What Fans Don't Want To See In Hollow Knight: Silksong
Every fan of Metroidvania-style games has at least heard of "Hollow Knight." It's one of 2017's best action platformers and has a massive world full of beautifully illustrated insects for gamers to battle through and explore. There's so much to do that you're still not done even after reaching 100% completion, with some fans reporting up to 80 hours of gameplay.
Now we have a sequel on the way. "Hollow Knight: Silksong" was originally supposed to just be an expansion package for "Hollow Knight," but the project grew to the point where Team Cherry felt it was "too large and too unique" to be a simple DLC. It doesn't have an official release date as of this writing, but there is reason to think it won't be long before it arrives.
Fans of the series have a few notes for these intrepid developers, however. There are some things that they feel like "Silksong" needs to have in order to be a true successor to the original "Hollow Knight" ... and a few aspects of that game's design and play style that definitely don't need a repeat.
The same old outfits
"Hollow Knight" has some really powerful visual design, from the vividly detailed environments within Hallownest to the beautiful and sometimes horrifyingly rendered insects that inhabit it. The Knight had a good design as well, but their outfit wasn't the most interesting or unique. They wore a simple black cloak which flapped dramatically when the Knight ran but didn't change throughout the entire game.
Some fans on Reddit have pointed out that giving Hornet a few costume options could go a long way. User Tnecniw stated in a thread about what changes they'd like to see in the game: "A small taste thing. If we can give Hornet a few different outfits [I would] be so happy." SkyHighEthan agreed, adding, "Yes. More outfits. Maybe like 'Shovel Knight' each clothing has an ability to it."
Letting Hornet change her outfits is far from being a make-or-break change, but it's one fans would like to see and most likely one that wouldn't take much work for Team Cherry to implement.
Too many big, slow enemies
One of the things that made the first "Hollow Knight" such an outstanding action platformer was its boss battles, particularly the duels. There are plenty of fights against giant, overgrown monsters — and those are great — but there are a lot of them. Some of the most memorable battles were the ones against more reasonably sized opponents who moved around the field wielding weapons similar to the Knight and their nail.
Tnecniw mentioned in the same post which discussed changeable outfits that they would "like to see more 'duel fights.' Fights like the Mantis Lords / The Sisters of Battle, and the Hornet fights. Where it feels like two real warriors duking it out."
As Tnecniw mentioned, Hornet herself was this kind of boss in two different battles. You fight her once in Greenpath and again in Kingdom's Edge. Hornet's speed, reach, and verticality are what make her a danger in these fights, not her size. Pitting her against other dexterous enemies rather than leaning on giant, monstrous ones would certainly add some variance to the battles and help adapt the game to a playstyle that better suits her abilities.
The same old attacks
Speaking of Hornet's abilities, that's another change which fans are excited to see. Playing as the Knight was great and all, but their limited speed and verticality made the game feel very methodical. It was fine for the first game, but many fans, like Reddit user FallenPeigon, felt that there was a sluggishness to the Knight which didn't need a repeat.
Luckily, we already know that there are several ways in which "Hollow Knight: Silksong" will be changing its combat to better reflect its new protagonist. First of all, Hornet uses a different weapon than the Knight. She's half-worm and is capable of generating silk, which she uses in tandem with her needle. Secondly, she has a faster healing ability. Fans have some mixed opinions about how this might reduce the difficulty of the game, but it comes at the cost of consuming silk, which she needs for her other abilities. Third (and most importantly), Hornet is much faster and can jump much higher than the Knight.
Reddit user ChristorusGamma wrote, "I would like to see boss fights that take advantage of Hornet's moveset. Something like a fight that takes place in a long arena to allow you to sprint away from attacks, or a fight where there's walls for Hornet to jump up or objects to grapple to."
A small world to explore
One of the strongest aspects of "Hollow Knight" was its level design. The world of Hallownest consists of a sprawling network of tunnels and caves inhabited by dozens of different species of sentient (and non-sentient) insects. Each new area feels tailor-made to the species that inhabits it, keeping the game design from ever feeling flat or boring.
The last thing fans want is a smaller world, since the size and variety of terrain available in Hallownest is part of what made "Hollow Knight" the tour de force that it was. This is Reddit user katkat345's main reason they can't wait for "Silksong," "the exploration ohhhh exploration."
Good news, spelunkers! While we don't know the exact size of Pharloom yet, NintendoEverything recently released a roundup of salient details from Edge magazine volume 354's world exclusive with Team Cherry. In it, they mentioned that "There are around 100 different benches that come out of the floor when approached that act as save spots." There are 41 benches in the first game, so we can most likely infer that Pharloom is going to be quite a bit bigger than Hallownest, even if the benches' placement is considerably more condensed.