Hollow Knight: Silksong Shows Why Buying Into Hype Can Backfire

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Okay, so *Borderlands 4* is out, but I’m still completely obsessed with waiting for *Hollow Knight: Silksong*. Honestly, it’s not shocking – it’s been one of the biggest games I’ve been looking forward to for ages, and from what I’ve seen, it’s absolutely massive, packed with stuff to find. It almost feels unreal! I’ve spent so much time exploring the beautiful, incredibly detailed, and sometimes seriously sad areas of Pharloom that if I hadn’t actually *played* it, I’d swear Team Cherry was just messing with us all along.

Despite all the anticipation, here we are, and it’s genuinely impressive. I’m not alone in thinking so – the game currently has very high scores on Metacritic (93) and Opencritic (92). The player numbers back it up too: even though interest has dipped from its peak, it still averaged over 375,000 players on Steam in the last day. For comparison, the original *Hollow Knight* only reached around 95,000 concurrent players at its most popular. But as I continue exploring the game and completing tasks, it’s clear that some players are letting the hype get to them. Despite overwhelmingly positive reviews (91% on Steam), many are still complaining about the difficulty and how it’s affecting their enjoyment.

It’s understandable to feel frustrated when you invest a lot of effort into improving, only to be quickly defeated by a tough boss or tricky level. But I actually think this difficulty is a good thing – it encourages you to truly learn the game’s mechanics and find the best tools to succeed. However, it brings up a common issue: can a game be *too* hyped? We often see games heavily promoted before release, only to be let down by bugs, poor performance, or unfair monetization. Even decent games can suffer from this. For example, *Monster Hunter Wilds* sold over 10 million copies initially, but quickly lost players due to a weak endgame, performance problems (especially on PC), and a disappointing progression system.

The recent issues sparked enough concern that even investors started questioning leadership and asking for solutions. However, *Hollow Knight: Silksong* is a different story. Despite a few remaining technical glitches, the game is remarkably polished. Many players feel it has exceeded expectations in areas like level design, bosses, combat, movement, art, and music. At $19.99, it offers incredible value for the amount of content. Some players are struggling, though, because they’re taking a lot of damage. This increased difficulty shouldn’t be a surprise to fans of the original *Hollow Knight*, especially considering Hornet’s expanded movement abilities. It does make you wonder if those players got too caught up in the excitement and jumped in without being fully prepared.

A lot of people have been upset about the challenging ‘boss runbacks,’ even though skilled players can handle them without too much trouble. It’s not surprising that the first update, coming next week, focuses on making just the first few bosses a little easier, slightly lowering the cost of benches, and giving you a bit more money from exploring the environment. If you’re still finding the game too difficult after these changes, *Hollow Knight: Silksong* might not be the right fit for you, and that’s okay. The bigger problem is when people complain simply because they bought the game based on the hype without understanding what to expect. Pre-release reviews might have helped manage expectations and prepared players for the game’s difficulty, though it’s hard to say if they could have prevented all the complaints.

Many critics who liked the game also acknowledged its challenging difficulty, which is similar to the reaction to the initial release of *Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree*. That expansion was praised by critics but received criticism from players on Steam for being too difficult. Ultimately, how much hype a game gets is always subjective.

If someone had warned me years ago that *Mega Man Zero* was a really tough game, one that would push my limits, would it have made me less excited? As a longtime fan of the *Mega Man X* series – someone who still loves the music and especially enjoyed playing as Zero – I doubt it. And even with all the frustrating challenges – instant-death traps and having to start levels over after using up limited continues – I kept playing. Like before, the difficulty didn’t hurt the game; it actually made it even better.

What truly makes games like *Mega Man Zero* and its sequels, and even *Hollow Knight*, so special is their demanding difficulty. I can’t picture enjoying them any other way. I suspect the same will be true for *Silksong* whenever it finally arrives, even with future adjustments. It’s easy to understand why some people disliked the challenge and moved on to the next popular game, spending a lot of money only to be disappointed when it doesn’t meet their expectations. That’s not a criticism – everyone wants something different, and it’s natural to be frustrated when a game doesn’t deliver what you hoped for.

You really start to question someone’s expectations when they go from excited about a game to actively disliking it – some of the things I’ve seen in Steam reviews are pretty harsh. Hype will likely always be a problem in media, though. Sometimes people just have different tastes, or their past experiences make it hard to be immediately impressed with something popular. Even then, they’ll often give it a try and see what all the fuss is about, maybe even enjoying it despite having played other great games. But sometimes, they’ll just dislike it – perhaps because of a minor frustration, like taking too much damage in the game.

It works the other way around too – I’ve witnessed fans loving a series, only to have their enjoyment spoiled by all the criticism (both fair and unfair). It’s definitely something to consider, especially with so many highly anticipated games coming out soon, like *Ghost of Yōtei*, *Metroid Prime 4: Beyond*, and potentially the biggest of them all, *Grand Theft Auto 6*. I’m always interested in what fans are hoping for and how these games will be received, but maybe try to do a little research beforehand so you can go in with an open mind.

The opinions shared in this article are the author’s own and don’t reflect the official stance of GamingBolt.

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2025-09-15 14:42