A significant portion of the excitement surrounding the eventual release of Hollow Knight: Silksong is built around the fact that the game promises to take much of what fans loved about Hollow Knight and either expand or evolve those systems in the sequel. In addition to the basic set of moves and magic abilities that the Knight wielded in the original game, one of the key components of players' approach rested on Hollow Knight's collectible Charms. Hollow Knight: Silksong seems to be abandoning the Charm system in favor of a comparable alternative via its new crafting mechanic and the ability to create and repair Tools.
Hornet is a very different type of hero from the Knight, and these differences are realized in both the story and gameplay of Hollow Knight: Silksong based on what's been revealed of the title so far. The inclusion of several new currencies and materials that players will have to collect gives more of an impetus to not rely on fast travel to traverse the map of Pharloom, trudging on foot between areas to kill enemies and farm materials that will be used to strengthen Hornet instead. The implementation of the crafting system in Hollow Knight: Silksong promises to almost completely redefine how players engage with the title compared to its predecessor.
Silksong's Tools Could Be a Significant Improvement Over Charms
There's an argument to be had regarding the necessity of Charms in Hollow Knight given that collecting and equipping them was mostly optional. Some of the best Charms in the game came from venturing off the beaten path or completing difficult optional boss fights, making them a satisfying reward for players who invested time scouring Hallownest. Still, it's entirely possible to complete the game having found only a small portion of the available Charms. The implementation of the new Tool system in Hollow Knight: Silksong equates to a massive shift in how players choose to kit out their hero as well as the utility and necessity of the advantages the Tools themselves provide.
Hollow Knight: Silksong's known features so far include at least one Tool in Hornet's kit that propels her forward at incredible speed, and with the character being faster and more nimble than the Knight this propulsion might be a consistently used traversal mechanic to navigate Pharloom. Additionally, requiring players to find materials to craft these tools as well as regularly repair them using in-game currencies helps to emphasize their importance in gameplay. Players might have significantly fewer available Tools than Charms, but each of these Tools might significantly impact gameplay in a fashion more similar to Samus' suit upgrades from Super Metroid.
New Crafting Materials and Currencies Shake Up the Flow of Silksong's Gameplay
In the original game, players needed to defeat enemies, open chests, and smash objects to collect Hollow Knight's currency of Geo, with its primary function being similar to that of Souls in the Dark Souls series. Geo allowed players to buy items from merchants, level up the Nail, or pay tolls for Benches and the Stag. Silksong's implementation of a new full-fledged crafting system comes with the addition of new in-game currencies and crafting materials that players will need to regularly collect and defeat enemies to farm.
Team Cherry are seemingly discouraging the use of egregious fast-travel while simultaneously encouraging players to explore Pharloom's map on foot by limiting the amount of materials and currency players can hold at one time. These currencies and materials are necessary for crafting tools, repairing tools, and also using Hollow Knight's Benches for saving, and since players can only hold so much at any given time they'll need to regularly complete the activities required for their acquisition. In addition to providing players with more useful options for combat and traversal, it appears that the crafting system might have the intended effect of also causing players to engage more fully with Silksong.
The New Silk Abilities May Be Enhanced Through Crafting
In the first Hollow Knight, players were granted both light and void magic abilities that gave the Knight additional options for attacks and traversal through Hallownest, becoming an important part of how the game was played in the process while also having a strong connection to the title's lore. Silksong is again switching up a system established by its predecessor with the implementation of a new silk-based ability system. Given that the title of the sequel is Silksong, it's likely that Hornet's use of silk abilities will also have an important and purposeful connection to the story.
With how much intent Team Cherry is placing behind the new systems in Silksong (including the crafting system) it would make sense that players would improve or strengthen the silk abilities using the new resources collected in-game. Alternately, it's entirely possible that the silk abilities themselves are entirely dependent on discovering crafting recipes or blueprints for Tools. The end result is that the new mechanics designed for Silksong all tie into each other organically as part of an integrated system.
Much of what fans have surmised about the new crafting system has been pulled from screen grabs and rewatching reveal trailers, meaning that definitive information on these new systems is scant. The inclusion of a crafting system and the impact on the in-game economy takes the Hollow Knight franchise one step further into RPG territory while also giving definitive incentives to fully explore the game's map. New features like the crafting system display a desire on the part of Team Cherry to not simply rest on the laurels of its previous work and attempt to add new features to Hollow Knight: Silksong, which wouldn't have been possible without Hollow Knight's success.
Hollow Knight: Silksong is in development for PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
