Due to its predecessor's undeniable success, it is no surprise fans are looking forward to the release of Hollow Knight: Silksong. Even though Hollow Knight did have some RPG elements, it seems like Team Cherry's new game will feature more of these. However, these changes in Hollow Knight: Silksong could affect the game style of the highly acclaimed indie Metroidvania title.
While Hollow Knight is mostly known as a Metroidvania, there is definitely a lot of platforming and RPG elements included in the game. Even though it is normal for games to grab elements from different genres, leaning too much into RPG could be risky for Team Cherry. In order for Hollow Knight: Silksong to live up to the fans' expectations, it is important that the game does not stray away too far from the original title.
RPG Elements in Hollow Knight
One thing Hollow Knight does really well is allowing the player to choose the path they are going to take. Even though some areas of the map might be inaccessible at first, the player has more than one way to advance through the game. In Hollow Knight, after going through Forgotten Crossroads and Greenpath, players could either go to Fungal Wastes, Crystal Peak, or Fog Canyon. Some of the routes might be more fruitful than others, but it is possible to choose either of them to explore more of Hallownest.
In addition to choosing their own path, another RPG element players will experience is the discovery of NPCs. In Hollow Knight, the player is not required to talk to every single NPC to get through the game, but it does add a lot of dimension to the story and it allows the player to discover more of Hollow Knight's lore. Players can decide to go through Crystal Peak first and meet the sweet mining bug Myla or go to Fungal Wastes and discover the honorable Mantis Tribe. Even more, players could decide not to interact with these characters right away, adding to the RPG elements.
Finally, Hollow Knight gives the players the option to fight some bosses who are not required to finish the game. Some of the optional bosses include the Nosk located in Deepnest, or all of the Warrior Dreams which are scattered all over Hallownest. There are also some bosses added in Hollow Knight's DLCs (which by the way are also optional but interesting additions to the game) such as the Grimm or the Hive Knight. Hopefully, all of these elements will still be present in Hollow Knight: Silksong.
RPG Elements in Hollow Knight: Silksong
From what Team Cherry has disclosed about Hollow Knight: Silksong, there will be even more RPG elements in the new game. Some of them will be similar to the ones seen in Hollow Knight, such as the non-linear paths characteristic of Metroidvania games. Surely there will be many decisions as to which road to take in order to get Hornet to the Citadel.
One of the new elements in Hollow Knight: Silksong will be the fact that Hornet will get to do side quests. While the first game included a few side quests like the ones from the Grimm Troupe DLC, it was definitely not one of the major elements of the game. In Silksong, however, quests will play a much bigger role in the game, meaning there might be more room for RPG.
So far, it seems like Hornet can take four different types of quests: Gather, Hunt, Wayfarer, and Grand Hunt. Most of these categories seem straightforward with the notable exception of Wayfarer. Although Team Cherry has not shared more information about that type of quest, fans have deduced from the trailer that these quests might involve Hornet escorting an NPC to another location on the map.
Together with the fact that Hollow Knight's new main character will have the ability to talk instead of just listen, there seem to be a lot of RPG additions to Silksong. While this is definitely exciting as players will get to forge their own path through Pharloom, adding too many RPG elements might also result in the game's detriment. Some of the things that have made Hollow Knight so successful are the fun fight mechanics and its platform complexity. Pushing those more so than the RPG elements is likely Team Cherry's plan, but it's a fine balance to consider too.
Hollow Knight: Silksong is currently in development for PC and Switch.