Hollow Knight: Silksong finally appeared at Microsoft's showcase this week, and the long-awaited sequel to Hollow Knight came out looking quite different in many ways. What was expected was a sequel to the much-beloved Metroidvania (or search action) styled Hollow Knight - with a character change and maybe a couple of new mechanics. But instead, the trailer showed off a significant overhaul of the original Hollow Knight's combat and movement mechanics.
Released in 2017 for PC, the original Hollow Knight was a bit of an indie darling. Team Cherry was praised for taking inspiration from various titans of several genres, including the Nintendo genre blueprint Metroid, Mega Man X, and, perhaps unknowingly, even a touch of the Soulsbourne games. The team crafted the cutesy designed bug-filled world of Hollownest with full exploration in mind, with tight movement and non-linear exploration as the key hallmarks of this title. The game took off once it hit the Nintendo Switch and was met with praise from critics and elsewhere. The consensus was that Hollow Knight was a challenging but rewarding gameplay experience featuring responsive controls, a hauntingly beautiful atmosphere, gorgeous soundscapes, and charming hand-drawn aesthetics. Still, a brutal difficulty spike somewhat hampered it in many boss encounters.
Hollow Knight: Silksong's new reveal came out firing on all cylinders in a non-stop action-packed minute-and-a-half trailer highlighting heroine Hornet, as she came out hacking and slashing in a combo-filled, high-speed showcase of what the game is all about. Team Cherry seems to have adjusted the goal from a modestly paced action/exploration game to an explosive action/adventure title with exploration elements around it. Hornet is not the same as the Knight from the original title - she's far more skilled in combat and movement. Of course, the trailer shows off some of the slower moments seen in Team Cherry's original title, but those respites seem to be few and far between. The real focus of this trailer is combat, movement, and spectacle.
Hollow Knight: Silksong's Hornet Has A New Combat Style
The original game gave the Knight a reasonably standard move set. Hollow Knight's hero could use a pogo attack, slashes, a dash, and some spells that the Knight could use to heal himself or hurl projectiles toward foes. Hollow Knight: Silksong sees Hornet striking enemies with a beast-like ferocity the Knight could only dream of. Hornet is shown off doing dash slashes and chaining them into aerial combos with Sonic-like aerial spins, ending the string into diagonal piercing strikes. Hornet can interrupt her attacks by throwing several projectiles like tossing three of her needle-like weapon, red cone-like objects, caltrops, and spiny mines that skewer foes when they approach. She also has a thread-like special that allows her to ensnare and strike opponents. Hornet has far more options in her toolkit than the Knight when it comes to combat, and any number of these skills can effortlessly flow into other ones.
Hollow Knight: Silksong Has A Renewed Focus On Acrobatic Movement
Though combat is the main focus of Hollow Knight: Silksong's Xbox Summer Game Fest trailer, so is Hornet's acrobatic prowess. There is a heightened emphasis on faster traversal compared to the original game. Hornet can dash faster, jump higher, and grapple to distant objects using her needle and thread-like weapon, unlike the Knight's dash and double-jump limitations. Every action that Hornet utilizes can send her down a new path, sometimes literally. Bouncing off enemies seems even more deliberate this time than the original and contributes significantly to Hornet's survival. These expanded movement options show a greater focus on set pieces like a vertical lava chase sequence that delivers far more urgency than any one moment in the original Hollow Knight.
Team Cherry seems to have made good on its word to turn Hollow Knight: Silksong into a more approachable game inside of the Hollow Knight universe instead of the DLC it once debuted as. Despite the renewed emphasis on high-speed gameplay, Silksong seems to be doing a fine job keeping the spirit and style of the original game in place while carefully evolving and expanding the appeal to a much broader audience. Hollow Knight: Silksong may have some big differences from its predecessor, but they all seem to be building into a recipe for success for action/adventure lovers everywhere.