In the long-awaited release date trailer for Hollow Knight Silksong, revealed on August 20, 2025, fans were treated to new footage that showed off new features and gameplay systems in Silksong. Over the last seven years of development, Team Cherry turned Silksong from a DLC for Hollow Knight into its own standalone game, and it's set to be quite different from the original indie darling.
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For example, while Hollow Knight had one town hub, Silksong will have several towns. While the Knight could equip Charms to improve his stats and combat capabilities, Hornet can equip various Tools and Crests– some of which come from the game's new crafting system.
Over the years, a lot of new features in the sequel to Hollow Knight have been teased by Team Cherry in trailers, interviews, and other official communications – this list compiles some of the biggest new mechanics that have been confirmed for Hollow Knight Silksong.
Multiple Towns
Silksong Will Have Numerous Town Hubs Like Dirtmouth
In Hollow Knight, there was only one real town hub Dirtmouth. Encountered at the very start of the game, Dirtmouth is the Knight's launching point for the rest of their adventure through Hallownest below the well to the east of town.
In Silksong, though, Hornet can stop by numerous town hubs like Dirtmouth as she ascends to the peak of a haunted kingdom, where she can meet new NPCs, access vendors, and engage in other town activities.
In the release trailer, which debuted on August 20, 2025, we got a brief look at the Hollow Knight Silksong world map. This map showed several names – Pilgrim's Rest, Bone Bottom, Bellhart, and Halfway Home – which could be the names of some of these new Silksong towns.
A Crafting System
A Crafting Kit Was Teased In The Silksong Release Trailer
One of the most interesting new Silksong gameplay features that was not present in the original Hollow Knight is a crafting system. Briefly displayed in the Aug 20 Silksong release trailer, Hornet can get a Crafting Kit that enables her to create "finer, sharper, and deadlier tools", giving us our first glimpse into how Silksong's crafting system will work.
The crafting system was originally revealed in the game's product description page across numerous platforms back in 2019. But until now, we haven't seen it in action. As it turns out, Hornet can craft tools, traps, mechanisms, and other contraptions that improve Hornet's combat abilities or grant other buffs.
Tools, Traps, Mechanisms, & Buffs
Displayed Below Hornet's HP
While watching the Aug 20 release trailer, look below Hornet's HP bar during gameplay segments, and you will notice a set of icons inside red and white circles. In the original announcement trailer, we got a glimpse of the Tools and Crest screen, where Hornet can equip items into one of three slots – items that seem to correspond with the icons displayed below Hornet's HP bar in the new trailer.
While the Knight from Hollow Knight had spells to cast and charms to passively improve his abilities, Hornet will be able to equip traps, tools, and other buffing items while sitting at a bench instead. This includes an explosive Pimpillo, sharp Tacks, and some kind of expanding needle-shuriken throwable weapon.
Acrobatic Combat & Traversal Moves
Hornet Has A Variety Of Combat Moves & Mid-Air Combos
The Knight in Hollow Knight had essentially no combos or attacks that could be strung together. There are spells and unique abilities you can weave between normal attacks, sure, but it's nothing compared to the combat variety and movement options displayed in the Silksong trailers so far.
While the Knight's movement and combat options were limited, Hornet can sprint, grapple, chain attacks together, acrobatically dance around enemies, and perform proper combos (even in mid-air). Though players may have to spend some time to unlock these abilities in-game, there's no doubt that playing as Hornet will feel completely different from playing as the Knight.
New NPC Quests
New Silksong Quests Tied To New Characters & Systems
In Hollow Knight, players could pick up quests from a handful of NPCs throughout Hallownest, which required the Knight to hunt down enemies, find items, or complete specific objectives. The quest system returns in Silksong with a bit of a twist.
Compared to the original game's sometimes vague quest objectives, Silksong quests will come by way of quest boards in each hub, which offer quests in the local area.
For example, in the original reveal trailer from 2019, a character called the Druid of the Moss Temple asks Hornet to complete a list of requests. Amongst these requests are Hunts, which require you to hunt a specific enemy, and Gather objectives, which require Hornet to go out and find specific herbs or other items out in the world.
Binding Replaces The Focus Mechanic
To Heal, Hornet Must Bind Silk To Herself
One of the new mechanics in Silksong replaces the healing system of the original Hollow Knight, but essentially works the same way. By holding down the Bind input, Hornet will use a certain amount of her silk meter to recharge her HP.
In Hollow Knight, the Knight had a similar mechanic called Focus, which used about a third of his energy bar to recover a single HP point. To match the new theming of Silksong, Hornet appears to Bind silk to herself instead. Just like the Focus system, hitting enemies will recover a small portion of your Bind meter.
Hundreds Of New Enemies & Bosses
More Than 200 New Enemies & 40 New Bosses
One of the most impressive new things in Silksong is the absolutely enormous number of brand-new enemy designs and dozens of bosses that the game will launch with. Fans got a glimpse at some of these bosses in the original 2019 trailer, including a boss with a huge bone club, a gigantic grub, a dancing gangly boss with a red mane, and several others.
In the Aug 20, 2025 trailer, we got to see even more bosses – like a small, agile swordsman and a gigantic fiery spider boss. In the Gamescom 2025 demo, players could fight the Moss Mother, a bee covered in green moss at the end of the first section. And that's to say nothing of the dozens and dozens of enemies that have been revealed so far, none of which seem to be repeated from the original Hollow Knight.
A Brand-New, Expansive Map
Instead Of Delving Underground, Hornet Must Ascend Upward
In Hollow Knight, players delve deep into the underground kingdom of Hallownest, but in Silksong, players are tasked to ascend to the peak of Pharloom, a haunted kingdom far from Hallownest. As such, Silksong will have a new map with all-new locations that are completely separate from the original game's locations.
Though we might get to see a glimpse of Hallownest in Silksong, or there might be references to Hollow Knight, the setting of Silksong appears to be unique and will have little to no ties to the original game.
A Grappling Hook... Or Needle?
Hornet's Most Iconic Movement Skill, Now In Players' Hands
When you come across Hornet throughout Hollow Knight, she will zip away at the end of the encounter by throwing her needle, attached to silk, somewhere off-screen. Indeed, one of Hornet's primary characteristics is her agile moveset, and in Silksong, players finally get to use Hornet's movement abilities for themselves – including this iconic grappling hook-like ability.
Hornet's needle can be used to pull her toward specific objects in the terrain like hooks, or pull in (or pull herself into) enemies for follow-up attacks. Though you may have to unlock these abilities as you progress through the game, it's still great to know that Hornet's boss moves from Hollow Knight are represented in her moveset in Silksong.
Hollow Knight: Silksong
- Released
- September 4, 2025
WHERE TO PLAY
- Developer(s)
- Team Cherry
- Engine
- Unity
- Franchise
- Hollow Knight
- Platform(s)
- PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch 2, Nintendo Switch, PC
