Hollow Knight: Silksong’s Level Design Forges a New Path, and That’s for the Best

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The art of level layout is crucial in various video game categories, yet it plays a pivotal role in the Metroidvania genre. What sets these games apart is their emphasis on exploration, and engaging level design is what truly compels players to delve deeper. This principle is something that Hollow Knight: Silksong understands very well.

In a manner that doesn’t overburden the player, the initial stages of Hollow Knight: Silksong are rich with multiple, rewarding paths and hidden treasures. From the start, players are invited to delve into every corner and crevice of Silksong’s map, just as they did in the 2017 version. However, while Silksong’s level design shares similarities with its predecessor, there’s one significant change that distinguishes the two games, and it enhances them significantly.

Hollow Knight’s Level Design Is All About Digging Down

At the outset of ‘Hollow Knight’, players find themselves plunged deep into the labyrinthine Forgotten Crossroads. From the start, they’re faced with two distinct paths to explore, both offering a multitude of side-paths and optional detours along the way.

In Hollow Knight, players delve deeper into the fallen kingdom of Hallownest as they progress, uncovering more about its past and the events that set the game’s story in motion. This gradual reveal of the game’s central mystery is one of Hollow Knight’s strongest aspects, with its multi-layered structure supporting the experience at every step.

Hollow Knight: Silksong’s Level Design Is All About Climbing Up

In contrast to its 2017 forerunner, Hollow Knight: Silksong’s level design adopts a completely opposite strategy. As Hornet, players explore a brand new central location named Bone Bottom. The vibrant residents hint that the citadel at the peak of the Kingdom of Pharloom should be the ultimate destination.

As the player embarks on their journey, they steadily advance through the diverse realms of Pharloom in “Hollow Knight: Silksong.” Instead of uncovering a mystery with each stride, the game’s upward-trending level design fosters an unrelenting feeling of progress. From the get-go, players have a clear objective, and every new region they delve into serves as a satisfying leap forward towards that aim.

Silksong’s Level Design Lets Hornet Shine

In Hollow Knight: Silksong, the progressive layout of levels encourages a greater emphasis on vertical exploration within the game’s environments. Hornet’s impressive agility and acrobatics are showcased particularly well in

As I scale the towering heights of Pharloom’s citadel, every inch presents a stage for Hornet to unveil her graceful acrobatics. The path ahead is rich with fresh skills for Hornet to grasp, a good deal of which harmonize splendidly with the game Silksong’s vertical design. Along the way, players can leverage sleek air dashes to leap over expansive chasms, employ Hornet’s voluminous cloak to glide and soar aloft via slipstreams, and ultimately, they’ll be bestowed with the power to utilize Hornet’s needle as a grappling hook.

In Hollow Knight, although The Knight possessed several unique movement capabilities, the game’s level design often prevented players from utilizing these abilities primarily for climbing, especially not for extended durations.

Instead of Hollow Knight: Silksong, we can rephrase as “Climbing Upwards Challenges in Silksong.” In this game, players frequently encounter extended platforming sequences, where the main objective is to ascend vertically to find the level’s exit. This seemingly straightforward adjustment significantly sets Silksong apart from its predecessor, Hollow Knight. The change profoundly influences every aspect of gameplay, impacting moments subtly and overtly in both games.

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2025-09-10 14:05