Okay, this is maybe less of a recommendation and more of an excuse for me to talk about this game, because I’m pretty sure a significant percentage of the world has beaten Silksong before I even started playing. And I’m going to take a while to beat it. (I’m in the middle of Act 2.) I’m a busy lady.

For anyone who doesn’t know, Hollow Knight: Silksong is the long-awaited sequel to Hollow Knight. Both games are by the studio Team Cherry and available on a wide variety of platforms. Both games are metroidvanias: two-dimensional open-world platformers, with more of the world opening up to the player as they gain abilities. Both feature bug-based worlds and characters and some wicked tough bosses—Silksong even more so than Hollow Knight.

You can read more about the games’ premises on their wikis and elsewhere on the Internet; no need for me to rehash everything here!

Anyway, I’ve been playing Silksong, and oh my goodness. It’s so good.

The graphics, both from a resolution and art style standpoint, are stunning. Moss Grotto and Mosshome are gorgeous, Greymoor haunting but oddly lovely, and Sinner’s Road… well, that one’s positively vile. On purpose. The soundtrack is excellent, too. The characters are interesting and well written. I like the system for customizing how Hornet moves, too. It gives options without ever becoming ungainly, overcomplicated, or confusing. And Hornet feels so, so good to control. She’s so swift and cool, you guys. She zips around the map as nimbly as her namesake.

One other thing I like about Silksong that’s a little different from the original Hollow Knight is the atmosphere. Silksong takes place in a struggling kingdom that still has pockets of civilization, which lends itself to more characters and a livelier, less lonely feel than Hollow Knight’s abandoned ruins. Not that Hollow Knight’s atmosphere is a bad thing! The touch of loneliness and melancholy is a logical fit for the story it’s telling. I just enjoy the feel of Silksong more, personally. The fact that Hornet talks and has a clear, stated objective, as opposed to existing silently and wandering, also contributes to the difference.

Also: the Bell Beast. I adore the Bell Beast. It’s my most favorite creature. Bestie for life.

Notably, Silksong is a step up in difficulty from Hollow Knight. It’s not just the bosses that are difficult; some of the platforming sections are quite tricky, and even some of the garden-variety enemies can be a pain in the butt to deal with. I personally don’t mind the challenge and have found it manageable, but I do think it would have been better if it had a way to scale down difficulty to improve accessibility, for those who struggle more or who are short on time.

I encountered another game called Nine Sols that implements difficulty scaling quite well: it has a normal (high-difficulty) mode, and then it has story mode. Story mode provides a scale for adjusting the percent of damage you give and take. You can adjust the difficulty a little down, or a lot down, or down for one part and back up for another. This kind of scaling option opens up the game to those who might be short on time or skill and just want to experience the story, while still leaving the “normal” mode for those who want more challenge.

The lack of a difficulty-scaling option (given its high base difficulty) is my only criticism of Silksong. Otherwise, it’s a fantastic game. It’s absurdly cheap, too, especially considering the gargantuan scope of the map and story and overall game quality—only $20! If you love a good story, interesting characters, smooth controls, an expansive world to explore, and platforming and battle challenges, I strongly recommend checking this one out.