Some Thoughts on Silksong

It is still hard for me to comprehend, but we have lived in a post Silkong world for over a month now. And in that time, plenty of people have had the opportunity to play the game and form

opinions on it. And as you'd expect, every single opinion under the sun has been said about it. That's the way of life now. Maybe it's been the way of

life now. Maybe it's been the way of life always. It's just that only now

life always. It's just that only now everyone can post it and it's so much easier to see everyone's takes. But if

there's a take on Silkong, someone has said it. You've probably seen it and

said it. You've probably seen it and maybe agreed with it or gotten angry at it. It's been interesting seeing the

it. It's been interesting seeing the response to the game. I'm not surprised to see every single take. I think what has surprised me though is the frequency

of certain takes and also where some of those takes are coming from, which aren't necessarily spots I would have expected. There are a lot more people

expected. There are a lot more people saying the game is bad than I thought there would be. There's also a lot of people that are having the opinion that the game is just pretty good. And know

those are both fine. It's fine that people feel that way. There are just more people feeling that way than I would have guessed because I don't think the game is bad and I don't think the

game is just good. I think the game is incredible. I think it is one of the

incredible. I think it is one of the best games I've ever played. There is a level of craftsmanship here that very, very few titles possess. The level

design, the encounter design, the general combat options, it is so polished and so interesting, and you can play through the game once and realize

you've really barely scratched the surface in terms of what the combat can do. There are a ton of different move

do. There are a ton of different move sets for Hornet to have, as well as so many tools and so many silk abilities.

There are just so many combinations of fun gameplay that also change up how the platforming works. And yes, I use the

platforming works. And yes, I use the wanderer crest the whole game, which is just playing Hollow Knight again. I get

it. I'm the problem. I agree with that.

But the amount of potential here, the amount of player expression is off the charts. I had so much fun with this game

charts. I had so much fun with this game as a whole, just exploring the world, fighting in fights. There's just so much room for yeah, skill expression, and I

love when games have that. And I love how different it ultimately feels from Hollow Knight. When I started it, I it

Hollow Knight. When I started it, I it felt like something I heard a lot of people say, and it felt like this at the beginning, is that it's just more Hollow Knight, and it's not. Silkong feels

similar to Hollow Knight. Obviously,

it's the same art style. It's the same series. So, of course, it feels similar,

series. So, of course, it feels similar, but the way Hornet fights and moves around the world is just so fundamentally different from how the

knight does in Hollow Knight. Combat is

far more about aerial maneuvers. You are

weaving all around the combat arena. And

as there are so many enemies that hit really hard, you have to figure out dodging in a different way. You have to figure out spacing in a different way. I

know a lot of people don't like that there's contact damage and I get the frustration. There are very few things

frustration. There are very few things that make you go [ __ ] more than hitting a motionless enemy. But I think it does create a lot of interesting tech for

avoiding that kind of damage of getting close to an enemy but using a swing to push yourself back a bit so you don't run into them. It takes a lot of focus and is very hard because of it. But but

I found that to be so engaging and so much fun to master. Now the thing about Silkong is it really does kind of pick up where Hollow Knight left off. I mean

not exactly but I feel like the difficulty maybe of Midame Hollow Knight or maybe like three4s of the way in

Hollow Knight is about where a lot of the difficulty is in early Silkong.

That's not perfect one to one. It just

kind of feels that way. it has a much higher necessary skill floor. And so

from one stance, I definitely can understand why some people would be more frustrated with this game. Although, I

don't know. I found Hollow Knight to be really hard. I found Hollow Knight

really hard. I found Hollow Knight personally to be harder than Silkong on average. And maybe it's just that

on average. And maybe it's just that it's been a lot of years of me playing harder games, so I have a little more skill at them and a little more patience than I used to. And I also think some of

the bosses in Hollow Knight are harder.

Granted, some of them are DLC bosses, so it's hard to compare because I'm sure Silkong will do a thing like that someday that will just ruin my life,

but hopefully in a good way. But I can understand why a lot of people who maybe don't reach that skill floor would be frustrated. I've talked about this on my

frustrated. I've talked about this on my main channel in my video about difficulty, but that idea of games have a skill window, especially games with a set difficulty that you can't really

change. There is a skill window, and if

change. There is a skill window, and if you do not fall into it, the game will either be way too easy, although I feel like that is far more rare, especially with a game like this. I doubt there are

tons and tons of people who are way above the skill window who are like, "Oh, this was trivial." But maybe, maybe. But I think what's more common,

maybe. But I think what's more common, especially with Silk Sog, is people falling below the skill floor. And that

doesn't mean they can't beat the game.

That doesn't mean they won't get through it. It just means the amount of effort

it. It just means the amount of effort it takes to get through is going to be way, way higher. They're going to have to do more attempts and engage with some

of the mechanics that are limiting in a way that people who are more skilled at the game won't. And I think this is always a weird thing with difficulty.

Something like the runbacks in Silkong.

I did not really have an issue with them. I mostly enjoyed having a little

them. I mostly enjoyed having a little bit of time to calm down from a fight.

It helped me personally not get tilted because I just had to be away from it.

Sometimes I find myself in that mood, especially with like Elden Ring, where I'll just keep running in and in and in and in and I just don't even have time to think about what I'm doing wrong or

what I should try to do because I'm just trying it again. And you'll get five fails in a row in the first 10 seconds.

And that can be frustrating in its own way. And I feel like in Silk Song, I

way. And I feel like in Silk Song, I would always come back with a level of caution and a plan that made it so it was rare that I just died again in the

first 5 seconds. Of course, it did happen sometimes, but usually usually I was able to avoid it. I will also say the system with leaving the cocoon

behind which refills your silk is a very cool little advantage. I know most of the time people are just going to hit it immediately, but there were times where I saved it so that I could get it

midfight, especially if I had my silk already filled. I would save it so I

already filled. I would save it so I could get it midfight and get a little bit of a boost, which I think is a cool little advantage that's in there. But

anyway, I didn't find the runbacks to be all that difficult. I like the platforming. I see a lot of people

platforming. I see a lot of people saying, why didn't they follow FromSoft's lead? Fromoft has proven with

FromSoft's lead? Fromoft has proven with Elden Ring that runbacks are bad. I

think I have some push back on that. I

think there's value in runbacks in all kinds of games, but I also think comparing runbacks in Dark Souls to Hollow Knight or Silk Song is a flawed

premise because Dark Souls is not a platformer. Platforming is inherently

platformer. Platforming is inherently fun, especially when you get the move set late in the game. There's a lot of really cool stuff Hornet can do and it makes moving around the map a blast and

mastering those areas is really cool. So

there's a level of expression and enjoyment that comes from that that you just don't really get in Dark Souls when you're just running past every single enemy. So it's just a little

enemy. So it's just a little fundamentally different. That's part of

fundamentally different. That's part of it. I liked that. And also the reality

it. I liked that. And also the reality is as far as runbacks go, I think aside from two of the later bosses, which neither of them really had runbacks, and

maybe that's intentional.

I think it maybe took me about three or four attempts. Actually, one of them

four attempts. Actually, one of them that I know has a somewhat famous runback, it probably took me seven or eight attempts. So, that's a decent

eight attempts. So, that's a decent amount. All of this is to say this whole

amount. All of this is to say this whole tangent is it makes it so it feels like a good punishment to those who are pretty good at the game and will only

have to suffer the punishment four to five times. And it feels like a really

five times. And it feels like a really bad punishment for those who struggle a little bit more, who are still figuring things out that it'll take like 30 or 40

times or maybe more. And that becomes hard. If you complain about a runback,

hard. If you complain about a runback, only other people who struggle with it will agree with you. But if someone beats it on their first try, they'll be like, "What? What are you talking

like, "What? What are you talking about?" So it creates a fundamentally

about?" So it creates a fundamentally different experience with the game if your skill level is different. And of

course, of course that's the case.

That's not a big surprise. But I imagine that must be a big part of why there are a few more frustrated takes with this game than I thought there would be. it

is that Team Cherry has set a skill floor that maybe is higher than where the audience they have is at. My guess

is they made an assumption of fans who beat Hollow Knight of how skilled they'd be and maybe overshot it a bit with this. It could also be that they

this. It could also be that they intentionally overshot it as that was just their vision for the game. I've

heard people talk about how Silkong seems designed for those who loved Pantheon 5, which I think is definitely an exaggeration. There's nothing that

an exaggeration. There's nothing that felt like Pantheon 5 gear. Also, I've

never beat Pantheon 5 and I found this to be not the hardest game I've ever played. Definitely a challenge, but I

played. Definitely a challenge, but I found Pantheon 5 to be so much harder and provide a different kind of stress.

So, I don't really agree with that. But

I do, as I said before, I think it starts out at a much higher pace than Hollow Knight did. I do want to make it very clear that not being within the

skill window isn't the only reason someone might dislike Silkong. I am

positive that there are plenty of people who fit perfectly within the skill window and still don't really like it.

Just as I know there are people who don't fit within the skill window and still adore it and maybe even see it as a perfect game. They are just willing to sit through the slog a little bit more

than other people might. I'm not talking about every person's response to the game. There are too many responses to

game. There are too many responses to the game. I'm mostly just focused on

the game. I'm mostly just focused on kind of a certain type of response I'm seeing to the game. Focused on

difficulty in a way that I haven't really seen it before. I I'm not trying to account for why everyone dislikes it.

I'm trying to account for why this slightly wider gap seems to be bothered by it. And I could be wrong on it. It

by it. And I could be wrong on it. It

might not be just this. I'm sure it's not just this, but I think this is part of it because it's a response to difficulty that I haven't really seen all that much before. I've seen echoes

of it. Probably the closest I've seen

of it. Probably the closest I've seen was the response to Shadow of the Tree.

That seemed to be a similar tone to this. But honestly, I feel like I I've

this. But honestly, I feel like I I've heard it to a higher degree with this point is I understand some people, maybe you even hate the game for a different reason, and that's totally cool. But I

do think there is something to this idea that it was overtuned for a large portion of Hollow Knight's fan base. And

now the question, of course, is is it bad that Team Cherry overshot it? And I

don't know. I I don't know. I found the difficulty to be perfectly tuned to me.

So, I loved it. I didn't deal with the massive frustrations of having to do runbacks too often. So, whenever I had to do a runback, it generally was an enjoyable experience that gave me a bit

to prepare for the fight and also do some fun platforming and almost learn speedrun tech as I got through places quicker and quicker. It also was just

challenging enough where I felt incentivized to explore as much as I possibly could in order to get different upgrades and different items that might

be applicable for various bosses and various situations. It got me to engage

various situations. It got me to engage with a lot of core aspects of the game, which I think is great. So, personally,

I think they did great.

It is a hard thing because I am someone that wants more games like this, that wants games of this difficulty that push me in this way. But also, Hollite is

such a beloved title for so many reasons other than it being a hard game. The

exploration is a wonderful experience.

The lore is interesting. Just witnessing

the art style and seeing the different areas is awe inspiring. And to feel kind of locked out of that because you have

to fight the last judge 40 times to get to some stuff would be really frustrating. And I think there are

frustrating. And I think there are certainly people playing Silkong or who were excited for Silkong that fall into that. Whether it be people who hadn't

that. Whether it be people who hadn't played Hollow Knight and just kind of bought into the Silkong hype because they heard that Hollow Knight was good and they were like, "Well, I'll just wait for Silkong." There's also people

that played a more casual playthrough of Hollow Knight where they didn't do the pantheons where they maybe didn't even do the 100% ending or maybe they did but

was still within their skill window in a way that Silkong really isn't. I think

that has to be really frustrating and I don't really know the answer. I don't

know if eventually fans of the game will build their skill up on a second or third playthrough if they're willing to give it a second or third chance. I

think there's enough compelling stuff here to maybe convince them to, but I'd also get if people just wanted to be done because the game was really hard.

What do you do when they design a game for sickos and you're a sicko?

I see a lot of people pointing to little things they have done, and I don't want to spoil any of them specifically, but Team Cherry does a lot of things that

punish players who are maybe not paying close enough attention or who become too trusting within the level design. And a

lot of people are super frustrated by that. I respect that and I get that. But

that. I respect that and I get that. But

I'm also like I find it to be so playful and I think it does a great job of telling you the kind of experience you're going to have overall in Silkong and the kind of experience they want you to have and how they want you to feel

while moving through the world. And it

makes the game so effective at creating a tone and atmosphere of this is a dire situation and you are in a dangerous

place. You know ask the question can you

place. You know ask the question can you get out of it? Can you make a difference? Another frustration I've

difference? Another frustration I've heard a fair bit is about how many things do two damage. And you know, I think some of that probably could have

been tuned different. Like from an immersion standpoint, it feels weird when running into a boss does the same

amount of damage as a big swing from them. As far as the gameplay balance of

them. As far as the gameplay balance of it though, I think that the new healing system really makes up for it because you heal pretty quickly. You can heal from the air and you heal a lot more

than you did in Hollow Knight. There's a

very good post from Dan Olsen of Foldable Human Fame where he talks about how in Hollow Knight damage is sticky where when the knight gets hit, it takes

a long time to get that health back and you don't have all that many opportunities where in Silkong any moment can be an opportunity. And one

thing that's interesting is in a Hollow Knight usually the best time to heal is when the boss is stunned for a little bit and that loses time to do damage.

But in Silkong, the best time to heal is whenever you can.

So, I found that I got so many more punishes in because I just didn't wait until the boss was stunned. I just did it when I had a brief opening. With that

said, it took me a while before I started playing like that because I was so used to Hollow Knight that I found myself healing in the same way as I did in Hollow Knight. But once I made that

switch, the combat just felt so much different and so much more dynamic, and I adored it. I have been a little surprised. I've seen a certain brand of

surprised. I've seen a certain brand of comment a fair amount of times of people being like, I2% Hollite. I did P5 and this is too hard. Those folks, I'm a

little confused. If you're one of those

little confused. If you're one of those people, talk to me in the comments. I

would really be curious to fully understand it because I really feel like Silkong is not anywhere close to the difficulty of the Pantheons, especially

Pantheon 5. It's a different beast. And

Pantheon 5. It's a different beast. And

maybe it's just that Pantheon 5 is optional where a lot of stuff that is hard in Silkong is not. I imagine that's part of it. Maybe it's that these people did Pantheon 5 but didn't really like

the combat as much, which certainly could be the case. Obviously, Team

Cherry likes the combat system they created and wanted to have as many opportunities to play within it and experiment within it as possible. There

are a lot of gauntlets in this game, which I know are a little controversial.

A lot of people don't seem to like them, which I loved them because I think a they do a great job of throwing interesting enemies at you. There are

always different combinations of enemies that come out which change the dynamics of how you have to approach the fight and maybe what tools you use or what silk things you use. It always

challenges you in a new way. There were

very few gauntlets that I felt retread the exact same ground. I'd have to go back and look at every single one, but at least while playing, that is the feeling I had. Also, they do a lot of

cool things with the layouts of the battle arenas you're in. There are

different hazards and different sizes of rooms which also change the way you can engage and interact. And all in all, I think that the gauntlets just allow you

to experiment and understand the combat in a really fun and effective way that uses the full scope of everything Team Cherry created both in terms of enemies

and your abilities. And I think it does a great job. So, if you love the combat side of Hollow Knight, then yeah, you probably should love Silkong. And maybe

if you just didn't, but you did P5 anyway, you wouldn't. I don't know. If

you are 112enter and did P5 and felt Silkong was way too hard for you, let me know what was the disconnect because I can't do P5, which means you're better

than me. So yeah, let me know your

than me. So yeah, let me know your thoughts. I've certainly rambled more

thoughts. I've certainly rambled more and in different directions than I thought I might.

I guess I've been struggling to know exactly what to say. I think there's a lot to be said about the difficulty and you can say, "Yeah, it's supposed to be difficult so that you can overcome it and feel good about overcoming it." But

I think that is too simple of an answer and it's just not always going to be the exact same case for some. I do think the difficulty probably is there to a degree

to push you to explore and I loved it for that. I will say though, it's not

for that. I will say though, it's not the same as it is in Elden Ring. Where

Elden Ring, you get vertical progression, right? You you get new

progression, right? You you get new smithing stones or whatever that increase the strength of your weapon.

You get things that increase your character's power. There is some of that

character's power. There is some of that in Silkong, but the majority of things you come across, it's horizontal progression. Sometimes it will be stuff

progression. Sometimes it will be stuff that helps you with a certain encounter, but a lot of times it's preference stuff. So, I don't think that it's as

stuff. So, I don't think that it's as good of an answer to say just explore. I

do think it is an answer and probably will help some, but it's not as clear-cut as it is in something like Elden Ring. It's such a weird thing

Elden Ring. It's such a weird thing because Silkong for someone of I guess my general skill and with my amount of patience, which I don't know, I think I

end up being pretty patient with games.

I've gotten used to grinding things for a long period of time, so I don't have a problem doing it.

It doesn't bother me in the way it might bother some people. It works well for me, the game, like so well. I just think it's brilliant and so thoughtful and so

wellcrafted. And I don't know that I can

wellcrafted. And I don't know that I can think of an example of a title where if you're below the skill threshold, you will feel as put out by it as this one.

Like even the Dark Souls games, I think there are ways to get past the skill floor, whether it be by summons or whether it be through grinding or

whether it be through just finding the right weapon and getting the right upgrades early. There just really isn't

upgrades early. There just really isn't that in Silk Song. And yeah, as I said before, it punishes folks who struggle more, whether it be with long runbacks.

think I forgot to mention earlier is the whole tool system which relies on beast shards or the shards that you get. You

can run out of those shards and then you can't use tools anymore. I never ran out of shards, but I just didn't die that much to bosses while using stuff. But if

you're fully reliant on them and you're trying to beat a boss 40 times, you're going to run out and then you're going to have to go grind, which maybe I guess you could say is an excuse to explore

some more, but I don't know that people necessarily would explore while grinding. It's a kind of a weird system.

grinding. It's a kind of a weird system.

It is one system that I'm the most mixed on. Again, I think it works if you're

on. Again, I think it works if you're within the skill window of making it a somewhat limited resource, but it feels weird when you're

outside of it. Maybe it should have just been a refreshable thing that doesn't use shards. I'd be curious if there are

use shards. I'd be curious if there are any huge defenders of it in the comments, what what you have to think about that. Anyway, this has been my

about that. Anyway, this has been my ramble about Silk Song. I think it's one of the best games ever made. And

unfortunately, some people will just not get to have the experience I had playing it. And that sucks.

it. And that sucks.

That sucks.

And you could say it'd be better than if it was easier, but then it probably would no longer be perfect for those who it currently is perfect for. It's hard.

Video games are hard. Anyway, have a good one. Bye.

good one. Bye.