Hollow Knight Silksong review: a gaming sequel that lives up to the hype

Best prices today: Hollow Knight: Silksong

It is not often that Mac users can take advantage of a brand new A-List game at the same time as Windows Worlds, but the original Hollow Knight was compatible with Mac when it was launched for the first time in 2017 and Team Cherry developers clearly indicated that they would support the Mac for this suite too. Even better is the news than Hollow Knight: Silksong works on Mac Intel and Apple silicon.

Its 2D graphics do not require a powerful Mac to work well, and the game went well at 4K resolution on my Intel Intel of five years without problem. There are more good news with the announcement that Silksong costs only $ 19.99 / £ 16.75 on Steam and Gog – and buy it once also allows you to download the PC or Mac versions. The first game was also for sale recently, so it is worth it to be seized if you want an affordable introduction to the series.

Hollow Knight, of course, was a huge success – especially since it was developed by a modest team of three men based in Adelaide – and has continued to sell millions of copies in recent years. This has led to a huge anticipation for the suite of Silksong which has accumulated in the past two years, but Team Cherry has not opted for the obvious rapid follow -up of money. They kept the same team of three men – with the composer Christopher Larkin, whose haunting score for Hollow Knight was worth the entry price alone – and took his time to make sure that Silksong lived his predecessor awarded several times.

Silky suite

You can even say that Silksong is actually a completely new game, rather than a simple suite. The cute little hollow knight that you checked in the first game was succeeded by a new character called Hornet, who was a princess in the world of Hollownst in the last match. Hornet was kidnapped and taken to a new kingdom called Pharloom, and now faces new adventures that try to escape and go home. Even thus, it is clear that the two games share the same DNA, the most obviously in the graphics and the animation drawn by distinctive and atmospheric hand, as well as the music of the soundtrack of Larkin.

The basic mechanics of the game is also very similar, because you guide Hornet through a 2D platform game with a lateral scrolling in which she runs and jumps to exceed obstacles, and uses her needle and wire weapons chosen to make her way in front of almost 200 different enemy monsters. And, of course, while you explore the Pharloom, you will find new weapons and abilities that make you more powerful while you prepare to fight against the Big Boss monsters you meet at key points of the game.

However, the developers have discussed the fact that Hornet is physically larger and faster than the hollow knight of the previous game, which led them to change the design of the game to Silksong, creating larger areas in each location so that it is manifested and allowing it to trigger its complete fights in combat.

I am not great in platform games because I do not have agile fingers and the reflexes necessary to bounce with the necessary precision, but I noticed that the Silksong jump mechanisms seemed a little more forgiving than in Hollow Knight. Sometimes, if I failed to jump on a rim near a small quantity, I would see that Hornet was able to grasp the edge and fall back and get out of the danger.

You will need all the help you can get, because Silkong seems to be even more difficult than its predecessors, with more varied movements and boss monsters that inflict serious damage with a single blow.

Silksong’s opening screen also recommends using a game controller, and although I generally prefer to play most games with a keyboard and a mouse, I found it difficult to modify keyboard controls so that Hornet can bounce around the screen as quickly as it often needs. The game backup system is also quite frustrating, allowing you only to save the game at specific points – generally where you find a bench on which you are sitting – which can force you to go back on several occasions through the game while you try to pass a particular obstacle or enemy.

Should you buy Hollow Knight: Silksong?

Many people find frustrating platform games – especially when they have restrictive backup systems like that – so Silksong is not an essential recommendation for all Mac players. But, if you like platform games or arcade games with difficult bosses fights, then there are few games available on the Mac that approach Silksong (see our full overview of the best games for Mac to find out more). The appearance and feeling of the game are really distinguished from the crowd, and the meticulous attention to the details that Team Cherry has put in all aspects of the game makes it a worthy successor for Hollow Knight.