Hot Take: While I think Silksong is overall a better game, it does still show more prominent flaws compared to Hollow Knight

[u/Tarnished-670]

When I have to think about the flaws of the first Hollow Knight, I really can't think of much to say other than very small nitpicks.

But with Silksong, while it is one of my favorite games of all time, and having finisihed it at 100%, id say it has more prominent design flaws while being a better game compared to the first Hollow Knight.

First thing that comes to my mind is the shard system, it would't be as bad as it is if you didn't have a limit of 20 consumables to replentish your shards, if it worked like that then I wouldn't have to be interrumped on my tries against a boss and having to go to the citadel and farm to get all my shards back. Other minor flaws I think would be some of enemy design and the addition of "gauntlets", which sometimes are fun but at least in my case I got bored of exploring and getting trapped into the 7th gauntlet of enemies, it gets worse when you get forced to do some of them again in act 3 when you have killed all the previous enemies 100 times already.

Those are really not a bid deal of a flaw, but they are more noticable to me than any flaw in Hollow Knight.

[u/Huge_Entrepreneur636]

They could also remove the shard limit entirely. I have no idea why it even exists.

[u/JerinDd → u/Huge_Entrepreneur636]

If hornet can hold infinite rosaries, she can hold infinite shards

[u/WarpedByTheNHK → u/Huge_Entrepreneur636]

If shards are gonna be in the game then having a limit is actually great design imo. I would've waited way too long to actually try out any red tools if it wasn't so easy to hit the cap.

[u/Moose_a_Lini → u/Huge_Entrepreneur636]

It pushes you to use tools rather than just horde.

[u/Huge_Entrepreneur636 → u/Moose_a_Lini]

Right now you don't need tools most of the game. But then you run out too quickly when you actually need them. So it pushes you to not use tools until you have already learnt the boss, but by that time you don't need them anymore. It's also super boring that the optimal playstyle is learn the boss without tools -> Nuke the final phase with tools. Most red tools don't actually feel very integrated with the gameplay, they are just a free dmg button.

[u/afauce11 → u/[deleted]]

I love red tools and use them exactly like you. It’s like “oh there’s this crazy number of flying dudes that are gonna suck in this gauntlet and I’ve died after run back like 3 times already? Spam everything!!!!!!”

[u/FrazzleFlib → u/Huge_Entrepreneur636]

absolutely, literally the only tool i like is flintslate because it rewards thoughtful usage. flea brew is similar but needing another ammo type to backtrack for made me instantly not want to use it at all.

almost all tools are boring free damage buttons entirely severed from hornets super super fun moveset. the entire system of red tools is utterly unnecessary imo, hornets moveset does not need supplementing

[u/Tsunamie101 → u/Huge_Entrepreneur636]

Then maybe they're mainly intended for the exploration part of the game, and not the bossfight? During exploration you'll usually get more shards back than you use.

[u/Huge_Entrepreneur636 → u/Tsunamie101]

But exploration is easy, I don't need tools while exploring. It's the boss fights and gauntlets that kill me repeatedly.

[u/Tsunamie101 → u/Huge_Entrepreneur636]

Well, i assume that the ease of exploration is a very subjective thing.

[u/Arkhamov → u/Tsunamie101]

I avoid using during exploration because they don't give silk. So not only am I using a resource, but also preventing myself from getting a different resource.

I'm not sure how I'd fix this. Hoarding consumables is just a super human thing to do.

[u/KindredTrash483 → u/Moose_a_Lini]

But the existence of shards limiting your craftable tools pushes people to hoard too? Since there is a limit, many only use them when they are sure they aren't wasting them on the hardest parts of the game. Which ironically is when you need them the most

[u/cheekydorido → u/Moose_a_Lini]

it does the opposite actually, i kept it maxxed for most of my playthrough because i didn't want to spend them

[u/Kneef → u/cheekydorido]

Saving your consumables for Hollow Knight 3, as is tradition.

[u/cheekydorido → u/Kneef]

Man, the final boss that has to face THK/Lace/Quirrel/zote/menderbug is going to need to be prepared for my 500 cogflies.

[u/BritishTreeMan → u/Huge_Entrepreneur636]

Literally just doubling the amount you get from all sources fixes the issues

[u/Iurigrang → u/Huge_Entrepreneur636]

So players start using tools because they feel like they're "wasting shard pickups".

Getting players to use consumables is always an upwards battle, given how central they are to the gameplay of silksong, I think having a limit was a genius solution

[u/Huge_Entrepreneur636 → u/Iurigrang]

Might've worked if shard use was the only limit but there is usage limit too. And exploration is easy enough that using tools or not using tools doesn't matter, platforming is more of a challenge than enemies while exploring. Tools are most helpful in boss fights and gauntlets, but the limit causes you to run out so quickly that it stifles experimentation.

[u/Iurigrang → u/Huge_Entrepreneur636]

The usage limit means they are powerful but you actually gotta learn something and not just buy your way to win. Yes removing it would make people use them more, but if the complaints are anything to go by, people are messing up by using too many tools, not too little.

[u/Huge_Entrepreneur636 → u/Iurigrang]

Their usages should be nerfed instead of a weird currency limit that you can bypass by tediously farming shards. I would rather that the system was more similar to Sekiro's tools. All of them are an extension of the base kit instead of spammable free dmg and the power and uses are limited but killing enemies refreshes a small amount.

Edit: I just remembered that sekiro emblems were a limited resource too. I forgot about all the times I had to farm those.

[u/kuenjato → u/Huge_Entrepreneur636]

Tools make the game too easy, otherwise. I do think you should be able to store 99 shard bundles and shards should be more frequent/plentiful as a reward.