Maybe the most anticipated game to still elude a definitive release date is Hollow Knight: Silksong, which can attribute its continued development and secrecy to the growing scope and scale of the project since its initial reveal. Like many other sequels to beloved original titles in new gaming franchises, Hollow Knight: Silksong looks to be attempting a one-up of everything Hollow Knight brought to the table and then some. While Silksong is most definitely going to be a Metroidvania title in the same style as its predecessor, one area that has seen significant expansion is the title's incorporation of RPG elements into its gameplay.
In addition to resting firmly within the Metroidvania subgenre, the original Hollow Knight also squarely had one foot in Soulslike territory. Outside the methodical combat and teeth-gritting boss encounters like the Dark Souls series, players also needed to speak with NPCs, read lore, and complete quests and side activities to truly see the entirety of what Hallownest has to offer. Like many other RPGs, exploration and story were just as important to game and character progression as the skills players acquired and builds that were orchestrated by equipping combinations of Charms. Silksong promises to expand on all of these features while also adding some new ones.
Silksong Introduces A Full-Blown Crafting System
The best Metroidvania games give players plenty of incentive to thoroughly explore their expansive maps and search every nook and cranny in hopes of uncovering that next crucial upgrade that could unlock further portions of said map. One of the ways that the original Hollow Knight dangled this carrot over players' heads was by placing carefully hidden Charms around Hallownest. Discovering these charms could lead to significant shifts in the way players controlled the Knight and approached both encounters and traversal.
Interestingly, Hollow Knight: Silksong is supplanting the Charm system from its predecessor with a new fully-realized crafting system. Silksong introduces two new in-game currencies, Shell Shards and Rosaries, and the Shell Shards are a necessary component in the act of crafting tools and repairing them. Team Cherry has also revealed that players will be able to craft their own charms. In terms of how Silksong will balance its Metroidvania and RPG inspirations, it's likely that crafting recipes and blueprints will now serve as the items that entice players to explore and discover Pharloom's secrets.
Expanding on Hollow Knight's Side Quests
Hollow Knight featured plenty of deviations from its critical path in the form of optional side quests, with many of these welcome distractions resulting in a nugget of important lore or valuable item for the Knight to use on their adventure. The DLC expansions for Hollow Knight introduced new side quests, showing that Team Cherry was already interested in adding more new RPG systems and elements into its game.
These optional side quests could be completely avoided or engaged with by players, but anyone looking to get the most out of Hollow Knight's story and gameplay likely completed many of these optional activities that enriched the core experience. What has been revealed of Silksong so far confirms that not only will optional side quests make a return in the Hollow Knight sequel, but also be greatly expanded upon in terms of how they engage the player and affect the outcome of Hornet's time in the Pharloom.
For starters, Hornet will have the ability to converse with the world's NPCs. Already this is a departure from the Knight's positioning as the classic video game "silent protagonist", and the game could possibly include branching dialogue trees that give players different response options based on which quests they've already completed or have yet to complete for certain NPCs.
In terms of the types of quests players can expect to complete in Hollow Knight: Silksong, it's been revealed that most side-quests fall into one of four categories: Gather, Wayfarer, Hunt, and Grand Hunt. These categories fittingly fall into the side quest tropes of gathering or fetch quests, escort missions, and monster-slaying or optional boss encounters. Each biome in Pharloom's map will include NPCs who can assign quests and players can track their progress on all accepted quests via Notice Boards placed near the game's Benches and fast-travel locations.
Hollow Knight's Sequel Will Have New Silk-Based Magic and Abilities
In the original Hollow Knight, the Knight was granted control over both void and light magic that provided various bonuses in either combat or traversal. These magic abilities catered to the Knight's mostly aggressive playstyle and reliance on bounce and dash moves in combat, allowing players to quickly deal damage to distant foes in a pinch when needing to crowd control. Because Hornet is a similar but different hero for players to control, it is appropriate that she get her own new magic abilities that make sense for how the character plays.
Thus, Hollow Knight: Silksong's new Silk abilities. In addition to giving the player new abilities that make sense given Hornet's more expansive suite of mobility options, the new Silk abilities also are the primary means through which players will heal and level up.
The void and light magic abilities the Knight possessed in Hollow Knight had an important context within the game's lore, and the focus on Silk-based abilities seems to also tie in directly with the sequel's Silksong moniker. Players continue to wait for the announcement of a confirmed release date for Silksong, but already there's plenty of cause for excitement regarding the ways the game expands its adventure into the RPG genre.
Hollow Knight: Silksong is in development for PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
