The wait for Hollow Knight: Silksong has been an excruciating one. Since the 2017 Metroidvania masterpiece Hollow Knight, the community had been clamouring for more. And in 2019, Silksong was finally announced, but nobody expected the long wait. Years of teasing with gameplays followed by extended lengths of silence, it felt like it was impossible for the game to come close to living up to those insane expectations. 2025 has not only finally given us Metroid Prime 4, but Silksong as well, making for a great year for the genre. 

After 70 hours to do a 100% completed playthrough (a rarity for me to hunt that 100%) and then some for another run I’m still doing, I can say that the wait has been more than worth it. Hollow Knight: Silksong is one of the most tightly designed Metroidvania titles that I have played, and it really does live up to the legacy of the original game. However, it’s not without a few problems. 

 

Story 

In Silksong, you take control over Hornet, the mysterious enemy turned ally from Hollow Knight, as she explores the world beyond Hollow Nest. In her journeys, she discovers the kingdom of Pharloom, which has fallen to a mysterious affliction known as the Haunting, which controls the nearby bugs through a resource called Silk. Upon arriving, Hornet is immediately captured, but before being sent to the Citadel, unleashes an unknown power and breaks free. Setting out on a journey to discover her past and save Pharloom from its oppressors. 

One of the most surprising things is that the story in here is actually excellent. Whilst the original game was more focused on a deeper world and lore. Hornet is a more developed character than the Knight, allowing Team Cherry to tell a deeper story with personal motivations and more natural connections with other characters. Who are all incredibly well realised with engaging backstory and motivations within the world. 

Yet, it manages to keep that same sense of mystery and exploration as you uncover the darker secrets of Pharloom. All this culminates in a final chapter that boasts a surprising depth of emotion, with some great lore revelations and character interactions that caught me entirely off guard. When I went into Silksong, I wasn’t expecting to be so engrossed by the story itself.

 

Gameplay 

Whilst the story surprises. The gameplay is exactly what you’d expect. A masterfully crafted 2D Metroidvania with exceptional level design, tightly designed combat and thrilling boss fights. Compared to the Knight, the Hornets’ movement is much faster and more nimble. Hornets is a much more athletic character, and that’s reflected in her playstyle. Being able to mantle over objects and use that momentum to push further. In many ways, it takes the core of Hollow Knight and combines it with the faster pace of Ori and the Will of the Wisps. 

The core gameplay is straightforward to pick up but difficult to master. The gameplay is much faster; as a result, so are the enemies you will need to deal with. Dealing attacks will fill up Hornet’s Silk gauge, which can be used to heal or perform powerful Silk attacks. Think of the original games’ Soul abilities, and that’s pretty much it, but Silksong expands on this in significant ways with much more utility as well. You will need to manage that resource carefully, as spamming your silk attacks can leave you extremely vulnerable without healing. 

Similarly, platforming challenges will also test your skills with its tightly designed platforming puzzles that will make use of just about every gameplay mechanic. This is most apparent with the new pogo technique that Hornet has by default. Replacing the old downward slash to pogo off enemies and the environment is the diagonal lunge. Initially, this will completely throw off your sense of timing and positioning, but once mastered, it will become an absolute blast to use. Being able to use it for quick environmental traversal and bullying enemies. For the most part, traversal isn’t all that challenging, but there are some intense moments that remind me of the escapes in Ori and the Blind Forest. Unfortunately, there’s nothing quite like the Path of Pain from the first game just yet. 

If you’ve played any Metroidvania in the past 20 years, you will feel at home here. The world of Pharloom is absolutely massive. With areas branching off to sub-areas and other biomes entirely, there are multiple routes through the game that all interconnect with each other using shortcuts and the Bellway system, which functions as this game’s fast travel. If you’ve played Hollow Knight (or any 2D metroidvania), you will feel at home here, with a few quality-of-life features that enhance the experience. Silksong truly excels at building a world you want to explore and uncover its secrets. 

Of course, as a metroidvania, these vast interconnected zones are full to the brim of things to discover. NPCs can give you quests known as “wishes” that are now tracked in a handy journal and can often provide giant, multiple-zone quests. There’s always something to find or do that enhances the Hornets’ abilities through new attacks, upgrades, or stat increases. And each room has secrets galore to discover. Going for that 100% was an absolute treat, and exploring the world of Pharloom is one of my favourite experiences of the year. It’s arguably one of my favourite Metroidvania maps since… well, the first Hollow Knight, as that sense of mystery and discovery is incredibly put together. 

To help Hornet on her journey, there’s much more build variety than ever before. Hornet can equip herself with a variety of Crests that provide different advantages and disadvantages. These will not only alter her attacks, but also her movement abilities and how the additional tools work, which function like this game’s charms from the first game. Giving powerful buffs to apply at different times. Another thing to keep in mind is that the different crests have distinct tool layouts, which serve as this game’s versions of the charms from the previous game.

Tools fall into one of three categories: red tools are your combat gadgets that require crafting using Shell Shards, blue tools act as more passive buffs that can enhance hornet and red tool attacks, such as providing elemental bonuses or improving silk abilities. Then there are Yellow tools, which are much closer to support tools and often helpful for navigation, with some movement enhancements. Each crest you equip has specific slots for these tools, so you’ll need to plan accordingly.

For example, the Hornets’ default crest, fully upgraded, allows 2 of each tool type, providing great flexibility. However, if you equip the Wanderer crest, one of those red tool slots becomes yellow. Making it more suited towards platforming challenges and exploration. It’s not always necessary to switch crests, but it gives you a leg up. Pick the one with your favourite playstyle and adjust when needed. Just be aware you might need to farm up Shell Shards, which are required to use tools, as well as Rosary Beads, which are the game’s main currency used to buy just about anything else you need on your journey. It’s an incredible upgrade system that really lets you make massive changes to your playstyle. 

A significant point of contention at launch was the difficulty of being overtuned, and while it is a challenging game, it’s a much more delicate issue here. Team Cherry, for the most part, has crafted a wonderfully balanced experience. Much of this was due to a lot more enemies dealing double damage. In the original game, this was a rarer thing, primarily aimed at endgame bosses, but in Silksong, a good majority of enemies deal double-mask damage. In the early hours, this can be brutal (especially if you came straight from the first game). Still, it’s almost perfectly balanced with Hornet’s faster movement style and insanely powerful healing that allows Hornet to heal three masks with one silk charge, even in mid-air. 

Once you’re over that initial bump, Silksong typically falls into the tough but fair category. Every platform, every enemy, every trap is miraculously placed to not only test your skills but to ease you into learning new mechanics as well. Even when I approached double-digit deaths on certain bosses, I never felt like it was my fault, and with often brief runbacks, I found it easy to try a boss again. Failing that, once again, this game is a metroidvania, and a core pillar of the genre allows you to backtrack to find quests or different routes around the game world to get more powerful. May that be from finding new items, tools or upgrades for Hornet to help you adjust to that difficulty. Or going into entirely different areas that will actually teach you mechanics as you grow naturally as a player.

Progression feels incredibly organic. With upgrades, abilities and tools unlocking at a solid rate to help Hornet overcome challenges. The only areas I’d argue they push it too far are in the Sinner’s Road and Bilewater zones in particular, which cross the line from challenging to tedious, with long runbacks, brutal traps, annoying enemies and a mostly unavoidable poison swamp debuff that would make Miyazaki blush. And whilst I died more in other areas of the game, these were less fun. I appreciate the attempt Team Cherry made in this section, and it feels like a very intentional decision, but it pushed the game’s challenge away from being fun.

Boss fights are, for the most part, incredible. There are a few that rely too heavily on ads, joining the fray. However, when a boss fight lands, it’s an astonishing spectacle that has interesting mechanics and fast-paced combat. Some of the late-game bosses will test everything that you know. With tightly designed choreography that makes it feel like a back-and-forth dance, with unique mechanics thrown in that caught me off guard and layered on top of each other. I even had to go back to a bench to adjust my tool loadouts regularly. 

It’s shocking how many bosses are in the game, but not only that, but how many of them are really good. Even when they reuse models or movesets, Silksong finds a way to make the repeat bosses exciting in other ways. And the difficulty here is on point; if you pay attention to a boss, it’s easy to figure out their patterns, and even as I approached double-digit deaths in a boss, it rarely felt unfair. However, there are a few weaker bosses like Father of the Flame or Concflies that felt like padding or just missed the mark. Silksong truly rewards skilful and patient gameplay, and if you still have trouble changing a few tools, it can give you a significant advantage and tip you to victory. My advice is to experiment and play cautiously.

 

Graphics and Sound 

Christopher Larkin returned to compose the soundtrack for Silksong again, and it’s magnificent. With swelling orchestral scores as you explore a world in ruin. Then we’ve got the incredibly boss themes that are often incredibly well integrated with the gameplay. I thought the first game would be incredibly tough to beat, but they just about done it here. 

Not only that, every moment of the game is just dripping in style. One of my only complaints about the original Hollow Knight is that many areas start to feel a bit samey, with the same colour palettes and tones. Not in Silksong; here, every area is truly distinctive from one another. You will be exploring ruined chapels overgrown with moss, the obligatory poison swamp, regions overrun by hunters, and a giant citadel with many zones that make the place feel real and well-lived-in, among many other environments with their own colour schemes and enemies to fight. 

Mix this in with excellent character designs and animations, and you’ve got a visual presentation that really makes sense on why they spent 7 Years working on this game. Its handcrafted style is sublime, and even when the action gets going against some of the more chaotic bosses, it’s always clear that their movements are telegraphed.

For a game like this, I wouldn’t usually go into how the PC version performs, since good performance is expected, but it’s worth mentioning here, since you’re an excellent performer even on lower-end hardware. Silksong supports full ultrawide resolutions, allowing you to immerse incredibly well into the world of Pharloom (outside a few pre-rendered cutscenes), which was a pleasant surprise. And if you are looking to pick this up on Steam Deck and lock it to 90Hz, you can expect incredibly solid performance with at least 5 hours of battery life. 

Verdict 

Hollow Knight: Silksong has been entirely worth the seven year wait. It is truly masterclass in Metroidvania design that not only lives up to the original game, but surpasses it in many different ways as well, all thanks to the top-tier world and boss design alongside jaw-dropping visuals and another stellar soundtrack. The game’s not perfect, and does stumble a few times, but it more than makes up for it elsewhere.  I’m incredibly excited to see what updates and DLC are coming to Silksong and how they plan on topping this. 

Graphics: 9.0 The world of Pharloom is absolutely stunning to look at, though not overly different from its eight year old predecessor.	Gameplay: 9.5 A fantastic world to explore with challenging gameplay and great boss fights.
Sound: 10 Christopher Larkin delivers another excellent soundtrack that elevates each and every moment.	Fun Factor: 9.5 A nearly perfect 2D Metroidvania with spectacular value, considering how much it’s crammed into it. Though it gets bothersome in minute segments.
Final Verdict: 9.5

Hollow Knight: Silksong is available now on PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series S/X, PC, Switch and Switch 2.

Reviewed on PC and Steam Deck.