Team Cherry's Hollow Knight: Silksong is among the most anticipated indie games in development. The original Hollow Knight released over five years ago and showed how well its small team could keep pace with - and in many ways surpass - the metroidvania design exemplified by games like Super Metroid. Yet little information about its sequel has been provided since Silksong's February 2019 announcement, leaving fans waiting with bated breath.
The biggest announcement from Team Cherry over the last few months came during the June 2022 Xbox and Bethesda Games Showcase when Hollow Knight: Silksong confirmed a day-one release on Xbox Game Pass. No release date was provided, but given the showcase focused on titles coming within 12 months it seems likely Silksong will rear its head soon. Until then, speculation is open regarding how Team Cherry will handle new and returning mechanics, and Nail Arts provide one foundation to improve upon.
Nail Arts in Hollow Knight
Hollow Knight opens on The Knight approaching a desolate kingdom named Hallownest, sparsely inhabited by bug people creating lives among the ruins. The Knight has just a few functions from the offset: the ability swing their sword-like Nail in four directions, jump up modest platforms, and heal utilizing the Soul collected by hitting enemies. In classic metroidvania fashion, much of the game revolves around overcoming challenges to unlock new permanent abilities that open up larger chunks of Hallownest.
Though players can take numerous routes benefiting minimalist or completionist approaches to finding the Hollow Knight, some movement mechanics are required - certainly so if players want to unlock the true ending. For example, the Mothwing Cloak unlocked by defeating Hornet in Greenpath gives The Knight a dash, and the Mantis Claw found in Mantis Village lets them cling to walls. Soul can also be used on spells like Vengeful Spirit and Desolate Dive that open up more avenues.
Nail Arts in Hollow Knight serve as purely optional combat techniques. Three can be unlocked by visiting Nailmasters across Hallownest: Mato in the Howling Cliffs confers the Cyclone Slash, essentially The Legend of Zelda's spin attack; Oro in Kingdom's Edge confers the Dash Slash, which adds combat functionality to the Mothwing Cloak; and Sheo in Greenpath confers Great Slash, a powerful charged strike. Collecting all three and visiting Sly the shopkeeper will reveal him to be the Great Nailsage, and he offers The Knight a Charm that charges his student's techniques faster.
Translating Nail Arts to Silksong
While Hollow Knight: Silksong began as a crowdfunded expansion, Hornet's adventure became "too large and too unique to stay a DLC," according to Team Cherry's announcement post. Early showcases at E3 2019 and the latest footage from its Xbox and Bethesda Games Showcase trailer suggest Hornet is more nimble and acrobatic than The Knight, fighting with a needle and thread rather than a Nail. She also appears incapable of accessing Soul, and instead relies on building up spools of thread for her abilities.
The game's website says Hornet can master "devastating attacks," "incredible silken abilities," and "deadly tools," the latter appearing similar to the rotating sub-weapons of Castlevania. In the latest trailer she throws arcing bombs, drops tacks on the floor, leaves behind spiked mines, and tosses smaller needles like kunai. Meanwhile, silk is restored by striking enemies and can access Spell-like attacks, but silken abilities also appear necessary for traversal as Hornet uses some of her gauge to latch onto a hook.
If Hornet discovers individuals around Pharloom who teach her the equivalent of optional Nail Arts, they could be "Silk Arts" instead. Hornet could discover Silk Arts that weave her mechanics together and make the craftable tools better in select situations. For example, one Silk Art could carefully attach string to an arcing bombs so that she can swing it all around her body in a more defensive pattern.
Hiding new traversal techniques in optional encounters could also fit with Hornet using her silk for platforming elements, but Team Cherry would need to make sure these are useful without locking any serious content behind the Nail Art equivalents. Perhaps Hornet could complete the game without a given technique, but having it would make Silksong's version of Path of Pain easier. Hopefully the developer sheds more light on what Hollow Knight fans can expect in the near future.
Hollow Knight: Silksong is in development for PC, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
