[0:02]Welcome back to another episode of before you buy the show where we give you some straight up gameplay and our first impressions of the latest games releasing. It's been seven long years, but it's finally time to wipe the grease paint off and put that clown nose away, cuz Silk song is here and we finally played it. The hype for this thing is real. Hundreds of thousands of voracious Hollow Knight fans have managed to crash the Nintendo eShop, the PlayStation store and the Steam store. all I want, I almost said the steam. While a whole bunch of them Hollow Knight fans have crashed the steam. Now, all kidding aside. If you wanted to buy this thing right at release time it was basically impossible. Somehow this little $20 indie game managed to completely cripple every online major storefront. Briefly. I mean it didn't last, but it took about an hour or so and finally, I mean through the error messages and the very slow download speeds, you could actually play it and it did eventually happen. After all the waiting and anticipation, we finally got our hands on this thing and that feels surreal. I remember and forgive me because I think I've mentioned this before, back when the original Hollow Knight came out, that game was so unknown at the time, it didn't even appear on Steam's front page when it launched. It was basically a non-factor to people, it was definitely on the radar of like Metroidvania freaks, but it's undeniable that Team Cherry has come a very long way since then. The numbers tell the tale better than I ever could. By November 2017, Hollow Knight sold a little above 500,000 units. Silk song on the other hand, managed to get that many concurrent players on Steam in a day. That's the power of a damn good game and word of mouth, I guess. With how unbelievably out of control the hype for this thing is, I wouldn't blame you for thinking that this is probably like the second coming in video game form. Or expecting it rather, like expectations are crazy through the roof. Everyone's going to have an opinion on whether this game surpasses or doesn't live up to the original Hollow Knight. I'm expecting a whole lot of hot takes one way or the other, and while I kind of wish I was able to make a definitive statement one way or the other, just wait into the mug with everyone else. We can't really do that. We got the game the same time as anyone else did, there are no early review copies. And as of this writing, it does not feel like I have scratched the surface of what Silk song has to offer, nor have you scratched the surface of what Game Ranks has to offer if you are not currently subscribed. And statistically speaking, a lot of you are not currently subscribed, so click subscribe. We appreciate it a whole lot. It'll get your new videos as they come out every day and it'll help make it possible to keep making videos. This is how we keep the lights on, folks. I know it's annoying, but I got to say it. I appreciate the 30 or so seconds it took. Let's get back to this. Um, like I was saying, we have not had a massive amount of time with this game. This is more like a first impressions than a full review. It's too early to call it either way. But what I can say and it might sound a little reductive, but I mean it in the best possible way. It's more Hollow Knight. From my time with the game, it's already a really good action platformer Metroidvania with the same incredible charm that the original game had. At first, it feels near identical, just swapping out the original underground city of Hollow Nest with Far Loom and replacing the knight with Hornet. But as I progress through the game and unlocked new movement abilities and weapons, it very much begins to feel like its own thing. It's still distinctly Hollow Knight, don't get me wrong, but the combat and movement is a lot more sophisticated in this sequel. There's a lot more room for skill expression. The original kind of felt like it was mostly going for the greatest hits of Metroidvania, movement powers and silk song feels far more distinct and challenging. There's something that really surprised me is not just the more engaged movement system, but also the difficulty. Enemies and bosses are generally a lot more varied, they have more complex move sets, they often hit like a truck.
[3:59]I was barely a few hours in before constantly running into enemies that do two points of damage a hit, but to counteract the increased difficulty, Hornet gets a lot of new toys to play around with. A lot more stuff to discover and it makes mass exploration even more rewarding this time around. On top of the standard attacks that can actually be modified with new crests that change up your current move set. There's also tools which function like sub weapons for a Castlevania game. These things have limited uses, but they're extremely powerful when used correctly. They can turn boss fights around, help make somewhat impossible bosses feel like cakewalks. Um, if you got the right tool, it can be absolutely essential for making progress. I got to have my tools. I'm sorry, it's obligatory. I had to say it. I I had to have my tools. The crests also adjust how your healing works. The standard power restores three health masks, but um, the other ones do stuff like buff your attack and force you to hit enemies to restore health. These crests and tools drastically alter how you play the game. And in Hollow Knight, basically everybody played the same way cuz all your abilities were available at any time, while in Silk song, you're a lot more reliant on builds, which adds in a very refreshing amount of complexity to building out your character. In general, I'm loving the combat, even when it's busting my balls. The game embraces the skill check enemies this time around. So there will be directions you will not be able to go down because you're missing some key movement ability or something. But just because the mini boss guarding the path stomps a mud hole in you for looking at them funny, that kind of thing. They haven't locked it per se, but you're not getting past that guy either. Platforming has also gotten trickier right out of the gate with challenging jumping puzzles and specific area gimmicks. Coming at you pretty hard and fast from the start, if you struggled with the challenging platforming segments near the end of Hollow Knight, you're not going to have fun here. After only a few hours, you'll see stuff right out of the Queen's garden or the White Palace. It felt, but I'll say this, if the game felt worse to control, I'd be more negative about it. Um, but it's it's not. It's great to control Silk song is fantastic. It's asking a lot out of you early on, but I always felt like it was me screwing up a jump, not the game making it impossible for me not to screw up a jump. I've only unlocked a few major movement powers, but they're all pretty game changing already. The dash is powerful, uh, but it does require precision to get the most out of it. The float ability does give you a lot of movement utility without feeling overpowered. Chaining even these basic movement powers together feels like you could do some pretty complex stuff already. And it requires a degree of finesse and skill to get the most out of them. I cannot wait to see what speed runners are able to do with the tool set here. The world of Silk song is absolutely huge, but for my experience, it is a little more linear feeling so far than the first game. I don't think that's necessarily a bad thing. A slightly more guided experience might be a good idea this time around, especially considering the amount of customization you have of movement via builds. You gain a little freedom there, lose a little here, I think that's a a decent tradeoff and keeps things interesting. Even though one thing that made Hollow Knight so unique was just how non-linear progression could be. Most Metroidvania look very open, but the vast majority force you down a rigid set path. The promise of freedom in these games is kind of smoke and mirrors and the original Hollow Knight was the real deal in that respect. From what I have played, though, Silk song is a little more traditional with you starting at a certain point and everything you're able to do is about advancing in one particular direction. I don't know, this could change later. It could end up being a much more open game, but at least where I'm at right now, it's more rigid than the first. That is definitely not a value judgment because I've certainly enjoyed it, but I am just saying the game is a little different so far. Another thing that's a little different is the quest system. You can sometimes take on quests in this game, and this is one addition I'm a little more skeptical about. I'm not sure that bringing some basic uh collect five bug asses quests really elevates the uh Hollow Knight experience. So far, they've been pretty simplistic, or in some cases, um, it's just a more concrete tracking screen for something you would have done in the first game. These things give you a little more of an incentive to backtrack or at least give you something to do while you're backtracking, which is good. I like that, but I don't know how I feel about them overall yet. Uh they did make it easier to get a map right at the start of the game, so I like that too. You won't be wandering around totally lost for quite as long in this one, but there is one more thing I kind of want to complain about. And it's how everything in Farlom wants to charge you money. This dump is like some kind of dystopian amusement park. You have to pay to like sit on benches, go to stores, open gates, lower bridges, which I mean, going to stores, you're going to go in and spend money in the store. You have to pay to go in. That's weird. It's relentless, but I guess that's kind of also the point. They are trying to cash starve you. Money is already tougher to get in this game. The original, like everything dropped money, but in Silk song, only specific types of enemies drop currency. Everything else drops shell shards, which are only used for replenishing tools when you rest at a bench. Money is both harder to get in Silk song and you're forced to spend a lot more of it. It's another way in which Silk song is a tougher game, but if there's something I cannot, absolutely cannot complain about, it is the art direction. Team Cherry are the masters of crafting a world that feels super interconnected and dense with tons of hidden secrets and lord to discover. It isn't always strictly necessary, but it gives the world a lot of life where so many games of this type can feel generic and barren. Of the small bits of the world I've seen so far, the areas are more varied, there's more going on in them. There's a bunch of little sub areas that have unique features and each zone has its own collection of enemies and challenges to deal with. They've really stepped up their game in the art department with Silk song. There's so much charming detail all over the place that's hard not to get invested in while you're exploring this melancholy world. They strike this perfect balance of cartoonishness and grimness that the first game also managed to do incredibly well, but it's even better here. There's more NPCs who have more personality and character during the brief moments that you interact with them. Even the most basic NPC is memorable for their simple, but appealing designs and their incredible animations. Enemies also look great and are universally well animated and fun to fight, for gaining is not exactly flashy and its art style. The game looks great consistently and it all comes together makes a really polished and interesting world to explore. The bosses have some impressive animation, but they're not just there for show. I know I mentioned how tough they are, uh, but they're also just really fun to fight and impressively varied already. The music deserves special mention as well. Silk song goes for the same sort of lonely and mysterious tone as the first game, but it's bigger and more melodic. It stands out more and that is in a good way. The first game soundtrack didn't really stand out that much to me beyond some key tracks, but Silk song is already consistently blowing me away with the quality of the soundtrack. The thing about Silk song and really about Hollow Knight as well, is that it's not all that flashy or bombastic. It's not in your face trying to impress you. Um, it starts slowly and it reveals itself to the player in good time. It's a game that if you only know about the hype, you might start wondering what the big deal is. Uh, but after spending a lot of time with the first game, it becomes clear that it is something special. You need to start getting into those late game areas, discovering the big secrets and uncovering completely optional zones and bosses and the many secret endings and the surprises that are in store. The first Hollow Knight was obviously good at first, but it's only by the time you're getting to the end, does it reveal its depth. It's a slow burn. Thankfully so too. Like, there's not enough of that to legitimately do a slow burn, right? And I have to assume that Silk song is similar and that I've only barely discovered what this game has to offer. I can't really tell you if it's lived up to its impossible hype so far. Maybe it has, maybe it's not. The movement in combat is absolutely fantastic. It'll be hard to go back to the original after playing this one. And the art design is somehow even better than the first Hollow Knight. The soundtrack is absolutely excellent. On the other hand, it is a lot harder and that's not exactly a bad thing, but brutally combat isn't why I'm playing Hollow Knight. It's for exploration and the vibes. I'm also not completely sold on quests either, and some other new additions as well, but from at least early impressions, it seems like a worthy followup to Hollow Knight.
[13:13]If you're a fan of the first or just exploration-based platformer action games in general, it's an easy recommendation. But if you have no time for these types of games, I don't think this is one that's going to change your mind. If it's a genre you like or could potentially like, this is a $20 game. It's really hard to mess up a $20 game in terms of value, but this is also probably the $20 game of the year, so will it live up to that? I'm not sure yet. Silk song isn't trying to bring in new audiences. It's not trying to be accessible to everyone. It's Hollow Knight with some new bells and whistles. Some are bigger than others and I'm just glad I can finally play it. I would call it as of this moment evolutionary rather than revolutionary, and that's fine. I I don't, I said this in another video and it actually got some kind comments from people saying, thank you for acknowledging that a game doesn't have to be revolutionary to be good. That's where we're at right now, Um, but once we get further, that could it could change. It could be a revolutionary game. If it's not, I think I'm okay with it and I think it's an easy recommended $20. I would like for it to live up to its hype, but I I legitimately can't tell you yet. What do you think though? I'm sure some of you have played it at this point, so leave us a comment, let us know. If you like this video, click like. If you're not subscribed, now is a great time to do so. We upload brand new videos every day of the week. Best way to see the first is of course, a subscription, so click subscribe. Don't forget to enable notifications and as always, we thank you very much for watching this video. I'm Falcon, you can follow me on Twitter, Falcon the Hero. We'll see you next time right here on Game Ranks.
