Hollow Knight: Silksong

Hollow Knight: Silksong is the long-awaited sequel to the cult metroidvania from the Australian studio Team Cherry, this time seen through the eyes of the nimble huntress Hornet. The player travels across the vast, interconnected kingdom of Pharloom, collecting new abilities and silk-based weapons, and gradually unlocking shortcuts between already-visited areas that open up in entirely new ways as more equipment is gained. Combat is faster and more acrobatic than in the first game, with an emphasis on precise timing of dodges, parries, and combining close-range attacks with ranged strikes using needles and silk ribbons. The world is full of secret passages, bosses with their own distinctive style, and side quests that reward patient exploration and conversations with the strange inhabitants of Pharloom. The music and visual style continue from the first game, but the environments are more colorful and thematically varied, from damp caves to tall towers wrapped in cobwebs and crumbling temples beneath the surface. New ways of movement are gradually unlocked as well, such as a quick wall-run or an extra jump, which open up previously unreachable corners of already-visited areas.

The Xbox Series X/S version offers faster loading and more stable performance thanks to newer hardware, which is especially useful in more hectic fights against multiple opponents at once. Content-wise it is identical to the rest of the release; the difference is once again purely technical and concerns mainly smoothness and the waiting time between screens when transitioning between areas.

Why play it: Silksong is the ideal choice for players who loved the first Hollow Knight and want an even more refined combat system, more varied environments, and a heroine with a different, nimbler style of movement. The difficulty and slower pace of the game will be appreciated by fans of the metroidvania genre who want to take their time with exploration, hunting for hidden shortcuts, and gradually uncovering the story of Pharloom, rather than rushing straight to the end credits.