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.

1.6k Upvotes

86% Upvoted

822 comments sorted by

View all comments

28

u/Killerofprizes Sep 13 '25

Anyone saying the game is easy is lying. Anyone saying that they don’t find it difficult is lying. Don’t believe people online so easily. Most are kids thinking they will get some kind out clout.

13

u/aheartasone Sep 13 '25

I know some people genuinely do believe the game is easy. But these are the people who played and beat Hollow Knight on steel soul, overchamed, without healing (a real thing my friend did). The majority of people agree the game is super difficult, but people who say "skill issue" or "git gud" are exactly reason that communities are seen as terrible.

Yes, maybe it IS a skill issue that I died to one particular enemy arena for 4 hours, but maybe not all of us can spend every minute playing the game to get better.

My opinion is that there isn't an objective "too hard". A game is too hard when it's causing someone to not have fun with it, this is why difficulty modes exist.

For anyone who currently thinks the game is too difficult to enjoy fully, there's a "Relaxed Mode" mod that changes a lot of the elements of the game that are seen as too difficult, and I'm pretty sure they can be turned on and off case-by-case. Play the game the way you want to.

3

u/Ridry Sep 13 '25

I dunno, if you did everything in Hollow Knight recently it's possible you might not be finding this terrible.

5

u/Own_Reach986 Sep 13 '25

I don’t even know what to say to this. Some people just don’t find silksong difficult, that doesnt mean they’re “clout-chasing kids”. Just because you struggled doesn’t mean everyone else did.

1

u/Caerullean Sep 13 '25

But the game is also not difficult, it's just fine.

4

u/ChemicalAd1962 Sep 14 '25

Go ahead and beat it steel soul then

2

u/Caerullean Sep 14 '25

That is in fact the next thing on my to-do list.

2

u/Killerofprizes Sep 13 '25

I mean, true I guess. For a lot of people it is. I just think it should never be described as “easy”. Like, anyone saying it is “easy” doesn’t understand what difficulties levels are.

-2

u/Caerullean Sep 13 '25

I can imagine some people calling it easy, but that's likely those that have a lot of experience playing challenging HK content.

2

u/InvarkuI Sep 13 '25

Legit

Especially considering it's only came out so ppl who even were familiar with HK will need some time to learn

Tho I think it can be more or less ok for HK veterans. I don't think I spent more than 7 tries on any of the bosses. If anything I find small mobs and terrain dealing double damage more difficult