It has been a long time since the last news aboutHollow Knight: Silksongwas released, but there is a lot of material to dissect about Team Cherry’s second game.Hollow Knighthas becomeone of the most beloved games in the Metroidvania subgenrebecause of its gameplay, design, and lore. The latter has been quite studied by fans everywhere, who have taken up the task of deciphering the backstory of Hallownest. While there is some straightforward information spread throughout the game, most of the time players need to be paying attention to little details, and have a good ability to connect the dots, in order to understand the story.
Luckily for fans, Team Cherry has shared some details aboutHollow Knight:Silksongtogether with the game’s trailer, providing more than enough info to start speculation. Fans have been studying in detail every single piece of information they can get their hands on. Of course, this is due to the lack of official news, but it’s also the complexity ofHollow Knightlore that requires fans to pay attention to everything. So far, fans have been digging into the few blog posts by Team Cherry, the officialSilksongtrailer, the Edge magazine feature, and some fan-made videos of the demo shown at E3 2019 to get more information aboutHollow Knight: Silksong.
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How Does Hornet Compare to the Knight?
There are definitely somesimilarities between Hornet and the Knightsuch as the ability to heal themselves or using nails as weapons. However, even these change a bit from oneHollow Knightgame to the other. While the Knight focuses soul to heal, it seems like inSilksong,silk and soul are inseparable. Hornet needs to bind herself in silk to heal.
Another huge difference regarding this is that binding takes less time than focusing and it can be done mid-air, but it costs Hornet an entire spool of silk to bind. Another difference is that, aside from her nail, Hornet seems to have the ability to shoot daggers. These projectiles might be part of the tools that will replace the charms fromHollow Knight. Lastly, instead of leaving a shade behind one death like inHollow Knight, Hornet will leave a cocoon with silk.
One of the first things fans noticed from the trailer and the demos is that Hornet is much more quick and dynamic than the Knight. Hornet can be seen walking, running, and sprinting, which is quite an upgrade from the Knight’s one-speed walk. Additionally, Hornet can jump in the air in more ways than just the usual dash the Knight had. It also seems like Hornet can use her nail to move through the air like some sort of grappling hook. In general, it seems likethe gameplay will differ a little fromHollow Knight, meaning there might be a bit of a learning curve, even for players who got through Team Cherry’s first game.
Another thing that has been explicitly mentioned by Team Cherry is the fact that Hornet is bigger than the Knight. This might seem like obvious information, but it does have an impact on how the game had to be designed. Since the main character is considerably taller,the whole map needs to accommodate Hornet’s sizeso it does not have a claustrophobic feel to it. Consequently, enemies need to be bigger so that they can match Hornet’s capabilities.
Finally, Hornet has a small but significant difference from the Knight: She has a voice. Interactions inHollow Knightrequired the Knight to just listen to other characters. However, as seen inHollow Knight: Silksong, Hornet does talk, which means fans will get to see more of her personality in the new game. While there are not many details available about Hornet’s conversations inSilksongyet, it could be that Hornet’s dialogues will reveal more information about the lore to players in a more straightforward, accessible manner.
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Is Silksong for Hollow Knight Fans Only?
The quick answer is no. The longer answer goes into more detail about what makesHollow Knight: Silksongdifferent fromHollow Knight. WhileSilksongwill obviously maintain a connection withHollow Knight, Hornet’s adventure and the way she will interact with everyone at Pharloom are very different. Hornet’s ability to speak might make new players become familiar with the game much faster, and even build rapport with the main character even without knowing Hornet’s backstory.
While some fans might feel discouraged that Team Cherry is not making new players go throughHollow Knightbefore diving intoSilksong, there are plenty of good reasons to do so. The obvious one is that it will not scare off people who might not have heard ofHollow Knightbefore but still decided to buySilksong.
Another reason might be that, by not assuming the player knows anything aboutHollow Knight, it might be easier to account for the different endings of the first game. Team Cherry has previously stated that all five endings ofHollow Knightare equally cannon, but the consequences of some of them contradict what is known aboutSilksongso far. While it is still unclear how Team Cherry plans on accounting for the Sealed Siblings ending in which Hornet is trapped in the Black Egg Temple with the Knight,maybe the plan is to pitchSilksongas a fresh startso it does not contradict the events of the first installment.
Even without the Sealed Siblings ending, it is hard to see how the Godmasters DLC fits into the new story, making it hard to seehow all the endings will be reconciled withSilksong. This is precisely why some people think thatSilksongis going to be a prequel instead of a sequel. Nevertheless, Team Cherry has been referring toSilksongas a sequel. Some people have argued that Team Cherry is using the term “sequel” loosely, just to refer to the second game they have released. However, the most popular idea is that the events inSilksongare supposed to come after those inHollow Knight, effectively making it a true sequel.
Hollow Knight: Silksongis currently in development for PC and Switch.
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