Pharloom, the mysterious realm in Hollow Knight: Silksong, is ruled from above by detached and distant figures in a gleaming and tightly sealed citadel. After the lithe and balletic Hornet, reprising her role as gifted royal progeny, is brought to Pharloom under armed guard, she makes a quick escape into this strange and unfamiliar land where she must leap, dash and slash her way to victory.
Along her journey, Hornet meets many self-described pilgrims, other bugs who have come to seek an audience with Pharloom’s cloistered deities. There’s a bell-clanging zealot, various merchants and thieves, even a mapmaking mantis. Hornet and those fellow pilgrims must overcome many layers of obstacles — towering bosses, spike-ridden corridors and dangerous, windswept precipices — to gain entry to the citadel’s supposed sanctuary, where even tougher trials await.
The original Hollow Knight, released seven years ago, quickly built a devoted fan base because of the cartoony aesthetic and satisfying two-dimensional gameplay, all underpinned by an evocative narrative and rich characters.
Silksong was originally meant to be an expansion released a year or so later, but the small Australian studio Team Cherry then disappeared from sight, buttoning themselves up within their own impervious fortress. For years, fans would ruin every awards show and trailer announcement with fervent requests for news from the elusive Silksong.
Well, the wait is over.
The gleaming doors of Silksong’s citadel have flung open, and everyone has been let in out of the cold. The gods continue, however, to maintain their distance. Players must display their willingness to submit to Silksong’s endless challenges, to overcome the game’s many punishing boss fights, in order to establish that they, the faithful, deserve this object that has been held just out of reach for so long.
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