Hollow Knight: Silksong Developers Made it Harder to Suit the Skill Level of Protagonist Hornet

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The new game *Hollow Knight: Silksong* has received positive feedback for how it plays, but many players find it more challenging than the original *Hollow Knight*. In a recent interview with Dexerto, the developers discussed the game’s difficulty and how they worked to create a balanced and engaging experience.

Ari Gibson and William Pellen have described *Hollow Knight: Silksong* as a challenging game, but one that allows players more flexibility in how they tackle those challenges. Gibson explained that it’s acceptable if players spend a long time on a difficult part, as they can reduce the difficulty through exploration, learning new skills, or even finding ways to bypass the challenge altogether, instead of being completely stuck.

What I really love about this game is the freedom it gives you. You can totally stick to the main story if you want and just see it through to the end. But if you’re like me, you’ll probably wander off the beaten path, explore everything, and find all sorts of hidden stuff and alternate ways to play. It’s awesome!

According to Gibson and Pellen, *Hollow Knight: Silksong* is more challenging than the first *Hollow Knight* because the new main character, Hornet, is quicker and a more capable fighter. Pellen explained that Hornet’s abilities in *Silksong* are inspired by the Hornet boss fight from the original game. This led the developers at Team Cherry to create tougher enemies, hoping players would adapt and meet the increased difficulty.

According to Gibson, Hornet is naturally quicker and more adept than the Knight, so even the simplest enemies needed to be challenging and clever.

Pellen explained that the standard ant soldier shares the same attacks and abilities as the original Hornet boss.

The basic moves – running, jumping, and attacking – are still there, but we’ve added dodging and a way to counterattack. Unlike the enemies the Knight faces, Hornet’s opponents need more methods to stop her quick movements and catch up.

After years of anticipation and a long period of silence from the developers, *Hollow Knight: Silksong* was released earlier this month. Analyst Rhys Elliot from Alinea Analytics reports that the game quickly gained a large following, with over 5 million players trying it out in just the first three days.

The game appears to have been very successful on PC, reportedly selling over 3 million copies when it first launched. Looking at who’s been playing, most players – around 78% – already owned the original *Hollow Knight*. There’s also a significant overlap with fans of FromSoftware’s games, as nearly half of the players had previously enjoyed titles like Dark Souls 3 and Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice.

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2025-09-19 15:11