Zeph Reviews: Hollow Knight: Silksong
Introduction
Hollow Knight: Silksong is a standalone adventure released by Team Cherry in which you play as a character named Hornet, who is abducted and taken to a distant land named Pharloom, where she must uncover the mystery of a strange affliction that grips the land while also learning about how her past and heritage tie into the troubles of the kingdom. Silksong was originally conceived as an expansion for the original Hollow Knight game, but it took on such a large scope that Team Cherry decided to release it (eventually) as a standalone game... and I can see why.
Story
Much of the story in Silksong will depend on how much you, the player, put into learning and understanding it. Much of the plot comes from conversations with NPCs, along with optional items and side quests that can be completed. The basics of the story are simple enough - Hornet has been captured, seemingly on the orders of those in charge of a fortress known as the Citadel, for some unknown purpose. She seeks to find out who ordered her capture and why. In the meantime, bugs all across the kingdom are being controllled by strands of silk, turning them into dangerous foes. You must fight these foes off while also learning about the history of the kingdom and its inhabitants, and why Hornet is a figure of such importance to those who rule it.
A large portion of the story is non-vital, and more parts of it are abstract. Conversations with NPCs hint at tragic pasts and tales of loss. None of it is vital, but for those who choose to delve into the details, there's a lot of meat on these bones. But even at its most basic, the story works just fine. Hornet is none too pleased to have been kidnapped and wants answers, and you're helping her seek them out. Sometimes simple works the best.
Score: 4 out of 5
Graphics/Art Style
Silksong has a very similar graphical style to the original Hollow Knight - crisply detailed sprites, gorgeous backgrounds, and design that highlights important aspects while also providing the opportunity for secrets to be found. Most interactable aspects of an environment will be obvious at first glance - flowers, bells, and other items to use for aerial navigation stand out easily, while stage hazards all spin, grind, burn, or writhe in immediately dangerous ways. But there are sections of walls and ceilings that take a second glance before you notice that they just don't look quite right, whereupon a few hits with your weapon will open a secret passageway (along with a pleasing sound so you know you found something hidden). Enemies are nicely detailed in their appearance, making identifying them easy, and they have obvious tells to their attack patterns for those who wish to study them and give themselves an edge in combat. My only real complaint is that, at times, it seems tough to discern what platforms have an edge that's easily grabbable, and which don't - there were several times where I felt that Hornet should have grabbed the edge of a ledge, and all she did was slip right past it. That could easily have been user error, however. All in all, because this feels like more of the same that we got from the original Hollow Knight, I find the graphics excellent, though not quite perfect.
Score: 4 out of 5
Sound/Music
This is one area where Silksong, in my mind, surpasses the original Hollow Knight. True, the original game had its own music for its various areas. But the music was relatively muted for the most part, and enemy noises tended to be a variety of grunts and other noises. Silksong's music really stands out in my mind, especially throughout the corridors of the Citadel. There's one area in particular, called the Choral Chambers, that quickly became one of my favorite themes in the game due to its hauntingly ethereal sound, coupled with a sense of imminent danger. Please enjoy listening to it:
The rest of the music, though perhaps not as immediately memorable as the Choral Chambers to me, is still excellent. Likewise, the sound effects in the game are very well done. One minor but incredibly important thing is that Hornet has multiple voice lines for the same actions, like attacking and healing. This means that the act of attacking an enemy or healing damage doesn't always sound exactly the same, and that goes a long way toward immersion in the game. Monotonous repetition of sounds is something that can get grating and annoying very quickly, but Silksong does a great job of avoiding that. Additionally, the sounds that enemies make have been expanded as well, as many of the bugs you are fighting have maintained at least a portion of their identity and consciousness. They make short comments or noises of joy or exasperation as they fight, giving the entire world a sense of being a living, breathing thing.
It's not quite like a massive RPG, with sweeping scores and epic themes, but the music and sound works excellently for this game. Score: 5 out of 5
Gameplay
Hornet controls much like the Knight from the Hollow Knight, but also very differently, particularly as you progress through the game. As you play, you will unlock new Crests for Hornet, which change the amount of type of tools that she can equip (more on those in a bit), along with the very nature of her attacks. For example - in her base form, if you attack downward while in the air, Hornet performs a diagonal attack that will bounce off of enemies or environmental items when it connects. This took me a while to get used to, because I was so used to the Knight's attack in the original game coming out directly below him, and acting more like a pogo stick. But one of the crests you can find, the Wanderer crest, makes Hornet's moveset nearly identical to the Knight's, though at the cost of range. Unsurprisingly, I switched to this crest and used it for the majority of the rest of the game. But there are many others that you can get that modify her charged skills and other attacks, leading to a wide variety of ways that you can play through the game.
There are also things called tools in the game, which act much like the charms in the original Hollow Knight, and they come in three different varieties. Red tools act like your sub-weapons, and can range from throwing knives, to a giant drill, to enchantments for your attacks. Blue toolsare generally passive upgrades that boost your combat abilities, such as giving you a longer attack range, increasing the speed of your resource regeneration, etc. Yellow tools are generally passive upgrades that can affect both combat and exploration, like a compass (so you know where you are on the map), or a brooch that automatically pulls rosaries (the game's main currency) towards you. Some crests give you a balanced variety of tools to use; others favor some colors over others. I admit that I didn't use the red tools often, and it likely would have made my playthrough easier if I'd done so.
On the topic of difficulty - I found Silksong to be notably harder than the original Hollow Knight in several ways. Combat feels more punishing, likely due to the change made to the healing resource system. In Hollow Knight, generally speaking, hitting an enemy three times would give you enough energy for a single heal. In Silksong? It takes 8 hits. This means that you have longer stretches of combat that force you to learn and adapt to enemy patterns instead of simply entering a slugfest before running away to heal. I found that I did best in fights when I actively reminded myself to slow down and play reactively, rather than trying to pump out damage as quickly as possible. Death is similar to the first Hollow Knight in that, when it happens, you have a chance to retrieve your corpse. In Silksong, you get a special item that will automatically retrieve it for you - I didn't use these much throughout my game (I think... I maybe only used two?) because I wasn't sure if I'd ever need them for anything else (and I hoard items). But there's nothing quite like the tense thrill of dying in a dangerous area and trying to make your way back to retrieve your stuff, knowing that another death will set you back drastically. It happened to me several times. It was rough.
Overall, it seems like the economy of the game is pretty well balanced. I didn't ever really NEED to grind currency for any unlocks, though I did so a couple of times just to make it easier on myself. The side quests are plentiful and none of them are particularly long or egregiously hard, though one in particular that modifies your core gameplay is potentially incredibly frustrating. The overall game itself is, quite simply, a lot of fun to play through, as long as you enjoy Metroidvanias (and possibly worlds populated by bugs).
Score: 5 out of 5
Replayability
At the time of this writing (5/12/2026), replayability is probably the only real knock against this game - which, to be fair, is a common thing for any Metroidvania-type game. It's a single player experience meant to tell an epic story, and it does so well. It doesn't necessarily NEED anything after that story is told, and for better or for worse, that's largely the case here. There's a "bad" ending to the game, which incentivizes players to complete side quests and unlock the third act of Silksong, but once that's completed the only real allure to returning to the main game is to work towards 100% completion, including filling out the game's beastiary. There are two additional modes that are added to the game once you complete the third act - Steel Soul mode and a Speedrun mode. Speedrunning games is not for everyone, so this mode will only appeal to a smaller subset of players, and the same goes for the difficulty of Steel Soul mode (where you are granted a single life, and if you die, your game is finished and you have to begin again from the beginning). It's entirely possible that Team Cherry may release some DLC packs to expand upon the adventure, but for the base game, the main story is the main attraction and there isn't much else.
Score: 2 out of 5
Zeph's Verdict
I was late to the party for the original Hollow Knight, so I didn't have to wait as long as other people were. It was still a long wait, but I'm pleased to say that it was worth it. Playing through Silksong was amazingly fun, if a bit difficult and frustrating at times, and I can't recommend this game enough to people who like this type of game. And it's not even all that expensive!
Final Score: 20/25 - Highly Recommended
Want to see the game in action? Check out my Zeph Plays playlist for it by clicking this link! Zeph Plays Silksong