Hollow Knight Silksong - Everything We Know About the Upcoming Metroidvania
Mar. 4, 2024Hollow Knight Silksong – Everything We Know About the Upcoming Metroidvania
In this article, we are going to be taking a look at the highly anticipated sequel to Hollow Knight, Hollow Knight Silksong. The first Hollow Knight was developed for 4 years with just 3 passionate developers from Team Cherry, and it came out as a modern masterpiece with universal acclaim still remembered today, 7 years later. Silksong has been teased throughout the years, with the announcement trailer 4 years ago along with 20 minutes of gameplay, and another minute of gameplay around a year ago in the Xbox Game Pass trailer.
In Hollow Knight Silksong you play as Hornet, a companion who had a large impact on the story of the original Hollow Knight, and was even a boss. To give some brief lore, Hornet is the daughter of the Pale King, who was a higher being and the old monarch of Hallownest, the kingdom featured in Hollow Knight.
Hallownest suffered an infection that mind controlled its inhabitants caused by a grumpy god who was angered about the people forgetting him. The Pale King placed a seal upon the infection with the sacrifice of the Hollow Knight, and the Dreamers, one of whom was Hornets mother, Herrah the Beast. In the years that followed, Hornet devoted her life to protecting Hallownest and the seal containing the infection.
In this new instalment, Hornet finds herself captured and transported to the kingdom of Pharloom, following the sealing of the infection in Hollow Knight. This mysterious and haunted kingdom is governed by the powerful forces of silk and song, and contrasts Hallownest’s ruined and desolate atmosphere, with a flourishing land brimming with life. Hornet harnesses the power of Silk in her journey, while the theme of Song manifests in various musical elements, such as many interactive bells, adversaries weilding musical instruments, and moments of musical interaction between Hornet and NPCs.
While Hornet was trapped within a cage, a stray white butterfly landed upon it, breaking the seal that bound her strength, allowing her to escape, but at the same time fall into the depths of Pharloom and its lowest level. Her quest entails ascending the kingdom to its peak, where a grand, holy citadel stands, though the purpose behind her ascent remains shrouded in mystery. What we do know is that Pharloom, akin to Hallownest, suffers a new form of a brainwashing curse, much like the infection of Hallownest, and that Hornet must battle these infected as well as challenge multiple adversaries that impede Hornet’s journey on her path to reach the citadel.
The world of Silksong and it’s new kingdom, Pharloom, will be a massive area possibly even bigger than Hallownest. Among the diverse regions showcased in Pharloom are the Moss Grotto, the Deep Docks, Greymoor, The Marrow, and The Citadel, alongside numerous caves, cities, and other unnamed locations. There looks to be a central hub reminiscent of Dirtmouth, taking on the appearance of an underground city housing important NPCs that Hornet will befriend and ally with on her travels.
Unlike the silent protagonist in Hollow Knight, Hornet engages in dialogue with strangers, expressing her unique personality and creating meaningful conversations. This reminds me a lot of From Software’s approach with Sekiro, which also had a main character with real dialogue as opposed to the silent protagonists of Dark Souls, which made the relations within that game feel much more personal.
One prominent character we have seen throughout trailers is Lace, one of the bugs who opposes Hornet in her ascent. She is also a recurring boss, which we will cover in more depth later, but as an NPC she simply is stated to “feel delight at causing Hornet’s swift, skewered demise”. Her intentions are unclear, but interestingly, before engaging in combat, Lace can be observed interacting with white butterflies—similar to the one that freed Hornet from her cage— potentially inferring that she is secretly an ally. Nevertheless, she definitely appears poised to play a significant role in Hollow Knight Silksong, based on the substantial exposure she receives in the trailers.
Like Lace, another rival opposing Hornet is Trobbio. He is known as the Master of the Stage, and The Brush and the Voice, a majestic and flamboyant pink butterfly seeking fame and adoration. This character is going to be another boss that you also interact with as you progress in the game, though given his lack of screen time, it’s likely that Lace plays a larger role.
Moving on to friendly NPCs, let’s begin with Shakra. Hailing from a renowned clan within Pharloom, Shakra is a formidable warrior celebrated for her adeptness in navigating the kingdom’s wilds. On her quest to locate her vanished mentor, she crosses paths with Hornet, potentially fighting her before they become friends. She will act as “the Cornifer” for Silksong, exceling in cartography, offering players with detailed maps of various regions throughout Pharloom. Unlike Cornifer’s papers, players will track Shakra’s chakrams from her scrimmages in combat to track her down and obtain maps.
Another important NPC will be the new blacksmith, the Forge Daughter. She is a massive bug who agrees to help Hornet craft the tools she needs, given that she is provided with the necessary materials. She also has a small worker called Ballow, who Hornet can hit in the head to give the Forge Daughter a good laugh.
Other characters who won’t have as much of a spotlight are Sherma, an unathletic pilgrim on a spiritual journey resembling Quirrel, and Garmond and Zaza, a duo rambunctious older bug and his noble steed on a quest to discover a new home. It’s said that Garmond is the chattier of the two, but Zaza is “probably the real brains of the pair”. We actually see these two in combat alongside Hornet, so maybe we can expect some NPCs to fight alongside us in certain sections of the game.
The basic Metroidvania elements of Hollow Knight will still be present in Silksong, such as platforming, bosses and enemies, unique areas and pretty much everything people loved about Hollow Knight. The difference is that this time around, Team Cherry will be adding some new features that build upon Hollow Knights skeleton, freshening up the experience.
One of the big new features of Silksong was shown to be questing. Upon reaching a certain point in the game, likely after unlocking the hub area, Hornet gains access to a quest board where friendly inhabitants of Pharloom offer various tasks. These quests come in three distinct types: Gathering quests, involving the collection of items or materials, Hunt quests, focusing on the elimination of specific targets, and Wayfarer quests, which are likely centered around exploration of particular areas. Each quest will have a difficulty along with a personal note from the character giving vague instructions. True to Team Cherry style, its likely that these quests will offer minimal directions at all, so hardcore fans can rest assured that it won’t be hand-held guided content, but instead additional content that players can complete to acquire some Rosaries, the new currency.
Rosaries basically function the same as Geo, acting as currency to buy certain merchandise and being lost upon death. However, there is a new mechanic involving an item called a Rosary String, allowing players to attach Rosaries to strings to safeguard them from loss upon death. However, safeguarded rosaries are unusable until the Rosary String is broken. Another additional currency that Hornet will acqurie from defeated enemies and structures are Shell Shards, which are used for crafting Hornets tools and replenishing them upon resting at a bench.
Hornets tools serve a role similar to the amulets from Hollow Knight, providing her with various unique abilities to assist her in combat. Each tool is categorized by a color, namely Red, Yellow, Blue and a White category likely associated with silk abilities. Unlike the Knight, who collected charm notches to increase the maximum number of amulets equipped, Hornet’s tool capacity will be determined by “Crests” in Silksong.
These Crests features different combinations of Red, Yellow, Blue and White slots for equipping tools. At least four crests have been shown in the game so far, as evidenced by the changes in the graphic displayed on the top left throughout trailers. Among these, the only known Crests include the Wanderer Crest and the Reaper Crest. There have been subtle hints that changing crests will change hornets fundamental abilities; for example, equipping the Reaper Crest sharpens the edge of her attacks with a distinct animation. There’s speculation that the nail length displayed in the top left corner indicates the level or rarity of the crest, with some reaching up to the 5th mask, while others only extend to the 2nd mask.
In addition to the crest system and combat mechanics, there’s also some returning features and smaller additional features being added to Silksong. The stag train station feature looks like it will be making a comeback in the form of the Bell Beast. a creature Hornet encounters in her journey. Initially, the Bell Beast will probably be faced as a boss, with Hornet taming it upon defeat and converting it into a fast travel system. Grubs will also be making a return, this time around known as Fleas to be collected and returned to the mysterious group of NPCs known as the Caravan for rewards. These wandering adventurers display an unusual interest in collecting the Fleas scattered across the kingdom, which will likely be explained later in the game.
Other returning features in Silksong include Benches, allowing Hornet to alter crests and replenish Tools using Shell Shards, lore tidbits found throughout the kingdom, a cocoon spawned upon death containing Rosaries that can be reclaimed by breaking it, and “power meter” at the top left alongside the health system.
The Soul Meter which was used for The Knight’s special abilities has been renamed to the Silk Meter, which is charged up upon attacking enemies for use in special abilities. The Soul Totems that were used to recharge this resource outside of combat are now replaced with cobwebs and spindles found throughout the map. The health system mirrors that of Hollow Knight, requiring the collection of four mask shards to increase health by one, so no changes there.
Furthermore, Silksong will introduce a new challenge called Silk Soul Mode, drawing inspiration from Hollow Knight’s Steel Soul Mode, which was basically a permadeath run. Team Cherry has teased that this mode will expand upon the original concept, with additional depth and content, though they have not divulged further details.
Traversal also has some new and returning features elevating the platforming experience to new levels. Hornet will be able to edge grab on ledges, sprint by holding down dash and even execute massive sprint jumps. Additionally, nail serves as a versatile grappling hook, allowing her to latch onto walls, enemies, and environmental fixtures. We also saw some returning traversal methods from the Knight, such as a special silk dash akin to the Shade Cloak, and a lot of pogo-ing off enemies, but now with variations in angles and heights. Hornet can even utilize her tools as platforms for reaching higher areas. Environmental elements like air currents and timed events, such as lava overflow were also shown within the game. With these features and more yet to be revealed, it seems like the depth of platforming in Silksong will be going way beyond the basic abilities of The Knight used in the platforming of Hollow Knight.
The Combat of Silksong looks like a completely unhinged version of the basic combat of Hollow Knight, promising a plethora of options for how to approach fighting various enemies. The fundamentals of combat will revolve around dashing, lots of pogoing on top of enemies for airtime, uppercut slashes, throwing back enemy projectiles, as well as a myriad of abilities using Silk. Abilities seen so far include the basic heal, which is instantaneous now, a spider form which makes her smaller and faster, Gossamer Storm which you may recognise as one of Hornets boss moves in Hollow Knight, an AOE move throwing her nail and pulling it back in quick succession, a parry blocking incoming damage, the grappling ability mentioned before and a damaging dash ability similar to Shade Cloak.
Tools in the game which complement her abilities are replenished at benches, and upgraded somewhere in the game. An example is the Straight Pin, a light throwing tool which is thrown horizontally, which can be upgraded into Tri-Pins, which throw out 3 projectiles out in a spread pattern instead of just 1. There are about a dozen other tools showcased thus far:
In terms of enemies, not one enemy from Hollow Knight was shown in the trailers for Silksong. With the promise of over 150 new enemies in the game, the game has been said to be surpassing the amount of enemies found in Hollow Knight. Unlike the comparatively “easy” foes encountered in Hollow Knight, Silksong seems to be ramping up the difficulty to align with Hornet’s agility and prowess compared to The Knight. For example, certain enemies with bell heads will not be attackable from above, forcing hornet to attack from below, and some enemies will throw multiple grenade projectiles while also having melee capabilties.
The most challenging of the enemies shown so far was definitely the Lace bossfight, where we could see quick and complex move patterns that seem to surpass the difficulty of the Mantis Lords bossfight. She employs a variety of moves including a parry, swift horizontal lunges, attacks during stagger recovery and even the trauma inducing Waterfowl Attack, straight out of Malenias fight in Elden Ring. Other bosses that were glimpsed briefly include Trobbio, Master of the Stage, the Moss Mother, the first boss of the game, Seth, a sentinel guarding something, Hunter Queen Carmelita, potentially the Ant Queen, and the Last Judge. There were many more unnamed bosses within the trailer coming in different shapes and sizes alongside movesets and themes, so we can expect a wide variety.
Tyr
て んじよ うてんげ ゆいが とくそん
