Hollow Knight: Silksong’s Hunter’s March is Home to an…

Challenge is usually at the heart of the Metroidvania genre. Its two namesakes are renowned for their intricate level design and hard-hitting enemies, and many of the Metroidvania genre's most popular entries have followed in those footsteps closely. Hollow Knight: Silksong is no exception.

While fans of 2017's Hollow Knight expected the long-awaited sequel to be challenging, many likely weren't expecting it to be quite as difficult as it is. Enemies and bosses hit harder than ever, and Hollow Knight: Silksong's platforming leaves absolutely no room for error. This high level of difficulty can be a bit abrasive during Silksong's first few hours, but areas like the now-infamous Hunter's March do teach some invaluable Metroidvania lessons amid all the chaos.

Hollow Knight: Silksong - Hunter's March's Difficulty Spike Is As Sharp As a Needle

Silksong Hornet Death Animation Dying Dead Final Hit

The first hour or two of Hollow Knight: Silksong does a great job of teaching players the ropes. Enemies hit hard, but they're easy to avoid and defeat, and the interconnected level design of Bone Bottom, Mosshome, and The Marrow gradually introduces players to optional paths, secrets, and shortcuts without overwhelming them with a big sprawling map available from the get-go. Early game bosses also offer a tough but fair challenge.

By the time players reach the end of The Marrow, they should have a good grasp of Hollow Knight: Silksong's combat and level design, and have a good idea of the challenges they're going to face next. But those expectations are shattered if players stumble into the Hunter's March area.

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Located just past an obvious, enticing branching pathway on the road between The Marrow and Deep Docks, Hunter's March is the first truly optional area in Hollow Knight: Silksong, and it presents a sudden and major leap in difficulty. The area's Skull Ant guardian is a significant step-up from the Moss Mother and Bell Beast that came before it, despite not even being a fully-fledged boss fight. His one-two-punch combo can wipe out four chunks of the player's health bar in one go, and his ability to burrow underground limits the player's ability to strike back.

Fighting Skull Ant boss in Hollow Knight Silksong

But the Skull Ant is just a sign of things to come. Hunter's March itself is filled with some incredibly difficult combat and platforming challenges, most of which are merged together to deliver some shockingly brutal sequences. Ant soldiers are much faster and more lethal than any enemy the player's faced thus far, there are flying bugs hiding around every corner that knock the player off-course, and the stage's red flowers require pinpoint accuracy from a rather finicky air attack to traverse.

Attacking enemies in Hunter’s March in Hollow Knight Silksong

This all thrown at the player just an hour or so into Hollow Knight: Silksong, when protagonist Hornet is not likely to have many combat or movement abilities of her own yet. Hunter's March is a sharp spike in difficulty, especially for those new to Metroidvania games. But its lethal level design does teach some important lessons of the genre.

Hollow Knight: Silksong's Hunter's March Teaches Two Important Metroidvania Lessons

The Hunter's March Guardian Teaches Players They Might Not Have The Right Tools For The Job

The moveset of Hollow Knight: Silksong's Skull Ant revolves around getting close to Hornet, swinging their big bone club, and then stepping back to safety. It's incredibly hard for players to avoid these attacks and close the gap if they've come straight from The Marrow.

Through its seemingly unforgiving moveset, this mini boss is actually teaching players a classic Metroidvania lesson. If players feel like they can't avoid an attack or get in a few hits of their own, it's very likely they're missing something that would make the fight much easier. That's the case with Silksong's Skull Ant, who goes down a lot faster if players follow their Metroidvania instincts and grab the Swift Step ability from Deep Docks first.

Hunter's March Teaches Players It's Okay to Come Back Later

As well as finding new abilities that can help with boss fights encountered earlier in a playthrough, leaving a tricky optional area in a Metroidvania and returning later can give players the experience they're missing at that moment. Leaving Hunter's March and continuing on the critical path through Deep Docks and Greymoor will give players a new suite of upgrades and a deeper knowledge of Hollow Knight: Silksong's mechanics, which they can use to tackle Hunter's March more efficiently later down the line.