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Action Games
Fans say Team Cherry was wrong and Silksong is actually “noticeably harder” than Hollow Knight, with movement and bosses pummeling you from the Metroidvania’s first hour

Platforming Games
Silksong is harder than Hollow Knight because “Hornet is inherently faster and more skillful than the Knight,” Team Cherry says, and you can use Elden Ring logic to get around the difficulty anyway

Platforming Games
Team Cherry hoped Silksong could be anyone’s “first Hollow Knight game,” and one reason it took 7 years is they were “comfortable” not knowing what’s gonna happen: “The really interesting things are the things you sort of discover along the way”

Action Games
Silksong is way harder than Hollow Knight, and my theory is that Team Cherry became evil masterminds without even realizing it

Action Games
Hollow Knight Silksong has beat my ass for 11 hours, but it’s not too hard – we just have a problem with instant gratification

Action Games
Dread it, run from it, Hollow Knight: Silksong gets hit by the difficulty discourse as players can’t decide if they should “git gud” or acknowledge “legitimate issues” Team Cherry has with the Metroidvania

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Silksong’s first area was only added after Team Cherry realized it needed a softer intro: “We’re trying to be kind of respectful to the player. We’re not trying to baby them”

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Team Cherry explains the Silksong development process that was so fun devs just couldn’t stop: “If you’re trying to build a Mario level, you might take an empty space and think, oh, should there be a few platforms here?”

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Bruised Hollow Knight: Silksong fans discover Team Cherry already explained why the Metroidvania is so hard years ago – and it’s all because of Hornet’s healing

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I’ve played 100s of hours of Soulslikes, and I think Hollow Knight Silksong is harder than Elden Ring – but what makes games difficult anyway?

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Team Cherry had to go back to the drawing board for Hollow Knight: Silksong for one simple reason: “Hornet being taller changes everything”

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2 hours in, and Hollow Knight Silksong is already making me feel like I’m playing Dark Souls for the first time again

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Hollow Knight: Silksong devs never read YouTube or Reddit comments, but they’re aware a community of increasingly desperate Silkposters is out there: “Feels like we’re going to ruin their fun by releasing the game”

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OG Hollow Knight technical director says Team Cherry remain silent because their “work ethic is off the charts” and they’re probably “over at the office working” right now

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8 years on, Hollow Knight is still an extraordinary achievement – but can Silksong live up to the hype?

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Hollow Knight: Silksong

Hollow Knight: Silksong devs believe “the real world generally underestimates players,” but Team Cherry trusts fans to “engage” and figure the Metroidvania out: “You can guide them a little bit, and that’s enough”

Anna Koselke

19 September 2025

“It certainly underestimates their capacity to deal with things”

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(Image credit: Team Cherry)

Hollow Knight: Silksong is “noticeably harder” than its predecessor, but that doesn’t mean the Metroidvania sequel misjudges its players’ capabilities – in fact, developer Team Cherry’s design of the new game relies on fans’ capacity to quickly pick things up with just a little push.

Speaking in a recent interview with ACMI, co-directors William Pellen and Ari Gibson dive into the process of development – one Team Cherry was admittedly “having fun” with – and cover everything from level design to world-building. Towards the end, Gibson explains how Hollow Knight: Silksong doesn’t misjudge its players’ ability to get through the game, even with how challenging it may be at times.
That’s because the players feel inclined to “engage” with everything without being instructed on how to do so – there’s no need for them to be. “The real world generally underestimates players – especially young people – and it certainly underestimates their capacity to deal with things, and their ability to glean information, or be interested and be engaged,” states Gibson. “But with our players, you can guide them a little bit, and that’s enough.”

You may like

Fans say Team Cherry was wrong and Silksong is actually “noticeably harder” than Hollow Knight, with movement and bosses pummeling you from the Metroidvania’s first hour

Silksong is harder than Hollow Knight because “Hornet is inherently faster and more skillful than the Knight,” Team Cherry says, and you can use Elden Ring logic to get around the difficulty anyway

Team Cherry hoped Silksong could be anyone’s “first Hollow Knight game,” and one reason it took 7 years is they were “comfortable” not knowing what’s gonna happen: “The really interesting things are the things you sort of discover along the way”

Gibson concludes: “They’ll engage, they will dig in, they will find all that other stuff.” At this point, it’s pretty safe to say that he’s absolutely correct. Although the Hollow Knight sequel has only been available to play for a couple of weeks, players have been downright loving it. Not only have countless folks completed the Metroidvania in its entirety, but there were speedrunners wrapping it up in under 2 hours after literal days.

Here’s to one very dedicated community that “will dig in” indeed, and even more Silksong shenanigans in the future – I’m sure there’ll be plenty, especially with Team Cherry previously teasing ambitious DLC for the sequel, too.
Silksong’s first area was only added after Team Cherry realized it needed a softer intro: “We’re trying to be kind of respectful to the player. We’re not trying to baby them”

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Anna Koselke

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After spending years with her head in various fantastical realms’ clouds, Anna studied English Literature and then Medieval History at the University of Edinburgh, going on to specialize in narrative design and video game journalism as a writer. She has written for various publications since her postgraduate studies, including Dexerto, Fanbyte, GameSpot, IGN, PCGamesN, and more. When she’s not frantically trying to form words into coherent sentences, she’s probably daydreaming about becoming a fairy druid and befriending every animal or she’s spending a thousand (more) hours traversing the Underdark in Baldur’s Gate 3. If you spot her away from her PC, you’ll always find Anna with a fantasy book, a handheld video game console of some sort, and a Tamagotchi or two on hand.

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Fans say Team Cherry was wrong and Silksong is actually “noticeably harder” than Hollow Knight, with movement and bosses pummeling you from the Metroidvania’s first hour

Silksong is harder than Hollow Knight because “Hornet is inherently faster and more skillful than the Knight,” Team Cherry says, and you can use Elden Ring logic to get around the difficulty anyway

Team Cherry hoped Silksong could be anyone’s “first Hollow Knight game,” and one reason it took 7 years is they were “comfortable” not knowing what’s gonna happen: “The really interesting things are the things you sort of discover along the way”

Silksong is way harder than Hollow Knight, and my theory is that Team Cherry became evil masterminds without even realizing it

Hollow Knight Silksong has beat my ass for 11 hours, but it’s not too hard – we just have a problem with instant gratification

Dread it, run from it, Hollow Knight: Silksong gets hit by the difficulty discourse as players can’t decide if they should “git gud” or acknowledge “legitimate issues” Team Cherry has with the Metroidvania

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