By Rory Archer
TUCSON, ARIZ. — I’ve been a fan of “Hollow Knight” for a long time. It was one of the video games my dad bought for me on my Nintendo Switch for my thirteenth birthday, and amidst a global pandemic, I spent most of my isolation navigating the difficult, yet beautiful, world of “Hollow Knight.”
I dressed up as the game’s bug princess, Hornet, that Halloween, and spent my time hiking, listening to the game’s soundtrack across dirt trails, as I kept my Nintendo Switch in my bag at all times–just in case I took a break on my hike to continue playing the game.
I expectantly read articles about the game’s supposed sequel, which had been announced the year before, in 2019. It’s been seven years since that announcement, and with the game releasing earlier this month, I recall a text I had sent my friend group this last summer:
“We’re getting GTA 6 before we get Silksong or The Wolf Among Us 2… and ‘GTA 6’ is never coming out.”
I sent a GameRant article likening various games in “development hell” to Australian indie studio Team Cherry’s “Hollow Knight: Silksong.”
Fourteen-year-old me, dressed as Hornet for Halloween.
“Silksong” has been the subject of jokes, woes, and hype in the realm of popular gaming since the spinoff was announced. It succeeds the hit indie game “Hollow Knight”, a Soulslike Metroidvania—a 2D platformer focused on challenging combat and expansive maps for players to explore.
The game follows the story of a bug known as The Knight, as they explore the desolate kingdom of Hallownest, which has been ravaged by a supernatural infection. Silksong picks up the story of The Knight’s half-sister, Hornet, as she explores a separate kingdom called Pharloom. While the original Hollow Knight was an anticipated release, having earned 163% of its Kickstarter goal in 2014, its sequel, Silksong, has the reputation of its predecessor to live up to, with exponentially more fans following it.
While there were some initial announcements and publications from Team Cherry regarding the development process, they appeared to be radio silent by 2021, leaving many fans desperate for any sign of life from the sequel.
“It’s just the case that we’re a small team, and games take a lot of time. There wasn’t any big controversial moment behind it,” said Ari Gibson, one of Team Cherry’s three members, in an interview with PC Gamer this year.
“Because of how we work, obviously, the world ended up being just as big or bigger. And the quest system existed. And the multiple towns existed. Suddenly, you end up six, seven years later. We felt like continued updates were just going to sour people on the whole thing, because all we could really say is, ‘We’re still working on it,'” Gibson said.
The Knight, the main character of “Hollow Knight,” sits on a bench next to another character, Quirrel.
The anticipation was immense, a culture growing around what seemed to be an unattainable sequel. One fan created a YouTube channel that provided daily updates on Silksong’s developmental progress for 1,693 days—over four and a half years.
Among the Silksong community on Reddit, fans began creating low-effort, fake leaks called ‘silkposts’ for ‘skongers’ (fans of the game) to fool other fans into thinking Silksong news had been released, and often teasing others for false game predictions with images of Hollow Knight characters dressed as clowns. It had gotten to a point where fans had begun ritually ‘sacrificing’ other group members by banning them from the Silksong subreddit, mimicking the first game’s backstory of sacrificing ‘dreamers’ to protect Hallownest from infection.
Silksong became an infamous example of media that seemed to amount to nothing with its “coming soon” statements. But hope was renewed with just a single, two-second clip of gameplay in Nintendo Direct’s April showcase, announcing the game’s release at some point in 2025. While announced in the shadow of other popular game sequels, such as DELTARUNE and Tomodachi Life 2, the sheer amount of built-up excitement for Silksong made the short clip the most discussed topic of the conference.
The game’s release date of Sept. 4 was announced on Aug. 21, only two weeks before its release date. Many new games had to pivot their release dates to avoid competition with Silksong, only to run into the release date of another popular indie game sequel, Hades II, at the end of September.
The game’s release had crashed digital storefronts, such as Steam and Nintendo, due to the high volume of purchases. Now, just four weeks after the game’s release, an estimated 4.2 million copies have been sold, and some have just finished the game’s story, taking at least 30 hours of gameplay, without any additional completionist material.
Hornet, the main character of “Hollow Knight” ‘s spinoff, “Silksong,” in the game’s opening scene.
Even outside of the digital realm, the discussion of “Hollow Knight: Silksong” remained. While working at Pima Community College’s West Campus Student Life Center, wearing Hollow Knight merchandise or playing the game’s soundtrack often caught the attention of center regulars.
“I first got into the game in 2019, when I saw a playthrough by Merg that made me very interested in the game,” said Rebecca Sticher, who visits the Student Life Center every Thursday to play video games with other students.
“Hollow Knight is a beautiful game, from the simple yet effective character design, to the well-done backgrounds, to the incredible soundtrack by Christopher Larkin,” Stitcher continued. “The story is rich in lore, and you can easily understand most of it without going to the internet! It’s also quite a challenging game, but it rewards you for learning how to play.”
“My favorite thing was to explore the map for the first time,” said Ed Thompson, an NAU student, regarding the first Hollow Knight game. “There was nothing like finding a new area to explore, and marking areas you couldn’t go in now for later when you unlocked new abilities. The gameplay progression is so masterfully created, and the way they feed you information keeps you engaged.”
Thompson gave an honest critique of Silksong, stating, “It is a fair bit harder than Hollow Knight, and the volume of bosses is much higher. Sometimes I find myself getting frustrated because you can’t walk more than two feet without a boss attacking you. […] I thought Hollow Knight already had a lot of bosses, but it was balanced by long periods of time where you weren’t fighting bosses, and instead you were exploring or traversing. I do like the new gameplay mechanics, though, especially Hornet’s tools. I also really enjoy having a speaking protagonist, and the characters are charming.”
Thompson finishes on a lighter note, “I think some people have become jaded, while others are glad that Team Cherry took their time to create a finished and polished experience. I’m definitely on the latter side.”
While Thompson, Sticher, and I were among the many to have purchased “Hollow Knight: Silksong” as soon as possible, none of us is among the few to have completed the game just yet.
However, Azlan Kozimor, a student at Western New Mexico University, had completed the game on Sept. 16. “[Hollow Knight] is my favorite game of all time and has impacted my life greatly,” said the sophomore, who has approximately 3,000 hours of gameplay across multiple platforms.
“From a gameplay perspective, you can really feel how Team Cherry has grown as developers,” Kozimor continues, explaining how Silksong expanded on the first game’s lore. “Fan interest was so crazy! Every game show, there could be people spamming Silksong in live chats. Watching the community drive themselves crazy was so funny. [I think] game of the year this year will likely be a fight between Silksong and Expedition 33.”
Ultimately, the seven-year wait seems to have paid off for Team Cherry. “Hollow Knight: Silksong” currently boasts 91% positive ratings on Steam, garnering nearly universal high praise from various video game critics and publications, who praise the increased difficulty of the sequel, the attention to detail, and the high-quality artistic direction.
“Hollow Knight: Silksong” is available for $19.99 on PC and all current-generation consoles.