As one of the most anticipated games in the past decade, Hollow Knight: Silksong’s release on September 4th of 2025 quite literally broke the internet, with multiple game stores such as Steam, Nintendo eShop, and Playstation crashing upon release. The announcement of Silksong’s planned release led to multiple upcoming games such as Aeterna Lucis by Aeternum Game Studios and CloverPit by Panik Arcade delaying release due to expected high competition. Furthermore, Silksong earned 3rd place for most concurrent Steam players at 587,150 players at an all-time peak (SteamDB).
Silksong was produced over 7 years by Team Cherry, an Australian independent game developer consisting of only 3 members: Ari Gibson, William Pellen, and Jack Vine. Due to the long period of production, fans of the prequel, Hollow Knight (2017), worried Team Cherry was stuck in “development hell,” a project remaining in early stages of development due to various challenges with production (Wikipedia). However, according to co-director Gibson in an interview with Bloomberg, Team Cherry was simply enjoying creating their game. “It’s also that problem where, because we’re having fun doing it, it’s not like, ‘It’s taking longer, this is awful, we really need to get past this phase.’ It’s, ‘This is a very enjoyable space to be in. Let’s perpetuate this with some new ideas.'” Gibson responded (Bloomberg).
Silksong takes place directly after the events of Hollow Knight. Hornet, the former princess of the fallen kingdom of Hallownest is kidnapped and transported to Pharloom, a haunted kingdom in a gradual decline. Players explore Pharloom as Hornet to confront her captors from the Citadel, the religious peak of the kingdom. In Silksong, Hornet faces over 200 enemies and 40 boss characters, earning new Tools and Crests to equip in battle. Additionally, Silksong features a quest system, where players can complete tasks for NPCs to obtain achievements and even rewards. Act 1 begins at the bottom of Pharloom in the Moss Grottos, a tutorial environment for players to learn Hornet’s basic movements and mechanics before moving on to other areas of the kingdom, such as the Marrow and Shellwood. Act 2 begins upon reaching the Citadel, in which players upgrade Hornet’s skills such as by obtaining the Threefold Melody and learning Transversal Skills before reaching the final boss of the act, Grand Mother Silk. Although Silksong can be beaten in Act 2, alternate endings are included in Act 3, a secret third act that requires the competition of various tasks, including the fulfillment of all Wishes in the new wishboard quest system.
As a fan of Hollow Knight for 4 years, Silksong personally earns a rating of 4.5/5 stars. With a map roughly 50% larger than Hollow Knight and an estimated playthrough time of 60+ hours for a 100% completion, Silksong has been completely worth the wait. The original soundtrack produced by Christopher Larken is incredible, adding mood and atmosphere to the already immersive kingdom of Pharloom. Although gameplay mechanics have improved with new acrobatic combat, some fans have complained about the increased difficulty compared to Hollow Knight, such as how benches, which act as save points, now require in-game currency called rosary beads to purchase, or how most enemies now deal two units of health known as masks instead of just one. It is highly recommended to play Hollow Knight before Silksong not only to better adjust to the difficulty of the newly released game. Priced at only $20, I would absolutely recommend Silksong to anyone interested in exploring the engaging and emotional lore behind Team Cherry’s world of insectoids.
