Play as Hornet in Silksong, offering a unique combat style and abilities.
In 2017, indie developers Team Cherry released Hollow Knight, which quickly became one of the most exciting indie games of the last decade , offering hours of entertainment and taking the metroidvania genre to new heights. With its beautifully illustrated visuals, challenging combat encounters, and the vast underground labyrinth of Hallownest to explore, players fell head over-heels for the game, treated to a unique gaming experience and left wanting more.
It’s no surprise, then, that its upcoming sequel, Hollow Knight: Silksong, has become one of the most anticipated releases of recent memory, taking the top spot among Steam’s most wishlisted games. Since its announcement, much of the game’s content still remains unknown, but through Team Cherry’s sporadic updates via blog posts, trailers and gameplay demos, there are plenty of confirmed features fans should definitely be excited about.
Note
The Nintendo Switch 2 Direct included a brief bit of Silksong gameplay in its sizzle reel, which also revealed a release date of 2025.
1
The Protagonist, Hornet
The Princess-Protector Of Hallownest
In the new game, players will be controlling Hornet, the small-but-mighty deuteragonist of the first game whose character development and interactions with the player promise for a compelling protagonist . In various moments of gameplay footage, she uses her weaponized needle to dash across gaps, grapple onto ledges, and throw into enemies, creating a more ranged fighting style than players saw in the first game.
Her movement also appears much more fluid and nimble than the Knight’s, with options like wall grabs, sprinting speeds, and long jumps to move around the space she inhabits. Along with the addition of her quick healing, cocoons , and other silk-based abilities, Hornet’s upgraded importance will surely be a welcome change to the franchise.
2
The World, Pharloom
A Vertical World Of Bells And Silk
With the new game comes an exciting new world to explore, this being the large and enigmatic Pharloom , a haunted kingdom far beyond Hallownest. In trailers for the game, players have seen many beautifully decorated and distinct areas filled with only a handful of confirmed titles. For instance, the “Moss Grotto” is lush with hanging vines and foliage, whereas “Greymoor” is filled with fog and tall gravestone towers, being cited by Team Cherry as one of the game’s largest areas.
While the exact number of exploitable areas and their layout have not been confirmed, the verticality of the map and Hornet’s journey to the “Citadel” at Pharloom’s top have been mentioned during demo footage from Nintendo, so fans should expect a challenging climb into these beautiful locations.
3
The Enemies Of Pharloom
Over 165 Enemies To Encounter
As with any good metroidvania title, enemies and opportunities for exciting combat will be found all across the various caverns of Pharloom. In the game’s original announcement trailer alone, players were shown footage of multiple formidable foes, of which the game is confirmed to have over 165. Enemies like spiders, ants, and snails are found in the game’s various areas, each with their own special combat patterns to learn and evade.
At the moment, it is unclear what causes the enemies to fight against Hornet in terms of narrative reasons, but if their patterned abilities and complex learning curve are anything like the last game’s enemies, they already seem to promise a good challenge.
4
The Boss Fights
Warlords, Queens, And Assassins, Oh My
Of course, a great Hollow Knight sequel wouldn’t be complete without a gallery of exciting boss fights, of which Silksong seems to offer in spades. In blogposts, Team Cherry cite the many hunters, assassins, queens, and warlords players will be coming up against.
Some confirmed bosses include the likes of Carmelita, a Queen ant who fights in front of her adoring subjects, and Seth, protector of the citadel who slashes and spirals toward Hornet in the trailer. Most notable is Lace, whose entire first fight has been seen as part of the gameplay demo and promises to be one of the first of many challenges.
5
The Merchants And Friends
Ready To Offer Help For The Journey
Silksong has also confirmed a number of the charming non-player characters Hornet will meet on her adventure, just like in the original game. Players will find merchants around the map, like Shakra — the game’s traveling cartographer who sells maps of each area — and the Forge-Daughter, who acts as the main way of crafting and upgrading the various combat tools.
From gameplay trailers, players have also seen the likes of the pilgrim Sherma, the mysterious Church Keeper, and the fast-travel enabling Bell Beast, making the world of Pharloom seem a little lighter through the friends players encounter on their epic journey.
6
The Collectable Items
Silk, Rosaries, Shell Shards, And Fleas
Much like the first game, Pharloom offers plenty of essential items and collectible trinkets for players to find, the main examples of these being silk, rosary beads and shell shards. Silk will work similarly to soul in the first game, granting more whenever striking an enemy and allowing the player to perform powerful actions and attacks.
Rosaries, on the other hand, are this game’s currency, being used to pay for new items and upgrades and being lost upon death. There’s also the new addition of shell shards, which are used to repair Hornet’s new set of tools, and fleas are hidden around Pharloom, presumably offering the same functionality as the first game’s grubs.
7
The New “Tools” Mechanic
Weapons And Customization To Aid Combat
Instead of featuring charms, which could be equipped in the first game to aid different abilities in the Knight’s arsenal , Silksong lets players collect and create tools for Hornet to utilize. From the limited footage players have seen in trailers and gameplay demos, it is clear that these tools are separated into at least three categories, offering functionalities like traps, companions, and additional health.
Additionally, the option of different “crests,” each holding a different number of tool slots, allows added customization options to suit the player’s different combat and exploration requirements.
8
The Quest Board System
Additional Objectives For The Player
Silksong also seems to add a more formal side-quest system than the original game, seeming to add extra hours of gameplay for completionists. Gameplay footage has shown the inclusion of quest boards, each offering a number of objectives with four confirmed categories. For example, the “Hunt” and “Grand Hunt” quests will involve defeating a predetermined enemy or specific enemy type.
“Gather” and “Wayfarer” quests, on the other hand, seem to promise to incentivize and reward exploration goals, meaning players have more formal ways to improve Hornet’s skills besides the main story.
9
The Main Story
An Adventure With Many Bells And Whistles
There is lots still to uncover about Silksong’s narrative and how it fits into the existing lore, but Team Cherry’s confirmed details and gameplay demos have given fans plenty of information. The game’s opening cinematic, which was shown in both the announcement trailer and demo footage, shows an imprisoned Hornet being carried into Pharloom before falling into an endless abyss.
Starting the game in the Moss Grotto, the player’s journey will take them upward to the Citadel, and through NPCs like the Church Keeper and Team Cherry’s discussions of “pilgrimage,” the religious themes of Silksong’s narrative are clear. Even the game’s title promises connections to music and silk, and pairing with the fact that Hornet’s lineage has a huge part to play, fans can’t wait to follow whatever is planned for them.
