After an eight-year wait, Silksong has finally arrived, proving to be an exceptionally challenging game. Many players find it significantly tougher than its 2017 predecessor, Hollow Knight. According to Team Cherry, this elevated difficulty was a deliberate design choice.
During the Melbourne ACMI Game Worlds exhibition, Team Cherry`s co-director Ari Gibson and developer William Pellen revealed to co-curator Jini Maxwell for a new publication, “ACMI Guide: Hollow Knight Silksong,” why the sequel is harder than the original. The primary reason, they explained, is Hornet, the playable character.
When designing the game around Hornet as the protagonist, Team Cherry recognized the need to enhance the enemies she would encounter. Their core philosophy was to “elevate everyone else to match Hornet`s level of skill.”
Gibson stated, “Hornet is inherently faster and more skillful than the Knight, so even the most basic enemies had to be more complex and intelligent.”
Pellen elaborated, “The foundational ant warrior shares the same moveset as the original Hornet boss, featuring dashes, jumps, and downward lunges. We also added evasion and counter-attack capabilities. Unlike the Knight`s adversaries, Hornet`s enemies required more strategies to catch her as she attempts to maneuver away.”
This design choice clarifies why even standard foes in Silksong can feel formidable as players attempt intricate aerial maneuvers. Regarding bosses like the Savage Beastfly or Sister Splinter, Team Cherry offered a less direct answer, though Gibson suggested that the multitude of “choices” available to players should mitigate the challenge.
Gibson emphasized, “For us, it`s crucial that players can significantly deviate from the main path. One player might follow a direct route to the end, while another might constantly explore, uncovering hidden secrets and alternative routes. Silksong certainly has moments of steep difficulty, but allowing greater freedom within the world means players always have choices about where to go and what to do.”
And if, for instance, a boss like the Widow proves particularly vexing? Team Cherry isn`t overly concerned. Gibson explained that due to the inherent “choices” offered by the metroidvania genre, players have more options than merely repeatedly confronting a single difficult boss.
“That`s perfectly fine,” he affirmed. “Players have various ways to alleviate difficulty through exploration, learning new tactics, or even entirely bypassing a challenge rather than hitting a wall.”
Nevertheless, the sequel`s punishing nature is undeniable. This led players to develop difficulty-easing mods, and Team Cherry itself released a patch to make the game easier, with another update planned for bug fixes (unrelated to in-game insects). The studio is clearly aware of its sequel`s high difficulty. Despite this, Silksong has reportedly sold over four million copies since its September 4 launch, proving that challenging games can indeed be highly successful.
Hollow Knight: Silksong is currently available on Nintendo Switch (both models), PC, PlayStation 4 and 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S.