Here’s a roundup of the notable tidbits: – Hornet can travel faster and is more acrobatic than Knight – Can mantle or clamber onto ledges as well – Caves around Hornet have expanded to accommodate her height – Team Cherry approached the enemy design differently since Hornet is a fast and competent fighter – Cancel out of mantling animations to gain height faster – Enemies are more complex – One enemy disguises itself as a discarded skull – Another enemy is like the Moss Charger, but has more legs and accelerates as it goes with more complex patterns – Magic isn’t as prominent in Pharloom, but there are strange things happening like pilgrims involved with cult-like behavior – Hollow Knight: Silksong starts out by getting players acclimated to old and new systems – More varied areas to start out with, beginning in Moss Grotto and then going into the lava-moated ‘boneforest’ area, which was cut from the first game – This plays host to the hub town of Bonebottom and the bell-lined tunnel known as The Marrow – Many early enemies and falling hazards now give out two hits to the health bar – Hornet can heal with Bind, an ability that uses the silk she gathers by hitting enemies to bandage wounds – Three masks instead of one – Team Cherry’s Ari Gibson: “… you spend more time either at full health or almost dead, and the gameplay is kind of snapping between those two states” – You’ll come across strings of beads, and they can be broken at any point to use as currency – While strung, you’ll keep the beads if you die; they’re like a banking system – Some vendors will string beads up for you so that you can pay them a small amount and get them to put back onto strings – There are around 100 different benches that come out of the floor when approached that act as save spots – Difficulty intended to be around the same as the first Hollow Knight – Those that haven’t played the first game can jump in here easily – Hornet has tools that can be crafted or replenished at benches by using Shell Shards from enemies – Pimpillo Bomb: area-of-effect blast – Sting Shards: extend spikes in mid-air or when struck with a weapon – Straight Pins: can be thrown like kunai – Straight Pins can be modified to become Tri-Pins to throw three at once – Hornet learns these tools and their modifications from Pharloom residents – Hornet is a strong personality with a clear role, and she speaks – Players will be able to see “a variety of strange places” – Initial goal is to get to the Citadel, which is at the top of the world – Hornet’s Crests: customizable, themed loadouts – Hornet can take on different tasks for NPCs – Keep track of tasks with noticeboards scattered throughout the world such as Bonebottom – Tasks go along with the organically unfolding quest lines of the first game – Tasks seem to involve combat challenges, finding secret locations, and more – One task, “Gather” has players rounding up Mossberries and bringing them to the Druid of the Moss Temple – Hollow Knight composer Christopher Larkin is back – Hornet lost her traditional strength after time being bound in a cage, and is now sort of restoring it; the Weavers are helping her – Silk Spear: get a superpowered forward lunge and cut through sticky web barriers; uses part of Hornet’s silk supply – Last Judge: foe that fires rings of flame A release window for Hollow Knight: Silksong has not yet been determined, and EDGE lists the game as “TBA”. It’ll be on Switch when it’s ready.
