I, like many people, was extremely excited for the release of Silksong. Like almost everyone, I LOVED Hollow Knight and while I understood that good games take time and we shouldn't rush Team Cherry, I was extremely happy when the game finally was released in early September. The game was so popular and purchased and downloaded by so many that it broke the servers for multiple formats across Nintendo, Xbox, PS, and Steam.
Then I waited a bit and finished playing Ender Magnolia before I really dug into the game.
I'm going to say this with all seriousness: If you are a casual gamer and don't want to really focus and learn how a game works in order to be able to play it, DO NOT PURCHASE this game. Silksong is a wonderful game, there is no denying this, but Silksong is extremely difficult and will be too hard for the average casual player.
I say this because while I am able to complete most games that I play, I wouldn't say that I ever really became all that skilled at them. I never really aspired to be skilled at them and I actually completed the 1st ending of Hollow Knight which is the easiest of the 3. The 3rd one is fucking crazy and involves a level of dedication that I can't really imagine.
This game doesn't slowly teach you how to play it and give you some pushover enemies to toy with as you hone your skills. It doesn't give you some pushowever boss to ease your way into it. It starts to whip your ass immediately and makes zero apologies for doing so.
That's all fine and dandy and I welcome the challenge if I am feeling up to it. I don't always feel up to it but sometimes I will lose badly to common enemies that are just out in the open, in the first 1 hour of gameplay and I'm like "seriously Team Cherry? WTF?"
It's ok because I have a ton of other games and a massive backlog of games that I haven't even looked at yet so I don't mind. I can deal with the fact that Silksong is just hard and that is the way it was meant to be. The Hollow Knight crew didn't want an easier version of the same game. They wanted a tough game and that is exactly what they got.
But now we go to the comments section to see what the experts have to say and I will tell you, I don't think I have ever seen a more toxic fandom for anything that I have been seeing from this particular game's community.
everyone is entitled to their opinions and feeling that a game is too difficult is an opinion that is commonly shared with many games but with Silksong the people who are defending it seem like they are in a cult and perhaps the many years of anticipating the release of this game only emboldened them to mistreat everyone and anyone that dares to have an opinion that is anything other than "This is the best game ever!"
I feel as though the game is too difficult and that is my opinion. I haven't had the patience to "git gud" at hard games since I was in my early 20's and trust me, that was a while ago. I don't normally get online in order to tell other people about it though but seriously, anyone that states that they do not like the game or point out that it is really a lot more tough than they had hoped it would be is immediately inundated with "skill issue" or "git gud" comments by hundreds of commentators.
Ive seen people downvoted to oblivion just for stating something like "Silksong is not the best metroidvaina" ever made. lol. Why would you downvote a comment like that or attack the guy for his opinion? Are you in a cult?
for me, I never end up putting comments on those sorts of threads because there are a ton of tolls and extremely devoted fanbois or haters to the point where it is tough to see the line between someone that really likes or hates something, and someone that has mental problems. I would rather not get into unnecessary arguments regardless, with either one of these sorts of people.
For me at this point in my life, Silksong is far more difficult a game than I am interested in playing but that doesn't mean I hate it. Obviously it is a very good game that is just much more difficult than most of the games out there but then again, a lot of people really like that sort of thing. I was never a fan of really tough games in the modern age such as Mortal Shell, Bloodborne, or even (get ready to be angry) Elden Ring. Sorry, but that isn't fun to me and this is why I do not play them.
The closest I ever came to trying to learn a really tough game was Nioh-1 and I thought I was making real progress and then got the absolutely shite kicked out of me by the first boss 30 or 40 times in a row and realized "yeah, I don't think this game is for me" and it never has been. I don't mind challenge but if I feel as though said challenge isn't fun then no, I don't want it.
by the way if you so much as mention the word "Dark Souls" in any chat about Silksong you will get digitally violated. haha
If you are considering buying this game I strongly suggest you watch some videos that are done by normal people, not pro gamers, before doing so. Often pro-gamers can make things look easy because they are, well, pros. Your experience will likely be considerably more frustrating.