Speedrun and Steel Soul runs completed. Obviously, I adore this game, and having played both the 1.0 launch version and the "nerf patch" version all the way to the end, I have to say that my latter two playthroughs were more enjoyable. I'll never be able to tell if Team Cherry's opaque "various smaller fixes and tweaks" would have changed my initial impressions or not, but I do think they rounded off some unnecessarily sharp edges in an otherwise enjoyable game. Either that, or "gitting gud" has numbed me to the continued existence of everyone's initial gripes of too many instances of double damage and the fact that upgrade availability in the early game is a desert, wherein what few water bottles are there are being scalped for 80 dollars apiece.

After all, these issues tend to fade into the background if you simply refuse to get hit. That's the other side of the coin: once you "gid gud," the game gets significantly better. On your first playthrough, you thought you could relax once the enemy's attack was over, but by your second playthrough, you realize that that attack always has a follow-up second swing, and that other enemy in the corner of your eye is telegraphing their next projectile, and before you know it, you've dodged both, and bounced off one of them with your downward swing for good measure. You're not even worried when the third enemy spawns, because all three of them are now in range of that AoE attack you've been saving for exactly this opportunity.

There's a certain set of minigames later in the game, one of which involves juggling multiple objects, and one of which involves dodging many flying objects. In both cases, each one appears and telegraphs their movements in a sequence, one at a time. They're basically a distillation of what this game's combat is all about: planning your next move. Great, you've figured out what the enemy in front of you is doing, and what buttons you need to push to dodge their attack and punish it. While your hands are following through on that, shift your attention to what the other guy is doing. Know what you'll need to do next before you need to do it. It's rare to find an action game that demands one-move-ahead anticipation like that. The last one I played that did was Super Hexagon, and I found both Silksong and Super Hexagon to be satisfying to master in a way that very few games are.

The game demands your full attention at all times. Silksong is not a game to be played while listening to a podcast. Every enemy has the opportunity to severely punish you for a moment's lapse in concentration, and the game allows no doubt that this was a very deliberate design choice. For all its haunting beauty, Hallownest was a sleepy place. Hollow Knight simply didn't have as many threatening enemies as Silksong. The Knight, when resting at a bench for long enough, would fall asleep. Hornet does not—she glances restlessly left and right, because Pharloom is a jungle, and everything is trying to kill you like your continued existence is a personal insult to their ancestry. In Hollow Knight, I never had even the slightest concern that I might die on the Steel Soul challenge. In Silksong, I was consistently paranoid.

Many of the enemies in Silksong have a suite of attacks that would qualify them as a miniboss in any other platformer—but they aren't, and they won't be treated as such. You'll fight two, three, four of them at once sometimes. An experience like that would be exhausting if it was nothing but combat, but fortunately, Silksong has plenty of pretty visuals to gawk at, atmosphere to soak in, and deeper lore to ponder over. Silksong lets you set your own pace, and you will by no means be forced to stop and admire these things, but for the sake of your mental health and enjoyment of the game, I recommend you do. Pause to appreciate, reflect, and breathe. Bask in every victory. Just, y'know, don't bask too early, because the boss probably has a third phase or something. Silksong is simultaneously a work of art that can be appreciated by everyone, but with a gameplay loop that will only truly be appreciated by a few, most likely. The hype for Silksong vastly outstripped its target audience, and it shows in the Steam reviews being less positive than the first Hollow Knight. The "most helpful" ones are from people who like the game, but "can't recommend" it, because it's too hard.

Am I one of those people? I'd say not, and for the same reason that I'd never recommend anyone try out a new franchise with a sequel. You should play Hollow Knight. If, after playing Hollow Knight, you still want more from Team Cherry, go ahead and 100% Hollow Knight, because even if you thought you were thorough, you probably missed at least two entire biomes and five hours of content minimum. Still want more? Give Silksong a try, but do be warned, the difficulty spike is legendary. In a lifetime of gaming, I've almost never seen a sequel this much harder than its predecessor. It's like going from Devil May Cry 2 to 3, but if 2 was a good game and 3 never got the special edition that turned the normal mode into easy mode.