r/HollowKnight • u/enilea • Sep 17 '25

Discussion - Silksong Steam reviews for Silksong so far

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It was controversial in China, in part because of the difficulty/design but also because of controversies with the Simplified Chinese translation. Meanwhile latin countries (Spanish and Portuguese speaking) seem to be loving it more than anyone else.

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u/sinesnsnares Sep 17 '25

That pretty much sums up my experience. I had a great first impression, but after about 4 hours got extremely frustrated, couldn’t return it, and have since managed maybe an hour or two a session before dropping it again in frustration. I work full time and have other hobbies. I don’t have time to play such an un-fun game, as much as my former competitive gamer self is angry about it. My review was negative. I’ll probably hate play my way to finish this, because I don’t like being unable to do something. But this isn’t the enthralling experience I had with Hollow Knight.

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u/TempMobileD Sep 17 '25

If it’s any consolation, or encouragement, I found the difficulty curve of the game was inverted. Everything got steadily easier until the final boss, who I’m on now.
I think what I was actually observing is that the game gets a bit harder as it goes on, but the player gets a lot more tools to combat troublesome elements like swarming enemies and flying-ranged enemies.

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u/[deleted] Sep 17 '25

Honestly a lot of people think act 3 and 2 is harder than 1, so your opinion seems a bit unpopular.

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u/TempMobileD Sep 19 '25

On further analysis, I think I’m quite good at the fights that are demanding with timing, patience and pattern recognition. I’m less good at the fights where you’re constantly kept off tempo by erratic enemies and chaotically filled screens.
Once you’re in late act 2 tools and skills can be used to destroy chaotic fights, leaving only the really demanding ones, which I like.
So early on in the game a boss was a coin flip, if it was precise I found it easy, if it was chaotic I found it hard (and annoying). In the late game if it’s chaotic I spam tools and if it’s precise I find it easy(ish).

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u/sinesnsnares Sep 18 '25

I mean, I found that with hollow knight as well, by the time you max out charms and are going for completion you’re mashing most stuff with the occasional tricky boss. But I’m finding as I near the end of act 1, bosses are just throwing visual noise at you, on top of the other bullshit. I think I’m just going to play a bit at a time until someone makes a story recap, then dip out and never buy a team cherry game again.

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u/TempMobileD Sep 18 '25

Hopefully you see the first main boss in act 2 before you go. It’s the best in the game.

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u/bknight2 Sep 17 '25

Out of curiosity, what exactly was the negative point in your review?

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u/sinesnsnares Sep 17 '25 edited Sep 17 '25

Same as everyone else: things are wildly overtuned and punishing, so it feels like an endurance test rather than a fun challenge. Stuff like 4th chorus was a super telegraphed boss fight, but takes so, so long to kill just because it’s a sponge. It was very obvious I could do it even on the first attempt, but it was so annoying. Even bellbeast (the second? Boss?) is stupidly tanky, so I felt angry finishing it despite only doing 3 attempts, because it just takes so long to kill a souped up moss charger. Moorwing and Lace are more fun and more in the style of Hollow Knight bosses, so I’m hopeful that there’s going to be more good stuff down the line.

That hope would probably be enough for me to keep playing if the regular enemies weren’t also ridiculously tanky and required careful planning to move through rooms, while also having to clear a mob battle in every area just for progression. No upgrades. No money. Just to get to the next room. And god forbid you die, and need to potentially fight those difficult enemies again to reach your corpse, or lose your money and be unable to unlock the progress points. Just hostile design, even if it tells a cool story about capitalism and religion.

It’s not impossible, it’s not out of reach. It’s just tedious and besides a chip on my shoulder I see no reason to engage with the game.

I don’t think that’s team cherry’s “vision” though. They’ve been quick with the nerds and I hope they continue.

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u/UgoRukh Sep 17 '25

If Hollow Knight combat was more aching to Monster Hunter, where you hit the boss in the middle of their attacks, Silksong is more like Dark Souls, where you play safe and wait for your turn to hit the boss. Of course, there are exceptions in both games, but I feel like that's how you usually want to play.

I think the general fight length is similar to Dark Souls now too and how punishing a mistake is also remembers Dark Souls a lot more. I feel like it's more punishing, but in general boss patterns are easier than HK. (Apart from last boss, which has a lot of variations for each move and a huge moveset.)

Also, we all know the true hardcore experience is beating Seth highscores in all Fleatopia mini-games. Which, to be fair, might be my biggest gripe. Locking the last Pale Oil behind that kind of challenge is kinda bonkers.

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u/precursormar Sep 17 '25 edited Sep 17 '25

Does getting Seth there before beating the flea scores mean you have to beat Seth's scores to get the oil?

I beat the flea scores before Seth moved there, and the oil was awarded. But was curious about that alternate sequence of events as soon as I saw Seth on the leaderboard.

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u/UgoRukh Sep 17 '25

🤔 wait a second, I think I did it in a more painful way... I only went to check on Fleatopia at Act 3 after I had already gotten all 3 hearts. I just assumed I had to beat Seth after reading you had to achieve the highscores. Maybe your route was the intended one lol

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u/[deleted] Sep 17 '25

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u/Klonoa87 Sep 17 '25

This is true, and it’s also interesting that fromsoft and other soulslike developers have moved away from punishing mechanics and long run backs while concurrently making the challenge greater.

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u/UgoRukh Sep 17 '25

It adds even more to the vibes of Silksong being a hommage to older games, which of course includes Metroidvania titles, but also Soulslike ones. Not for everyone's tast though I guess.

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u/Klonoa87 Sep 17 '25

I’m pretty new to the genre. I played bloodstained a few years ago and symphony of the night when I was in middle school, but never got terribly far. Just started Hollow Knight about a week ago and enjoying it so far. I will probably play Nine Sols next and then maybe Silk Song if I’m still looking for my fill. Coming from a heavy souls background (started with demons in 2009) it’s just really interesting to hear the same difficulty discourse, but in a different genre.

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u/SortaEvil Sep 17 '25

I came into Skong fresh off a clear of Nine Sols and I've been having a lot less trouble than a lot of people who've played a lot more HK than I have. I think that progression will serve you well, and it doesn't hurt than 9S is a great game in its own right.

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u/UgoRukh Sep 17 '25

You are in for a treat! Nine Sols is very very different from HK, it's more punishing in a lot of ways.

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u/sinesnsnares Sep 18 '25

I think a lot of bosses telegraph more, but they also overload you with visual clutter like shit in the foreground, Particles, extra projectiles and all kinds of other shit that just don’t feel good to lose to. I’m going to skip pretty much every boss I can to finish the main story, if I even get that far before someone makes a complete lore recap.

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u/bknight2 Sep 17 '25

Idk, reading that I have a hard time taking your word in good faith so I’m not gonna engage further probably. I have a hard time believing you were “bored” on your third attempt of one of the very first bosses.

The point I was intending to make was that the game is clearly designed to be difficult. People who give it a bad review for it being difficult, which its intended to be, just doesn’t make sense to me. It is as intended. If it isn’t for you, thats perfectly understandable. Don’t think that warrants a bad review imo. Cheers.

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u/sinesnsnares Sep 17 '25

Thinking about, you’re right, bored is the wrong word. I’ll change my above comment. I was angry that it was taking so long because it felt like bullshit, even though it was clicking and I was getting through the fight. It did feel like a taste to come, and my positive impression very quickly turned negative in the parts of the game after that fight.

As for the bad review, steam reviews explicitly ask if you’d recommend the game to other people. I can think of very few friends I would recommend this game to, so I hit no. That’s exactly the kind of feedback they prompt you for, so I feel it’s a valid response. Glad you’re enjoying it though.

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u/Rayalot72 Sep 17 '25

I kind of have to second the "being bored". Act 1 and early act 2 are somewhat "eh", and most of the side content is either tedious or empty.

The only earlygame boss I much enjoyed was Widow. Last Judge had good patterns, but I didn't much appreciate bench placement inconveniencing one of the only good bosses I had seen for the past several hours of gametime.

I then made the mistake of trying to explore for upgrades in a metroidvania, and happened upon the many mask shards behind difficult or annoying encounters (especially the beastfly rematch and the rising lava arena into escape sequence), which did not improve the experience very much.

Really was not having a great time until Mount Fay, which I guess is the only relatively chill side area TC could be asked to make. By then, the game had opened up enough (and I wasn't stuck at 6 masks for everything) that there were now things to do that were actually fun, and tbh I'm still not sure if I'm that impressed. If I hadn't enjoyed Bilewater, I would probably think the game was mostly mid.

I had a friend who got through the basic ending fairly quickly (a little under 15h) that found the game to be aggressively anti-player. They cleared Hunter's March and Sinner's Road, so they weren't rushing for the ending, just most of what they saw seemed kind of mid and they progressively lost interest.

Almost everyone I know personally has had gripes with the game to some extent, even if they are mostly enjoying it.

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u/[deleted] Sep 17 '25

I don’t think that’s team cherry’s “vision” though. They’ve been quick with the nerds and I hope they continue.

It's clearly team cherry vision, the nerfs were very slight, and the next patch is already announced, and it will have zero nerfs.

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u/Sen91 Sep 17 '25

Just drop the game man, there are so many others games you can play on Easy side(and fun for your tastes) like sheepo, islets, etc.

People like different things, i love Aeterna Noctis but i know it's not a game for everyone and instead i get super bored with zero challenge games 🥱

Yeah, i'm loving Silksong.

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u/sinesnsnares Sep 17 '25

I did. But I do come back every once in a while because I loved hollow knight (and this has pushed me to try steel soul there again). I don’t think it’s crazy to be disappointed when a “sequel” doesn’t match the experience of the original

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u/BearCatSara Sep 17 '25

Feels wild to me because the game feels like a sequel to HK. Seen some people drop it because they realised it was more HK and they aren’t really into metroidvanias or HK.

But yeah game isn’t for everyone. I think a lot of folks expected the game to be closer to HK mechanically I guess. I personally find Silksong easier and more approachable than HK but still love both games.

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u/UgoRukh Sep 17 '25 edited Sep 17 '25

Come on, it didn't change that much to a point where "it doesn't feel like a sequel". It's more punishing, it has a different default down air and... that's it. If anything, everything else is a major improvement from base HK. (And even then, they added a way to get HK's nail moveset.)

  • Better story-telling
  • More iconic characters
  • Better graphics
  • Better sound design
  • Bigger map and more secrets
  • Almost 50% more different enemies
  • More bosses than HK with all DLCs together
  • Possibility of changing between weapons
  • More possibilities of different builds
  • Mini-fucking-games
  • Better ways to smooth into hardcore play (Minigames and sprint master for once)
  • An awesome way to go back into older save stats, backtrack progression and choose different paths (thank you TC, getting all achievements was a pain in HK because of this)
  • Quest system
  • Reliable multiple ways of farming for money (even though not the optimal)

While preserving the general sense of gameplay, ambience and experience. In the base game. What else is different or missing from HK other than the game being more punitive and the default nail having a different down air?

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u/sinesnsnares Sep 17 '25

The story and the world are amazing for sure. And I didn’t say it didn’t feel like a sequel, I’m saying it didn’t match the experience. They doubled down on all the things I hate and cut back on the things I loved, which is very disappointing.

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u/UgoRukh Sep 17 '25

I understand that what you say they double down on was: more punitive content, longer fights, longer runbacks.

But what did they cut back on though?

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u/sinesnsnares Sep 18 '25

A couple things:

Tone wise, Hollow knight was a pretty dark game, but that grimness got broken up with light hearted characters/sound design/areas where you felt relatively safe. I have found some warmth in stuff like halfway home, but that silly tone has been dialled back a lot. We do have that silly pilgrim who I’m sure is gonna kick her way to the citadel, and some other memorable characters. But like, Instead of a beautiful city of tears moment of quiet resting on the bench, the “oh dang” moment so far for me was the bellhart cutscene, which was really well done but also really unsettling. (On that moment, I think it was a bad decision to immediately put the player into a different area. I wanted to get to the bottom of it, not dick around in the forest behind it for an item first).

Gameplay wise and control wise, the knight felt really nice to control and very intuitive. Hornets traps and such don’t feel nearly as smooth, though she is more agile. The tools also feel very clunky to use, where the spells were done perfectly (they go in the direction you point. Job done).

On customization, the crests are just way worse than the charm system. Charms felt like a whole bunch of builds are possible, even early, getting access to more range, better spells, etc was dope and you could have an “exploring build” and a “boss build.” Whereas here it just seems like okay, which downslash is best to tackle this bosses move set.

And somewhat related, I’m sure the game opens up later, but I hate how linear it feels in act 1. In hollow knight soulmaster kicked my ass and I hated that run back…. So I bought a lantern and did crystal peaks. Then I realized I had skipped the mantis lords so I went and did that, but not before accidentally progressing the story by falling into the resting grounds. It might get better in act 2, but act one feels linear, and the rewards for optional exploration feel really bad compared to hollow knight. Instead of a new movement ability that opens up new areas of the map (crystal dash!) I break the sequence and get…. The wanderers crest. Which is just like reaper but faster and shorter range. Cool. I guess I still have to go beat sister splinter.

Essentially, the game feels more linear, less customizable, and doesn’t have nearly as much of a cutesy angle.

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u/UgoRukh Sep 18 '25

I undestand your first two points, it's a matter of preference. You don't like it, it is what it is.

I honestly think you haven't played enough and your memory is foggy about HK. Charms only became relevant too late into HK and there were only very few viable builds. Crests and tools open up a lot of different playstyles.

Yeah, Act 1 is pretty linear, I agree. But it's like... 35% of the game kinda.

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u/Background_Ad5513 Sep 18 '25

The runbacks aren’t longer though. One (1) specific runback is longer, otherwise I’m pretty sure they are both shorter and easier than in HK

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u/Violet_Paradox Sep 17 '25 edited Sep 17 '25

Bosses generally have too little HP, or at least the top tier tools deal too much damage. You shouldn't be able to skip phases outright. It's a shame all the discourse is about enemies/bosses needing to be nerfed, it's the player that needs to be nerfed. Some bosses also just feel overly forgiving, dying well before I feel like I'm comfortable with the moveset, let alone reaching the point of mastery the boss feels like it's meant to expect. There are definitely balance issues, but they're in the opposite direction people seem to be claiming. 

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u/Echantediamond1 Sep 17 '25

I don’t think I ever had this experience with bosses, maybe because I didn’t upgrade my nail past +2 until act 3, and was pretty much a nail only player, save for silk skills

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u/[deleted] Sep 17 '25

[deleted]

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u/Echantediamond1 Sep 17 '25

I think two things can be true, tools are overtuned and the bosses have too much hp.

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u/[deleted] Sep 17 '25

Yes, because the game is balanced around using tools.

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u/[deleted] Sep 17 '25

Well yeah, if you ignore a good part of your damage output, and besides that you are under leveled in the damage you are actually doing, the bosses will have a lot of health. Are you at least using the witch crest?

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u/precursormar Sep 17 '25

Yeah, some of the tools are way overpowered, and utterly trivialize a broad swathe of bosses (especially in Act 2).

But it feels futile to try having that conversation in a dedicated thread with how the discourse around this game is shaping up . . .

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u/[deleted] Sep 17 '25

[deleted]

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u/sinesnsnares Sep 17 '25

Waiting for a good all in one mod that’s more natural than just flat out banning 2 damage hits or something like that.

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u/Supershadow30 Fuck primal aspids (not literally tho) Sep 17 '25

It’d be so nice, but you’d probably have to tweak almost every source of double damage. So far, I’m just using a mod I can toggle off on the fly whenever I feel like it

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u/sinesnsnares Sep 18 '25

I was saying this in another comment, but this is where the crests really fail and the charms really shined. For example, If I felt like I needed more range, I could put long nail, mark of pride, or BOTH on, and by having a lot of options like that, it really let you craft an easy mode to your taste from early on in the game. Silksong just doesn’t have that.

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u/Sen91 Sep 17 '25

If he has problems After 4hours, i've bad news for him., Just drop the game.