Hollow Knight Silksong Review – Woven with Pain, Rewarded with Greatness

Seven years ago, Hollow Knight Silksong first appeared in the world through a small trailer, pitched as nothing more than a DLC. Seven years ago, I wasn’t a games journalist. I wasn’t even aware of Hollow Knight’s hold on the community. But time changes things. After playing the original and watching the hype grow year after year, my hornet senses started buzzing, telling me this silk-bound sequel would make noise.

And it did.

At launch, Hollow Knight Silksong crashed the internet, including Steam, the Nintendo eShop, the Xbox store, and pretty much everything it touched. All I wanted then was simple: play the game and see if it truly earned the weight of its hype. So, assuming you already bought Hollow Knight Silksong, here’s our review after endless days of wandering Pharloom.

A Faster, Tighter Weave but Under the Disguise of ‘Git Gud’

Hornet is no Knight. While the original protagonist felt deliberate and heavy, Hornet moves with speed and precision. Jumps are quicker, attacks snap forward, and the whole game flows more like an acrobatic dance than a cautious duel.

Despite not being as gritty as the Knight, Hornet brings an assassin-like template. You get to plunge through the hearts of enemies or even snap their necks when it comes to your dignity. Yeah, playing as the Hornet will make you feel like you are in an anime where you learn your way to no mercy while being kind to those who mean no harm.

Hornet’s journey takes place in Pharloom, and it is more lively compared to Hallownest. While Hallownest felt ancient and rotting, Pharloom carries an air of ritual and order, with silk and song shaping much of its identity. If the original map was about decay and forgotten history, Pharloom feels alive, strict, and almost ceremonial. It gives the whole map and experience a very different kind of mystery.

The platforming leans into verticality this time around, giving Pharloom a sense of towering scale that constantly nudges you upward. Where Hollow Knight often felt like you were tunneling deeper, Silksong feels like a climb toward something unreachable.

Pharloom’s Hidden Treasures Are As Puzzling As They Come

The game brings a lot of hidden secrets that you can explore. What makes the exploration genuinely fun is the sheer variety of valuable items waiting to be scavenged. Whether it’s a Mask Shard to expand your health bar, a Wisp to complete a quest, or rare crafting materials tucked into a corner, Pharloom rewards curiosity.

If you keep your Hornet senses sharp, you will stumble upon surprises in the most unexpected places. Just be careful where you wander. If you end up in a gambling place like me, you might forget that there’s a game to finish. 10/10 just for the Balatro tribute?

Beyond items, Hollow Knight Silksong is packed with hidden pathways and clever environmental storytelling. Tiny alcoves, breakable walls, and concealed platforms often lead to secret rooms filled with lore or upgrades. Even a seemingly dead-end corridor can hide a shortcut or a rare encounter that rewards patience and attention. It’s in these moments that the world feels alive, inviting you to pause, look closer, and appreciate the craft behind every thread of Hornet’s journey.

Hornet’s healing mechanic is also the biggest shift. Along with sitting still to recharge, she crafts silk cocoons mid-battle, forcing players to balance aggression with quick windows of defense. On top of it, you get to craft tools, a secondary item to use in battles. Castlevania fans can relate.

The style of gameplay, whether it is the healing, crafting, or just vertical progression, makes fights feel more urgent. Every decision counts, and every misstep incurs a cost. But how does the combat feel? Is it bland like a butter knife? Or, is it…

Sharp as a Needle and Sleek as Thread

Hornet’s needle and thread give combat a completely different flavor from Hollow Knight. Attacks are longer-ranged but demand precision, and the added mobility means fights are faster and flashier.

Hollow Knight Silksong bosses showcase this brilliantly. They hit hard, they adapt, and they push you to use everything Hornet has. And you can change the attack style by changing the crest, making new builds for different enemies. The game doesn’t recycle Hollow Knight’s challenge. It refines the combat into something tighter, more punishing in downtime, but sharper in execution.

But that sharpness comes at a cost. Silksong’s fast pace and demanding combat don’t always pair well with how progression is handled. Where Hollow Knight gave you the freedom to wander almost anywhere, Silksong often locks progress behind specific skills or even crests. A dash, a downward strike; these aren’t moves you start with, they’re rewards you have to earn.

Now, in the long run, I came to enjoy the satisfaction of unlocking abilities. But early on, it can feel discouraging, especially when Pharloom is already punishing to survive in. The system of needing a certain crest or tool to gain a skill does push you toward experimenting with different builds. And in some ways, that’s a pain and pleasure moment.

Metroidvanias don’t often flirt with build variety the way Silksong does. Yet it’s a double-edged sword. Veterans and speedrunners will love it, but with more than half a million Silksong players on Steam at launch, not everyone falls into that camp. Some mechanics, at least, would have been better as defaults rather than milestones gated behind grind. And speaking of grind…

Even Hornets Need Some Money for a Side-Hustle

I’ve always loved games where currency matters. It adds tension; do you risk pushing forward with a pocket full of wealth, or play it safe and cash in for tools, maps, or weapons? Silksong tries to build that same weight around Rosaries, but the execution is uneven. Not all enemies drop them, which means you’re pushed into side-hustle farming when all you really want is to trek through the Citadel toward the next boss.

More than once, I felt like the game was running a decoy tactic, hiding the grind behind specific enemy types. At one point, I had to farm 500 Rosaries early on just to buy the key for the Wanderer’s Crest. It was more than a challenge; it was just repetitive sidescrolling: rest, farm, repeat.

Death makes this sting sharper. All your resources get trapped in a cocoon, and if you want them back, you’ve got no choice but to go claim them. It’s a mechanic designed to raise stakes, but it starts to feel like a leash when paired with how often you need currency.

Then there’s the compass. I’m fine with maps and other upgrades being a purchase at the vendor or the forge, but the compass? It simply shows where you are when holding the map. You must also pay to unlock each fast travel Bellway. While it is free afterwards, if you don’t have enough money, you must do the farming again to unlock them. That should be a convenience, not a grind.

Yet in Silksong, buying it isn’t enough; you also have to equip it in a yellow crest slot. If your crest doesn’t have one, you will need a Memory Charm to make room. All of this, just to see your position on the map.

At times, these mechanics don’t feel like clever difficulty. They feel like roadblocks for players who just want to explore Hornet’s story, as if the developers forced difficulty in multiple aspects, which takes us to another point.

A Trial of Threading Pure Pain but Gives Satisfaction

Now, before diving into difficulty, I should mention I’ve been playing platformers for over a decade. So challenge isn’t something I shy away from. Silksong is not forgiving, but it is fair. Where Hollow Knight sometimes leaned on long, punishing stretches between benches, Silksong respects your time with smarter checkpoint placement and tighter enemy pacing.

That doesn’t mean it’s easy; bosses will tear you apart until you learn their patterns, and from the start, they deal double damage. Just a simple collision also deals a lot of damage, which will trigger some players.

However, if you love challenges, the frustration never curdles into despair. It’s still a test of patience, but one sharpened into a cleaner, more rewarding experience. With the ability to parry, dash, or even AoE attacks, the difficulty doesn’t hit that hard.

What does bother me, though, is the inclusion of random small enemies inside boss chambers. I get that the intention is to raise difficulty, but why not do that with a stronger boss instead? Honestly, it’s not even possible, because major bosses already hit like trucks, dishing out double damage that shreds three to four health shards in an instant.

I could accept that if the smaller enemies didn’t also deal the same punishment. When a Bell Beast crushes you, it feels fair. When a disposable bug on the floor does equal damage, it feels cheap, as if the little fella is going through a hero complex. Team Cherry should’ve toned down regular enemy damage, not only to keep the game fun, but also to let bosses maintain their rightful intensity.

The game also misses out on some basic QoL, like even showing a health bar for bosses, which can get pretty stressful at times. While Silksong is quite intense in terms of gameplay, one aspect is even more, that you fall in love with it…

Hornet’s World is Wrapped in Gorgeous Silk

Team Cherry has always understood atmosphere, but Pharloom feels alive in ways Hallownest never quite managed. Colors bloom with sharper contrasts, architecture feels regal but decayed, and every platforming section seems designed not just as a challenge but as an expression of culture. Moving through silken bridges, crumbling spires, and cocooned passageways feels like wandering through a forgotten shrine stitched together by insects who lived and died by thread.

Generational Character Design

Every NPC in Pharloom feels stitched to the fabric of their world, from mournful pilgrims draped in threadbare robes to merchants who look half-cocooned by their own wares. Enemies are no less striking; the fungal creatures spore and swell in the gardens, while metallic husks in the Citadel clank like broken instruments.

Each region’s inhabitants mirror its culture, giving the sense that you’re not just exploring spaces but whole societies. The designs for the characters aren’t just visual flavor. Each art you look at deepens the mood, reminding you that Pharloom is alive, fragile, and dangerous. And the clean HUD complements it, letting you see everything present in the world.

Award-Worthy Level Design

The level design also highlights Hornet’s agility. Narrow walls and rope-thin platforms force you to use her expanded move set, while hidden rooms still reward curiosity with clever secrets. Exploration is never filler; every detour seems to pay off, whether with lore, resources, or a fight that tests your skill.

And that part starts at the beginning. Well, I went the wrong direction at spawn, and voila, two different chambers full of resources. Yes, the world of Pharloom will mesmerize you, even more when you uncover the hidden secrets.

Spoiler alert: Sometimes the art feels so good that you might forget to make a jump. Another thing that distracts you for good, and is better than the original Hollow Knight, is the music and background score of Silksong.

The Song of Silk Darts the Heart

Christopher Larkin returns, and once again his music feels inseparable from the world itself. Strings dominate the score, weaving tension, sorrow, and resolve with a kind of elegance that mirrors Hornet’s movement. Where Hollow Knight often leaned into quiet, ambient tones, Silksong strikes a more lyrical chord. It’s less about mystery and more about drama, as if the music itself is part of Hornet’s performance.

Every region in Pharloom feels sonically distinct. The hushed plucks in the Moss Grotto, the swelling chords in the Citadel, the mournful strings echoing through ruined caverns, they all leave a lingering mood that visuals alone couldn’t capture. Larkin gracefully decorates the world and gives each world its anchoring personality. And yes, as Hornet, you get to play songs too!

On top of the world scores, boss themes are another conquest. Instead of being a simple signal of danger, they attack your nerves with sudden crescendos, forcing your heartbeat to sync with Hornet’s. The music pushes you to rise with her, to fight with precision, and when you finally land the finishing blow, the silence that follows hits almost as hard as the victory itself.

Even the voices and the sound effects keep you in. From the goofy yet unique voices of the NPCs to the rumbles of an enemy, every sound effect reminds you of the world you are in. Silksong’s score feels like the true “song” in its title. It carries the operatic scale of Pharloom, but also the fragility of silk; stretching, snapping, and holding together every emotion the game demands.

The Dance of Silk on 8 Cores and 16 Threads

This is usually the part where major games fumble in 2025. Silksong performs with the grace of its protagonist. During my playtime on PC, frame rates held steady even in the busiest boss fights, with particle effects and screen-shaking attacks never dipping performance. I enjoyed playing a game on full frames after a long time, in the highest settings. Without the need for DLSS or FSR nonsense.

My Setup:

CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D
GPU: Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070
RAM: 16 GB (2×8) DDR5 @ 5200MHz
SSD: 1TB XPG Gammix S11 Pro
Monitor: 1080p @ 165Hz

Another key and underrated part of Hollow Knight Silksong’s performance is the loading time. Yes, load times are short, transitions between areas are seamless, and you can even skip the fast travel cutscene. This makes the world feel uninterrupted, like one continuous performance. Much like Hornet’s own movements, the game is fluid, precise, and rarely misses a step.

Verdict: A Kingdom Rewoven in Silk You Must Wear

Hollow Knight Silksong had the impossible task of following one of the greatest indies of all time. Given that the fans call Silksong the GTA 6 of indies, there was always a burden. Somehow, Team Cherry wove the game so well that it surpassed the expectations entirely. Pharloom is breathtaking, Hornet feels like a natural protagonist you can get behind, and every system has been tuned with purpose.

The wait was long, the hype was loud, and the result is a game that justifies every year of silence. At a $20 price tag, the value is unquestionable, even if its difficulty curve asks for patience. The casual playerbase may take longer to adjust, but the game teaches you to enjoy rather than endure.

You won’t feel like smashing the controller, because once you understand where to go and how to move, the rhythm clicks into place. In the end, Silksong isn’t meant to be rushed through like a cash-grab; it’s a game that rewards full attention, rewarding every ounce of effort with wonder.

How is your experience with Hollow Knight: Silksong so far? Let us know in the comments. If you haven’t gotten the game already, click the button below and grab it right now.