Hollow Knight: Silksong is faster, prettier, and harder, yet still feels like a safe sequel

hace 8 horas 59
 Silksong. Image credit: Team Cherry

I woke up acold excessively aboriginal this morning, to basal successful a queue for acold excessively long, each to play fan-vexing (and recently release-dated) soulsvania Hollow Knight: Silksong connected the Gamescom amusement floor. No pre-release reappraisal codes? Pah – I couldn’t adjacent get a demo assignment astatine the astir demo appointment-centric games lawsuit of the year. How’s that for rejection.

Anyway, Team Cherry mightiness conscionable not beryllium that into me, but I mightiness good beryllium into Silksong. It’s a small quicker, a small much dynamic, and to these fingers, a small much hard than the archetypal Hollow Knight. But it wholly preserves that tight-as-a-drum consciousness of the original’s sword swishing, and deploys it against insectoid baddies that situation and frustrate successful practically identical ways.

Minions, for instance, inactive commencement disconnected arsenic wriggling fodder earlier caller varieties commencement astonishing you with unexpectedly accelerated strikes, oregon ranged attacks that look astir psychically alert of wherever you’re going to beryllium moving to successful 0.02 seconds’ time. And, erstwhile again, their top weakness is proceedings and error. My deepest conflict came not against immoderate boss, but a country afloat of flying bastards with infinite buckets of preternaturally close magma bombs. It took a mates of doomed attempts astatine 900°c dodgeball earlier discovering I could deflect the burning orbs with well-timed swings, drastically easing my stress.

 Silksong moving  connected  an Asus Xbox ROG Ally X. I played Silksong connected some a desktop PC and 1 of Asus' upcoming Xbox ROG Ally X handhelds, which I'm forced to admit is overmuch comfier than it looks. | Image credit: Rock Paper Shotgun

I lone took connected 1 existent boss, a dive-bombing queen wasp, but she excessively fought by acquainted rules: a premix of onslaught patterns to ticker and exploit, compounded by biology hazards and summoned henchbugs. Dodge the nasty stuff, hold for an opening, instrumentality ‘em. It’s much Hollow Knight, basically.

Still, Silksong does purpose for subtle shifts successful its conflict flow. New protag Hornet is some a somewhat much vocal and a somewhat much agile leader than the Knight, her default moves incorporating plunging diagonal strikes that some woody harm and reposition her rapidly backmost connected the crushed aft a floaty jump. Binding – Hornet’s equivalent of absorption healing, with 'thread' replacing gathered psyche – is quicker arsenic well, ostensibly to get her backmost successful the combat arsenic accelerated arsenic possible, and tin adjacent beryllium performed successful mid-air.

If this sounds similar it makes Silksong immoderate little punishing of sloppiness than Hollow Knight, it does not. If anything, I recovered the caller healing strategy a full batch harsher, beauteous overmuch wholly due to the fact that it makes beingness summation little readily available: whereas you could prevention antecedently yourself successful a pinch by converting a comparatively tiny fraction of psyche into 1 oregon 2 precious pips, successful Silksong, you'll request to capable up a afloat strand of thread earlier binding becomes possible. While that means a palmy hindrance volition ever heal aggregate pips, you’re apt to beryllium spending much clip successful the information portion until you tin biff capable foes for different afloat strand – and, if an force gets a deed successful portion binding, that full strand’s healing imaginable is forfeit.

 Silksong. Image credit: Team Cherry

It besides looks similar opponents mightiness get a smidge swifter arsenic well, answering to Hornet’s mobility. I’ve lone played done a mates of aboriginal areas, and don’t privation to overstate the quality – it’s not similar Silksong gives everyone tiny bug-sized jetpacks – but I did brushwood nimbler enemies much often than successful Hollow Knight’s opening half-hour, with repeated appearances from charging shieldbearers, the aforementioned flying bastards, and sharp-skinned larvae that would teardrop astir platforms similar malfunctioning array saws.

Mind you, if Silksong is getting a small much brutal, it’s besides getting a small much beautiful. The opening moss cave biome, successful particular, is simply a gorgeously verdant warren, with layers upon layers of trees, elephantine 'shrooms, and undergrowth each shifting nether a parallax effect that’s pulled disconnected to adjacent much striking effect than the original's. The acheronian of the later-visited forge metropolis affords it less opportunities to shine, but it’s inactive heaving with details: miles and miles of ornate pipes, chains draped from the ceilings similar fairy lights. Hollow Knight had skills successful this department, of course. It’s conscionable that Silksong has refined them.

 Silksong. Image credit: Team Cherry

Granted, aft 7 years successful a forge of Team Cherry’s own, it would beryllium just to expect much than conscionable refinement. I’ve yet to effort retired astir of Hornet’s caller powers oregon spot however they power later-game platforming and combat, but truthful far, it’s each precise Hollow Knightish. Maybe that’s each the clownposters wanted; possibly they’ll find themselves deflated.

Probably not disappointed, though. The upside of playing it harmless is that perfectly thing has compromised what made the archetypal game’s enactment a tactile pleasure: its abnormally fine-tuned controls and pin-sharp audio/visual feedback connected hits and jumps. Hollow Knight feels good. Silksong feels good. You won’t perceive maine complaining. Except astir having to beryllium up astatine 7am connected a weekend, obviously.


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