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Hollow Knight: Silksong is difficult, and Team Cherry has acknowledged steep difficulty spikes and reduced the challenge of two early bosses. But the available evidence does not show that difficulty is the main reason players leave negative Steam reviews. Current Steam scores remain strong, while reporting from September 2025 identified Simplified Chinese localization complaints as another factor in the game’s global review sentiment.
Are negative Steam reviews mainly about Silksong’s difficulty?
That conclusion is not established. Steam’s live listing, accessed October 8, 2026, shows 91% positive recent reviews from 3,229 reviews posted in the last 30 days, and 93% positive English reviews from 146,338 reviews. Steam labels both groups “Very Positive.” These are moving snapshots, not a complete international breakdown, and Steam’s summary does not identify why reviewers left negative feedback. Steam’s Silksong listing also includes “Difficult” among its user-defined tags: a sign that challenge is a prominent part of the game’s identity, not proof that it caused particular reviews.
Historical reporting points to another important source of complaints. On September 23, 2025, GamesRadar+ reported that many negative reviews at the time were in Simplified Chinese and concerned the localization. It cited a historical snapshot of 91% positive when non-English reviews were filtered out, compared with 82% globally. Those figures describe the review picture reported then, not today’s scores. The current Steam excerpt gives English and recent scores but no current all-language breakdown. GamesRadar+’s September 2025 report therefore helps explain why a global review result should not be reduced to a difficulty complaint.
The cited material does not include a survey, controlled study, or primary analysis of Steam reviews that quantifies how much difficulty contributes. The careful answer is that difficulty is a real point of discussion and prompted a targeted balance change, but it is not established as the single or principal cause of negative reviews.
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- Classic side-scrolling action, with all the modern trimmings. Dodge, dash and slash your way through even the most deadly adversaries.
- Tightly tuned 2D controls. Dodge, dash and slash your way through even the most deadly adversaries.
- Forge your own path! The world of Hallownest is expansive and open. Choose which paths you take, which enemies you face and find your own way forward.
- An enormous cast of cute and creepy characters all brought to life with traditional 2D frame-by-frame animation.
- Leap into minds with the Dream Nail. Uncover a whole other side to the characters you meet and the enemies you face.
Did Team Cherry make Silksong’s early bosses easier?
Yes. In patch notes dated October 13, 2025, Team Cherry said it made a “Slight difficulty reduction in early game bosses Moorwing and Sister Splinter.” The same update also adjusted the economy: it slightly lowered mid-game Bellway and Bell Bench prices and increased Rosary rewards. The official Team Cherry announcements and patch notes on Steam Community document those changes.
This is evidence that the studio addressed some early-game friction. It does not show that every difficulty concern was addressed, that the changes altered review sentiment, or that difficulty explained most negative reviews.
Rank #2
![Hollow Knight - Nintendo Switch [Digital Code]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51nXCF+sf5L._SL160_.jpg)
- Classic side-scrolling action, with all the modern trimmings.
- Forge your own path! The world of Hallownest is expansive and open. Choose which paths you take, which enemies you face and find your own way forward.
- Evolve with powerful new skills and abilities! Gain spells, strength and speed. Leap to new heights on ethereal wings. Dash forward in a blazing flash. Blast foes with fiery Soul!
- Equip Charms! Ancient relics that offer bizarre new powers and abilities. Choose your favorites and make your journey unique!
- An enormous cast of cute and creepy characters all brought to life with traditional 2D frame-by-frame animation.
What does Team Cherry say about the difficulty?
Team Cherry co-founder Ari Gibson acknowledged steep difficulty moments while discussing the game at ACMI Game Worlds. As reported by Nintendo Life, Gibson said: “Silksong has moments of steep difficulty, but part of allowing a higher level of freedom within the world means that you have choices all the time about where you’re going and what you’re doing”. He added, “The important thing for us is that we allow you to go way off the path,” and said players could respond to challenges through “exploration, or learning, or even circumventing the challenge entirely.” Nintendo Life’s report of Gibson’s comments is secondary coverage of the ACMI discussion, rather than a primary Team Cherry transcript.
That design rationale offers context, not a guarantee that a particular fight will feel fair to every player. It frames exploration and route choice as possible ways to respond when a challenge proves difficult.
Rank #3
![Hollow Knight: Silksong Standard - Nintendo Switch [Digital Code]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51mOgOC8xEL._SL160_.jpg)
- Discover the fallen insect kingdom of Pharloom! Explore mossy grottos, gilded cities and misted moors as you ascend to the shining citadel at the top of the world.
- Engage in lethal acrobatic action! Wield a huge suite of deadly moves as you dance between foes in swift, beautiful combat.
- Craft powerful tools! Master an ever-expanding arsenal of weapons, traps, and mechanisms to vanquish your enemies and explore new heights.
- Solve shocking quests! Hunt down rare beasts and solve ancient mysteries to grant the wishes of the downtrodden and restore the kingdom’s hope.
- Face over 200 ferocious foes! Beasts and hunters, monsters and knights. Defeat them all with bravery and skill!
Is Silksong too hard for you?
There is no objective threshold that makes the game “too hard” for everyone. Its difficulty is salient enough to appear among Steam users’ tags, and Gibson has acknowledged steep moments. At the same time, the developer’s comments describe a game where players may explore elsewhere, learn through repeated attempts, or find an alternate way around a challenge. Whether that approach suits you depends on how much you enjoy learning demanding encounters and choosing your own route.
For the evidence-backed, practical distinction: Moorwing and Sister Splinter received a slight reduction in difficulty in the October 2025 update; the available sources do not establish a broader reduction across the game. Nor do they establish that the update caused current review scores to rise.
Quick Recap
Best Value
Rank #4
![HOLLOW KNIGHT [E10]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51gHoLA9kNL._SL160_.jpg)
- Includes four giant bonus content packs: Hidden Dreams, The Grimm Troupe, Lifeblood, and Godmaster
- Classic side-scrolling action, with all modern trimmings
- Tightly tuned 2D controls. Dodge, dash, and slash your way through even the most deadly adversaries
- Explore a vast interconnected world of forgotten highways, overgrown wilds, and ruined cities
- Forge your own path. The world of Hallownest is expansive and open. Choose which paths you take, which enemies you face, and find your own way forward
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