Hollow Knight: Silksong is a 2D Metroidvania action-adventure game, which takes place in a haunted kingdom inhabited by bugs. The gameplay is largely similar to that of its predecessor. The player controls Hornet, an insectoid creature who wields a needle to combat enemies. During her adventure, Hornet encounters many hostile creatures. The game is planned to feature over 165 different enemies. Hornet will also encounter many friendly non-player characters. Silksong will feature a quest system, with characters asking Hornet to fulfill certain requests. The quest system is broken up into four sections: Hunt, Gather, Wayfinder and Grand Hunt. Hornet will be able to craft weapons and tools from materials, which may be a replacement for the charm system in Hollow Knight. The checkpoint system from the first game will return in Silksong. Instead of using soul to heal like the Knight from Hollow Knight did, Hornet uses silk. She can near instantly heal three masks of damage on the move instead of needing to stop and slowly heal one mask at a time like the Knight, which could put it in danger from receiving more damage. However this depletes her entire bar of silk. Upon death, instead of leaving a Shade like the Knight did, Hornet instead leaves a bundle of silk that refills all 8 notches of silk in her bar when broken.
Plot
Hornet finds herself captured and taken to the unknown, haunted kingdom of Pharloom, which is said to be "ruled by Silk and Song." Hornet must climb to the top of this kingdom to reach a shining citadel in order to discover why she was brought to this strange kingdom. This contrasts with the progression of Hollow Knight, which involves descending into the depths of Hallownest and trying to stop the infection plaguing the Kingdom. Along the way, she faces many powerful opponents including knights, warriors and assassins.
Development
Team Cherry is a small indie development studio based in Adelaide, South Australia. Hollow Knight: Silksong was announced on 14 February 2019 in a trailer and with a developer diary video sharing more information about the game. The game will be released for Windows PC, Mac and Linux, with Nintendo Switch being the only console to receive the game at launch. Originally, Hornet was planned as a second playable character to be included in a downloadable content pack for Hollow Knight, funded as a stretch goal in the game's Kickstarter campaign. Eventually, Team Cherry decided to expand the DLC to a full sequel. While in the process, Team Cherry revealed some of the character animations for Hornet and Steel Assassin Sharpe, a villain from the game. A demo was also shown at E3 2019 that featured two new areas: Deep Docks and Moss Grotto. The developers released an update about the game in March 2019, sharing descriptions and images of characters who will appear in Silksong. They thanked the game's fans for supporting them regarding the announcement of the sequel. Team Cherry presented a 16-minute playable demo of the game at E3 2019. In December 2019, Team Cherry released a preview of the game's soundtrack, composed by Christopher Larkin, as well as an update on the total amount of enemies currently developed, with a focus on a trio, described as "members of a scholarly suite."
