Hollow Knight: Silksong vs. Hollow Knight

Hollow Knight: Silksong vs. Hollow Knight – 15 Biggest Differences

After years of anticipation, Hollow Knight: Silksong has finally arrived, giving players a new adventure in the hauntingly beautiful universe Team Cherry created. But how does it compare to the original Hollow Knight? Whether you're a veteran of Hallownest considering a trip to Pharloom or a newcomer wondering which game to dive into first, this comprehensive comparison breaks down the 15 biggest differences between these two metroidvania masterpieces.

1. Protagonist and Playable Character

The most obvious difference between the two games is the protagonist. In the original Hollow Knight, players control the Knight, a silent, genderless vessel created to contain the Radiance. In Silksong, players take on the role of Hornet, a princess-protector who was both an antagonist and ally in the first game.

This change fundamentally alters the gameplay experience. Hornet is more vocal, expressive, and agile than the Knight, with a distinct personality that drives the narrative forward. Her established backstory and relationships with other characters provide immediate context that the Knight's mysterious origin lacked.

2. Combat Style and Mechanics

Combat in Silksong feels noticeably different from the original. The Knight relied on a nail and focus-based spells, with a methodical, defensive approach. Hornet, by contrast, uses a needle and thread system that enables faster, more aggressive combat.

Silksong introduces new abilities like the Silk Dash and Weave attacks that create a more vertical and dynamic combat experience. Hornet can also parry enemy attacks, adding a risk-reward layer absent in the original. While both games require precision, Silksong emphasizes speed and aggression over the Knight's more deliberate style.

3. Movement and Traversal

Movement mechanics have been significantly overhauled in Silksong. The Knight gradually acquired abilities like the Mantis Claw and Monarch Wings to traverse Hallownest. Hornet, however, starts with more natural mobility, including the ability to climb walls and perform mid-air dashes from the beginning.

The silk mechanic serves multiple purposes in Silksong – creating lines to swing across gaps, crafting tools, and enhancing attacks. This multi-function system adds complexity to traversal that wasn't present in the original's more straightforward movement upgrades.

4. World Setting and Atmosphere

While both games feature atmospheric, hand-drawn worlds, they have distinct settings and tones. Hollow Knight took place in Hallownest, a fallen insect kingdom buried underground, with a consistently somber, melancholic atmosphere throughout.

Silksong is set in Pharloom, a kingdom above ground with a more varied visual palette and environmental diversity. Pharloom feels brighter and more colorful than Hallownest, though it maintains the haunting beauty that defines the series. The change in setting allows for more varied environments, from shimmering silkfalls to industrial docks.

5. Narrative Approach

The original Hollow Knight told its story primarily through environmental storytelling, with minimal dialogue and explicit exposition. Players pieced together the history of Hallownest through item descriptions, environmental details, and brief NPC encounters.

Silksong takes a more direct approach to storytelling, featuring more dialogue, cutscenes, and character interactions. While environmental storytelling remains important, Hornet's established personality and relationships drive the narrative more explicitly than the Knight's silent journey.

6. Progression Systems

Character progression differs significantly between the two games. Hollow Knight used the Charm system, where players equipped various charms to customize their abilities and playstyle. Charms could be combined for different effects, allowing for considerable build variety.

Silksong replaces charms with a shell system, where Hornet equips different shells that provide various bonuses and abilities. Additionally, Silksong introduces a more robust crafting system, where resources gathered throughout Pharloom can be used to create tools, weapons, and upgrades.

7. Difficulty and Accessibility

Silksong is generally more accessible than the original Hollow Knight. While both games are challenging, Silksong features a gentler initial difficulty curve and more forgiving checkpoints. The original Hollow Knight was notorious for its punishing difficulty, particularly in areas like the White Palace and Path of Pain.

Silksong still provides substantial challenge, especially in boss fights and optional areas, but it offers more quality-of-life features that make the experience less frustrating for players who found the original too demanding.

8. Boss Design and Encounters

Both games feature memorable boss fights, but their design philosophies differ. Hollow Knight's bosses often required precise pattern recognition and patience, with many fights feeling like methodical dances.

Silksong's bosses are more dynamic and aggressive, requiring quick reflexes and adaptation to changing patterns. Hornet's speed and agility allow for more complex boss mechanics that wouldn't have been possible with the Knight's more limited moveset. The result is boss fights that feel more like intense, fast-paced duels.

9. Map Design and Navigation

While both games feature interconnected worlds with plenty of secrets, their map designs differ significantly. Hallownest felt more like a single, cohesive underground labyrinth with interconnected areas that blended seamlessly.

Pharloom in Silksong is structured more distinctly, with clearer separation between areas and more varied environmental themes. The fast travel system has also been improved in Silksong, making backtracking less tedious than in the original.

10. Sound and Music

Christopher Larkin returned to compose the soundtrack for Silksong, maintaining the haunting quality that made the original's music so memorable. However, Silksong's soundtrack features more diverse instrumentation and themes that reflect Pharloom's brighter setting.

Sound design has also been enhanced in Silksong, with more dynamic audio cues during combat and more distinct environmental sounds that help immerse players in the world of Pharloom.

11. Art Direction and Visual Style

While both games share Team Cherry's distinctive hand-drawn art style, Silksong features more detailed environments, smoother animations, and a broader color palette. The original Hollow Knight had a more consistent, muted color scheme that reflected its underground setting.

Silksong takes advantage of its above-ground setting to introduce more vibrant colors and lighting effects, creating a visually distinct experience while maintaining the artistic identity that made the original so beloved.

12. NPC Interactions and Side Content

Silksong features more developed NPCs and side content than the original Hollow Knight. While Hallownest had memorable characters, many had minimal dialogue and relatively simple questlines.

Pharloom is populated with more complex NPCs who have detailed backstories, multi-stage questlines, and more significant impacts on the game world. The side content in Silksong is also more substantial, with more elaborate side quests and optional areas to explore.

13. Save System and Checkpoints

The save systems differ between the two games. Hollow Knight used benches as save points, which also replenished health and soul. Dying meant returning to the last bench and having to recover your geo (currency) from your shade.

Silksong introduces a more forgiving save system with more frequent checkpoints and less punishing death mechanics. While the game still features challenges, the frustration factor has been reduced, making the experience more accessible to a wider range of players.

14. Length and Content Density

Silksong is a substantially larger game than the original Hollow Knight. A complete playthrough of the original typically took 20-30 hours, while Silksong's main campaign lasts 30-40 hours, with significantly more post-game content.

Pharloom is more densely packed with content than Hallownest, featuring more areas to explore, bosses to defeat, and secrets to uncover. This increased scope makes Silksong a more substantial experience overall, though some argue that Hallownest felt more tightly designed despite being smaller.

15. Technical Performance and Polish

As a later release, Silksong benefits from improved technical performance compared to the original Hollow Knight. The game runs more smoothly across all platforms, with fewer frame drops and faster loading times.

Silksong also features more quality-of-life improvements, including better mapping tools, more intuitive menus, and more informative UI elements. While the original Hollow Knight was polished for its time, Silksong demonstrates Team Cherry's growth as developers in terms of technical execution.

Which Game Is Right for You?

Both Hollow Knight and Silksong are exceptional games that deserve praise, but they offer slightly different experiences that may appeal to different types of players.

Choose Hollow Knight If:

You prefer a more mysterious, atmospheric experience with minimal explicit storytelling
You enjoy extremely challenging games that require patience and precision
You appreciate a more cohesive, interconnected world design
You prefer a more methodical, defensive combat style
You value challenge over accessibility

Choose Silksong If:

You want a more direct narrative with character development and dialogue
You prefer faster, more aggressive combat with more mobility options
You appreciate more varied environments and visual diversity
You want a larger game with more content and side activities
You prefer more forgiving gameplay with better quality-of-life features

Final Verdict

Both Hollow Knight and Silksong stand as masterpieces of the metroidvania genre, each offering unique strengths that make them worth playing. The original Hollow Knight revolutionized indie games with its atmospheric world, challenging gameplay, and environmental storytelling. Silksong builds upon that foundation with more refined mechanics, a broader scope, and a more direct narrative approach.

For newcomers to the series, Hollow Knight remains the best starting point – its more straightforward mechanics and cohesive world make it an ideal introduction to the universe. For veterans of Hallownest, Silksong offers a fresh perspective with enough familiar elements to feel like a true sequel while introducing enough innovations to feel like a meaningful evolution.

Rather than choosing one over the other, the ideal approach is to experience both games as complementary adventures in the same universe. Each offers something unique, and together they represent some of the best game design and artistic achievement in the indie space.