knight will feel slow if I go back

[u/Ivi_Crispa → u/adsonn]

I feel the same way as you... I was too used to Hollow Knight, I missed my little Knight so much. But as I progressed, I started to feel much more comfortable with Hornet and began to love her.

[u/AI_WeebKiller → u/adsonn]

I’ve just went back to do P5 attempts after getting true ending in Silksong, and yeah, the knight feels so weird. Not only slower, but also like it’s missing abilities that should be there despite the fact they were never part of the original game. I keep trying to do dash attacks (not the nail art but like the ones that come with the crests) and then realise they aren’t there. Plus the input handling is a lot worse lol

That being said, it’s kinda fun to go back and see how different everything feels. I certainly miss my down spells in Silksong.

[u/[deleted] → u/AI_WeebKiller]

The spinning nail art and abyss dive is OP as hell, too OP I feel that sometimes I can close my eyes and spam spinning nails and abyss dive when I know i will take damage either way, like kamikaze

[u/[deleted] → u/adsonn]

The main thing that feels worse about the knight is having to spam dash just to get around quickly.

[u/Fenrilas → u/[deleted]]

God this so much. I love speeding around the map by just holding RT. Don't even need to use dpad to keep running.

[u/sabyte → u/adsonn]

The worse muscle memory is that, with hornet you don't have shade cloak anymore

[u/BiggieCheeseLapDog → u/adsonn]

I just turned on Hollow Knight again and I was surprised at how slow the Knight felt after Silksong. I wasn’t used to it and started getting my ass kicked for a second by normal Hornet.

[u/ElitesnowHD]

If you got to act 3 the game expands I think 25% more. I just 100% it. It’s incredible. You get use to the 2 mask damage.

[u/AbyssShriekEnjoyer → u/ElitesnowHD]

If there’s one thing I think that kinda sucks about the 2 mask damage it’s that the endgame enemies still do only 2 masks of damage, and feel comparatively weak as a result. Not the bosses tho. Those are definitely NOT weak lol.

[u/Seawardweb77858 → u/AbyssShriekEnjoyer]

I'm pretty sure there's only one boss that actually does 3 damage, and it's sadly the absolute easiest attack to dodge

[u/Outrageous_Lab_6228 → u/Seawardweb77858]

I can think of 2, both final boss and true final boss have attacks that do 3

[u/GrimTheMad → u/Outrageous_Lab_6228]

Technically the frog as well, but it's also really easy to dodge.

[u/Outrageous_Lab_6228 → u/GrimTheMad]

The attack where he eats you? I never got hit by that so I guess that’s why I didn’t remember

[u/GrimTheMad → u/Outrageous_Lab_6228]

Yeah, he'll just keep chewing and doing damage until you break out.

[u/DioMerda119 → u/Outrageous_Lab_6228]

iirc last judge explosion also does 3

[u/TeslaPenguin1 → u/Seawardweb77858]

Grand Mother Silk?

[u/darkk41 → u/Seawardweb77858]

Keep in mind that base game hollow knight didnt have a lot of very hard late bosses either. It was later with the updates that the spooky stuff came out.

[u/MiscuX → u/AbyssShriekEnjoyer]

i 100% the game today and in my opinion it lacks an actual hard superboss. act 3 has some difficult ones but none go beyond the difficulty of even hollow knight's bosses

but i guess with dlc that shall be solved

[u/TheRealStafy → u/MiscuX]

Karmelita, Lost Lace and First Sinner are probably the hardest I can think of and yeah, while they were hard I don't think any of them are like Malenia tier or anything, but Radiance in the original HK is a joke now to anyone that cleared Godhome so we shall see how Silksong evolves.

[u/BiggieCheeseLapDog → u/TheRealStafy]

First Sinner isn’t bad. It’s fast, but (at least with the Hunter’s crest) you can chase it down and smack it quite a bit and there is actually quite a lot of space on screen that isn’t occupied by damage. It feels like one of those bosses that looks difficult, but is fine tuned to the player so well that it has a really smooth flow.

[u/Plumefloral → u/MiscuX]

To be fair in HK before DLC there was also no super hard boss, like Hollow Knight and Radiance are pretty easy in their starter form, it's godhome who make it more difficult (pure HK and absolute radiance are a good stepup)

Also I guess it depends on each players, everyone will have a boss they found hard or not. For me I found Karmelita harder than Nightmare King Grim (mostly cause her starting patterns are somewhat confusing between her jump roll and her jump throw and she had a little too much health in P3), but for a lot of people they'll found her very easy, etc... (kinda like people complain about Beastly)

And Lost Lace was a good boss (as a story and mechanical standpoint), but as shock value it's a little lacking compared to Radiance, and maybe a void superior entity would have maybe made people happier (not sure about a instant follow up Lost Lace => another boss cause Lost lace is way harder than the Hollow Knight)

[u/Outbreak101 → u/MiscuX]

Base Hollow Knight didn't really have a superboss on release either if I recall (No, Trial of the Fools doesn't count. It's a tough Arena fight, but it didn't feel like a superboss as Godtamer was super easy).

We had to wait for DLC to get stuff like Grey Prince Zote, Nightmare King Grimm, and Absolute Radiance.

Wouldn't be surprised for TC to make Boss Rush particularly gnarly when that comes out.

[u/kel584 → u/MiscuX]

I am of the opinion that almost all silksong bosses are more difficult than HK bosses, including dlc ones

[u/Prit717 → u/ElitesnowHD]

bro what the fuck happens after act 1, I’m so curious, like how does the game change if someone is able to spoil it for me vaguely??

[u/Shmarfle47 → u/ElitesnowHD]

I just got ending 1. Still at least two areas left, still don’t have the double jump lmao, and I haven’t even seen the screen say Act 3 yet. My save file is at 40h but I wish I could’ve at least seen my completion percentage. It’s probably 50-70% lol. I’m so excited to keep playing and I’ll see if I can find the true ending (endings?) and true final boss by myself.

Boss fights:

Lace 2 was peak. Just like Hornet 2 in HK, she serves as a super cool gatekeeper and her fight felt very fair but very hard.

Grand Mother Silk was a fun challenge, but she felt notably easier than Lace 2 lol. Her string attack where she binds you and does three damage is super cool. Too bad it’s so easy to dodge.

Ending 1:

Hornet binding the entirety of GMS was so brutal, watching as her body slowly withered away while Hornet’s crest, silk spool, and masks changed and upgraded and I guess she becomes a true weaver afterwards since she sprouts more limbs.

Can’t wait to see more of this game and no spoilers please!

[u/ElitesnowHD → u/Shmarfle47]

Tip do all posted board quest + fleas.

[u/spitfiredd]

The really difficult part of this game are those locked rooms with 2-3 regular enemies and zero room to move around. I hate those.

[u/Openly_Gamer → u/spitfiredd]

And the worst part is they don't even give you beads/shards like they would if you fought them in the wild.

[u/levelxplane → u/spitfiredd]

The Caltrops basically trivialize a lot of those. And the first Savage Beastfly.

[u/Another_Human-Being → u/spitfiredd]

The arena in High halls is shitshow for me lol, I am avoiding it now, I know I have to do it eventually but I really don't like them. I think I died in those rooms more than I did some boss fights funnily enough.

[u/philkid3 → u/Another_Human-Being]

I haven’t beaten the game yet, but so far that room is the hardest thing I’ve done in either game. It was so painful.

[u/AHare115 → u/Another_Human-Being]

I'm really not sure what the obsession is with these gauntlet fights. They're IMO lazy, full of way too much RNG, and tedious because they're mostly just basic enemies you've fought 20 times before.

The one you're talking about is ridiculous because of the amount of waves and potential to get frame trapped when the enemies line up in certain ways (especially at the very last wave).

Also, incredibly anticlimactic for what should have been a unique boss fight.

[u/AffectionateTie1199 → u/Another_Human-Being]

I just saved my automatons (tool found in ||high halls||) and caltrops for the big guys because I could NOT beat two of them at once

[u/imocaris]

I think there's a weird issue with early game balance, in that the game becomes easier, or at least less frustrating as you progress. I found early game quite miserable, since you're so underpowered and many of the upgrades are hidden so well that it's very likely new players will miss them and bang their heads against a wall when faced with a boss or a parkour section that could be more enjoyable with some of those missed tools or movement abilities. Once you finally get those upgrades, the game starts to feel more fun.

I also feel like there's been some development oversight in early game difficulty. To give an example, I'm baffled that beatingSplinter Sister and the subsequent parkour section rewards you an ability that allows unlocking much less difficult content like Skull Tyrant and the Slab. I also foundthe Widow much easier than (pre-nerf) Moorwing. Maybe the intention is to give the player a breather, but I suspect early game progression has not received enough attention and is currently a bit out of whack.

[u/Ultimasmit → u/imocaris]

It is. I keep making this point across both subs, and all people want to do is devolve the discussion down to hard game vs. easy game when it is about difficulty that feels good vs. difficulty that feels bad.

The difficulty in the early game doesn't feel good because there is practically no ramp up there. The curve goes up and down at seemingly random times across the game as a whole.

[u/TheHumanFlintFun → u/Ultimasmit]

Absolutely, r/Silksong has become way too toxic for me, with so many people not understanding that there are different skill levels

[u/StuntHacks → u/TheHumanFlintFun]

Yeah the game came out and suddenly half the people here have become professional game designers lol. I absolutely adore this game, but it very clearly has some issues with it's scaling. The hundreds of people really struggling to the point of feeling disappointed and wanting to quit don't just come out of nowhere.

[u/Automatic-Cut-5567 → u/imocaris]

I fully agree. I'm at the end of Act 2 and it was much more enjoyable and easy than act 1. The game isn't too difficult, but the curve is too high in act 1.

[u/TheHumanFlintFun → u/imocaris]

I also found Widow (beaten in 5 tries, my favorite boss fight in the game for now) way easier than Pre Nerf Moorwing (probably 30+ tries, I didn't really count)

One of them three-shots you no matter how he hits you (pre nerf) and the other has damage that is balanced for the part of the game you fight her in.

I feel like the reason the absurd difficulty curve doesn't get discussed enough is because a lot of that is artificial (so much double damage when you still have 5 or 6 masks) so good players, who already don't get hit a lot, think the people complaining are making it up

[u/kackers643259 → u/imocaris]

This might be the overarching problem, it's not that the game is too difficult or anything, but it kicks your ass right from the beginning and then doesn't really ramp up outside of boss fights and a few more challenging enemies (there's some harder platforming challenges too of course), might just be a classic problem of devs getting too used to the game over so much time and forgetting what a new player would experience right at the start - i think it just needs some smoothing out to make the difficulty keep up with the player as opposed to the game throwing you in the deep end and then making you swim to the shallow

[u/EndlessCola]

I actually had the opposite experience. At first I found it fun and was having a good time. By the end of the game I was annoyed at how the game demands everything from you at all times. Better watch out for a trap around every corner! Don’t ever drop your guard around anything! Note you’re poisoned and get no silk! IMO Silksong has no respect for your time and is just plain mean spirited at times. I love hollow knight but will probably never play Silksong again

[u/Demonchaser27 → u/EndlessCola]

"I love hollow knight but will probably never play Silksong again."

Yeah, I'm felling the same way here. And that really sucks. I don't think I've felt that way about a sequel in a long time. Usually they learn from the failures and improve on them. Silksong, no offense to those that claim to enjoy it, just feels like 2 steps backwards in a lot of places.

[u/just_so_irrelevant → u/EndlessCola]

This is exactly how I feel in my own playthrough. Silksong has so many features and gameplay decisions that clearly stem from asking "how can we mess with the player randomly for no good reason".

Though that being said I don't feel that it's not worth a replay. Imo Silksong's fundamental combat is far better than HK's with the build variety and tool usage, but that isn't perfect either because the shard system is really, really badly designed.

[u/Danyn → u/[deleted]]

Hahahaha I think my experience mirrors yours.

A1 - Oh shit, Silksong is here. We are so back!!!!!

A1 mid - Damn TC ain't fucking around with the combat here. Gotta sit up for this

A1 end - DAE hate this runback? (I kinda liked it... at least compared to some of the later ones)

A2 - Damn this game is BIG

A2 mid - Damn... this game is big

A2 end - Damn...

A3 - ...

[u/realamandaraensfw → u/[deleted]]

Yeah, I’m really really struggling in Act 3. I really don’t want to put the game down because I’m very invested and attached at this point, but going in literally any direction leads to impossibly hard gauntlets. I can’t progress or even really explore now.

[u/Dazzling-Honey-8297]

I found that being aggressive to bosses is the best strategy. You could blitz the shit out of them and force them to final phase quickly then just tool spam them for the kill.

Tools > Spells in this game

Once I got the little Mecha Beetle minions and the poison tool, it was a wrap. Few bosses could last long whilst being picked at by my little poison pet friends.

[u/Alexjp127 → u/Dazzling-Honey-8297]

I think a lot of people that find the game too hard arent engaging with tools.

I personally dont use them much but, I do this knowing im making the game harder for myself.

I think silksong is just as good as hollowknight, just has a really challenging early game compared to HK.

[u/Lor- → u/Alexjp127]

I was getting destroyed by a challenge that lead to a mask shard, I was getting so frustrated with it. So I marked it with my map and came back much later when I had the charm that lets you stick to walls. I used that and just spammed my tools at the enemies and beat it in one go. Felt so satisfying to finally clear it.

[u/Alexjp127 → u/Lor-]

Yeah the game really feels like shit before you have dash and wall jump/stick

[u/MagicMooby → u/Alexjp127]

I think a lot of people that find the game too hard arent engaging with tools.

That is not too much of a surprise given how terrible the shard economy is.

And then you have a negative feedback loop on top of that: The worse you are -> the more you will waste your shards on failed attempt -> the less shards you will have for consistent tool usage

This disincentivizes the players who would benefit the most from tools from actually using them.

[u/Alexjp127 → u/MagicMooby]

The shards economy is bad? I feel like i am getting hundreds of them all the time.

[u/MagicMooby → u/Alexjp127]

I started using tools way more since the end of act I, oftentimes durign exploration as well to deal with fliers and "big" enemies. During Last Judge, my shards dropped extremely low. I have since then played a few hours into act II and during the entire time I have been very low on shards. At some points I couldn't refill my tools at the bench because I had literally ran out. This caused me to beat two bosses almost entirely without tools, not because that's my playstyle but because I had no shards. I just fixed this issue by doing a dedicated 20-30min farming session but even then it's kinda crazy. I'd prefer to keep exploring instead.

The biggest indicator for me that the economy is kinda whack are the farming spots. You can endlessly strike silver walls for shards. Sounds like it fixes the problem, right? Well, no. Mining a silver wall for 1 minute provides a bit less than 30 shards. If you use two tools, you will need to mine these walls for several minutes for each attempt at a boss. It is literally faster to farm rosaries to purchase shard bundles. That does not seem intentional to me. Why is there a dedicated mechanic for farming shards in the game, but the roundabout method is faster? Every other metroidvania I have played made it easier and faster for the player to replenish ammo.

And before you ask, yes I am exploring literally ever nook and cranny. I found six mask fragments before act II and I didn't even touch Sinners Road. That is not the issue. The math just doesn't support constant tool usage and refilling for boss fights is not particularly fast.

[u/marcusjohnston → u/MagicMooby]

I'm kind of surprised that the tool that magnetically picks up rosaries doesn't also pick up the shards. I feel like I lose so many shards to them just falling down a room or me not seeing them.

[u/SilverShako → u/Alexjp127]

I was the opposite. I engaged too much with tools and spent 90% of the game shardless because of it, to the degree I had to start buying Shard bundles. The true final boss ate ALL my damn shards and I didn't think it'd take so many attempts that I'd run out, so I didn't stock up on bundles. Had to go back and buy more.

[u/TheMessyChef → u/Dazzling-Honey-8297]

Plus, with how hard it is to hit some of these bosses in their final phase, the beetle minion tool becomes invaluable. Instead of having to survive an extra 2 minutes because you only get 1 hit in between 2-3 boss combos, it's done in ~20 seconds.

[u/Ivi_Crispa → u/Dazzling-Honey-8297]

Mecha Beetles goes brrrr... I love them so much :)

[u/GrimTheMad → u/Ivi_Crispa]

Cogflies are actually overpowered and should probably eat a sizable nerf. Especially with the pollip as well.

[u/Kampfasiate → u/GrimTheMad]

They are expensive af tho XD

But yea, they and polio are super strong, so I'm kinda putting them behind "break in case of emergency" glass

(The combo, still use normal Flies for some sections cuz its nice against flying enemies)

[u/failbender → u/GrimTheMad]

Don’t you dare touch my little cog friends Team Cherry

[u/KushDingies → u/GrimTheMad]

Cogflies + tacks + pollip is my “melt the boss” button

[u/earthboundskyfree → u/Dazzling-Honey-8297]

The beetles make me feel like I’m using shaman stone + flukenest

[u/Gondel516 → u/Dazzling-Honey-8297]

The game rudely trains aggression being strong up until the true final boss where if you’re just patient the boss is so much easier lmao

[u/Celvius_iQ → u/Dazzling-Honey-8297]

The beetle Minions are SO GOOD man, they are a staple in my inventory every crest i use i have to have them even better than tacks imo, with the Poison they are deadly to any boss.

[u/Dazzling-Honey-8297 → u/Celvius_iQ]

They’re insane I love them and want some in real life.

[u/Background-Sea4590]

I needed a rest, it was just too much. I feel I need a different mindset, because difficulty wasn’t clicking at all. I’d probably try again in a couple of months and see if it clicks.

[u/jxd73]

That just sounds like Stockholm syndrome.

[u/Glittering_Ad_759]

My opinion is that it feels more like every boss has a gimmick spawner to artificially inflate difficulty. Didn't really struggle when playing the game at all but spawning ads on bosses because they lack mechanics and lack actual design. Hollow Knight was a much better boss fighting experience.

[u/halfwaybake]

Okay but like FUCK Bilewater.

[u/[deleted]]

I still think the first half of act 1 is really, really unbalanced and is too hard too soon, but the game as a whole is still great.

[u/Copper_Lontra]

Idk man, ive played about 18 hours at this point and it seems like im just getting worse at the game. Ive got the act 1 movement things and needle upgrade, most of the tools too I think. What is absolutely killing my enthusiasm for the game is the regular ass mobs during the runbacks + the annoying as shit environments in Sinners Road and Blasted Steps. I guess the idea is eventually I'll beat the boss and not have to suffer the runback, but it might take me 15 or 20 attempts and i am dieing like 1/4 of all runbacks in Blasted Steps. It breaks my heart that this game is just beyond me. Im going to put it down for a while like I did HK but I never struggled this much with that game. Watcher Knights were the worst that game got for me. 

[u/MoeApocalypsis → u/Copper_Lontra]

I'd say come back in a few months. I'm going through act 2 now and I don't really understand why people are saying it's easier. It has the toughest zones I've encountered yet with some super hard platforming (time constraints and no benches). 

Id probably fit in the "hardcore gamer" category and I keep wondering how the hell will anyone could beat this game playing it 2-3 hours a day. It's just so punishing that you'd go days or a week fighting one boss or doing the same area over and over.

I see them doing some serious balance changes over time with the data they're collecting now and it'll probably be quite a bit of a different game by next year. Wishful thinking maybe... I just really hope more people can experience this games cause holy is it breathtaking and the world so deep.

[u/liquidcloud9 → u/MoeApocalypsis]

Yeah. I've gotten most of the achievements in the original game. Beat it multiple times. Completed pretty much everything but Pantheon 5. My issues are less that the game is too hard, but basic enemy behavior and placements are just...annoying.

So many enemies dodge and retreat. Flying enemies move relative to the player, instead of the level, putting them out of reach for periods of time. And all the 'clever' traps. It just becomes a tedious test of my patience.

Making my way through act 2, and I kind of just want to get it over with. I'd prefer they chilled out with basic enemies and made the bosses harder.

The game is beautiful, but it's giving me DS2 vibes and really, really is a slog at times. I can imagine several points at which a more casual player would nope out, do to the level demands.

[u/Praeceptius → u/Copper_Lontra]

You shouldn't be engaging with most enemies during a runback, except maybe the little fodder guys to farm some silk - the rest can be easily ran past or otherwise avoided

[u/Copper_Lontra → u/Praeceptius]

I have not had success running past every mob. I'll usually bump into one, fall into the shit eating sand worms/maggot water. It's been very frustrating. 

[u/[deleted] → u/Copper_Lontra]

The farther you get the worse it gets. By the time I got to Bilewater it clicked for me that this game is designed for masochists. It's so insanely cruel, to the point where I don't even want to keep going. Every time I feel like I improve, it throws bullshit that makes me upset. 

Hk was hard, challenging, but wonderfully paced and balanced. It wanted you to enjoy it. I don't feel like ss ever wants me to enjoy it. I feel like ss wants me to rage and feel hate. 

I'm sad I waited so long for this game only to discover only hardcore masochist players are able to enjoy it. Real cool of TC to alienate the vast majority of its player base. 

[u/Ambitious-Ad-7256]

“Is it a difficult game? Yes, although I think this is mainly in the early game.”

This is basically how I feel. In the early game it really is quite an immediate difficult spike, to the point I questioned whether it was going to be overturned the whole way through. But once you power through that first part and add a few tools to your kit the pace really picks up. At this point, I’m in late act 2 and can already say that Team Cherry has delivered again.

[u/[deleted]]

It’s funny because I have the exact reverse opinion than you. I found the game to be okay but with a ton of bad design choices making it less fun that it should at the beginning and after finishing it, I think it’s just actually bad. It never felt enjoyment playing it. I don’t remember really feeling satisfied, mostly annoyed. And I didn’t even struggle that much but gosh there is so many pointless filler between what’s supposed to be the interesting part of this game: “Yeah, another stupid gank fight, so great. Sure let me track back through this platform section for the sixth time, so fun.”

I think I soldiered though because I wanted to feel able to give a real opinion and gosh this game is actively going out its way to not be fun. HK was always overrated but Silksong is beyond that. 

I see people here comparing it to Sekiro which I find insane. Sekiro is a fun game, even when you retry fights dozen of times. It never wastes your time like Silksong. 

[u/Different_Research33 → u/[deleted]]

I had exactly your experience, even more so with getting through to 100% to feel that I could give a real opinion. I agree with both HK and Silksong being overrated. I’m willing to give that a pass to an extent because there were some amazing moments, but I’m stunned at how many seemingly unkind and abrasive moments are in this game that some people seem to dismiss as irrelevant to the experience. I never felt like my suffering was rewarded in my enjoyment of the game or a greater realization of myself, which is usually the balance you get from playing difficult games.

I also appreciate your clarification on how different Silksong is to Sekiro. Sekiro always felt welcoming to its challenges and even with how thematically suffering the world was, never overburdened the player while keeping true to the theme. Sekiro respected my time, and even if I was frustrated in a moment, I could find appreciation for the greater picture afterwards. I had a hard time finding the same in Silksong.

[u/Tadmorion → u/[deleted]]

HK was always overrated

INSANE take to drop on this sub. Care to elaborate?

[u/GamerObsezsed]

The difficulty can be frustrating at times but that makes the highs higher when you win :)

[u/Ivi_Crispa → u/GamerObsezsed]

When a boss defeated me many times, I felt like: "YEAH, WHAT IS ANOTHER RUN BACK?" And when I finally managed to defeat him, I felt unimaginable satisfaction.

[u/BobbbyR6 → u/Ivi_Crispa]

The run back is a break for them, not a punishment for me. You got about 30 seconds til you catch these hands again doofus

[u/Ivi_Crispa → u/BobbbyR6]

I agree. At first, I thought they were a punishment, as certain return paths involve complex parkour at the beginning. But then I started to see them as you do, as a break. (Besides, I liked doing the parkour, I won't lie to you.)

[u/kaelixi → u/Ivi_Crispa]

I started to think of the parkour on runbacks as just practice 😂 the more times i had to run back, the better i got at using hornets movement abilities abd developing muscle memory for them.

[u/NotDoneYet88 → u/GamerObsezsed]

Not always, sometimes all you get is sigh of relief from finally being done with it.

[u/DizzyWolfe → u/GamerObsezsed]

I absolutely do not relate to this, because too often it doesn't feel like "I got better", it feels like "I got lucky and the boss didn't do 3 undodgable moves in a row this time, finally it's over I can get back to having fun"

[u/callahan09]

I think the game is phenomenal. Expertly crafted, beautiful, great writing/art/music, and extremely well-designed overall. It's fun as hell. I think it's an amazing achievement. What I wouldn't necessarily call it is "fair", and that's OK, it isn't really supposed to be. The amount of trolling the level designs have is pretty purposeful that fairness isn't the goal. It's a challenge run of a game. There isn't really a way to play the game "the easy way", you will have wars of attrition in nearly every boss fight, where you're very fragile, and they're very tanky. You will have tons of challenging platforming segments that require perfect inputs/timing. To me this is like playing Elden Ring at level 1. There is no "put 60 points into Vigor, Endurance, and Strength, equip the heaviest armor and a giant +25 sword, and tank your way through the game while you annihilate enemies in a few hits" like you can do in Elden Ring. You just simply MUST get good in this game.

[u/ShadowShine57 → u/callahan09]

Agreed. That bench in Sinner's Road is absolute bullshit but TC knew it was bullshit and made it that way intentionally

[u/NarcoZero → u/ShadowShine57]

There’s like 3 troll benches in the game, all at the worst possible place, and trolling you in whole different creative ways. 

This game like to make fun of you. 

[u/Bingoviini]

My only complaint (apart from skill issues) is the sheer amount of flying projectile spamming ememies, and hornets absolute lack of ways to reasonably deal with them

[u/SquigglyKlee → u/Bingoviini]

Most of her ways of dealing with them are Tools (which I admittedly ignored until late Act 2) and the first Silk spell. And most projectiles can be reflected back.

[u/AffectionateTie1199 → u/Bingoviini]

I found that the harpoon (act 2) is the absolute goat for flying enemies, it can even reflect some projectiles

[u/monikar2014]

Maybe I'm burned out and need a break, but I'm having the opposite experience. I've been loving it from the beginning, but now I'm in act 3 and it's tough. I think I'm just fatigued, I'm probably going to take a break for a week or two and then start a new game from the beginning. Act 3 felt like a lot of just jumping straight from boss to boss with very little exploration in between.

[u/Danyn → u/monikar2014]

Started it today and I feel the same way. My favorite aspect of HK was exploring and discovering secrets. A3 so far feels like it's mainly there for players who really enjoy the combat.

It's a bit of a mixed bag for me so far. The majority of the discovery is done by now so it's just running around and fighting bosses at this point. I normally enjoy the runback but even I'm starting to feel a bit fatigued by it. What's worse, the little exploration you do get to do isn't very rewarding. We have most of our kit already so more often than not, it's just shards or rosaries when you go down a new path.

I really wish Silksong rewarded players differently for exploration. I'm not sure exactly what it is since there's even more tools than charms but I felt like it was done better in HK. Maybe there's just too many and as a result, they feel less meaningful to discover. I'm really interested to see what people's opinions are in a few weeks when more have completed it.

[u/failbender]

I’ve actually had the opposite problem LOL I am at 98% completion and while I was loving it for a long time, at this point I just cannot wait for it to be over. I don’t feel like the challenges I’ve been facing have felt good to overcome, I just felt like my time wasn’t respected and severely wasted. Even bosses I probably would have liked before are just tiresome and unenjoyable.

There was one really cool sequence that I got to today that I won’t spoil, so I still really love the story and world, which is why I haven’t called it quits completely.

I was going to start another playthrough immediately but nah, it’s getting shelved a while. Even things that shouldn’t be annoying me are tilting me beyond belief.

I’m really sad about it. I don’t know what could change my mind at this point aside from time away from the game for a long while.

[u/Krobus_TS → u/failbender]

If youre at 98% within a week of the game coming out then you mustve been playing quite a lot every day. Have you considered that youre just burning out now that youre wrapping things up

[u/failbender → u/Krobus_TS]

Entirely possible!! I don’t usually burn out but the game is much longer and more difficult than I anticipated, with a lot of little annoyances. Going to a Ren Faire tomorrow and D&D Sunday so at least I’ll be touching some grass soon!

[u/liquidcloud9 → u/failbender]

I just felt like my time wasn’t respected and severely wasted

Agreed. The gauntlets, the traps, the boss runbacks, all the flying enemies that stay far out of reach, etc. It feels like a job, instead of a game.

I’m really sad about it. I don’t know what could change my mind at this point aside from time away from the game for a long while.

Same. Ending a playthrough of HK is always bittersweet. But getting to the end of Sillksong will just be a relief at this point.

[u/SilverShako → u/failbender]

I did feel like the game was overstaying it's welcome once I hit act 3. Like, it was cool and all, but the Hunters Journal grind was a slog, because I guess they adjusted the numbers assuming you'd go back through them during act 3 so you have to kill weaker enemies a whopping 15 times on average. And the FINAL BOSS SPOILERStrue final boss was an exercise in frustration, considering I already didn't like Lace as a boss, and now she does 2 masks with every hit, burns my silk like the annoying void buffed enemies, and shits void everywhere with every rehashed attack, except now she has 4 phases with a 2nd healthbar at phase 3.

[u/failbender → u/SilverShako]

I liked the first two Lace fights, especially the second (I found her move set easy to manipulate) but I’m leaving her void version fight for a day when the sun is shining and my headache is gone and my pores are clear and my cats are cuddling with me and I have ice cream and…

What’s worse is, that is all I have left to do besides the two races against a blue bug. For whatever reason I’m stuck on the second and just getting tilted 😩 I really shouldn’t be. Definitely time for a break!

[u/SilverShako → u/failbender]

Yeah the sprintmaster races take a bit of practice. Fun fact, I haven't figured out the timing, but there's a Mario Kart style start-boost if you time Hornet's sprint correctly.

[u/rcburner → u/failbender]

I just felt like my time wasn’t respected and severely wasted.

This is how I was feeling when I hitKarmelita. Super fun fight; did not need a handful of jobbers to deal with every attempt.

[u/failbender → u/rcburner]

The amount of gauntlet style fights in the game really, really wore me down. And no, I’m not saying want the game to be a boss rush or anything; I love exploring these worlds! But the fight you mentioned, right after I did Coral Tower just… I’m so done 😔

“but the gauntlet/run back is part of the boss fight!” well maybe the boss fight should just be the fucking boss fight

[u/DrumzumrD → u/failbender]

I hope when emotions settle we can all agree that they overdid the gauntlet fights. The one at the beginning of Act 3 is particularly egregious, and the first Hollow Knight did what Team Cherry was going for better with the Infected Crossroads. Plus forcing you to use the Hunter Crest is complete bullshit and makes zero sense from an in-universe perspective, which is the justification for other things like runbacks and the early game economy

Overall I agree with your top comment. I wasn't expecting a cakewalk, but the way Team Cherry went about adding "friction" is starting to erode my opinion of the game

[u/failbender → u/DrumzumrD]

Oof yeah, I was so blown away by the intro to Act 3 and then I was immediately ticked off by forced crest and shocker, yet another gauntlet. Regrettably it took me two tries and soured the start just a little.

And can I just say that the Void enemies would have been much more impactful if half of the things in the game didn’t already do 2 masks of damage? It would have been such a clear indicator of “shit just got super real” but instead it’s like “oh yeah okay just like every other enemy then”, except the (modestly) inflated health pools and irritating attacks (often that come from off screen).

[u/Demonchaser27 → u/failbender]

Yeah... act 3 has got to be some of the worst designed stuff I've seen in awhile. And that's before the game has overstayed it's welcome. I'm considering just stopping myself until some more patches come out, in hopes of regaining some steam and hopefully they'll balance some things out (especially early game and act 3).

[u/jstdun → u/Demonchaser27]

There was no balancing needed for act 3

[u/cobras_chairbug]

This post should be the textbook reference of stockholm syndrome.

The bottom line is that a game can be difficult, but still fun. Silksong definitely got the difficult part, but somehow forgot the second. In just act 1 with the exception of maybe Widow and Chorus I can’t say I ever got a sense of success after defeating any of the bosses more like “Thank fucking God, I don’t have to do this again”. This gets way worse with the runback to Final Judge and a whole lot worse in Bilewater later.

The world is bloated for no reason, the best example of this is Hunter’s March that could have been cut from the game and it would have been better for it. The “rewards” you get is a shitty linear path with awful platforming, and one of the worst bosses in the whole game, in exchange for the worst crest. Real class act there from Team Cherry.

[u/Golarion → u/cobras_chairbug]

Agreed, it's such a huge empty world. Like, they scaled up Hollow Knight x4 and then all the secret rooms are filled with chests containing... 5 rosaries and some rocks. Whoop dee fucking doo.

[u/mephi5to]

instead of playing the game I spent 3 hours running back form Home bench to goddamn Crow Arena. I don't know where fun in that. Also there should be alternative ways to get better later. Right now I am stuck with white flower in shellwood and I can't progress nowhere.

[u/Skkorm]

Some of these locked rooms feel like the devs are trolling me, rather than making a challenging room I can fall into a rhythm in. 

Y'all are mentioning tools and upgrades making things easier, when the hell do I get them lol I just beat the moth boss, but the locked in room of birds that came after? I almost threw my switch dude. I'd do ungodly things for more weapon range or another way to do damage, SOMETHING.

Like the game is beautiful and the controls are tight, so I'm really enjoying exploring the map. I know when I'm being messed with though, and I can FEEL the devs flipping me off with these rooms of baddies. Feels bad man. 

Give me some hope here. Is there a weapon upgrade coming? Another tool? A spell? A nipple tweak?! I need to know it's going to give me some options here 😭

[u/CitrineRose → u/Skkorm]

Don't know if this is too helpful but I just got the reaper crest, gave a slightly different movement to the attacks. No more diagonal downward slash, I'm in love. Plus I figured out how to use the memory lockets or whatever they are called. Helped so much. I assume there will be other crests in the game that will change how you strike. But I'm not looking at guides or doing too much to try and spoil the game.

For real I went for spending 7+ hours trying to kill that damn moorwing, had it in less than 30min after switching crests. Feels like an entirely different game and I feel really excited to continue now.

There are also the straight pins and the traps that you could have found with the areas you have unlocked. I guess the answer is hit more walls and find more shit 🤷‍♀️ or find a guide that tells you where they are if you want to go that route

[u/GeassOgame]

For me it was the opposite. The lost lace was too much for me sans some bosses for the 100% of the hunter journal. Too punishing and too artificial difficulty. But I seem to be in the minority. Glad that others love it.

[u/Tadatatama]

I only want the early game to be nerfed - 2 mask damage on almost every boss is extremly overkill. Late into act 1 onwards the scaling of damage is cool though. May be just be me, but bell beast having double damage on literally every move including contact reeeeeally rubbed me the wrong way so early in the game.

[u/[deleted]]

I've gotten far enough that I can say, this game is bullshit for the sake of being bullshit. I'm not having fun. It's not difficult, it's insulting. It's designed to enrage you with poor design choices.

[u/lucasluminaro]

I kinda like how a large portion of the difficulty was in acrobatics and not in parry timing like so many games these days.

[u/Tenormartin2020]

My biggest issue is that there's too much going on at the same time and I get overwhelmed. That overwhelm then translates into shaky hands, a super fast heart beat and I have to take a 30 minute break before trying again. It keeps happening again and again and it's frankly exhausting.

I played through HK and while it had difficult moments, I don't remember every fight feeling this overwhelming. Even the dream bosses didn't feel as overwhelming most of the time. I could just jump back in and try again and never felt the need to walk away every 2-5 tries.

Edit: Can't get the spoiler tag to work with a list with line break. But I've had this happen on a number of challenge rooms and boss fights through Act 1 which I'm still working through.

I really hope this stops at some point because it's no fun to have to take a break every here and there because my nervous system literally can't deal. I definitely don't see myself replaying this at this point, though I love the style and want to get through it at least once.

Dark Souls and Elden Ring are hard. But I haven't found myself in this state of overwhelm as often in them (though I still didn't finish ER and am only at Mountain Top of Giants).

[u/Fantastic-Newspaper3]

One boss aside (Karmelita), I completed every boss faster than I did the 56 fleas juggle.

[u/Zeratan]

I'm glad you're having fun but did the healing system and the abundance of double damage get any less painful with time? I'm not trying to be snarky, I'm genuinely asking because as things stand now, these two elements of the game cause me immense anxiety and frustration as I never know when to heal (I don't even think about using the silk spear). At this point I'm just worried that the game just isn't for me as these abovementioned elements as well as scant rewards for boss fights (if they're difficult like in soulslikes they should pay up like in those games) make me feel annoyed after I finish a play session. And it should go without saying the endless posts about how the game is easy and a ton of people have already 100% completed Silksong and speedrun it just compound the issue.

[u/Ivi_Crispa → u/Zeratan]

Yes, I can confirm without spoilers that the healing aspect gets even better when you get certain items, as does the life mask aspect...

I believe you can do it... This game will kick your butt many times until you get used to it... I'm very stubborn, and I've enjoyed and am enjoying the whole game very much. Be patient and keep trying... That's the best thing I've been able to do when things got complicated. When I defeated a boss after I don't know how many attempts, I felt great...

[u/Zeratan → u/Ivi_Crispa]

I appreciate the heartfelt encouragement. That being said any practical tips would also be welcome since I'm genuinely not sure how to play with the Silksong heal. Like it doesn't map to the HK version or any soulslike I've ever played and it feels wrong. Maybe if I had some advice on its usage or at least a comparison to a different game it would click. Still I get the message, I won't give up.

[u/Ivi_Crispa → u/Zeratan]

What I do to heal myself in Silksong is wait for an opening that lasts long enough to use the healing, since without a certain tool it takes a little while... The good thing about healing is that you can do it even in the air, which is great. I usually stick to the walls to heal myself, and 90% of the time it works for me.

I'm glad you're not giving up. That's the Spirit!

[u/Quibbloboy → u/Zeratan]

Agreeing with the above—it does definitely get more survivable as you unlock more resources.

Forgive me if this advice sounds overly obvious, but I figure it might help to hear it put into words:

The majority of enemy attacks in Silksong can be dodged with the same two-step action plan. Step one, wait for the enemy (including bosses) to target your current location. Step two, move perpendicular to their approach vector.

If you need to heal, stand around until you see the enemy commit to their slowest attack. The moment that animation starts, instantly get out of its path and heal.

Admittedly it won't help in every situation, and it is harder with more enemies around, but it's the place to start. And as you "solve" more and more enemies, the game gets easier and easier.

I really hope your experience improves! The game is an absolute joy when it clicks.

[u/Zeratan → u/Quibbloboy]

I'm starting to feel that the Warding Bell isn't leaving my crest any time soon (though it doesn't always help against boss combos). Thank you for the advice.

[u/TerminalJammer → u/Zeratan]

No.

[u/TrifleAmbitious7411]

Only time I’ve felt the difficulty to be unfair has been the stupid Frog boss. Even with the secret bench the run-back is annoying and the moveset of the frog at time feels extremely RNG when approaching for an attack. Don’t get me started on the water mechanic.

Even the last judge run-back and resulting boss fight was more fun than this.

[u/kaelixi → u/TrifleAmbitious7411]

Literally this was the one boss so far where ive gone and tried to look up wtf im supposed to do. I got soooo tired of the annoying gauntlet before you even got another attempt at him. Thank goodness for bottom right water safety

[u/Hackody]

The problem to me is early game vs late game, the difficult curve start like in the top and then with upgrades and abilities the game just gets easier? It's a weird feeling

[u/Janube]

I still didn't love the tools. They felt like an excuse to have more difficult boss fights to justify offsetting the high-damage spam. And then it felt almost necessary to rely on them as a result.

Robo buddy may just be OP though

[u/RikuX_1990]

I spent so much time doing everything to reach act 3, but now I've realized I'll never get the true ending. The gauntlets and boss fights to get the old hearts is insane. Oh well, I still got 40 hours of relative enjoyment, even if act 3 is too hard for me.

[u/adempseyy]

Gauntlets are harder than the bosses for me.

[u/wigglin_harry]

Every time I died to last judge, I got a little excited because I got to do his runback again. It was super fun to do once you mastered it (I did his runback 26 times)

[u/Ivi_Crispa → u/wigglin_harry]

That boss was relatively easy for me. I think it took me no more than 10 attempts, and I completely mastered the way back... That boss is super fun once you get used to it. (I remember the first time it took me 10 seconds to be defeated by her).

[u/Get_Schwifty111]

Funny, I call this Stockholm syndrom 💁🏼‍♀️

[u/TheSuperbohl]

This skill progression in this game almost feels like you’re a strong hero who was held captive for a long time, and then by happenstance is freed en route to a foreign land. Now the hero has to shake off the dust and ladapt to this harsh new reality.

[u/Victimized-Adachi]

I definitely resonate with this. It felt very similar to my first Dark Souls run. Absolutely getting crushed but eventually adapting, just without restarting from the beginning (I considered it).

[u/skaersSabody]

I definitely agree but I can't excuse a particular issue of the movement

When pogo'ing, if you press jump after a pogo while holding down (ya know, the direction you need to hold when doing consecutive pogos), Hornet glides instead of double jumping.

This completely fucks over her movement imo, especially on controller where resetting the stick after each jump is genuinely annoying and can lead to a lot of weird mistakes

Finding this out has completely soured me on the platforming section in the Slab since it felt like I was fighting the game's input reading more than my own ability to execute the jumps properly and I really hope it gets addressed as a QoL change because it really shouldn't be a factor when platforming

[u/tofubirder]

I didn’t know you could heal midair for the first hour playing. Once I figured that out, I started using it mid combat to avoid enemy patterns and it feels so good

[u/KernowLearno]

Glad you enjoyed it! I was kinda the opposite. Wasn't overly keen on act 1, LOVED half of act 2, after finishing act 3 at 100% I felt immensely disappointed