Team Cherry has responded to player concerns about Hollow Knight: Silksong difficulty, saying the game offers multiple paths and options to bypass tough encounters while encouraging exploration. Comments came during an ACMI exhibition, and the developers explained why the sequel plays harder than the original while still giving players room to divert and adapt.
Lengthy runbacks, chaotic enemy patterns, and platforming that requires precise timing make for a punishing experience at times, and Team Cherry has already released an update to make it easier for everyone… Designers built more optional routes and detours into the world, allowing players to avoid or soften a roadblock rather than being forced to repeat a single sequence forever. This shift makes Silksong comparisons to the original inevitable but intentional.
Some players have already resorted to mods to tweak enemy damage and other systems, a sign that the community will keep experimenting with ways to shape their own experience. Recently, a new mod has been released that allows players to fast travel to bosses and engage in fights they prefer.
Silksong appeared as part of the Game Worlds exhibition in Melbourne, and co-curator Jini Maxwell spoke with Team Cherry’s duo, Ari Gibson and William Pellen, about the design choices. Gibson noted that the team wanted players to be able to go far off the main path and find different approaches to challenges. He said, “The important thing for us is that we allow you to go way off the path. So one player may choose to follow it directly to its conclusion, and then another may choose to constantly divert from it and find all the other things that are waiting and all the other ways and routes.”
Gibson also acknowledged that “Silksong has some moments of steep difficulty,” but added that giving players greater freedom means they “have choices all the time about where youre going and what youre doing.” He reminded players it is acceptable to avoid a tough fight: “Thats fine,” Gibson said, noting there are “ways to mitigate the difficulty via exploration, or learning, or even circumventing the challenge entirely, rather than getting stonewalled.”
Gibson explained that the Hornets’ faster movement and different toolkit required a rethinking of enemy design, so foes needed more complex behaviors to pose the right level of challenge. Pellen added that some creatures borrow moves from major encounters, describing how basic enemies were given dashes and checks to catch a more mobile protagonist.
Rather than nerfing Hornets’ abilities, Team Cherry chose to “bring everyone else up to match her level,” resulting in encounters that feel sharper but that can be approached in several ways depending on player preference.
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