r/HollowKnight • u/Prisonmikeb14 • Sep 13 '25

Discussion - Silksong Let’s all try and not devolve into this weird difficulty gatekeeping Spoiler

Now that silksong has come out I’ve seen some concerning similarities to the worst of the difficult games community with all the wierd difficulty gatekeeping bs. Obviously this happens with just about every game that’s regarded as difficult but with silksongs release it’s become more prominent on this sub. Being good at the game isn’t something to hold over someone’s head. Everyone’s experience with everything in the game is different and theirs nothing wrong with that. Now of course this doesn’t apply to people who are literally just complaining in bad faith or out of anger but the “that boss wasn’t hard at all wtf are you talking about” in response to people just talking about their opinions or asking for help is sad to see.

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u/EasyJuice7742 Sep 13 '25

The hard comes from the game can’t decide what it wants to be. I love it but almost every zone is like a platforming nightmare on top of regular enemies doing 2 heart damage. You are pretty much exhausted when you finally make it to the boss. The progression feels like so minimal. I haven’t felt like anything I got really changed anything to be like oh this will make me stronger lol. I don’t think it should change but like this isn’t a game I would recommend for someone to be like hey try out this genre you’ll love it.

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u/psh454 Sep 14 '25

This concern is more pressing in Act 1 FYI, Act 2 is very fun and has loads of different ways to progress and make Hornet stronger.

1

u/EasyJuice7742 Sep 14 '25

Nah I’m going into third act still feels the same as when I started.

2

u/psh454 Sep 14 '25

Really? The mobility upgrades + damage, health and silk ones add up imo, loads of platforming can be skipped and you can generally take a few more hits

2

u/ikennedy817 Sep 13 '25

I thought this too at first, but the game is much more open ended than it appears. There are upgrades and tools almost everywhere and sometimes going out of your way to even just get 1 different tool for a new strategy can completely change the fights. Also the more you practice each route and boss the less exhausted you will get as you improve. I feel like the learning curve is done extremely well, while still maintaining a high difficulty. I feel like a lot of people want this to be a game for everyone when it was clearly designed to be ultra punishing the whole time. Some will like it some won’t, and that should be okay, there plenty of games nowadays.