Hollow Knight: Silksong players discuss its most frustrating new features

Does Hollow Knight: Silksong have a difficulty problem? A debate rages across the internet, usually reserved for FromSoftware games, about what level of difficulty goes too far. As someone who is currently playing through Silksong and running into some challenging boss fights, it’s a conversation I’m interested in. On some level, the difficulty is part of the experience, but is there a point where it just becomes frustrating? This debate is a time-honored tradition in the gaming community, but with such a massive release in Hollow Knight: Silksong, it seems worth bringing up again.

Hollow Knight: Silksong players share thoughts on frustrating elements of the game’s difficulty

On Reddit, discussion is well underway with users pointing out a few major sticking points. First, the runback. Anytime you are defeated by a boss, you’ll usually have some significant ground to cover before you can challenge them again. This requires careful navigation, platforming, and often involves repeatedly dealing with minor enemies. This adds to the challenge and compounds the time it takes to beat a difficult boss. A few players pointed out that even recent FromSoftware titles like Elden Ring, Bloodborne, and Dark Souls 3 began to reduce the runback time and introduce new respawn mechanics. Most players enjoy being able to jump right back into the fight.

Many players also called out how the difficulty has scaled drastically from the original Hollow Knight, but not in a fun way. “I just want less enemies that do two mask of damage. HK 1 has a handful of enemies that do that. Silksong is every other enemy.” To start, the player has five masks that serve as health. Typically, one hit equals one mask. But many players seem to agree that there are far more enemies than expected who deal two damage instead of one, making every fight that much more difficult.

Surrounding this conversation is also a wider debate about what it means to be critical. So far, Hollow Knight: Silksong has received very good reviews, currently sitting at 91% positive reviews on Steam from over 44,000 players, at least for English-speaking players, which is a new feature for reviews that Steam added recently. Especially in modern gaming, players often feel the need to clarify that just because they are sharing criticisms, that doesn’t mean they hate the game. Any game can be great and still have some frustrating moments. How those frustrating moments add to or detract from the experience is worth discussing.

Ultimately, while I do think Silksong has its flaws, it accomplishes what it sets out to do. This is a devastating game. Even in the first five or six hours, there were some boss fights that crushed my spirits. Only to raise them so much higher than they had ever been when I eventually defeated them. When a game reaches such unprecedented levels of hype, there are going to be far more people checking it out than there normally would be. Silksong is not a game for everyone, and some people may put the controller down for good after the first few hours.

The challenge is part of the experience. The defeats make the victories that much sweeter. There will be low points, frustrations, and things that seem unfair. But those who persevere will be rewarded. At least I hope so. I still have a lot of Silksong left to play. But that’s at least the impression I’ve gotten so far.

Hollow Knight: Silksong

September 4, 2025

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• Overview
• Review

• level of difficulty
• Team Cherry
• Hollow Knight (series)