Few game sequels have been awaited with the kind of zealous, almost agonizing, anticipation with which Hollow Knight fans have been waiting for Silksong.
Initially planned as just a DLC, Silksong was first announced as a standalone game in 2019, and has been beset by delays since.
While there isn’t a whole lot of official content out yet, here’s what we do know so far.
The Ascent to the Peak of Pharloom
The protagonist in Silksong is Hornet, the Knight’s needle-wielding half-sibling from Hollow Knight.
The intro cutscene shows her captive, being transported by a mysterious tribe. However, as they cross a bridge, silk threads wrap around the cage and the bridge and destroy both, sending Hornet and her captors plunging down an abyss.
Upon awakening, she finds herself at the very bottom of a haunted kingdom called Pharloom, and begins her journey upwards to the citadel.
Just like Hallownest, Pharloom contains a number of different areas. The names of many areas have yet to be confirmed, but we at least know these ones:
- Moss Grotto
- Deep Docks
- Greymoor
- The Marrow
- The Citadel
mossbag, one of the most well-known Hollow Knight Youtubers, has a video exploring the world of Silksong.
One interesting thing to note is that, unlike the Knight, Hornet has dialogue lines, and converses with the different NPCs she meets throughout Pharloom.
Gameplay
The core of Silksong’s gameplay will be the same Metroidvania-style action and exploration that we saw in Hollow Knight. However, Silksong seems to lean even more into the platforming and combat; those that have played the demo describe Hornet as having more of an acrobatic feel compared to the Knight.
Silk is the counterpart to Hollow Knight’s soul—the game’s main resource for abilities and healing, replenished by hitting enemies.
Tools, shell shards, and crests
One interesting gameplay element is Hornet’s ability to craft and use various tools.
Upon defeating enemies, she collects shell shards, a resource similar to geo (the currency in Hollow Knight). But instead of just being currency, shell shards enable Hornet to craft and repair tools anytime she’s sitting on a bench.
Meanwhile, crests are items that affect Hornet’s loadout of tools depending on which one is equipped.
Release Date
So when’s Silksong coming out? As of writing this, we really don’t know.
Team Cherry has always been conservative with updates, careful not to overpromise (after all, they’re a three-man team).
Sadly there are also speculations that the Unity changes announced earlier this year will further cause delays, as both Hollow Knight and Silksong are built on that engine.
Conclusion
Silksong has been delayed so much, its release has become a whole meme subgenre.
But the thing is, Hollow Knight is such an incredible game. And Team Cherry has built a wonderful reputation among its fans as a company that will not compromise on the quality of their game (and the massive amount of additional free content they released for Hollow Knight didn’t hurt either.)
So while we can only guess when the wait will finally be over, what’s sure is that there will be absolutely no shortage of fans eager to dive into Pharloom on release day.
What are you doing to distract yourself from the restless wait for Silksong? Tell us in the comments! (You can also check out our latest news to find some new releases you can play in the meantime!)