Hollow Knight VS Hollow Knight: Silksong — Which One Should You Get First?

Team Cherry's Hollow Knight: Silksong has officially launched — the highly anticipated sequel has been in the works for seven years, and fans couldn't wait for its release. It's here, it has accrued millions of players in just its first week... but should you join the hype?

As the second game in the franchise, it's easy to wonder whether you should be jumping into Silksong or embracing the first entry, Hollow Knight, and playing through that first. Conversely, many wonder if playing a nearly 10-year-old game would feel outdated, and if it isn't just better to get into the sequel to enjoy all of the Quality-of-Life improvements.

In this article, we're going to take a look at both of the games, and then we'll have a definitive answer: which title should you start with?

Hollow Knight

Launched in 2017, Hollow Knight is officially eight years old, and well on its way to getting its ninth. Starting up as a Kickstarter project that managed to hit its funding goal, the title has since become a staple of the indie industry, earning a position as one of the most beloved games for its accessible price point, post-game support via free DLC, and easy-to-pick-up yet hard-to-master gameplay.

The game's skill expression is likely one of its main selling points, as many players dedicated hours upon hours to complete the numerous arduous (and optional, unless you're a completionist) challenges that Team Cherry sprinkled about. From tough boss fights, platforming sections, and numerous additions that have kept the game engaging, it's the impressive entry that even began the franchise.

Hollow Knight may be labelled a hard game — and it very much is — but it offers an accessible skill curve that'll see you dying, yet it presents you with new challenges that are just attainable enough to complete them. The slow progression of its difficulty lets players start up and find themselves completing impressive feats, and before long, mastering the simplistic mechanics, becoming a menace throughout Hallownest.

Hollow Knight: Silksong

The sequel, seven years in the making, Hollow Knight: Silksong has had a bit of an interesting release story that's too easy to laugh at. Ascending to the realm of memes itself, Silksong has been an enigma that left many wondering when they'd be able to pick up and enjoy Team Cherry's unique world once again.

The origins of Silksong date back to the Kickstarter campaign we spoke about, as one of the stretch goals promised a second playable character that never came — this sequel was meant to be a DLC for the base title that would offer this. Yet, slow and steady, the team was having too much fun developing it, and it evolved past its DLC beginnings into the sequel that launched.

The complicated narrative doesn't end there, though, as Silksong has enjoyed a bit of age-old controversy that's been hitting our industry since the launch of DARK SOULS. Having hit the mainstream, Silksong has faced some struggles regarding accessibility and player enjoyment following the difficulty upgrades.

Silksong has become a bit of a controversy in the videogame industry due to its difficulty favouring fans of the original title. Travelling through Pharloom, players take on the role of Hornet as she ascends the broken kingdom to slay her kidnapper. The sequel is a much harder version if the original, which has been both to its merit and detriment, depending on who you’re asking.

Which One Should You Play First?

 

Hollow Knight: Silksong is undeniably a step up from every single area that Hollow Knight touched on. The platforming remains top-notch and has seen some amazing upgrades in the form of smoother movement, better abilities, and more. Meanwhile, combat basks in a similar advancement, letting the player take more agency of their build, offering variability that was missing in Hollow Knight.

But while Silksong is an undeniable upgrade, it's hard to recommend it as the first experience for newcomers. Those who have played Silksong will feel it when returning to Hallownest: clunkier movement, less player agency, and easier combat await those who embark on Hollow Knight. But while the overall feel has seen a massive improvement, the accessibility continued to scale the difficulty past the final bosses of the first game.

Don't mistake me praising Silksong's improvements for trashing on Hollow Knight as a whole: despite its eight years, it feels fresh and new as if it had been a game released just recently. While Team Cherry's skills have improved, which shows in the development of Silksong, the first title remains a fantastic experience that is unmissable.

You'd be wrong to skip Hollow Knight in favour of the sequel for many reasons: the difficulty spiked up, the game has a lot of implied knowledge, and there's even some call-back to elements of the first. But the biggest of all is that you shouldn't rob yourself of the first game in favour of trend-chasing the latest launch.

The first entry is terrific, and Silksong works best as an expansion to it rather than a standalone experience. While you could, theoretically, play the sequel through and through, while not missing out on much, the expected skill level of the second is definitely elevated; it carries advanced mechanics from the first that you don't need to engage with until well into the mid-to-late game.

Whether you should play Hollow Knight or Hollow Knight: Silksong isn't really a question — giving the miss to the sequel is the only real solution. The first title works as an introduction point to get you into the world of Pharloom, but it offers dozens — if not hundreds — of hours of enjoyment that you shouldn't be skipping out on.

If you don't love Hollow Knight’s endgame mechanics, and if you're not a fan of the way the difficulty slowly scales at the end, then Silksong will be an easy skip. But priced at £12.79 without a discount, the first title is simply a must-try, not only because it is the first entry to the franchise, but because it's a staple of the indie sphere.