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Hollow Knight: Silksong can feel confusing if its fast movement, demanding combat, open-ended exploration, and resource-based healing all arrive as unfamiliar systems at once. You do not need to have played Hollow Knight first, but you will need to learn Silksong on its own terms: get comfortable with Hornet’s movement, treat Silk as both healing fuel and ability fuel, and try another route or return later when a challenge stops you.
Why can Silksong feel confusing at first?
Silksong is a sequel, but it moves into a new kingdom, Pharloom, and centers on Hornet rather than simply asking players to repeat the first game’s routines. Team Cherry describes new powers, tools, enemies, and quests; Steam’s feature listing also highlights acrobatic combat, a large tool set, more than 200 foes, and more than 40 bosses. Those are publisher-listed features, not a measure of how difficult every player will find the game. Steam’s game listing and Team Cherry’s announcement establish the sequel’s setting and scope.
That combination asks you to read the environment, control Hornet precisely, and react quickly in fights while still deciding where to explore. If you are new to metroidvanias—games built around exploring an interconnected world and revisiting areas as you gain abilities—the unfamiliarity may come from not knowing which parts of the experience to prioritize yet. This is a player-experience possibility, not a universal verdict: Steam’s “Difficult” tag is a community label, and one PC Gamer reviewer described a punishing experience while noting they had skipped the original. Neither establishes how newcomers generally fare. PC Gamer’s review is one reviewer’s account, not a newcomer survey.
What should you learn first?
Get a feel for Hornet’s movement and combat
Give yourself time to learn how Hornet moves, jumps, attacks, and uses tools before treating every fight as a test of speed. Silksong’s official feature description emphasizes acrobatic combat and an expanding arsenal; movement and combat are intertwined with exploration, so a route that feels difficult may become more manageable as you improve your timing or choose a different approach. This is practical orientation, not a claim that one technique solves every encounter.
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#1 Best Overall
![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!
Think of Silk as both recovery and ability fuel
Healing is not a free pause. A PlayStation Blog comparison explains that Silksong’s Bind restores three health when Silk is full, can be used in mid-air, and consumes all of that Silk. Some powerful abilities also draw on Silk. That creates a real choice: spend the resource to recover now or keep it available for an ability. The exact mechanics described here come from the PlayStation Blog comparison; they are more useful to a newcomer than assuming healing works just as it did in the previous game.
Do you need to play Hollow Knight first?
No source establishes the original game as a prerequisite. Official store pages call Silksong a sequel, and the new setting and systems mean familiarity with Hollow Knight can provide series context without teaching you every skill this game requires. The PC Gamer reviewer explicitly said they skipped the original, but that is one reviewer’s experience—not proof that every newcomer will find the transition easy.
Rank #2
- Hollow Knight: Silksong is the epic sequel to Hollow Knight, the award winning action-adventure.
- Journey to all-new lands, discover new powers, battle vast hordes of bugs and beasts and uncover secrets tied to your nature and your past.
| Starting point | What it offers | What to expect |
|---|---|---|
| Hollow Knight first | Context for the series and its world. | You will still need to learn Hornet, Silksong’s tools, and its Silk-based healing. |
| Silksong first | A direct start in Pharloom with the game’s own protagonist and systems. | You may have less familiarity with the series, but the available evidence does not show that prior play is required. |
There is no demonstrated comparison showing one order is best. Choose the first game if you want the series context; start with Silksong if its setting and action are what you want to play. Either way, expect to learn the current game’s systems rather than rely on old habits.
What should you do when you get stuck?
Do not assume every obstacle means you have missed a mandatory trick. Team Cherry’s Ari Gibson, as quoted in a Dexerto interview report, described the game as offering choices about where to go and what to do, including mitigating difficulty through exploration, learning, or circumventing a challenge. That is reported developer guidance, not a guarantee that every obstacle has an easy bypass. Dexerto’s report attributes those comments to Gibson.
Rank #3
- Classic side-scrolling action, with all the 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.
- 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 favourites and make your journey unique!.An enormous cast of cute and creepy characters all brought to life with traditional 2D frame-by-frame animation..
- Try a different approach. Reconsider the route, tools, or timing you are using rather than repeating the same attempt unchanged.
- Explore elsewhere. If the world offers another direction, take it; exploration can provide a change of pace and a chance to learn.
- Return later. A challenge that is frustrating now may be worth revisiting after you have gained experience or feel more comfortable with Hornet’s movement.
These are options, not rules. If you enjoy discovery and demanding action, the need to experiment may be part of the appeal. If you prefer gentle onboarding and a clearly marked route, the same open-ended structure may feel frustrating. That distinction is an inference from the game’s described systems and one review, not a measured split between types of players.
Has the difficulty changed since launch?
Yes, specific balance adjustments were announced after release, so launch-day impressions do not necessarily describe the current build. Team Cherry’s Steam announcements record slight difficulty reductions for the early bosses Moorwing and Sister Splinter, along with reduced Sandcarver damage. Those notes establish changes to those encounters; they do not establish that the whole game was broadly made easier. Check the official Steam announcements for the patch notes and their dates.
Rank #4
![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.
Which platform details may help?
For the PlayStation editions listed by Sony, the product page identifies basic controller remapping and says the game can be played without motion controls, controller vibration, or adaptive trigger effects. These are platform-specific listed features, not a full accessibility review or evidence that every edition offers identical controls. Consult the PlayStation product page for the editions and features relevant to your region.
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