After waking up early and standing in line with dozens of people to buy a Switch 2, the first game I downloaded and played wasn’t Mario Kart World. I didn’t bother with any other Nintendo games that got boosted for the new console, either. You see, rumors had been floating around that perhaps we’d finally get a glimpse at Hollow Knight: Silksong, the sequel to the 2017 indie Metroidvania where you explore a dilapidated kingdom of insects. Whispers of this sort happened every so often, as long-suffering fans of the franchise know. But this time felt different.
Sure enough, a couple of days later, hope was renewed during the Xbox Game Showcase as Microsoft displayed a few seconds of Silksong gameplay footage to promote their hunker of a portable, the ROG Xbox Ally. The game, which is slated to release sometime in 2025, will bless all major platforms and be available from day one on Xbox Game Pass. That’s all well and good, except I never finished the original Hollow Knight to begin with.
I’ve tried. I’ve bought the melancholy exploration game multiple times. There’s at least one save file with over a dozen hours out there, lost amid multiple generations of upgrades, data transfers, and redownloads. But while I was immediately captivated when I first tried the game out in 2017, the reality was that I couldn’t a handle a game like that just yet.
By 2017, we’d gotten three major Dark Souls games and a variety of other brutal “Soulslike” experiences, many of which I would try only to end up quitting. I’d played and beaten Bloodborne, but despite its immediate recognition as a classic, it’s also an objectively a more accessible entry point for the genre. The game and its life-stealing mechanics reward aggressive play in a way that most Soulslikes of the time didn’t. A Soulslike that required a more measured approach was a different proposition altogether.
Hollow Knight takes “tough as nails” somewhat to heart, as the brooding game stars a beetle-like fighter whose primary weapon is a sharp metal fastener. There’s little preamble or explanation, and almost no NPCs compared to other games — which also means that there’s barely any dialogue. It’s just you, a graveyard of insects, and whatever measure of perseverance you’re willing to muster. While most breakdowns of the game focus on the exploration aspects, and the way the game doles out power-ups that allow you to backtrack and access new areas, spiritually Hollow Knight feels more in line to me with FromSoftware’s body of work.
Its minimalist narrative approach, which is more suggestive than it is prescriptive, stokes the imagination powerfully. You get a few vague lines that hint at a world that existed well before your time. Often, these tidbits lie in ruins whose permanence makes the idea of anything else seem if not impossible, then at least mythical. Something has gone horribly wrong, though you’re unsure of how or why. There’s also this nagging sense that, despite the player’s innocent sense of curiosity, whatever is motivating the character you’re controlling may not be entirely noble. What are you even doing there, and why is it worth disturbing an already downtrodden province?
What are you, even? When you die, you don’t really perish. Instead, a dark entity leaves your body and awaits for you wherever you last drew breath. Like in many Soulslikes, you have to backtrack to and pick up whatever currency you were carrying when you were last alive, except that your ghost will attack you on sight. Never mind that it looks evil.
This sense of unease is only further reinforced when you meet Hornet, a critter whose graceful flow and dashing design screams of honor. Except she’s wary of you, and willing to fight you to stop your progress. She repeatedly tells you to stop, but of course, there would be no game if you did. So like many Soulslikes, you bleakly force your way toward an uncertain future.
I ate all of that up. Without many Soulslikes under my belt, it was a narrative structure that felt fresh and captivating. This was also years before Bug Fables plopped me in a squad of insects in a turned-based adventure. The concept of discovering a microcosm frequented by vermin and untouched by humans was an enthralling change of pace.
But try as I might, I just couldn’t make progress. The game is full of tricky enemies and challenging bosses that oppose you at every turn. I found myself retrieving my body more often than I was leaving them in the wake of my wrath.
Image: Team Cherry
Now, nearly a decade later and after a handful of FromSoftware games, I feel ready for Hollow Knight’s trials. I’ve been humbled by bosses who halted my progress by days at a time. I’ve cleared hallways and other small crevices whose violence exceeded the walls that contained them.
Most of all, I’ve learned patience. The patience to study an enemy and its patterns. The restraint to wait until the perfect opening, no matter how incremental my progress might seem. The audacity to defy beings who are obviously much more powerful than whatever poor schmuck I was controlling. The fortitude to try again, even if it seems hopeless.
What seemed like an insurmountable burden in 2017, before I was forged by Elden Ring and sparring in combat sports, isn’t necessarily any easier in 2025. But as I dive deeper into Hallownest this time around, I have a newfound certainty pushing me forward. Some aspects still stick out to me, like the way checkpoints still scarce and punishing — which feels unnecessary when the rest of the game is already difficult. Still, I’ve made more progress on my Switch 2 in a few weeks than I did entire years, and a big part of that is letting go of frustration. That doesn’t mean I don’t get angry after I die a dozen times to the same boss battle. But I’ve also learned to sit with my discomfort, and to view it not just as a part of a process, but as the very fuel that will push me forward. The more the game denies me, the more I’m motivated to prove it wrong.
Good timing, too. Had I progressed in Hollow Knight before this, I would have had to contend the more existential form of despair of not knowing when, if ever, Silksong was going to come out. So for any of you who haven’t yet had the opportunity to try Hollow Knight yet — or if you’ve been looking forward to Team Cherry’s follow-up this entire time — the Switch 2 is a great excuse to get back into it. The portable’s battery handles Hollow Knight with ease, I’m pleased to report. But don’t be shy even if you don’t have a Switch 2. With Silksong finally in view, it’s always a good time to play Hollow Knight, on any platform.
