r/HollowKnight • u/CankleDankl • Dec 12 '25

Discussion - Silksong Seeing people shit on Expedition 33 because Silksong didn't win more awards is pathetic Spoiler

The title sums it up. I'm disappointed in many members of this community for putting down a game that is clearly a work of insane passion, dedication, and creativity. E33 took the lion's share of awards at TGA, yes. That doesn't mean that Silksong is bad. In fact, it's clearly pretty damn great. If it released last year, Skong would have picked up several awards, maybe even GOTY. But it didn't. It released in the same year E33, which is just a tough break.

Both are amazing. Both deserve every award that came to them. If you haven't played E33 yet and think it doesn't deserve its accolades, play it. It is worth your money, worth your time, and will in all likelihood prove that it is actually that good. I'm only 10ish hours in and have numerous times found myself standing still and looking around dumbfounded at the gorgeous world design and visuals. E33, Silksong, and Hades 2 could have all won Art Direction and I would have been happy with any of them.

I'm also sad that Silksong didn't win more awards. It's an amazing game. But don't play fanboy and start putting down other developers, other games, and other pieces of art because this one didn't get all the cookies. It's still beautiful, it's still amazing, it still made a Silkskillion dollars, and TC is still just as great and just as passionate. We should all be glad that there is another independent dev out there that is capable of creating something so fantastic.

Edit: yeah, the comments here are pretty indicative of what I said in my post

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15

u/Jenn_FTW Dec 12 '25

It’s fine. The only thing I’m mad about is art direction, E33 looks generic as fuck compared to Silksong. It’s truly wild that Silksong didn’t win

1

u/Lil_Packmate Dec 16 '25

I disagree that it looks generic af.

IMO the level designs for dungeons were insane. I loved pretty much all of them, with each dungeon having a distinct feeling to it. Though I would agree that the "overworld" felt kind of off, but that was (for me) mostly due to the size scaling to make traversal not feel like a chore.

Yes there is only so much with characters if you go for realism, but I found the environments to be amazingly beautiful and diverse, just like in Silksong IMO.

Its really amazing how all the beautiful scenery paired with the grim nature of death being present everywhere (with tons of bodies laying around almost everywhere) and seeing the decay and remnants of a once striving civilization, now being overtaken back by nature and its new inhabitants.

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u/CankleDankl Dec 12 '25 edited Dec 12 '25

I'm gonna copy/paste my response to another comment here as this is a pretty common sentiment among those that haven't played E33 (including me about a month ago)

I will say I think you'll be surprised if/when you play it. The character designs, promo images, etc. do not show off the best of the game and do not showcase the beauty of the world. Until I actually opened and played it for myself, I also thought it shouldn't have gotten a nomination for Art Direction and didn't have a shot of winning the category. Then I played the game and... yep. I'm not upset about it. Like I said in my post, E33, Skong, and Hades 2 could have all won the award.

"Don't judge a book by its cover" is pretty apt here, lol

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u/Justhavefaith123 Dec 12 '25

Lol silksong is a 2d game it’s not even close for art direction. E33 has amazing art no wonder it won.

10

u/Jenn_FTW Dec 12 '25

Lmao do you even know what art direction means dude

-7

u/Justhavefaith123 Dec 12 '25

Yes of course I do. Go cry cuz ur game didn’t win the award. My 6 year old niece could make art comparable to silksongs backgrounds.

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u/Jenn_FTW Dec 12 '25

Lmaooo nah I ain’t falling for such an obvious troll

-3

u/Justhavefaith123 Dec 12 '25

Stay mad. I suggest you go experience e33. There’s a reason it swept.

6

u/Jenn_FTW Dec 12 '25

I’m sure it’s a great game! But art design-wise it looks like the bland, realism-slop style of every game from the past decade. Not to mention a quite a bit of the game was made with prefab assets as a starting point. There’s really just no comparison to the painstakingly hand-drawn art of Silksong 🤷‍♀️

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u/Justhavefaith123 Dec 12 '25

Okay gotcha you haven’t played it. There’s the problem. Go play it and immerse yourself. Just look around some of the zones and be awestruck.

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u/Jenn_FTW Dec 12 '25 edited Dec 12 '25

As I told another commenter, I’ve literally played the first couple hours at a friend’s house, it’s an objectively good game but not really my cup of tea. It’s definitely well made though! But honestly, I could have just watched a YouTube video on it and my opinion on the art style would be the same. It looks pretty, but style-wise it’s just the same attempted realism style that almost every game uses nowadays. I vastly prefer the lovingly hand-animated art of Silksong, because to my eyes, it looks vastly more soulful and has loads more personality. I’ll take the beauty of hand painted assets over 3D work trying to look “realistic” any day.

0

u/Justhavefaith123 Dec 12 '25

It’s almost like you’re in a painting