Hollow Knight: Silksong is the highly anticipated sequel to the wildly popular Metroidvania Hollow Knight, but Team Cherry has yet to announce an official release date. Thankfully, Team Cherry has kept fans updated with the changes including a brand new protagonist and a different playstyle from the original Hollow Knight. Although there are some big changes coming, Hollow Knight: Silksong promises to recapture the magic of its predecessor.
Importantly, the development process behind Hollow Knight: Silksong is a lot more ambitious as Team Cherry is dedicated to bringing everything it wants to the newest title. The original Hollow Knight had to eventually cut some of its content to meet constraints, but with Hollow Knight: Silksong showcasing new features every update, it has the potential to live up to and even surpass the original.
Hollow Knight: Silksong Has Less Constraints Than the Original
One of the key differences in the level design of Hollow Knight: Silksong is how it reflects the new protagonist, Hornet, and her playstyle. Hornet brings a more agile playstyle to the series as she's taller than the original Knight meaning she can jump higher, move quicker, and grab ledges easily. As a result, the level design of Hollow Knight: Silksong is much more open than the constrained, underground design of the original game. There's far more potential in the verticality of level design which means Team Cherry can make better use of the scrapped ideas from Hollow Knight.
It's clear that Hollow Knight: Silksong is more ambitious than its predecessor due to its evolution from a DLC to a full, standalone game. Although a release date hasn't been announced, it's still reassuring to know that Team Cherry is taking its time with Hollow Knight: Silksong to create a different experience from the original. As more Hollow Knight: Silksong news is revealed, it becomes clear that the game is not only a sequel to the original, but an improvement to the core gameplay concepts as well.
Improving Mechanics While Retaining the Essence of Hollow Knight
Despite the massive amount of new changes in Hollow Knight: Silksong, it seems that none of them interfere with the mechanics that made the original Hollow Knight so great. Changes such as the new crafting system or quest log help diversify the approaches that players can take to the game while retaining the core Metroidvania elements of the original. For example, while Hornet has access to more tools and weapons than Knight, it doesn't detract from the difficulty of the game as the open-ended level design will naturally call for different strategies than the original. The new playstyle is designed with the improved mechanics in mind so that players don't miss out on what made the original Hollow Knight successful.
Since Hornet has the ability to speak and interact with the world around her, the exploration and story mechanics have also naturally changed in Hollow Knight: Silksong. Hornet will interact with NPCs more frequently and players will understand her motivations quicker than the original Knight. Despite this change of direction however, the aura of mystery from the original Hollow Knight remains as players must slowly explore the world to uncover the lore and secrets that surround the game. Though Hollow Knight: Silksong brings some major changes to the series, it retains the core ideas that made the original Hollow Knight a success while simultaneously improving them to fit a new playstyle.
Hollow Knight: Silksong is currently in development for PC and Switch.