Hollow Knight: Silksong Feature Scores
Explore all 62 feature scores for Hollow Knight: Silksong, organized into pros and cons.
Scores by Feature
Summary
62 reviewed features-
Very positive 4.5-5.040 (65%)
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Positive 3.5-4.49 (15%)
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Neutral 2.5-3.47 (11%)
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Negative 1.5-2.46 (10%)
Pros
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Art direction receives near-universal praise for hand-drawn beauty, color variety, style, and a distinctive visual identity.
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Hornet’s movement is one of the clearest consensus wins, with reviewers praising her speed, agility, sprinting, and dance-like traversal.
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Value for money is exceptional across reviews, especially because of the low price, large content volume, and long completion potential.
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The soundtrack is one of the clearest strengths, repeatedly described as magnificent, excellent, world-class, and emotionally fitting.
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Combat is a major strength, described as fast, precise, tense, dance-like, and rewarding, though some reviews tie its highs to demanding difficulty.
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Exploration is a standout, with most reviewers praising dense secrets, rewarding routes, and curiosity-driven discovery, though a few disliked sparse rewards or risk pressure.
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Boss design is broadly praised as memorable, choreographed, varied, and exciting, though some reviews dislike spongey health pools, rewards, or runbacks.
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Environmental detail is repeatedly praised, from dense small touches to rooms and backgrounds that make Pharloom feel lived-in.
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World-building is one of the strongest areas, with reviewers praising Pharloom as immaculate, complex, sad, and worth exploring.
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Hornet is consistently praised as an excellent, charismatic, well-rounded protagonist with stronger presence than the silent Knight.
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Level design is strongly praised for seamless area flow, purposeful rooms, thoughtful platform placement, and dense Metroidvania structure.
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Atmosphere is a major strength, described as surreal, haunting, dreadful, beautiful, and full of wonder and horror.
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Faithfulness to franchise is strongly supported by reviews saying it captures, continues, and improves on Hollow Knight while standing apart.
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Lore depth is praised for hidden mysteries, optional heritage threads, and deeper history that rewards curiosity.
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Crests, tools, and upgrades are widely seen as flexible and creative, though a few reviews found early limitations or resource-linked tool use frustrating.
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Replay value trends high for completionists and build experimenters, though one reviewer said they were glad to play it only once.
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Fun factor is high overall, with reviewers repeatedly saying they had great fun, wanted to return, or found the game compelling despite pain.
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Emotional impact is strong, ranging from adrenaline and triumph to reviewers saying they shed tears or were moved by events.
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Graphics quality is praised for a stunning hand-drawn world and a visual style that feels playful, dark, and richly realized.
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Innovation is positive but measured: reviewers praise new directions and system changes, while one calls it evolutionary rather than revolutionary.
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Map and navigation design is mixed: several reviews praise map structure and direction, but others dislike incomplete map support and 100% cleanup.
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Performance is praised on lower-end hardware, Switch platforms, and 120fps contexts, with only minor visual caveats.
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Character development is praised for Hornet softening through Pharloom and for character arcs that counterbalance the harsh world.
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Narrative quality is praised as more focused and engaging than the original, helped by Hornet’s voice and guided exploration.
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Difficulty is the most divisive attribute: many reviewers call it rewarding and intentional, while others find it cruel, too punishing, or unfairly frictional.
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Content variety is praised through multiple game-like challenge types, many systems, and plentiful options, while remaining tied to high difficulty.
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The core loop is praised as pure Metroidvania satisfaction: tough encounters, discovery, and rewarding progression through new areas.
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Sound design earns strong support from praise for surface-specific details and top-notch audio touches.
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Writing quality receives strong praise where reviewers call it top-notch and tied to Hornet’s conversations and character insight.
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Control feel is strongly praised, with one review emphasizing complete control of Hornet and another calling the Switch 2 Pro Controller perfect.
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Enemy variety is strong in scope, but evidence is mixed because flying enemies, monster rooms, and certain mobs can feel annoying.
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Progression is generally praised for fresh upgrades and satisfying forward motion, but one review criticizes opaque true-ending requirements.
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Dialogue is mixed-to-positive: one review calls it shockingly good, while another says it can feel dry at times.
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Animation quality has limited but strong evidence, with reviewers noting gorgeous animation within the hand-drawn presentation.
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Endgame content receives strong support from optional endings, zones, bosses, and post-credits discoveries.
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Frame rate stability has limited but positive evidence from a Switch 2 review calling 120fps performance perfect.
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Immersion is strongly supported by one review’s comment about Pharloom lingering after play.
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World interactivity has limited but strong support from one review that praises evolving locations, reactive hubs, and organic backtracking.
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Handheld suitability has positive evidence from Steam Deck performance and battery life comments.
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Polish is praised through meticulous design and presentation, though only one scored review directly supports the attribute.
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Originality is praised where Silksong is seen as firmly on its own path rather than a simple copy.
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Side character depth receives positive evidence from a review praising Pharloom’s supporting characters as charming and motivated.
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Horror tension receives limited positive support from the dream/nightmare tone described in one review.
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Platform-specific support has positive evidence from ultrawide support that improves immersion.
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Mission design earns positive evidence where missions give players reasons to revisit areas and make NPC discoveries feel more purposeful.
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Puzzle design receives limited but positive evidence, with one review saying Silksong makes puzzle-solving and hidden-path discovery feel effortless.
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User interface design has limited positive evidence around attractive mission HUD illustrations and attention to detail.
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Review evidence frames the broader mechanics as more complex than the original, especially through Hornet’s expanded combat and movement options.
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Fast travel is praised in one review for reducing backtracking tedium through well-marked routes.
Cons
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Checkpointing is a common concern, with long runbacks, sparse benches, paid benches, and poor placement repeatedly criticized.
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Accessibility is criticized as limited, with reviews noting the game is not trying to be accessible to everyone and lacks broader options.
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Loot and rewards are a weaker point, with reviewers complaining about bosses or difficult paths that provide little or disappointing material payoff.
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The rosary and shard economy is the most repeated systems complaint, often described as stingy, grindy, or slightly misbalanced.
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Camera and hitbox-adjacent behavior draws criticism where bosses or damage windows appear from off-screen or feel overly generous.
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Crafting has negative evidence where shard requirements pull the player away from action into repetitive resource hunting.
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Grind level is criticized where resource depletion and boss attempts can push players toward needless grinding.
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Onboarding is a weak spot for some, especially in the opening hours where resources, checkpoints, and tutorial clarity are less generous.
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Tutorial quality is criticized through comparison with Hollow Knight’s clearer early tutorial structure and more generous opening support.
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Pacing has a notable concern around long checkpoint placement that interrupts practice and repetition in challenging sequences.
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Quest design is split: some reviewers like wishes and missions as structure, while others criticize boring or grindy fetch quests.
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The learning curve is steep, with reviewers noting hours of mastery and occasional git-gud walls, but also rewarding skill growth.
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Platforming precision is mixed: reviewers admire Hornet’s acrobatics, but several criticize the diagonal pogo or inconsistent bounce feel.