He’s one of the GOTY nominees for The Game Awards 2025, and it’s no wonder. Hollow Knight: Silksong has been expected for years and has finally confirmed that it is on par with (or even above) expectations.
Additionally, the Hollow Knight sequel It only costs 20 eurosa reasonable value for Team Cherry, and one that makes it a bargain for everything Hornet’s adventure offers.
But Silksong is also a masterpiece of the metroidvania genre for the way it revolutionizes this type of game, giving players more freedom almost from the first minute.
In an interview with ACMI, the Australian Center for Moving Images, the directors of Team Cherry talk about what sets Silksong apart from the rest of the metroidvanias of the industry.
Ari Gibson and William Pellen consider that games of this genre aim to give the player a new power-up or ability when exploring a new area, and block the next one until you get the new power for the main character.
”“It’s a specific kind of lock-and-key progression, but we tried to remove that element in favor of a more natural world.”
Freedom is Silksong’s differentiating factor
Hollow Knight: Silksong is not an open world game, but it is also not a typical metroidvania, as its development is not as linear as in the first game and other titles.
It’s true that it continues to use classic themes and mechanics of the genre, but Silksong does not follow this formula to the letterbut it offers more freedom for players to explore.
”We definitely used that in some areas of the game, and it’s still traditional in the sense that you’re still exploring and gaining powers, but the world has started to open up a little more naturally.”.
In Silksong, Players can follow different routeseven if they do not have the necessary skills, and Maybe this path leads to another power which, following a linear order, you would certainly ignore.
”The player’s decision about where to go in Silksong does not depend on what power-ups they currently have; there may be three or four valid addresses”.
”The choice is yours, and two of these directions can lead you to a new ability, but the other two can take you to completely new parts of the world, which can lead you to another power-up.”.
This is the registered trademark of Silksong, in addition to high difficulty even compared to the first Hollow Knight.
Hollow Knight: Silksong is available for PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch 2, Nintendo Switch, PC, Steam Deck, ROG Xbox Ally and Game Pass.