First and foremost, following up on the masterpiece that is Hollow Knight was never an easy task and the overwhelming hype that surrounded this game with its silkposts and neverending memes made this release somewhat of a climax of 2025. However, despite my hesitation going in I can safely say that despite some minor flaws, Silksong is another defining masterpiece from Team Cherry that will stand the test of time..

For context, I have finished the game on all endings and did most of the achievements, all in all 80 hours of gameplay. I did not touch steel soul so I can not comment on all the extras added through that route but I have heard it did spice up the game with more secrets and added characters. I did take my time exploring all the nooks and crannies in this quite enormous world and never once did I feel like I got enough of this games gorgeous and remarkable worldbuilding that both expands on the lore from Hollow Knight, but also carves itself a brand new niche in the story of the fallen realm of Pharloom. To give this a fair rundown I have ordered my humble opinions in an internet-friendly structured list.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3599451842

• The worldbuilding of Team Cherry is the stuff of legends. The various areas and their interconnected stories make for a sublime journey through a realm of twisted nightmare and horrible beauty. Travelling through Pharloom and its delicate handcrafted environments is an amazing experience and despite the sheer scale of it all you never feel lost or confused. Each area has its specific enemies and tells a different story about the fall of the empire and how its inhabitants struggled to survive the aftermath.
  
• The overall gameplay is sublime in its excellent and precise combat and movement and I really love how different Hornet handles versus The Knight. In the beginning it took a bit getting used to but the end result of the tools combined with the variation in crests were perfect and I truly enjoyed feeling the combat being just right during some of the bosses and challenges.
  
• The crests that give you your attack pattern are diverse and varied, and even though I ended up using the standard crest most of the game, the diversity and intricate differences are a brilliant way of seasoning the already excellent gameplay.
  
• The bosses were great, each telling a different story and fighting perfectly into its domain. In the end I faced them all and had a great time challenging my own lack of reaction.
  
• The music is bloody great. Simply perfection!

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3599452858

• The many arenas where you are swarmed by a ton of regular dudes felt alright at start but quickly turned into a chore. I get it, we need some breakpoints to try out our skills and an arena where you throw in a couple of enemies can be great, unless they get too regular. Not a great annoyance, but quite remarkable in its “mundanity” compared to the great bosses!

• The extra “layer” of currency. Now you have to juggle Silk (soul equivalent), Shards and Rosaries, each filling a certain niche that quickly made me fall back into a weird grindy loop that felt awful. The Silk powers your abilities and heals you, but if you, like me, need to heal a lot, this is what you will invest the majority of Silk into. I have heard arguments for the fact that using certain abilities speeds up encounters, but since most of them are just technical dances you really do not need the speed, only the health for these misjudged dodges and strikes… Shards are used in some quests/wishes and to recharge your tools, something you tend to need to do a lot if you keep bouncing off bosses. Early game you will drown in shards, late game, not so much. Rosaries are my main gripe since they are not dropped by all the enemies, yet are used to unlock benches, fasttravel, gadgets and much much more. Did it really need to be so many different currencies? And do you really want to use those fancy tools knowing you will run out of gas if you fail too frequently? To me this felt poorly executed and ended up being a grind, something that actually might be highly thematic in this dystopian bug-riddled fantasy.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3599451567
Conclusion: So with that said, I really REALLY love Silksong with every fiber of my being, and yet it makes me feel so frustrated and horrible at the same time. This game has my highest recommendations, but be aware that it is a hard game. Not in an unfair way but in a highly challenging and truly rewarding sense. I had my rough spots with this wonderful game and it really tested my sanity during some of the more mindrending parts, but in the end this was a game that truly captured the wonders of storytelling and gaming as an artform.

Silksong will definitely (unless something obscure shows up from the sidelines!) be my personal Game of the Year (2025) and if you have any love for metroidvanias this is truly a must buy.

In short, this was a instant buy for me, and I have not regretted it. While I have yet to finish Silksong, and that will be a review all in its own time, I simply have to heave praise upon this fantastic companion piece. If you have any love for Hollow Knight or its predecessor, simply buying the soundtrack is a great way of showing a bit extra support. On top of that you get a fantastic soundtrack that really breathes life in the fantastic lands of Pharloom.

Mighty recommendations for everyone. Choral Chambers and Greymoor are amazing examples of how audio can enhance storytelling to the next level, something alot of the AAA-developers could take a hint at.