This game is actively hostile to the play experience. It is designed in a way that is not enriching or entertaining or educational in the way Hollow Knight is - its difficulty is not derived from the skill of the player learning how to defeat enemies, but instead through pure attrition. The game is built such that the player is forced to endure constant long, grueling gauntlets in order to get a smidgen of remotely entertaining play. The entirely of the second act requires you to accomplish three goals, each of which is boring, agonizing, and incredibly effing tedious. Silksong is not a game for people who liked the boss design of Hollow Knight and wanted to see it iterated upon. It was for people who enjoyed Pantheon, not for the bosses, but for the random effing enemy gauntlets that padded it out to make it artificially harder.

I got past the ELEVEN stage gauntlet after a hundred or so tries, then decided this game isn't designed for enjoyment in mind in the same way Hollow Knight is.

Further, several parts of the game are designed with active hostility towards the player in mind - frustrating areas that require obtuse controls, only to finally PUNISH you at the end with a surprise gauntlet or trapped bench.

Silksong is no Hollow Knight. It's Dark Souls 2 for those who enjoyed the runback to Blue Smelter Demon and thought "what if the entire game was like this".

I waited 6 years for a game I put 30+ hours into before realizing the developers dislike the players having fun.

This game is actively hostile to the play experience. It is designed in a way that is not enriching or entertaining or educational in the way Hollow Knight is - its difficulty is not derived from the skill of the player learning how to defeat enemies, but instead through pure attrition. The game is built such that the player is forced to endure constant long, grueling gauntlets in order to get a smidgen of remotely entertaining play. The entirely of the second act requires you to accomplish three goals, each of which is boring, agonizing, and incredibly effing tedious. Silksong is not a game for people who liked the boss design of Hollow Knight and wanted to see it iterated upon. It was for people who enjoyed Pantheon, not for the bosses, but for the random effing enemy gauntlets that padded it out to make it artificially harder. I got past the ELEVEN stage gauntlet after a hundred or so tries, then decided this game isn't designed for enjoyment in mind in the same way Hollow Knight is. Further, several parts of the game are designed with active hostility towards the player in mind - frustrating areas that require obtuse controls, only to finally PUNISH you at the end with a surprise gauntlet or trapped bench. Silksong is no Hollow Knight. It's Dark Souls 2 for those who enjoyed the runback to Blue Smelter Demon and thought "what if the entire game was like this". I waited 6 years for a game I put 30+ hours into before realizing the developers dislike the players having fun.