After six years of anticipation and delays, the long-awaited sequel to the “Hollow Knight” video game has arrived. “Hollow Knight: Silksong” was released on Sept. 4th, 2025, and diehard fans of the franchise have already marked the game down as one of the best indie titles to come out this decade.
The announcement of “Silksong” in 2019 was met with immediate excitement, as its predecessor had already garnered a following. The original has sold 15 million copies across all gaming platforms and is still played by over 60,000 people.
This initial wave of excitement soon turned into an agonizing wait, where each year had “Silksong’s” release date pushed back further. Pembroke Pines Charter High School junior Juan Bustamante says, “I first started playing the original ‘Hollow Knight’ in 2024, and I waited for Silksong’s release for about a year.”
Team Cherry, who are the developers of “Hollow Knight” and “Silksong,” strove for perfection throughout the entire development process. This goal, in tandem with their team consisting of only three developers, contributed to further delays. While Bustamante was one of many who were disappointed by the setbacks, the community wasn’t fully satisfied.
When the sequel was released, people flocked to buy it, causing multiple game purchasing platforms to crash, including Nintendo and Steam. The game shot up on Steam charts and is comfortably standing at third place in current players, with a peak of over 460,000.
The story of this game follows a side character from the original “Hollow Knight,” named Hornet, who has been captured and transported into a distant land. As the plot progresses, she tries to find out why she was taken and how she can escape. The main gameplay consists of traversing long hallways and corridors and is considered a part of the souls-like genre.
The difficulty is supposed to mimic that of the “Dark Souls” video game series, with unforgiving boss fights, strict timing on dodges, and fixed save points. The main allure of the title is that it’s incredibly challenging, with unique items that can wildly change the play style to any player’s liking.
Junior Martin Petkov heavily recommends “Silksong,” saying, “So far, the wait was well worth it. The game is much more expansive and detailed than the original, and the best part so far has been the thematic focus on music throughout the story.” Though “Silksong” was delayed several times, the gaming community has reached an overall agreement: the deadline being pushed back benefited the game. With the launch showing both high praise and strong sales, the title is already in consideration to win many awards.
