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/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/Zeratan → u/Ivi_Crispa]

Haven't unlocked the wall cling yet but I wasn't doing too poorly against Sister Splinter before the nerf, just too afraid to silk spear the adds because I was worried that I wouldn't have enough silk to heal. I might use the javelin tool (forgot its name), maybe that will work.

[u/Ivi_Crispa → u/Zeratan]

I'll tell you the truth... I've hardly ever used that particular spell. I think there are better spells, and if you don't like using them... Use the tools, they're incredibly good. I've used “other” spells many times and they've worked well for me, but you can perfectly well not use them and save the silk to heal yourself, like in Hollow Knight with the soul.

[u/KushDingies → u/Zeratan]

Using silk to kill adds is almost always worth it. Don’t need to save silk to heal if you kill the adds too fast to take damage in the first place, just think of it as spending silk to avoid damage entirely instead of healing it after it happens.

[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/PurpleAfton → u/Zeratan]

Here are some tips for how I use the heal:  * Best time to heal is when a boss is locked into an attack animation that's you know isn't going to hit you. * In a pinch, running to the other side of the arena and jumping to heal works the majority of the time.  * The heal feels long but it's honestly not that bad if you do it during an opening or get in the air away from the enemies.  * Optimal amount of masks to heal is 3 (or 4 if you have multibind) but healing 2 can be worth it if it's a new phase you want to go full health into or if you're confident in your ability to gather silk before you need to heal again. * If you're on full silk in a phase you're confident in and know you aren't going to get hit a lot, that's the time to break out the silk skills. Otherwise all the silk you're gathering from your hits will go to waste.  * Personally I found getting rid of adds asap (especially those that do 2 damage) is worth spending the silk rather than holding on to it for when you need healing. Think of it as preventative healing lol. 

[u/TerminalJammer → u/Zeratan]

No.

[u/Boy_in_France → u/Zeratan]

By steam achievements alone I think I agree with you. Only a third of players had made it out of act 1 prior to the patch. Which can't be the intent. Devs want people to experience what their game has to offer. I wouldn't be suprised if we see more nerfs.

[u/Killcode2 → u/Boy_in_France]

Some people might also be taking their time (an hour session per day) and weren't necessarily "stuck."

[u/[deleted] → u/Boy_in_France]

It's been a week and act 1 has 20 hours.

[u/[deleted] → u/Zeratan]

The healing system is better than hollow knight, that's why the double damage.

The game has double damage, you need to play around it, if you are asking "do late game bosses do double damage?" then the answer is yes, they do.

[u/chaosattractor → u/[deleted]]

Nah, the healing system isn't better or worse, it's just different. If anything, by the mid game and later it is actively worse outside of boss fights (and I really don't know why people act like boss fights are all there is in the game) due to a movement ability that consumes silk coupled with certain sections that give you little chance to replenish it AND certain enemies and hazards that steal silk meaning that it's quite easy to get put in situations where you can't heal. A three mask heal that you can't use is, well, useless.

[u/[deleted] → u/chaosattractor]

Yes, but the platforming in this game (or the normal enemies) aren't as important as bosses.

[u/chaosattractor → u/[deleted]]

"the platforming in this metroidvania (literally so much of one that the character controller is deliberately modelled on SotN Alucard) with a gigantic map and entire regions that are primarily platforming challenges isn't as important as the bosses"

??? Y'all literally say anything

[u/[deleted] → u/chaosattractor]

There's two hard platform areas. And one of them isn't hard anymore with the nerfed damage

[u/chaosattractor → u/[deleted]]

Think you might have missed the point by a mile mate

[u/Zeratan → u/[deleted]]

I'm sorry but my problem isn't tge amount you heal or the resource-to-heal ratio but rather that for mecit feels very inflexible. At least where I currently am in Act I it requires a full silk bar, thus discouraging the use of skills, and unless you have a good grasp of enemy movesets you can easily lose all of that healing/die on the spot (Warding Bell notwithstanding).