I remember exploring the new releases section of Steam in February 2017 and stumbling upon Hollow Knight. I thought the grim Metroidvania had an eye-catching art style and looked quite fun, but I ultimately didn’t buy the game.
Little did I know that was right at the genesis of a phenomenon for the genre.
By the time it arrived on Nintendo Switch in 2018, I finally checked out the game and understood why it was beloved.
Now, in 2025, its sequel Hollow Knight: Silksong has had one of the biggest indie game launches of all time and seems like it will be one of the defining games of the year.
Since its storefront-crashing launch on September 4, I’ve already played over six hours of the game. As an avid fan of the Metroidvania genre, I’ve enjoyed what I played so far.
It’s not the genre’s most innovative game, but it strives by simply delivering more of what made the original Hollow Knight an indie great.
Hollow Knight: Silksong doesn’t reinvent the Metroidvania formula
So far, it’s very similar to its predecessor
Hollow Knight: Silksong was originally supposed to be DLC, and I can actually tell from playing it.
It follows the same gameplay structure as the original Hollow Knight, with difficult combat and a world that slowly unravels itself as Hornet gains more abilities.
The game doesn’t spend a lot of time setting up its premise or providing a tutorial for the player. Players have to go out of their way to purchase maps of each area and a compass to track Hornet, too.
If you’ve never played a Metroidvania game before, Hollow Knight: Silksong is not very concerned with easing you into the experience.
Obviously, that hasn’t limited its appeal. This approach also works because Hollow Knight: Silksong’s world is intricately crafted.
Even when I didn’t have a map in the game’s earliest hours, I could easily intuit where I needed to go. The game does admittedly get more confusing if you die and want to find the currency you dropped.
Overall, I also don’t necessarily think it’s a lot better than other amazing game Metroidvanias, and I’ve played quite a few.
For example, I occasionally find myself missing the screenshot-saving Memory Shard feature from 2024’s excellent Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown.
Still, Hollow Knight: Silksong feels polished enough in its opening hours that I haven’t had a bad time with the game and all, and can easily understand why people are loving it.
The best thing about Hollow Knight: Silksong is its aesthetic
I love the vibes of playing this game
Generally, Hollow Knight: Silksong has been impressing me because of how confident the game is in its own aesthetic and design.
Some of that confidence is shown in the lack of explanations for things, but it also emerges through all the attention to detail Team Cherry put into the game.
The game has a stunning art style. Each area and its enemies are distinct, colorful, and memorable in their own ways.
Animations are detailed, so even the most difficult bosses clearly telegraph their attacks to make the fight feel fair.
I’m already finding myself able to navigate its world without much help from the maps.
There’s also just a lot of weird little friendly bugs for Hornet to encounter, adding to Hollow Knight: Silksong’s sense of charm.
I don’t have much of a sense of where the story is going six hours in, but I think I’ll end up enjoying this journey more than its destination.
Team Cherry claims Hollow Knight: Silksong took so long to make, not because of any delays, but because they wanted to spend a lot of time polishing and detailing everything.
Six hours in, I can already see how that extra effort paid off.
Hollow Knight: Silksong is easy to recommend six hours in
It’s a very refined Metroidvania experience
While I’m still working on beating the game so I can write a full review, after six hours, I can recommend Hollow Knight: Silksong.
Even if you don’t stick with it all the way through, from the get-go, it’s an immensely detailed and polished entry into one of my favorite genres.
It probably isn’t the most Metroidvania game in recent years, nor the most accessible. Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown still holds both of those honors in my eyes.
Some of the difficult spikes and having to retrieve currency dropped after death can also be frustrating.
Overall, though, those are small annoyances that mostly didn’t impact these early hours with Hollow Knight: Silksong. Instead, it makes me wish I had bought and played the original Hollow Knight back when I first saw it in 2017.
Looking at its player count, you’ve probably already given this game a shot. Hopefully, it serves as a tough but polished gateway into a genre that I really enjoy.
Hollow Knight: Silksong
- Released
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September 4, 2025
- Developer(s)
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Team Cherry
- Publisher(s)
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Team Cherry
- Engine
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Unity
- Franchise
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Hollow Knight
- Number of Players
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Single-player
- Steam Deck Compatibility
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Verified
