‘Hollow Knight: Silksong’ review: fiendishly tricky sequel was worth the wait

After so much seemingly hopeless anticipation, the sequel to Hollow Knight is finally here. Originally planned as an expansion for the original, it’s been six years since developers Team Cherry confirmed they were working on a full-blown follow-up instead. Along the way there have been frustrating spells of radio silence, delays and a whole lot of “silkposting” by eager fans.

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This time players control Hornet, the red-skirted, spider-like rival-cum-ally to the first game’s silent protagonist. Hornet’s sharp, amusingly standoffish dialogue makes her a far more compelling lead to follow than the original mute knight. The game begins with her encaged, priestly bugs ferrying her to yet another twilight kingdom, Pharloom. She escapes into the darkness, stripped (as tradition demands) of her powers, save for her sewing needle sword.

Like in the Soulsborne titles it draws from, Silksong lets you pick over every small hint of Pharloom’s lore via a charming cast of insect-like NPCs. Or you can raise your sword and charge ignorantly through biomes, slashing as you go. While the finer details of the plot are optional, understanding the landscape of Silksong is not. New maps remain the most precious items. Rush to the yodeling warrior Shakra to grab one or risk bewilderment in a 2D labyrinth of branching paths, dead ends and hidden rooms.

Still, there are worse places to get lost in. Hornet traverses moss-covered ruins, lava-flooded forges and twinkling gothic towns. Her increasing capacities encourage frequent backtracking. Early axe-wielding boss the Skull Ant is (almost) impossible without learning to dash and a billowing cloak allows you to float to previously unreachable heights. Marking your map to return later should quickly become second nature.

Combat sees Hornet slashing her needle in bouncy flourishes, reminiscent of retro, top-down Zelda games. The pogoing air attacks return, executed (initially, at least) at a 45-degree angle to unsettle veterans. Striking enemies builds silk which, when at maximum capacity, lets Hornet refill her health. Death resets you to a bench and forces you to go back and recover your currencies: rosaries (for buying items) and shell shards (for craft tools and traps). Hornet’s combat tricks proliferate too, with an array of deadly tools that slot into her changeable crests.

You’ll need every edge because Team Cherry delight in throwing vicious curveballs at you whenever they can. You’ll master one attack pattern and the next enemy will punish you for it while bosses are thrilling, multi-stage spectacles. Fights with Hornet’s cruel mirror version Lace are a swashbuckling highlight.

Not everything lands. Bouncing off bugs to reach high ledges seems frustratingly haphazard. Side-missions too often lean on monotonous requests like ‘collect cloaks, retrieve needles, find bells.’ Combined with the grind for shards and rosaries (though a patch has just made drops more generous), these tasks can drag.

But these are minor quibbles. And it would be remiss not to mention Silksong’s extraordinarily generous pricing, which feels almost revolutionary. While judging games as a value proposition may be a uniquely joyless tendency of this artform’s fans, from a purely consumer standpoint, £17 for this much (polished at launch!) entertainment during a cost-of-living crisis is hard to ignore.

‘Hollow Knight: Silksong’ is out now for PlayStation, Xbox, PC and Nintendo Switch 2