The release of Team Cherry’s next game,Hollow Knight: Silksong, may still be off in the distance, but it is definitely getting closer. Last fans heard, this highly anticipated sequel toHollow Knightis still in production, which is welcome news after several years of radio silence from the development team.Hollow Knight: Silksongcommands a lot of hype regardless of its release status, though, which speaks to just how beloved its predecessor is. In the packed field of indie Metroidvanias,Hollow Knightstill stands tall, andHollow Knight: Silksongcould reach even greater heights.
One way that the sequel could surpass its predecessor is through an expansion of its core features.Hollow Knight: Silksongwill be even largerthan the first game, featuring a whole new map in the Kingdom of Pharloom. Its protagonist, Hornet, is set to be even more capable than the originalHollow Knight’s Knight, with abilities ranging from increased mobility to a new tool crafting system, and she can even speak back to NPCs. However, despite the many new features that will appear inSilksong, it may still be prudent for the game to fall back on some of the enemies that worked best forHollow Knight.
Hollow Knight: Silksong Could Use Well-Rounded Foes
The originalHollow Knightwas populated by several groups of enemy warriors, including:
Comparable groups that are filled with grounded warriors, projectile users, heavy units, and flying foes are expected to beintroduced inHollow Knight: Silksong, but, given how open Pharloom is, some members of the original factions could return as well. Mantises and aspiring Fools are the obvious choices, but wandering Moss Knights, who are normally servants of Unn exclusively found in Greenpath, could provide especially exciting callback fights. Bringing a shield to bear against Hornet’s fierce assault could make them just as fearsome and distinct as they were in the original game.
Baldurs Could Serve As New Kinds Of Barriers In Hollow Knight: Silksong
Another way thatSilksongcould call back to the early hours ofHollow Knightwould be to include Baldurs. These heavily-armored bugs are divided into small rolling Baldurs, their Colosseum of Fools variant (Sharp Baldurs), and the imposing Elder Baldurs that typically serve as choke points to ensure that players find certainupgrades inHollow Knight. Elder Baldurs would block all physical attacks, while remaining open to long-range magic and spawning Baldurs that the Knight could slay for Soul. Baldurs could serve a similar role if they were to return inSilksong, provided that they were adjusted to respond to Hornet’s expanded arsenal.
More Soul-Using Enemies Could Spice Up Hollow Knight: Silksong
Speaking of Soul, the Soul Twisters and Soul Warriors of the Soul Sanctum, as well as the Colosseum’s Volt Twisters, could bring theirmagical studiesto bear once more inSilksong. Although the Kingdom of Pharloom seems to prefer mystical silk and song over Soul, a splinter group could still be holed up in one corner of the region. These magical foes made for some ofHollow Knight’s more mobile battles, and they could work wonderfully alongside Hornet’s enhanced mobility.
Hollow Knight: Silksong Needs To Keep The Element of Surprise
Hornet’s mobility will be very useful when something sneaks up on the player, andHollow Knighthad several enemies designed to surprise and unnerve, including:
All of these creatures subverted the normal flow of combat in some way, either by initiating the fight before a player could properly prepare or by spawning new enemies from their corpses. Flukemons splitting into two halves that revived at different times were especially devious. And even after a player has seen every threatHollow Knighthas to offer, fromDeepnestto the Infected Crossroads, they’ll still be sent scrambling by the cry of a Belfly.
Spiders Should Feature Prominently In Hollow Knight: Silksong
More explosive surprises can be found in the infamous tunnels ofHollow Knight’s Deepnest, courtesy of the Stalking Devours guarding its farthest reaches. These spiders tormented players by occupying choke points, just like the Elder Baldurs, but they could move and unleash surprisingly ferocious assaults while blocking with their masks. A few tweaks to these encounters could allow them to fit perfectly intoSilksong, though the more pressing matter is whether Little Weavers will return in the sequel. These enemies are nothing special on their own, but if Pharloom is the true homeland ofHollow Knight’s absent Weaver Tribe, it would be good to see them in their proper context.
Wacky Mushrooms Could Round Out Hollow Knight: Silksong’s Cast
There is one other tribe that doesn’t need to be confined to Hallownest, and it’s the Mushroom Tribe. Found inHollow Knight’s Fungal Wastes, these odd living mushrooms could theoretically have colonies in any locale. Shrumal Warriors, Shrumal Ogres, and the nonthreatening Shrumelings add some nice flavor to their surroundings, even if they aren’t the most deadly of foes. Their reappearance inSilksongcould also let themspeak as quest NPCs, something that a staff-wielding Shrumal Warrior was seen doing in a 2014Hollow Knighttrailer.Hollow Knight: Silksong’s best reason for bringing the Mushroom Tribe back, however, is that their faces and voice clips are charming, andHollow Knight’s dark fantasy setting wouldn’t be complete without the contrast provided by its cute characters.
