While Team Cherry originally planned to make the standalone game DLC for Hollow Knight, Hollow Knight: Silksong ended up becoming an entire game of its own. The second installment of the Australian indie developer has taken a while to release. With no release date announced so far, there is a chance fans are wondering if Team Cherry should have just kept the idea behind Hollow Knight: Silksong as additional content of the first game, which could have probably been condensed and released earlier.
However, Team Cherry had very good reasons to expand to a completely standalone experience. Hollow Knight: Silksong ended up being an entire game instead of an expansion because of everything it would entail to set up the adventure. Even though the eternal TBA release date is making some consider Silksong the Elden Ring of indie games, there were many reasons to change the plan and release Silksong as a sequel to this beloved indie Metroidvania.
Hallownest's Size
One of the things that makes Hollow Knight particularly impressive is the fact that it was developed thanks to Kickstarter. Although that is not entirely uncommon, it is amazing how much Team Cherry has accomplished. Thanks to the support of many, Team Cherry got funding for many of its goals, including one of the two Hollow Knight expansions with another playable character. Team Cherry had planned to make Hornet playable practically since the project started, but when the game was released, Hornet's DLC was not part of it.
Team Cherry substituted Hornet's DLC with the Colosseum of Fools, so supporters still got additional content. However, Team Cherry decided to leave out the expansion from the first game because of actual technical problems. Hornet is a more agile character than the Knight, meaning her combat style and general gameplay are drastically different. All of Hallownest and its enemies are a proper opponent for the Knight but are not made to match Hornet's size and dynamism.
One of the main issues Team Cherry faced when trying to create this DLC was the fact that maps felt too small for a character like Hornet. Not only would Hallownest feel much more compressed, but navigating the areas would pose a significant challenge as well. Hornet's fighting style is shown twice in Hollow Knight proper. In both fights, Hornet moves through the arena extremely quickly and uses attacks that cover a great distance. In that sense, making Hornet fight a Tiktik and other small bugs would have been boring for players and Hollow Knight: Silksong could accommodate Hornet much better.
Tailor-Made For Hornet
Even though supporters did not get Hornet's DLC in Hollow Knight, they will get a full-blown version of Team Cherry's original idea. While Hollow Knight: Silksong has been taking a while to release, it seems like Team Cherry figured out how to accommodate Hornet in the Hollow Knight universe so that players can experience better gameplay.
For one, fans will get to explore a whole new setting. Since Hornet's adventure is set in Pharloom instead of Hallownest, Team Cherry was able to design a map in which Hornet would fit without lowering the game's difficulty. Furthermore, Pharloom's map will be a better fit for Hornet in terms of movement, which for her is more vertically-oriented than the Knight's. That way, players will still feel challenged to reach the Citadel through all the platforming action.
Another thing that makes Hollow Knight: Silksong attractive is how fans will get to use Hornet's abilities as seen in the first game. For instance, Hornet uses a nail that can be propelled forward covering a lot of horizontal space which could appear in Silksong as well. Because of Silksong's new crafting system that replaces charms, players will get to enjoy more of Hornet's abilities.
Lastly, Hollow Knight: Silksong will be taking advantage of another important feature of Hornet: her ability to talk. While the Knight remained silent throughout the game and could only interact with others by listening, Hornet does have a voice, which means she also has a personality. That on its own probably led Team Cherry into designing a whole new game and story that would exploit all of the character's features.
Hollow Knight: Silksong is currently in development for PC and Switch.