Hollow Knight: Silksong drops on 4 September 2025, hitting everything from Switch to PlayStation 5. It’s the long-awaited sequel to the 2017 indie hit, and fans haven’t stopped picking it apart since the first trailer.
The world may feel familiar, but Silksong brings a different pace and playstyle. With Hornet in the lead, the action moves faster, hits harder, and breaks away from the original formula. Here’s how it compares to Hollow Knight.
Gameplay: Hornet Changes Everything
The biggest difference is that you’re not playing as the Knight anymore. Hornet takes the lead this time, and that changes how the game plays across the board. She’s faster, more agile, and has a longer reach thanks to her needle-and-thread weapon. You’ll notice the pace shift immediately. She jumps higher, moves quicker, grabs ledges more easily, and zips across gaps using her thread. That alone opens up platforming in ways Hollow Knight never allowed.
Hornet’s combat style is all about movement. Her ranged reach, diagonal attacks, and ability to fight mid-air make the action feel looser but more complex. There’s a trade-off here: more control and flexibility, but also more to manage. Some players might miss the Knight’s simpler rhythm. Others will welcome the extra speed.
The added mobility also shifts how you approach encounters. You’re not just reacting; you’re constantly repositioning, dodging, and chaining attacks across the screen. Hornet can juggle enemies, retreat mid-fight to heal or regroup, and zip back in to land finishing blows. That level of freedom makes her toolkit more demanding but also more satisfying for players who like finesse over brute force.
Healing Gets Riskier
Silksong completely reworks healing. Hornet heals while moving, even in mid-air. It’s faster, but it burns your entire thread bar in one shot. And if you get hit while healing? You lose it all. That’s a big contrast to the Knight, who could stop and heal gradually using smaller chunks of soul. The new system encourages aggression to refill your bar, which leads to more high-risk combat. It’s a faster loop overall, but less forgiving.
This design choice pushes you to stay on offense. In Hollow Knight, healing created breathing room. In Silksong, it’s a gamble. Smart players will learn to create those windows mid-combat, using momentum and positioning rather than retreat. It’s a subtle shift, but it changes how you think about every fight.
Movement and Combat Upgrades
Hornet doesn’t just move fast. She has tools to match. She can sprint, wall jump, throw her needle, and zip to it for extra range. It’s a mix of traversal and combat utility that gives her more ways to control space. Enemies have also been tuned for this. Expect faster, more aggressive foes right from the start. Even early zones feature ranged attackers and charge types.
Some of Hornet’s tools double as both movement and attack options. For example, using the thread zip lets you reposition instantly while closing distance on enemies. This makes the game feel more responsive and player-driven. You’re not just reacting to threats , you’re dictating the flow of battle. That’s a big evolution from the slower, more methodical pace of Hollow Knight.
New World, New Design
Instead of Hallownest, you’re exploring Pharloom. The world is built to match Hornet’s speed. Areas are more open vertically, and the map feels spread out. Zones like Moss Grotto and Deep Docks are built with mobility in mind. Some environments focus on platforming, while others throw in hazards or traps. It’s more dangerous, but more interactive.
The kingdom of Pharloom feels less claustrophobic than Hallownest. Where Hollow Knight leaned into tight corridors and oppressive silence, Silksong opens things up. The verticality encourages exploration from every angle. And because Hornet speaks, there’s more narrative framing for your journey. Her personality shapes how she interacts with NPCs, reacts to danger, and pursues her goals.
Voice acting changes the tone considerably. Hollow Knight relied on atmosphere and silence. Silksong uses conversation to give shape to the world. Some fans are divided on this, as they liked the quiet, lonely feel of the original. But if done right, it could lead to more character-driven story arcs and a deeper connection to Pharloom’s history.
Crafting and Customization
Charms are out, tools and trinkets are in. Silksong lets you craft gear, split into color-coded categories: red for consumables and traps, blue for silk-based powers, yellow for convenience upgrades. These slot into crests, which control how many you can carry. It’s a cleaner system, with more build variety. You’re choosing between utility, survival, and offense on the fly.
Crafting expands how you approach each area. Instead of sticking to a set build, you can change your tools at benches or hubs. Need more mobility? Equip yellow crest items. Struggling with a tough boss? Load up on red traps or silk-based shields. It creates a light layer of strategy without overcomplicating things. Players who love experimentation will get more mileage from this system than they ever did with charms.
Looks, Feel, and Difficulty
Silksong looks sharper. The environments are more detailed, with richer backgrounds and better lighting. But the core feel is still there. Combat is tight and movement is crisp. You’ll still get that satisfying rhythm of hits, dodges, and jumps. Early impressions suggest it’ll be harder than the first game, but that tracks with Hornet’s expanded move set and faster enemies.
The game leans harder into spectacle, too. Environmental effects, layered parallax scrolling, and fluid animation all boost the visual impact. Pharloom looks alive. Everything from the glow of lanterns to the swaying vines reacts subtly as you move through it.
Hollow Knight: Silksong vs Hollow Knight Comparison
Expectations are sky high. Many fans believe Team Cherry’s experience will help them outdo the original. There’s some worry, though. The quest system could make it feel more like a game with checklists and less like a world you stumble through. And some players think it’ll be tough to recapture the awe of discovering Hallownest for the first time.
Still, most people just want it to feel good. If it hits that mark, it doesn’t have to be bigger or flashier. It just has to be worth playing.
Players are especially curious about endgame content. Will Pharloom have its own version of the Pantheon? Will we see challenge arenas, alternate endings, or hidden character arcs? The first game was famous for its layered secrets. That’s part of what gave it staying power. Silksong has to walk the line between expanding its systems and keeping the magic intact.
Final Word
Silksong isn’t just Hollow Knight with a new coat of paint. It’s leaner, quicker, and not afraid to shift the formula. Where the original was quiet and slow-burning, this one speaks up and speeds up. Not everyone will vibe with the change, but it’s not trying to be a clone.
If it keeps the tight movement, smart combat, and that feeling of discovery, it won’t need to copy Hollow Knight’s every move. Silksong is carving its own path and that’s exactly what a good sequel should do.