In a new interview in EDGE Magazine, developers at Team Cherry reveals a few more details about their highly anticipated sequel, Hollow Knight: Silksong. The original Hollow Knight was an original Metroidvania with a distinct art style and a world that was always beckoning players with joyous discovery. It was the first game from the South Australian team, eventually hitting all major consoles and PC. It's currently on Xbox Game Pass as well, and interested players may want to give it a shot there if they're interested in playing something in the now. After an early 2019 announcement, Team Cherry is only giving a few more details about its next game in the opening of 2021, and they have not even hinted at a release date as of yet.
The original game was also one of a wave of Kickstarter-funded indie titles following the mammoth success of Double Fine's efforts in 2012. Team Cherry began working on the concept when they combined several game jam ideas into a single unique whole. The resulting work raised above its initial goal over the course of the month-long campaign, ending with a budget of just over $43,000. The success of the released game allowed them to start work on a sequel without crowdfunding support.
As revealed on GamesRadar+, Team Cherry has broken its silence for an Edge interview that details what players should expect from the upcoming Hollow Knight: Silksong. Co-directors Ari Gibson and William Pellen strived to create more sophisticated characters in the new game. Enemies will avoid falling off ledges like in the first game, instead of chasing the player and evading attacks in surprising ways. Meanwhile, NPCs will have quests that send Silksong playable character Hornet to unexpected corners of the map. These side activities will live in concert with the organic quest lines from the first game.
Hornet is a new primary protagonist for Silksong, and she's much more maneuverable than the original game's Knight. She moves faster, jumps higher, and clambers up ledges, all of which made for larger levels infused with more verticality. This may make the game more accessible, which is a stated goal for the new project. While the team wants to retain the original game's difficulty, they also want as many people as possible to be able to experience all the work they've put into their fantasy world. Of course, this doesn't stretch to the game's release platforms, which will be limited to PC and Switch on the still undetermined launch date.
It can be hard to recapture lightning in a bottle, as the developers at Team Cherry are no doubt realizing during the development of Hollow Knight: Silksong. 2020 was full of sequels to legendary indie titles that failed to capture the zeitgeist a second time. Whether it's Spelunky 2 losing out to Hades buzz, Rogue Legacy 2 entering a very early Early Access period or Super Meat Boy Forever missing the entire point of the original, the sequel business can be tough. Team Cherry certainly aren't rushing development, but only time will tell if their efforts can make the franchise one that sticks in the long run.
Source: GamesRadar+