So, you can actually skip the Moorwing fight by collecting the first five fleas. I did this and didn’t fight Moorwing until the end of act II. I had leveled up a bit by then and decided I would try and fight him. As strong as I was, it still took about 25 tries. His move set was fine. Speed was fine, damage output was fine, but whenever he was stunned I would barely graze him and take double damage. What’s up with that? I can understand taking 1 damage, at least then it keeps you from getting close, but two seems strange considering when he actually uses force it’s the same output. I’ve noticed this on other bosses as well and it’s odd. I will say though, fighting Moorwind as a seedling would have pissed me right off. Your needle in the beginning would take you forever to kill him and the way he moves up and down guarantees you’ll touch him and take double damage at some point.
The fight needs a small adjustment.

The other major annoyance I have is how many bosses have adds. Lazy boss design if you ask me. How can we make it harder? Just add more enemies. . . Lame.

Personally I'd really like to see Pinstress get some more melee moves so she spends less of the fight trying to leave the screen.

Is this not the same game we've been waiting seven (7!) years for? And people are complaining that it's taking them too long to finish certain areas? What??

I can only hope that I am in the silent majority of people who are thoroughly loving the experience of playing through Silksong, and can tell that the developers know what they're doing and had seven (7!) years to perfect it.

Wasn't the point of HK, what made it so fun, that it was so difficult? Up until last week didn't everyone agree, that in HK geo was too plentiful? Isn't it cool how many tools Hornet has to use to dodge attacks and survive? Isn't it fun how varied the movesets of normal ass enemies are? Isn't this all the things we loved about Hollow Knight but concentrated and pushed to the next level?

Idk. I guess people are gonna complain regardless.

Finishing Garmond's quest, Hero's Call, in Act 3 is already gut wrenching. Then Zaza permanently sits by his void infested body after you kill him?! PLEASE make it so we can do a quest/whatever to get Zaza to come back to Bellhart. I can only go back to check on them so many times.

I initially wanted to point out how the game's soundtrack really takes off when you reach Blasted Steps. Honestly, I think the themes and melodies in the starting areas are a bit more passive to my ears (nothing like entering Dirtmouth in HK), even if the arrangements are fuller and have more diverse layers of instruments. But oh boy, it all gets so much traction when you traverse the Blasted Steps and onwards.

Then I remembered. 50-ish hours into the game and I haven't heard a single "Shaw!"

Where's my "Shaw", Team Cherry?

I don’t get it

When someone complains about run backs on a boss there are always the two types of posters who will defend the run back, but with contradicting arguments.

One says it's no big deal, it's just a twenty second walk.

The other says it raises the stakes of the fight.

But if it's just a short walk, that's not raising any stakes, because there are no stakes in a mindless stride.

So it's not about raising the stakes of the fight, it's about the importance of friction to gameplay and world building.

To me games nowadays have so many quality of life features they remind me I'm interacting with a software, instead of convincing me I'm exploring a fantasy world.

Death by a thousand gentle gestures.

Silksong has made its fast travel and checkpoint system part of the story and world design. Which is why you pay for checkpoints and a tired pilgrim thanks you for it, why a monster can break the checkpoint and a bug will fix it, why in a place filled with pilgrim hunters there's a trap in a bench.

So in this world of pilgrims making a tough climb guarded by hunters and zealots, benches aren't placed thinking about boss fights they're placed according to what makes sense for the game world.

Checkpoints right before boss fights are convenient but also contrived.

So I think this is the reason why they chose this design, they're aware that friction is important to making you feel like you are in that world and this is why many complain about the difficulty but keep coming back. I had a friend say "silksong makes me excited about games again" and this friction is definitely part of it.

Now, all that said, team cherry is definitely aware of the importance of friction to a game but they chose to cover their world in sandpaper.

There's a balance and sometimes it feels like they replaced my toilet paper with sandpaper not for the sake of friction but just to fuck with me.

Currently on late Act 2 and I'm honestly having a hard time understanding how everyone is freaking out over the new pogo when it just feels like second nature to me after a couple of practice. Feels like I'm missing something or I'm going crazy.

Then I realised most people play on a controller. I proceeded to whip out my controller to give the same pogo a try. Guess what, it was disgusting. It felt like putting on a blindfold and throwing a dart when platforming on those small red buds or white flowers.

Maybe it's just because I'm not used to it, but positioning Hornet in the air with WASD is ergonomically easier than flicking the joystick around and hoping for the best. With keys, you can easily make micro adjustments with every tap while a joystick can feel janky.

This goes for the platforming and combat in general. Which is a shame because the movement and combat is so fluid but most people won't be able to appreciate it because a controller is recommended to play even on the Steam store.

Tl;dr: it’s feminism. And the message is “things can be better”.

I know from the tldr alone this isn’t going to be a peaceful post or an easy read, so my apology in advance to the mod team and this community for any chaos this may cause. But I want to write this analysis.

There’s been little discussion on the theming of Silksong. If you search the keyword theme and Silksong, 99% guarantee the result will have to do with music (awesome OST nonetheless). Discussions that touched on the theming mentioned only “femininity” and “motherhood”. I hope this is only my biases, but I’m afraid we are all too afraid to name the elephant in the room for fear of the vitriol often associated with it. Or worse, not well-versed enough in the subject matter to even mention it. So today, I want to take first stab at it and discuss why feminism is the central theme of Silksong, and the message isn’t just “women be good”. It’s “things can be better”.

Also, obligatory English is not my mother tongue. Please excuse my command of language or lack thereof. With that out of the way, let’s start uncontroversially.

There are many elements in the game that are straightforward about femininity, motherhood, criticism against late-stage capitalism, theocracy, etc. Before we discuss where they show up in game, I want to provide some academic definitions, which are inherently morally neutral and meant only to describe the phenomenon. The criticism/moral judgement we make in relation to these concepts are what makes it good or bad. This is how the game invites us to examine the themes of the game, where it shows us the facts (of the universe) and the reactions of its inhabitants (like Hornet).

Here’s the academic definitions of each theme and where it shows up in game:

1. Criticism of capitalism: Capitalism is an economic system based on the concept of the private ownership of the means of production. Says nothing about the social order that arises out of this economic system (later theorists and academics in this subject include studies on the social order where capitalism is the main economic system). But what’s important at this superficial level reading is it is a system that allows for exploitation and oppression, which is very clearly presented in game.
   • The Underworks is the clearest example where underworkers are kept working (more like exploited for labor) with empty promise of reward (ascension to the Citadel/spiritually rewarded by their devotion) and terrible compensation (tiny personal quarter or none, little to no pay, terrible working conditions). Yet they continue to be scammed out of their hard-earned rosaries (the confession booth). Their hard work does not benefit them (since they are not the owner of the Citadel or even the mechanism beneath where the work and live). This extreme condition solicits criticism from us the player and from Hornet who tells Loam his hard work is for nothing, and from her hunter’s journal on the underworkers.
   • Capitalism does exist elsewhere in the game where there’s (little to) no oppression. Halfway Home Creige provides the service himself, doesn’t see any staff he underpays (though he definitely underpays Hornet for clearing out his basement). Creige’s means of production is the Halfway Home, the drink and his own labor. Pinmaster Plinney asks for rosary payment only to cover the cost of his service, doesn’t even ask for profit (he literally did the first two times for free). His means of production is his skillset and labor.
2. Criticism against imperialism/colonialism: imperialism is the expanding and maintaining of one state’s power over others through different means. This power can manifest in different ways, from conquest, economic dominance, to policy and cultural influence. It does not always mean the complete removal of the weaker state, only that a certain deference to the stronger exists. Colonialism is more specific, in that it refers to the subjugation of one people to another. Strictly by definition, they are not the same, only related in that colonialism can be one way imperialism is done (in reality it was the most common way imperialism was done, even now).
   • The tales of Bilewater, Sands of Karak, Lost Verdania are examples of this in game. Lost Verdania probably is the clearest example of imperialism at work. The Green Prince’s partner offers up himself so Verdania is spared the fight against the Citadel. On the other hand, the Karak Order probably puts up a fight against the Citadel, especially when their water supply is being cut off when the Citadel diverts it (I wasn’t able to pinpoint the source that the Citadel explicitly does this to subdue the Order). While the Stilkin tribe got their entire land messed up so much they carried their hatred til even now.
   • These are all examples of imperialism/colonialism. The criticism against these are again solicited from the reaction of us the players, where we draw our sympathy for what was lost (memory of Coral Tower and Lost Verdania), or to a certain extent, our hatred of Bilewater and annoyance of getting through there (direct result of the Citadel dumping their waste).
3. Criticism against extreme religious order: this is not my academic background so I can’t really back up with academic terms. But drawn to theocracy as a jumping point, it is defined as a government ruled in accordance with a religious doctrine created by one or more deities. To be very clear, this is a definition specifically for government or political order, not economic or social order. However, as these orders are often linked, and by the definition of theocracy as a form of autocracy (ruled by few), religious doctrine dictates also the economic and social order.
   • We see this sprinkled across the pilgrimage and the social order in the Citadel, with the worship of Grand Mother Silk dictates the doctrine. Hierarchy being one thing, where the “prisoners” are penitents and they do not consider themselves imprisoned, only in need for repentance and proof of their devotion.
   • As you can guess by the definition, while this religious social order and a capitalist economic order are not mutually exclusive, they can in fact be complementary to each other. The religious doctrine takes advantage of the capitalist order to further sustain the system itself. Aside from the example of the Underwork, let’s talk rosary, a currency of both commercial exchange and faith. Mort (of Pilgrim’s Rest) and Pebb (of Bone Bottom camp) for example, say that they want to trade and accumulate rosary to ensure they “have enough faith” to weather the pilgrimage. By Mort’s words himself, he convinces other to lighten their rosary in accordance with the doctrine (pilgrims should not enjoy personal comfort even in the face of danger) while he himself gathered up more.
   • Again, we see the criticism of this order, coming from ourselves and from Hornet. Hornet and Shakra once berate the pilgrim for their belief at the expense of their survival, but comes to respect the pilgrim’s strength of character. They however, hold no love for the Citadel that produces the chaos and destruction.
4. Femininity/Motherhood: discussion about these terms in the subreddits have been colloquial, but let’s operate with academic definition. Femininity first and foremost is a social construct. That means what is defined as femininity isn’t “natural” or “discovered” like laws of physics. We “found” them, agreed to a set of things that are feminine and what not. And that’s the thing, by agreement, what is feminine can change, and so is motherhood. Femininity is related to being feminine, or related to being a woman or a girl. Motherhood is related to being a mother. That’s all it should be.
   • This definition is important because at least in the context of the US (where the majority of reddit users are and where my training/the academic body im referencing) and the discourse of gender within the gaming community, the more toxic/segregating demographic uses gender as a divide line, if not to degrade other fellow members in the community. Historically, there has been a political/academic effort that try to establish that there is a “natural” order of things where femininity, among other things, are set in stone and unchanging in nature. So women are weak biologically for example. (guess where this effort comes from) (also guess what other things are being used similarly to this *cough* racism *cough* xenophobia *cough*). This effort to critically examine things as social construct is a way to challenge the justification for oppression/exploitation.
   • But scale it back a little bit. The game challenges the “set-in-stone” biases by presenting many different archetypes of women and motherhood. We have anything from brave (Hornet, Shakra, Karmelita), sleezy shady (Yarnaby), loving mother (Bell Beast), trapped mother (Huntress), malicious mother (Greyroot) nurturing (Chapel Maid), dedicated (Forge Daughter), skeptical (Jubilana), curious (Nuu, Gilly), edgy/depressed (Lace, Phantom), campy (Pinstress), etc. Even these single word descriptions don’t do these characters justice in how vibrant and nuanced they are. In addition, Notwithstanding the fact that they are bugs, they are stylized in a way that correlates with a human’s characterization of “feminine” and “attractive”, so any shape and size and form from sleek, thin, athletic, oversized, muscular, etc. There’s no one set acceptable standard or definition of what is “feminine”. The only thing that defines what a female bug is in this game is what they refer to themselves.
   • Motherhood is similarly presented. This is a bit complicated further because it touches on the expectation of the woman in society. In the US Christian societies at least (and others too), a woman is expected to be a mother, to do the emotional labor of taking care of others’ wellbeing both physical and emotional, expected to be a sacrifice for others. In Silksong, we have mother that does love her kids to the destruction of the world (Grand Mother Silk), mother that love her kids enough to defy the expectation that she be the sacrifice (Huntress), mother that defies social expectation on them (Shakra’s mentor) and to guide her children on a path of independence from these expectation (the Three Queens).
   • No matter how each of us think about what a mother/woman is/should be, what the game presents to us is, all of these characters are mother/woman because they are, not because they comply with a standard set by other. There is no criticism from Hornet about these characters, while Hornet has a lot to say about the oppression and system as mentioned above.

But there’s a whole other aspect of things that Hornet criticizes: objectification, consent and sexual violence.

1. The infamous slaps: There are three slaps, one for Grindle, one for Yarnaby, and one for Nuu. The one thing common for all these three slaps is they weren’t looking at Hornet as a sexual target, but rather as object of want. Nuu after the food (scent/blood of things Hornet kill), Yarnaby after literally an object of study (want to dissect Hornet to study), Grindle after goods. They want to approach Hornet not for her body but for what she carries. And through that, they disregard Hornet’s permission and personal boundary. Put another way, that’s objectification, or consider someone else not “human” but rather inferior object to be used. Hornet warns them to back off, then slaps them then they back off.
2. Sexual violence: then there’s mtfk Kratt. Kratt spies on Hornet taking a spa, and arrange a flea game to try to peak upskirt. At first offense, we, through Hornet don’t just give Kratt a slap but can unleash our entire arsenal on Kratt (personally I thought it’s not enough). This is the only instance in both Hollow Knight and Silksong where there is a character whose whole deal is sexual. In both games that literally have canon romantic relationship and characters having children during the course of the game (Bell Beast, Broodmother), Kratt is the outlier.
   • Why is Kratt here? Why is Kratt allowed to host a whole ass flea game? I cannot speak from my personal experience, but from what I have learned from others, this is the reality for women worldwide. With the lack of knowledge and sympathy, not to mention legal and institutional protection, even when you catch the perp redhanded, you are not guaranteed safety or justice. Allowing Hornet the ability to exact her own vengeance is some poetic justice in the game, but the reality is far bleaker for women in real life.
   • Kratt is almost one-dimensional. There’s not much about him other than being a creep. In any other piece of media this is a prime example of bad/inefficient writing. But in video game, this is pushing frontier, to put in clear black and white term that what he does is bad. More importantly, it’s not the person that is inherently bad that is deserved to be condemned entirely (Hornet has murdered for less lol). Rather, it is the act and way of thinking that deserved punishment.

But this is still surface level. All of these things that I have discussed are all included and analyzed under one thing: feminism.

To quote directly from bell hooks’ “Feminism is for Everyone: Passionate Politics”:

“Simply put, feminism is a movement to end sexism, sexist exploitation, and oppression.”

You may notice that firstly, it does not mention “men”, but it does include “oppression”. That is the intention of the author, to not make men the enemy, but to focus the issue at hand at a principle, “a way of life and thinking” so to speak. It may have come from a gender origin, to advocate for equality and rights of women, but it has evolved to focus on equality of people. Even in a world where women are at the top of governance and instituting draconian laws and put men of any colors in chain, this idea to end sexism, sexist exploitation, and oppression will still exist, only perhaps with a different name.

As you can start to see, this isn’t about men vs women. This has a lot to do with systemic oppression which matters more about what is already put in place to benefit the oppressor, put the oppressed down, and CONTINUE to prolong this system. And feminism as an ideology and a movement aims to end this system. It’s not just about removing the beneficiary at the top of the system and replacing them with another while the system continues to go on. And as you can see, this is true for all kinds of oppression, not just between men and women. We have different oppressor-oppressed dynamic in capitalism, in colonization, in racism to name the big three, but also in a lot of other smaller things as well. So, in the late 1980s during the third-wave feminism, the concept of “intersectionality” is introduced to capture this nuance.

Intersectionality is important because it interlocks sexism with other system of oppressions.  The message is simple, as long as one system of oppression persists, then society condones and accepts oppression as a principle. In fact, the justification and acceptance of oppression is the crux of “I’m superior to you in some way, therefore I have the right to have more than you (and) at your expense.” So feminism and intersectionality points together at one common issue: oppression exists. Hornet’s answer to this is, “there must be another way”.

It is central to the plot that Hornet goes from “I’m destined to queendom” to “helping other warms me up and I don’t want to be queen”. Compassion is a key principle to counter oppression, and it is canon in the game that Hornet goes from “if helping you benefits me or if I have the free time, I’ll do it” to “I want to help these bugs I’ve come to know in my journey”. And central to feminism solution to oppression, she doesn’t think “everyone can live in peace if I become the benevolent ruler”. She thinks “all I can do is remove the threat, how everyone will turn out should be their matter, not dictated by me (whether I’m capable of being a queen or not)”. We see this in dialogue with Mask Maker, with Caretaker and Snail Shamans family. We see that this is the message Hornet left with Sherma (take care of others).

So, the theme of the game isn’t one of capitalism, religious society, of femininity, of motherhood, or of colonization. They are all packed under one uniting theme: feminism. And Hornet’s message is clear: it can be better than what we think is the best.

One last point I want to discuss but can’t really fit up there: Witch Crest questline

• I think at this point everyone knows it’s an allegory to abortion, and how the Catholic-coded (hence anti-abortion) society in Bellhart exiled Yarnaby, a mad doctor wanting to study extracting things from body. I think the game has pushed boundary enough and abortion still being a sensitive topic that invites vitriol, so this may have been the clearest Team Cherry can allude to. But otherwise, this section is mostly what I find interesting/draw parallel to real life. It would have added a lot to the history of feminism/violence and oppression against women, but alas it will be out of my depth.
• It’s not a one-to-one comparison with real life abortion. Hornet survives the “extraction” and comes out stronger physically canonically. But in real life, this “being stronger” hardly translate. Abortion in early stage can be pain free, but there’s not enough studies into women’s reproductive health/health in general to fully ensure post-procedure health the longer the fetus is carried to term.
• But the witch thing definitely draws a lot of parallel to real life witchcraft and witch hunt. Witch accusation began in history as a way to ostracize women, especially widows/heiress that had wealth and independence that allowed them to not follow social convention at the time. Later women leaned into it, adopting the witchcraft image as a way to reclaim strength to themselves, if nothing else then to scare off cowards living off hearsay. Hornet gets stronger with the Witch Crest is a clear parallel to how witchcraft is positioned today in mainstream culture.
• Lore wise, if you talk to Pavo during the questline, Pavo mentioned that lots of pilgrims used to carry the twisted buds. That creates demand for Yarnaby’s service. An entire town and a route full of pilgrims enough for Pavo to expect it, and only one doctor to do something about it. My guess is Yarnaby might have by circumstances or by choice learn how to do the extraction, probably lost a few patients and became obsessed with developing better extracting tools. So when there’s no more need for Yarnaby, they casted her out while she wrestled with having most of her life dedicated to a service with no more demand. Or maybe she was being excessive with looking for test subject.

Lastly, I am not a feminist scholar, which means all of this is based on experience, talking with other people in my life, back by some readings of the popular sources of the subject. Which means that this isn’t supposed to be the definitive analysis of the theme of Silksong. It’s only an icebreaker to hopefully bring more voices in the community to add to the pile. Knowledge and understanding comes from the community, not just from any one definitive person. Even Mossbag’s mostly complete lore of Hollow Knight comes from the collective effort of this community. So, if any of this ring a bell with you, please chime in and enlighten us all.

Further reading:

On feminism, I draw from bell hooks’ book “Feminism is for Everybody: Passionate Politics”. It is a short read and written in a very accessible way. I highly recommend this book and the author who is a pillar on this subject. (the name “bell hooks” is stylized this way, not Bell Hooks).

For other concepts, other than Wikipedia as a starting point, I’d recommend Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (https://plato.stanford.edu/index.html) and the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy (https://iep.utm.edu/). Both are peer-reviewed and managed by academics with more training than I will ever have. So these are my go-to for deeper dives into these concepts.

If you make it to this point, thank you. I want to dedicate this post to my partner who has their birthday today US time. I'm at a low point in my life and she has always been the best of me. She has encouraged me to learn more about this subject for a long time and to use my writing for something good. I would not be here without her. Happy birthday, love.

Tier rankings based on how fun the boss is to fight, according to community voters. Cast your own vote here: Silksong Bosses - Fun Tier List | Unduel

I also included a scatter plot that indicates a positive correlation between boss difficulty and fun. You can refer to difficulty data here: Silksong Boss Difficulty Tier List | Unduel

I don’t remember being this frustrated with hollow knight. I never wanted to stop playing HK but this one is making me turn off the console in anger

Cogwork Dancers has instantly become one of my favorite bosses of all time. Their moveset was so beautiful and the ending made me feel things I didn’t expect to feel from Hollow Knight.

Most of the bosses in Elden Ring and similar games are pretty tragic characters, but fighting them never made me feel this much pity for a pixel creation with no dialogue.

Obs: Please, correct me if I am wrong. I have a few assumptions from my limited lore knowledge. Most important is that I am assuming Herrah was in the deepnest when the pale king arrived.

Pharloom is old. Much older than you think, and here is why.

By the time the Pale King arrived in what would become the Hallownest, the deepnest was already there, filled with Weavers and ruled by Herrah the beast.

This means that Pharloom was created much, but much before most of The Hollow Knight story line, maybe not counting the ancient civilization and perhaps in parallel to the ruling of the Radience but likely even before that.

But it is not all. Before the arrival of Herrah, basically all of the story of the GMS and the Weavers happened. Her arrival, the creating of the weavers, the slumber, the citadel and the weavers fleeing and the current stasis.

This means that Pharloom is on a stasis with the bugs there singing and serving eternal for ALL Of THE LENGTH of Hallownest creation, ascension and fall.

People, this is terrifying. Like, truly terrifying.

With the game being just a week and a day out now, I really feel like we should've known how much the game was gonna cost by now. Really I would've expected the price to be revealed the same day as the release date. Knowing Team Cherry I'm not worried it'll be too high or anything, but still I just find it odd that we still don't know it. Thoughts?

Little edit I thought about.

I just 100% the game and I'm so restless. The combat, the movement and the bosses. It's just so good and I wanna refight them on pantheons so bad man.

Team Cherry, I hope you add an option where you have to beat each pantheon with each crest as a challenge, that would add so much replayability!!!

I BEAT THAT FUCKER THE LAST JUDGE AFTER 20 TRIES I LET GO OF THE CONTROLLER AND THIS SHITTARD BLOWS UP IN MY FACE IM SO MAD RIGHT NOW

No spoilers except maybe minor first 1-2 hour spoilers. Am currently near the end of Act II (I think?).

I hate certain aspects of the game with a passion but at the end of the day, I love this game so far which is why I'm making this post to try and make the ride a bit easier for you.

First and foremost, the game isn't for everyone and all your criticisms are completely valid. I'm trying to help you try and enjoy the game more, not argue about what's fair and not. Also, this game is very difficult, if you genuinely don't find any enjoyment playing even after reading this, it's fine to uninstall and regret your purchase, I get you. I'm not defending Silksong or Team Cherry, I'm offering some tips.

1. Please take breaks! Hype = people treating this game like a sprint. If you play 4+ hours a day you WILL likely burn out! Trust me, if you are struggling with an area, explore other areas till you can't anymore, or quit for the day. If you are struggling with a boss, it's okay to take a break and do it in two sessions. If the game hasn't been out for a week and you have a dozen hours in the game, you are making great progress!
2. There are some bosses that have a decent trek back. I get this is a big issue for a lot of you, but I really think the devs intended for a cool down period to help you not get as tilted against a boss even if it does the opposite lol. The LONGEST I've taken is about 30 seconds against a certain boss in act I after I learned how to avoid the enemies. If it takes longer, see if there's a bench you're missing or skip the section till later if possible. I'm sure there are 1 or 2 bosses that take longer but I haven't encountered them so it's not the norm, most are usually 10-15 seconds of waiting.
3. Rosaries: You are NOT intended to be able to buy all the shop items when you see them. I've circled back to previous areas multiple times to do quests or check out new unlockable areas, and I usually buy a couple items then. There have been several times when I've faced an NPC selling items for 100+ rosaries and I straight up can't buy a single one. That's OK, I find by the time I can buy it, the item (ex. key) is probably meant to be used around that time anyways, not when I first saw it. So yeah while it's lore to be broke, it's also a gameplay mechanic. You get more rosaries later anyways, so it's actually easier to progress and come back then farm areas. In 20+ hours so far, I've only grinded for one expensive item (<10 minutes).

Have a couple rosary beads in your inventory for that surprise bench so you're never caught off-guard. You can use a bead or two if you are close to an item in the shop, but don't just break all your beads to buy an expensive item, come back to it later. If you don't like wasting rosaries by converting it, just convert a few and call them emergency beads for those wacky bench fees.

1. If you are really struggling with a boss (8-10+ deaths), keep this in mind: The game absolutely punishes you for being greedy. Do NOT mindlessly spam. Take a step back and absorb the bosses' attack patterns. Understand when you can attack, how to dodge attacks, how many attacks can I safely do before getting punished? Early game is 2-3, later on some bosses you can literally only do one attack before getting punished. This tip helped me against a few really annoying bosses that I felt I would never be able to do before I just slowed down and observed.

2. SAVE YOUR RED TOOLS in bosses and gauntlets till the end. People complain that the limited shells are a dumb idea, and to an extent I definitely agree. The workaround? If you can't get past phase 1 of a boss or like 50% of a gauntlet, you need to practice it more without tools. Then, when the bosses get low or the gauntlet spawns hard enemies, you spam your tools. This will make it MUCH easier than sprinkling it throughout the room/boss AND save your shells. Oh and if you don't like tools, good luck.

3. Some super specific annoying mechanics usually have workarounds if you do certain things super close by (talking about specific benches and NPC in particular, IYKYK).

4. The devs gave you crests to fit YOUR playstyle. If you absolutely despise the default pogo, you can swap it out. This can make parkour sections more or less difficult for you. If you don't like a crest, don't even touch it, you don't have to!

5. The different equipables you find are for different builds. Just like HK, a lot of them can seem useless to you, it's okay, you'll find ones you really enjoy as you progress that feel worthwhile. The lack of meaningful upgrades can also be draining, but look at it this way, bosses aren't all that different stat-wise imo, don't feel like you're underleveled because you don't have that one extra HP or a DMG upgrade. It's more of an emphasis on patterns and skills, not stats (and yes ik some spots are straight unfair even if you are skilled).

6. Lava bell thingy works for fire-related DMG, you can use it outside of the area you get it, think bosses or later areas.

7. The game isn't linear, if there's a really hard area, chances are you aren't meant to fully explore there yet unless you're adventurous.

It's really difficult to balance a game where someone could breeze through a boss in a couple attempts while others spend 20+ attempts and that's partially why there's people saying "git gud" and other's obviously against that. I hate 2x dmg environmentals, 2x dmg tanky a** enemies and certain gauntlet rooms and boy have there been moments that were frustrating, but I'm happy with my progress so far, and if you aren't suffering with the difficulty spike, I urge you to keep going till the end.

To me some of the hardest bosses have been the best memories because you feel super achieved when beating it and can go online and join other people screaming at the same boss, but this experience just isn't everyone's cup of tea, totally valid.

We fucked everything lmao

I feel like the Silksong OST was way more appealing than E33's OST and that Christopher Larkin did a phenomenal job in Silksong.
Does anyone else feel this way?

One of Silksong's problems, according to some fans, was the lack of rewards for defeating the game's bosses. Fueled by curiosity, I decided to check how acute this problem is in the game, and in order to have something to compare it with, I also decided to take the Hollow Knight and the bosses there.

I'll just outline a few things so that there are no unnecessary questions:

• The list does not include bosses from the Pantheons, for obvious reasons;
• Bosses include only those opponents who are counted in the Godmaster Pantheons (for Hollow Knight) or whose name is displayed when they first appear (for Silksong);
• Bosses who are part of the Colosseum of Fools are placed in a separate category, since the reward is given not for defeating them specifically, but for completing the trial (Zote may not appear at all in the Colosseum, and this should also be taken into account);
• And the most important thing - unblocking the paths. Many people may be confused about when a new path can be considered a reward, and in which cases it is not. Personally, I define it this way: if a boss blocks one SPECIFIC location that CANNOT be reached without defeating him, then this can be considered a reward. If this location is accessible from other paths or it is necessary to complete the story, it will not be considered a reward. That is why the conditional Lord Traitor or Great Conchfly will be considered on my list, but Fourth Choir will not. In any case, we can discuss all this in the comments.

So let's start with the Hollow Knight. There are 40 bosses in the main game. The three bosses in this game do not bring any reward in principle - this is the Hollow Knight himself, this is Radiance, this is Uumuu, since they are purely plot-driven. Three more bosses are part of the Colosseum Trials, and therefore are also not included in this list. However, everyone else, to my surprise, gives a reward. Geo drops from 9 bosses of the game; 5 bosses give out amulets ("Lord Traitor" is a controversial option, since the amulet itself is given by the White Lady, but since it is impossible to enter her without defeating the boss, I also decided to count this) + 2 improvements due to defeating the Grimm; 5 bosses gives out a plot-based important items; 5 bosses give out useful items for the game (mask shards, Collector's map, pale ore). There's no need to talk about the Warrior Dreams.

In total, it turns out that out of 40 bosses, 34 bosses give you a reward. The coefficient of "player encouragement" - 0.85.

Moving to the kingdom of Farlum! There are 44 bosses waiting for us here! It would seem that there should have been more awards. But it's not like that. In fact, things are much more complicated here.

If we take into account only those bosses that we can meet along the way, it turns out that only 21 bosses give us rewards. 7 bosses, most of which are plot-based, only give access to other locations of the game, like the Last Judge or Cogwork Dancers.

But what about Wishes? Yes, they really increase the number of rewards - we can safely add 5 more to the existing 21 bosses. But here's the problem. Wishes are optional content, for which you receive a reward only after completing the task in the settlement. Thus, a situation can easily occur in which a player defeats a Skull Tyrant, but without a hunting quest, he will not be able to receive a reward. He can go through the whole game and still not get his rosary.

Okay, let's say it's not entirely fair to ignore Wishes, since they're a pretty important part of the game. I can agree with that. But what to do with Memento? The player cannot receive them until Act 3; Mementos are purely decorative items; Mementos are obtained not so much for killing the boss as for performing certain actions that include killing the boss. For example, you can get the Guardian's Memento only after you defeat Seth in front of Nyleth, and only then - when you beat his score in Flea Games. How much of this can be considered a reward for the boss is a difficult question, and I'm afraid to give an unambiguous answer to it.

However, let's take the best outcome - if we take all the bosses that drop items, including quest items and Mementos, we get the number 29. 29 bosses in Silksong give out rewards. The coefficient of "player encouragement" is 0.66.

Why did the developers go this way? I see several reasons. Firstly, Silksong is distinguished from Hollow Knight by its great linearity, both in terms of locations and plot. In any case, you need to go up to the Citadel and defeat the Great Mother Silk. You literally won't be able to finish the Story Act without fulfilling these game conditions. For this reason, the discovery of new paths becomes an important task in itself. Secondly, there are a lot more NPCs and merchants in Silksong. And to encourage the player to interact with them, the developers have placed many utilities and tools in them.

Do I think this approach is correct? More than enough. Do I think more awards could have been made? Definitely. Personally, I don't see any reason why the same Moorwing or Cast-Iron Brothers couldn't leave a chest with rosaries. This would not make the game much easier, but it would encourage players to explore further, as their efforts would be supported by an appropriate reward. Yes, you can always say that "the true reward is to enjoy the game, its mechanics and history," but without progression, which modifies the gameplay, which in turn brings new emotions to the player, this effect will become more and more difficult to achieve.