I was getting annoyed at seeing Hollow Knight mentioned here, thinking it was only a couple years old. According to Steam it was released in 2017. Damn. Haven't even heard of those other games though.
this post was submitted on 12 Sep 2025
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Hollow knight: silksong is a sequel to Hollow knight
I’m currently on what I think is my 15-20th playthrough of Elden Ring. I cheated this community a bit and did start Silksong and I’m also going through AC Origins too but Elden Ring has taken most of my time (like usual).
Only a fourth playthrough of Hollow Knight? I'm waiting on Silksong too for now, but I'm sure I easily exceeded that, just getting the achievements back when I first got into HK. 😅
Can anyone explain to someone who doesn't get it? How can a platformer be this great? I'm obviously not a player who gravitates to platformers, but I'm just curious about all this attention.
Platformers can be great (e. g. Celeste), but I don't think it's how you describe Hollow Knight genre. It's a metroidvania in the first place. But anyway, it's not a genre that brings the greatness, but amazing attention to detail; extremely satisfying gameplay; peak artstyle, music, writing and sense of humour; and amazing plot-twists. As you progress through the game, it reveals you the aspects you didn't even think about, and it just blows your mind. By the end of your playthrough you feel like you're playing absolutely different game than you started. I don't want to go much into details because of spoilers. That's what would be best to experience yourself if you decide to give the game a shot.
I can't spoil shit, haven't even beat the first major boss yet.
The fun of this game for me is a lot like back before GPS and ride share apps, how you might be lost at night and walking home, broke after a satisfying night out. You don't know where you are exactly, but you feel a creeping recognition as you make your way through unfamiliar areas. Then you get a moment of pure elation as your mental map puzzles it all out. Your world feels bigger, you feel safe again, and you're ready to return home with a true sense of satisfaction.
Then there's the way this game trains you to fight like the main character. You can't make too many mistakes because HP is limited and healing is often a high stakes moment, so you quickly learn a way to use the moveset - and when it clicks, it looks good.
You learn how to fight like Hornet, and the way she fights speaks to her story. Being the royal progeny of a spider and something eldritch, her style of combat is graceful yet intense, smooth as silk and totally merciless.
The surface elements (the storybook aesthetic, the gobbledygook bug-talk from amusingly forlorn characters) keep it all from becoming too grounded. If Team Cherry ever tried to make their work seem grounded in realism, I never noticed it. They use real things (like the "needle" you use as a weapon) as only small reminders that this is a story about bugs. These bugs are fully capable of metallurgy and heavy engineering, so anything that refers to the human world only exists to keep the sense of scale in focus.
To add to what you're saying, the game changes on you so much. From the start it's no Hollow Knight, but as you gain new abilities and ways to arrange those abilities, the game changes almost as fast as you can get good at it. I can't wait to get into the second act.
Great explanation, but I guess the question was about the first part and your answer is about Silksong (even though many things take place in the first game too)
They're very different games in some respects, but Silksong for me so far is very much a direct continuation and elaboration of the creative aims of the original. Same ideas, taken further. It's early for me, but it feels a little like it was taken in more of a Sekiro direction with the combat precision and more deliberate choice of weapons loadouts.
Thanks for explaining it. You and the other comment bpiqued my interest. Grateful.
I really like the world exploration. The world is pretty big, and it's common to come across an obstacle that you can't get past. I like the feeling of spending a few minutes trying to assess whether there's a way past, and then going off adventuring elsewhere, eventually finding something that makes you go "ooooh, that's how I'm meant to get past that earlier place". I like that it really rewards exploration. There's a lot of hidden stuff, but it's not overly opaque — there are usually lots of clues that help you to find secrets.
The open world also makes bosses easier. I'm not great at bosses, so quite often I will get bored of trying against a difficult boss and go elsewhere. There's nearly always more places to explore, and possibly find things that will make things easier.
I also love how well tutorialized the game is. When you get a new ability, the level design in the section after that helps you to learn first hand how that ability works, so even though the literal tutorial bit is little more than "Press [button] to [use ability], you come away with a good understanding of what that new ability will allow you to do.
I'm also typically not keen on platformers, but this game scratches a different itch for me
Interesting. I wouldn't have pictured platformers as having this much exploration. Thanks for taking the time. I'll have to check it out.
I don’t think platformer is a fair description of the game. Play forming is necessary but there’s a lot more to it.
Yeah fair enough. I'm not super familiar with the genre, still learning, but I've gotten a ton of good feedback.
Have you tried it? Its worth giving it a shot. Many people bail out after a handful of hours. Many people are discovering that metroidvanias aren't for them after jumping on the bandwagon for Silksong.
Platforming isn't the only thing this game has. There's solid platforming, exploring, solid combat (kinda souls-like), death leading to loss of currency and needing retrieval (like dark souls), excellent bosses, excellent art and sound, great story, high difficulty. So many things come together so well to make such a great game.
If you play it and still don't see the appeal, then it's provably not for you. People can sing praise for Counter Strike all day, and it might be well made for what it is.....but that game just ain't for me, even though it is so good at what it does.
I have 1000+ hours on mechabellum, and then playing monster train 2. Hades 2 is about to release. Send help
Is there a release date for Hades 2?
Saw an announcement earlier. Later in the month. I think 25th?
No, but everyone who has been responding have been really positive. Maybe I'll take a swing at it
2XKO has me in a death grip send help
It's been long on my wishlist.
I'd like to add Hades 2 to the list