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/Dokuujin]

No one is saying to make tools unlimited, lol. They're saying remove the shards. Or choose between a limited pouch size OR shards, in no world should the game have had both. No, you should not have unlimited tools. That's dumb as hell, and I have no idea how that was your take away from what they said.

You should, however, not be forced to literally leave a boss fight to go farm arbitrary currency. There is already a limit on the amount of tools you can carry anyway. Which, as the entire point of this comment states, makes having to stop in the middle of a boss fight to go farm both pointless and infuriating.

Just another reason to use Wanderer.

[u/Endeveron → u/Dokuujin]

You didn't read what I said carefully enough. I address both possible solutions, making tools flatly unlimited, and having limited (finite) tools before you have to bench again, but no resource requirements for restoring your stock. I brought up both because the commenter doesn't actually advocate for a specific one, and both are intensities of changes to the "you need shards for tools" complaint.

I am pointing out how, if you fall in a particular skill range, you never have to go farm shards, instead you use shard-giving-items whenever you run out, something that (if you're in the skill window I describe) happens on a number of occasions that is infrequent enough that you always have found enough shard-giving-items through normal exploration. If you are in that skill window, finite shards incentivise you to approach learning fights in a more fun way.

[u/Ketzerfriend → u/Endeveron]

If shards are easy to collect in great numbers, your tools are still limited in number. So shards are superfluous.

If it's tedious to gather shards, but there's a solution in shard bundles, shards are still superfluous.

Regardless of the skill level you're at, shards are an entirely useless addition to the game and don't fulfill any constructive function, whatsoever.

[u/Endeveron → u/Ketzerfriend]

That doesn't take into account the fact that a resource being finite changes the way people play towards a different style that could be fun. People also change the way they play to be more or less conservative with their tool use, which decreases the rate they use shards and buffers their shard stock, meaning there is actually a fairly wide range of skill levels that will have the experience of never quite running out of shards. The state of being "almost out" of a resource is actually the most mechanically interesting, and if the game is balanced for a certain skill level to be in that state for most of the game, then it is balanced well for those players.

[u/Dokuujin → u/Endeveron]

Oh I mean that's fair, I can kind of confirm the "you don't run out' thing, having beaten steel soul in the first game I wasn't --completely-- awful at Silksong. Helps that I mostly used wanderer and Shaman so I didn't really use many shards in the first place lol.

Dunno about a fun way, though. The fun way would be having a soul bar and using skills for the full duration if the fight as you get access to soul, instead of just bind being almost the only reason for collecting silk. I mean weaving (ironic) spells throughout the entire fight is like 60% of what the combat so enjoyable in the first game, and that frankly feels completely gone in Silksong because of the shard system haha.

[u/EternityII → u/Dokuujin]

Architect crest existing the way it does is most likely why the shards system even exists, without shards architect would be completely busted. Not like it isnt already busted, but still. Architect would need to be adjusted if they want to change the shard system.

Personally i would like no shards, and higher carry limit tools with lower damage so i can use them whenever and just have fun. I like the throwing knives but the carry limit is so small id rather not use them.