The discussion around Hollow Knight Silksong difficulty has continued to rage on, proving in some cases to be a make or break element of the game for some people.
While the first Silksong patch promised a tweak some of the more unforgiving elements of the early game, Team Cherry have said they are aware of the difficulty.
Speaking at ACMI, an Australian gaming museum exhibit, Team Cherry have made it clear they have their own reasons for tuning everything this way. It all revolves around the way that the new player character moves in comparison to that of the first game, but this might not necessarily be enough to alter the experience for everyone.
Hollow Knight Silksong Difficulty
Citing the fact that Hornet is “inherently faster and more skillful” than the Knight from the first game, Team Cherry said that they had to tune enemies to be more aggressive to the players movements and better able to close distances
At ACMI, Ari Gibson admitted that the game could have a steep difficulty curve due to this but reminded players that he believes they always have more flexibility in an approaching an encounter than they think.
He said: “Silksong has some moments of steep difficulty, but part of allowing a higher level of freedom within the world means that you have choices all the time about where you’re going and what you’re doing.”
Is the Game Too Difficult?
Amid a wider discussion around difficulty in gaming increasing, Silksong’s perceived complexity has done little to get in the way of its critical and commercial success, selling 3.2 million copies in its first two weeks.
That being said, the difficulty is something that has been noted in some critic reviews, where players have discussed to what extent the difficulty enhances the experience, and how much of what makes the game appealing to people would be lost with more forgiving aspects.
Future Hollow Knight Silksong Patches
While the first patch did look to address some of the difficulty criticisms, the second was more concerned with fixes, perhaps giving the indication that Team Cherry had done all they intended to in this regard.
Indeed, their comments at the exhibit would support this, standing by their decision with the difficulty – but that doesn’t necessarily rule out further balance adjustments in the future.
