Hollow Knight: Silksong

Its decent, its strongest sell is its fantastic background art. That said, it has like one tenth of the charm of HK1.. They also decided to go the darksouls 2 route on difficulty and just add more enemies to the boss fights. Exploration dont feel that interesting at all, ohh secret route? Whats behind this hidden path? - Currency. So far im kinda disappointed honestly, game might turn around tough

一周年了，虽然DLC还没见个影（team cherry你们到底在干嘛？！！来写个评 怀念去年首发时熬夜抢购游戏（对，steam商城崩溃了，所以能不能买上第一时间玩上全靠运气，折腾了两个小时终于买上，游戏内容就不，七年的等待完整值得，探索，战斗，探索，战斗，大概一两个月时间都沉浸在同一款游戏中，和朋友们一起支支吾吾对进度，讨论游戏剧情，玩及八翻译梗，是一段美好的游戏回忆。

[h1] The real GOTY [/h1] Modern games' sequels are usually bad news, as they are more often than not just a cheap cashgrab that butchers the original, but Silksong is the exact opposite, improving upon it's predecessor in almost every way. You can clearly tell this game was made with a purpose different than just making money. Same with Hollow Knight, it's already very clear what makes this game so good, so i'll keep it short. Probably the only complaint i've heard people say is that the combat is too punishing and difficult, which is totally not true, the difficulty is just right. Sure, some enemies and bosses may seem to be the way they are just to give you a hard time, but when you push through, it is incredibly rewarding. Instead of soul spells like in the previous game, you get to adjust your strategy using crests, tools and skills, allowing you to try out many different combos and finding your optimal playstyle. Though i must say, not all of the options are very good or fun to use, especially the tools. Exploration has massively improved, thanks to Hornet's (the playable character) many abilities. All of the locations are unique and beautiful (except the mist, f*ck that place), and always have a lot of hidden paths for you to uncover. As for the story and characters, both of these factors have also been improved, with many charming side characters, which was lacking in HK, but that's subjective. Despite the huge success HK had, the devs were are still very generous and setting the price for this masterpiece to mere 20€, which is an absolute steal, considering the amount of quality content you get here. Silksong deserved to win GOTY, Expedition 33 doesn't even come close to this absolute gem of a game. Overall, a 9.5/10, definitely try it if you loved HK and have atleast a small amount of patience.

very good game that dwarves its predecessor in a lot of aspects but also makes really questionable decisions regarding the ones where it fumbles in: the last stretch of the game is kind of disappointing and not particularly interesting to actually play through, relying on rehashed enemies for the most part with a few boss fights that do bring back some form of excitement before ending in a final boss that's just kinda alright even if the character it's attached to is really good (though severely lacking in screentime for what it feels like team cherry wants to do with them). furthermore, durability is awful. I understand the desire of making the player feel like their resources are ephemeral but rosaries already do that perfectly: the player is constantly wringed out of resources for basic commodities (maps and benches) to say nothing of any equippable tools (both red tools, which require a second currency for maintenance, and blue and yellow tools which are passives). Speaking of, that secondary currency is extremely obnoxious to farm; the only real way to actually get shards in a timely fashion is to buy them for rosaries, which further puts strain on the rosary economy. I understand what the game is going for, but the end result turns out to discourage players from using one of the core mechanics for a vast majority of it, which is a shame. lastly, this game is Secrets as all hell. this is a more neutral point and your mileage may vary since this kind of gameplay might strike the fancy of a manner of freak different of my own, but I personally am a bit fed up with secret walls by this point. as for positives, well, the fact that there's multiple movesets, and that hornet controls really well, as well as the fact that acts 1 and 2 are the most fun I've had with a videogame in recent memory all definitely more than justify my time with the game. I would not have finished it nor written this review if I didn't have strong feelings about the game, but nonetheless I cannot hide the fact that I have some misgivings regarding it, which sour my enjoyment of the full experience, even if I still think it's deserving of praise for the majority of it, with only the last stretch feeling tacked on whereas the rest of the game had such high peaks they concealed the lows of the game dramatically well. strongly recommended, in spite of its flaws. As an addendum, Lace is perfect and deserved way more screentime. She is the only thing I'd add more of to the game, honestly; while I could enjoy some of the fat being trimmed, I think the game would be better with more of Lace in it, both because I quite like her and because the game's plot would work better (not that it doesn't already) with her having a greater role.

This game is missing what made the first so good, there is a huge lack of agency in what or where you are supposed to go and too much important items either hidden behind a ridiculous amount of breakable walls or locked behind long winded unenjoyable quests (2nd needle upgrade should not need a mandatory tour of the entire games map to get). Having the majority of enemies be overtuned and difficult to attach should never passed QC and tools are a complete downgrade to the knights soul attacks, the good ones are so far into the game yet the difficulty of getting to those area puts you in a limbo of can't progress further to unlock the items but almost requiring said items to make progression possible. Bosses doing 2 masks of health is fine but never should a normal mob do such a thing (those spider mites you find occasionally are the worst things I have ever seen in any game and I'm a DS2 enjoyer) Bilewater should be deleted from the game entirely who even creates the concept of a Miyazaki poison swamp but making it 50x worse and then making an item that negates said poison entirely which can only be grabbed after going through the area its so pointless

第一幕纯粹的傻逼游戏，这个游戏本身就是开发者的恶意集合。和种各样的跳跳乐；跳跳乐上放小怪来干扰；稀少的存档点；遍地走的2伤2判怪（给没玩过的大伙解释一下，这个游戏开局5滴血，挨打就掉一滴。2伤就是挨一下打掉2滴；2判就是一次挨打判定是掉1滴，但他一次攻击会造成两次判定，所以还是掉两滴血。遇上这种怪你挨3下打就去世了）；少得可怜的探图奖励——如果你是1代老玩家，你能想象在丝之歌你连探10张地图三个好用的护符和道具，两滴血上限和有明显提升的蓝量变化，这些东西一个都没有吗？这就是第一幕，你连开10张图探完你就能在打第一幕boss的时候凑够6滴血，1级钉（5点伤害提升到7点，小怪15血依旧2刀剩1滴需要砍3刀），但boss所有攻击全是双伤甚至还有双判（一下4滴）。找隐藏的奖励就是更多的怪物和陷阱，打完之后有个钱箱，没有能提升战力的道具。boss更是标配2伤2判，全屏冲刺，大范围aoe，亡语。恶心得简直不能再恶心。地图设计也是大而空，许多无意义得空房间，无意义的间隔，和大量的明明是隐藏房间，但奖励却就只有一点点钱。除了音乐和美术，这个游戏就是一坨纯粹的狗屎，对比一代的丝滑的难度提升（1代开局根本就没几个要3刀才能砍死的怪，哈哈，这样的小怪在我们丝之歌可到处都是哦。甚至3刀砍死都还算好，相当部分的小怪都需要4刀到5刀才能砍死，在一代这种都算小精英了），2代的难度平衡简直就是一坨屎，tc像是在上厕所时把头埋进大粪里作出了这样的平衡。对比1代，小怪像精英，精英像boss，boss更超雄。我不会向任何玩家推荐这款游戏，不要相信网上什么有轮椅流派，能一下回3血，能在空中回血这样的说辞，真的简直可笑。对比他带来大量2伤2判怪的负面体验，这些优点完全无法弥补。是能回3血，但1代3刀就能回一次，而且回血需要的时间更短，丝之歌7刀才能回一次，而且一次回血所需要的时间更长更容易被打断，导致血不仅回不上来还要再多挨一下打；轮椅流派和前期根本不沾边，想要玩轮椅你起码就得到第2章之后了，第1章的狗屎流程里别说轮椅了，就连好用的护符都没有两个，还轮椅，被小怪和boss混合双打抽成只能坐轮椅还差不多；空中回血如果放在1代环境，确实很强，可惜这是2代，丝之歌的空中并不像代一样安全，先不说boss全都有标配的空中远程攻击手段，是个精英怪甚至相当多数量的小怪都有远程攻击。空中回血与其说是降低难度，不如说这是因为打起来地面根本站不了人，所以tc让你能在空中找空隙来回血最后的仁慈罢了。丝之歌糟糕的难度曲线破坏了它所有的优点：音乐、美术、剧情、战斗手感；毕竟一款你玩都很难玩下去的游戏你很难去享受它的这部分内容。如果说他的音乐美术和战斗手感是一道美味的菜肴，那它的难度设计就是裹在这些菜肴外面的狗屎。可惜大部分人看到屎就会离得远远的，而不是好奇这坨屎里面会不会有什么美味

If i could give this game a neutral rating i would, but sadly my opinion is skewed more on the negative side (though temperarely, in which ill change the review to positive if the dlcs outweigh my current opinion). I've thought long and hard about SS since I've had very mixed feeling about it, I've waited the actual 6 years for this game (unlike most people who just wanted to trend hop, larp about being a fan of the games despite never playing the first one, and drop SS after getting to the second boss because its "too hard", then glaze the game like the second coming of Christ just cuz a streamer they watched played it, instead of you know, playing the game for themselves). I remember when SS was first announced, being extremely hyped for it and awaiting every major event they could announce any info about it, and attending different live streams just to catch a *glimpse* of new footage. It was to the point I've had *dreams* of playing SS and meeting the devs at a con, I was that much of a schizo about this game. hell, even watching Daily Silksong news since it's inception every day, I was one of his first viewers. TC has inspired me to create my own stories too, I cannot write into words how much i love anything TC makes, and excited I was when this game released, and how devoted I about the series in general. HK has been my favorite game, and still is ever since i got to City of tears. I was there before the major boom in popularity this game had as well, which if you knew me personally you would instantly be able to tell that, with my feats in the first game (which ill mention later), the amount of merch I have (3 plushes, 4 copies + collectors ed. bought of HK, 2 vinyls, 9 pins, 6 keychains, 1 book, 2 hoodies, 2 shirts) and just general knowledge Ive had about the game before the wiki was really ever a thing (the first song i ever learned on piano WAS the HK theme, I feel like I love HK more then most people, and modern SS fans ever could. My entire personality *was* influenced around HK for years, as well as A LOT of other things, though back to the review). With that out of the way and you know my extremely positive view of team cherry and HK (so you understand why I'm conflicted and feel bad in even writing this review) lets get into it. SIlksong is at it's best, a worser version of HK. Which feels like a complete insult to really vocalize, since I want to give the team as much praise as they can possibly get. First I'll start out with the bosses, they feel very watered down, not fleshed out at all and most can be beaten very easily unlike the first game where you could spend actual hours trying to get past their first phase. With SS I just had no real issue getting through the game anywhere, even biome wise (deep docks and bilewater was a cake walk). Second was the story, I really enjoyed what HK did with telling it's lore through the atmosphere and indirectly telling you information (the devs themselves even said there was no lore iirc back in the day, despite there clearly being a story), while with SS they just blatantly tell you everything that happens. IMO it should be show, don't tell, as thats what makes *good* story writing and gets you invested in the story, which i wasn't at all, i felt the same to the characters in SS too, which is what made HK so good as you got attached to any peaceful npc you saw. Third, this game's charm system is a more simplified version of the first game, which kinda ruined the fun of testing new charms/items. After getting wanderer's crest I felt no real need to change any of my loadout at all, most things just died extremely easily with a few simple dodges. Fourth, we have the bosses/enemy's moveset. I'm not sure if its just because of my skill in HK transferring over (I beat anyrad 1.0 back in the day/did P5 Hitless/used to speedrun, all for my own personal interest and not even for clout, purely because I loved HK so fking much and just wanted to consume more content even if it was modden or insanely challenging to try), but most, if not all the enemies in SS we're *extremely* easy to avoid and predict, only a few things actually challenged me (Groal, Karmelita, Gargant Gloom) but only for a few tries, I died *minimally* in this game, probably less then 10, while in HK it was in the hundreds which *was* why HK was so fun. I expected SS to actually be a challenge, but it fell short on even that. Next we had the music, I absolutely loved the first game's OST, been listening to it ever since i first played the game back in 2018 (different platform btw, which is why my hours are low on steam, its roughly 1.5k hours on other platforms), but silksongs... Just don't hit at all with the exception of cogwork core and Karmelita, I can recall a total of 0 other songs in SS that actual stuck with me. Which fking sucks since i love Christopher Larken's work, and it feels insulting to say I cant even remember any music in Silksong. I can recall almost all the songs in HK with just a few notes, thats how different the two games are to me. Fifth, baiting og fans with the shade lord only to do jacksh*t with it, felt really scummy. that was the only time in the game where I actually pogged and pointed at my screen, but it was so short lived. sixith, act 3 was so underwhelming, don't get me wrong I love the void, its my favorite lore aspect of the first game, but this game's rendition of it wasn't all that good, let alone act 3's final boss wasn't the best either. It didnt have that same impact and weight seeing radiance appear and fighting her for the first time did. rather LL just felt like a chore to get out of the way and get an achievement out of. Also why did the devs *have* to nerf the already very easy intro bosses, just make it a toggle so not *everyone* is affected. Also I forgot to mention that most of the enemies are damage sponges, that doesnt make something *hard*, it makes it annoying. personally I think if most bosses went to x3 or even x4 damage instead of x2 damage, my opinion would be different in a lot of places and that would actually be pretty fun. This game did have some pluses though, the way you "unlock" your save again after act 2 was amazing to behold, the platforming sections (not the difficulty) were stellar. the art was phenomenal, Verdania being my favorite biome and Red memory was my favorite part in the entire game, but thats because it tied into the original game's lore. There were other things as well that TC did very well. I just really hope they cook with the dlcs, I want my negative opinion in this game to change, i want to love silksong like i do with hollow knight but i just cant. Im not hating on SS *just* to hate on it, im giving criticism *because* its just so close to being perfect, but falls flat in a lot of areas i just cannot overlook. All in all, this game is a solid 9 for most other players but for me, its at most a 7/10. (for reference I gave HK a 10/10), I *want* to like silksong but i guess my exceptions were too high for it, in almost every way it disappointed me, from the easiness of the bosses, to the music, to even the lore, though I suppose you cannot catch lightening in a bottle twice like TC did with HK, which fking sucks to even think that way. If the pros outweigh the cons in a future update and my disappointment changes into amazement, ill gladly change it to a positive review, but for now, ill await the dlc so it can hopefully change my mind one day. Keep it up TC, even despite my opinion on SS, you left such a lasting impression on me with HK in feelings i cannot even put into words. Even though currently I am disappointed in the current state of silksong, thank you team cherry for making it, and for bringing a light into my life with HK all those years ago. Please continue to make even more stuff, I'll gladly stick around for any other adventures you may make.

[h1]Otherwise a Masterpiece Undermined By Weird and Boring Metroidvania Elements[/h1] The combat, gameplay pace and difficulty are great for the most part, and the build crafting options are okay too thanks to different stances and items. On top of that, the atmosphere, art style and sound design are incredible. The strongest aspects are easily the boss fights, core combat, art style, atmosphere, music and vibes. Unfortunately, traversing the map gets boring fast. New movement options are introduced way too slowly in my opinion, and the biggest issue by far is the fast travel system and the metroidvania structure of the game. A metroidvania should be fun to revisit locations and traverse through the map multiple times, but Silksong fails at that and it weakens its strongest aspects in the process. Going from point A to B really feels like a chore, and I want to reiterate this, it shouldn't feel like this, especially in a metroidvania. Most of the game feels like filler between set pieces such as central levels and boss fights, and the gameplay loop boils down to a checklist tracking where to go next, what to do next type of thing. One of the biggest negatives is that some secret paths lead to pretty much nothing or very small things, so the sense of discovery is never a strong suit of the game even though genre wise, it should be. Some encounters are not hard on paper, but just go on for way too long to create some artificial difficulty. I found those sections extremely boring because they were basically a battle of attrition against basic enemies. So even though the encounter design is good overall, there are some very sharp exceptions. In the end, Silksong feels like "you've had your fun for this session, you need to earn your next share so go do some busy work until you can have some more fun" and that's just sad. I had dropped the original Hollow Knight after the 20-hour mark and I dropped Silksong after 17 hours. I am disappointed in Team Cherry that pretty much all of the negatives carried over to the sequel.

HAPPY SILKSONG ANNIVERSARY EVERYONE!