If Hollow Knight: Silksong knows how to do one thing, it’s keep players on their toes. Even goofy enemies can kill Hornet quickly, and bosses seem to be around every corner. Rage-quitting is arguably an intrinsic part of the Silksong experience. And there’s one area in particular that’s making players lose it: Hunter’s March. The spike-speckled area has led to a flurry of angry posts online from baffled players who are having trouble progressing in the hyped Metroidvania.
Hunter’s March is scarcely the toughest challenge Silksong has to offer, but the infuriating locale can appear somewhat early in the game depending on where the player chooses to go. And since Silksong came out just a few days ago, many players are going through the levels at the same time. Hunter’s March is arguably Silksong‘s first hard skill check. The infuriating stretch is full of spikes that require precise platforming on tiny buds, at a point when players are likely still getting used to Hornet’s down attack. Hornet’s needle deploys at almost a 45-degree angle, and nearly 30 hours in, it still feels like I’m fighting against it.
That’s just the platforming in Hunter’s March. We haven’t touched on the lack of safe areas, or how the prevalence of spikes necessitates long runbacks through the same areas over and again. You can make it pretty far in, only to mess up a single jump and have the entire run shut down. Oh, and did I mention the furious buggers who wait on the few small strips Hornet can actually stand on? You’ll feel good about making progress… only to get double-teamed by some ant dudes who are probably angry that they’re stuck in purgatory. All of this, and the player probably hasn’t unlocked the Hunter’s March map yet.
The chef’s kiss here is that you’ll put all that time and effort to get through Hunter’s March only to, spoilers, find out that your prize at the end is a goddamn boss fight. And you have to beat that boss to unlock the bench in Hunter’s March, which almost feels like an insult. But the real slap in the face is when players go through all of that, sit down on the bench, and then die anyway in a trap. BRUV.
“I’m angry,” reads the title of one highly-upvoted Reddit post. “I’m very angry,” it continues, before describing every element the player despises in Hunter’s March. Hilariously, the player goes in on Hunter’s March only to clarify at the end that they still “absolutely love Silksong 10/10.”
“am i just terrible at this game?” reads another exasperated post.
If Hunter’s March has led to anything good, it’s the communal kvetching that’s giving rise to some excellent jokes and memes.
While some come to regard Hunter’s March with gallows humor, others are in disbelief Team Cherry would do this to them. “Hunter march is a bad game design,” declares one post on Reddit. Perhaps not as bad as the players who earnestly believed Silksong would throw all of that at them and then reward them materially.
While I’m firmly in the “god, why???” camp of Silksong players when it comes to Hunter’s March, I also know that, for all my frustration and anger, it actually didn’t take long for me to start bursting through the level quickly as I got a hang of the jumps. This adjustment didn’t make it easier per se; there was still a lot of dying, and getting to the end with barely any health and starting over anyway.
What I didn’t know initially was that I might’ve been approaching Hunter’s March too early, and with too much gusto. Silksong lets you go anywhere, which means you can hit an area “earlier” than you should. In this case, I was taking on Hunter’s March without the hover ability that you unlock after going through the Deep Docks area. I also didn’t initially know that Hunter’s March is completely optional and not necessary to beat the game. Will this stop me from taking it on repeatedly? No. But you might be saner than I am.
Just wait, though. Eventually, we’ll all hit another area of Silksong that tests our resolve and willpower in a way that will make Hunter’s March seem like a pleasant traipse, according to players who have made significant progress in the devilish platformer.