Gaming News

Silksong Devs Address Complaints Over Difficulty

On Sep 18, 2025 9:30 pm, by NuclearCoffee

Hollow Knight: Silksong discourse has been raging across social media ever since it launched earlier this month, but one of the fiercest topics of discussion has been its difficulty. Admittedly, Silksong can be a little obnoxiously difficult in places, noted in my review, which has led Team Cherry to nerf a couple of bosses and environmental hazards somewhat.

Even still, there are some that don’t much appreciate Silksong’s increased difficulty compared to the first game, and while it’s absolutely fine to think that the game is too tough, Team Cherry itself has shared some words of encouragement. This wasn’t in a statement on Twitter or via the game’s Kickstarter page, but via a new book that was made available during ACMI’s gaming-focused exhibition, which had a section dedicated to Silksong (thanks Dexerto).

Hollow Knight: Silksong Devs Address Complaints Over Difficulty

Team Cherry

In the book, Game Worlds co-curator Jini Maxwell had a conversation about Silksong’s difficulty with developers Ari Gibson and William Pellen, during which Gibson explained exactly why Silksong can feel so difficult in places, and exactly what players can do to overcome such obstacles.

“Silksong has some moments of steep difficulty – but part of allowing a higher level of freedom within the world means that you have choices all the time about where you’re going and what you’re doing.”

When talking about bosses potentially proving too much for players, Gibson says that it’s fine because there are “ways to mitigate the difficulty via exploration, or learning, or even circumventing the challenge entirely.” It’s pretty spot on too having played Silksong, as there are multiple ways into the Citadel, as well as a few ways to skip past pretty challenging bosses like Moorwing and the Last Judge.

Interestingly, Gibson and Pellen reveal exactly why they made Silksong harder than Hollow Knight, with the main reason being Hornet herself. Gibson says that instead of making Hornet a weaker character than she appears in Hollow Knight, they brought enemies up to her level instead, explaining that due to Hornet being “inherently faster and more skillful than the Knight”, even base level enemies had to be harder.