Score: 8/10

Hollow Knight: Silksong came out recently, and I got so much fomo as I had never completed the previous entry. I’ve attempted to clear the game 2 times, and just started my third playthrough. As of finishing this entry, I beat the final boss and ended up getting the 2nd best ending.

Hollow Knight is hard. If you only have a cursory interest in video games, I don’t recommend the game. As someone who is mildly masochistic and isn’t exactly good enough for Elden Ring, Hollow Knight is at the perfect threshold in difficulty for me where I can clear bosses after around 10 tries and a crashout in my journal.

However, the reason I kept dropping the game was, after not picking up a save for a while, it’s too hard to figure out:

  • where you are in the game’s progression
  • where to go next

And even when playing the game normally (so, playing a save continuously without dropping it), it for some reason has the Metroid problem of “what floor do I bomb” but worse. I think it’s because the maps are really large and winding, and pretty hard to navigate through. Sometimes, the obstacles are about 50% as challenging as a boss, which means you can often die or feel locked out.

My current mitigations are… to cheat unfortunately. But it’s made playing the game a lot better. I am using this guide to roughly figure out where to go to next, and I’m save resetting.

Reason for writing a review

I am currently reading The Art of Game Design which made me want to become more intentional with video games that I consume. Over the years, I’ve dialed in loosely the types of gaming experiences that are meaningful to me. I think going through the exercise of actually grading games would be helpful, not just for me, but for when I recommend games to others.

Score

I don’t think I’m ready to componenitize my rating system, so I’ll give it an 8/10 overall. Here’s why:

  • The game would be a 9/10 if it was easier to figure out what to do next. Not even necessarily objective markers, but maybe better ways to notate the map. It’s also absurd that a compass takes up a slot. It’s kind of basic in Metroidvanias to be able to tell where you are on the map. I think the game developers had this fantasy of people maybe drawing out maps themselves to navigate through the game, but that’s simply too much work
  • The environmental story was interesting and the strong commitment to aesthetic (never thought I’d see so many bugs) was compelling. This is perfectly integrated with the music and sound effects
  • Combat was super satisfying, and as you get better, the curve of enjoyment increases. It seems deceptively simple at first, but the combination of additional abilities and increased mastery end up making it one of my favorite platformers of all time. I’m going to miss controlling this character… which is fine because there’s the DLC + Silksong now!
  • Once I had committed to using the guide, the anxiety around not finding the nearest bench to a boss encounter ended up going away and I was able to enter flow state a lot more. In general, the game was a better experience when I wasn’t anxious about something, which is why I recommend using a guide!