Sean Martin, Senior Guides Writer
Last week I was: dipping back into Hollow Knight for old time’s sake.
This week I’ve been: pondering that cramming a giant, secret-filled metroidvania into your head right before playing another giant, secret-filled metroidvania may be inadvisable.
Writing guides for PC Gamer, I almost always know what game I’m going to be playing next. But back in early 2017, before I was doing this job, I remember being torn between two newly released indie games I wanted to play. On the one hand there was post-apocalyptic eco-system simulator Rain World, and on the other, a unique-looking little metroidvania called Hollow Knight. Hollow Knight won out, and even though I’ve played many, many hours of Rain World since and consider it one of my favorite games, I don’t regret choosing Hollow Knight. Or rather, letting Hollow Knight consume me.
Over the next couple of months I delved into the game, uncovering mysteries, secret regions, hidden bosses, while slowly mapping the veritable hive of tunnels and chambers that is the kingdom of Hallownest. It haunted me in a way few games have—I’d suddenly recall some forgotten passage from 10 hours back while watching TV and would rush to turn on my PC and see where it led.
It’s what makes Hollow Knight one of the best metroidvanias you will ever play. The way its map slowly spreads and expands, seeping into your brain until you’re totally obsessed with uncovering the next secret and seeing how deep the world truly goes. There are also challenging bosses that you’ll bash your head against Souls-style as you learn their attack patterns, which is more rewarding than frustrating as long as you’re not trying to rush to beat them. That goes for all of Hollow Knight, actually.
Jumping back into it I’m reminded that it’s an experience best savoured, especially if you want to see everything Hallownest has to offer, meet every character, solve every platforming puzzle, fight every boss, or even see all the endings. And that’s not even mentioning the DLC and extra challenges that were added later.
As I write this, there’s just a week left until Silksong arrives. HowLongToBeat pegs a completionist Hollow Knight run at more than 60 hours, which would take about nine hours of playtime per day. Even if you race through in half that time, that’s going to be a lot of Hollow Knight in a very short window.
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I get the urge to cram it in: there are so many games now and Hollow Knight has likely been sitting in your library for the past few years as you tried to find the time. But I promise your enjoyment of Silksong won’t be enhanced by bum-rushing Hollow Knight. In fact, I think it might make your time with both games worse.
Packing one of the most expansive, secret-filled metroidvanias into your brain a mere week or two before jumping into what will likely be the next most expansive, secret-filled metroidvania is a poor idea. You’ll have unresolved mysteries from Hollow Knight overlapping with new ones. Hallways you misremember from one game being in the other. Fresh muscle memory for the Knight’s attacks and jumps you’ll immediately have to fight to overwrite.
It’s not like Silksong is even a narrative continuation of Hollow Knight—it’s set in an entirely different kingdom with you playing as another character. Sure, Hollow Knight lets you learn a little bit about the Hornet (Silksong’s main character) and I imagine there’ll be a cameo or two (maybe from wandering warrior Zote), but beyond that it’s going to be mostly original.
While obviously you can enjoy Hollow Knight however you want (what am I, the game police?), slowly savouring and exploring its mysteries was what made me fall in love with it eight years back, and it’s why I’ve written about it every chance I’ve had since then. Hollow Knight will still be there when you’ve finished Silksong.
It might even be more satisfying, once you’ve rolled credits on Silksong, knowing you have an entire extra world waiting there to be explored whenever you feel like it. Honestly, it’s enough to make me jealous.
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