After seven long years of waiting, gamers have finally gotten their hungry hands on Hollow Knight: Silksong, the much-anticipated, shadowy successor to 2017's Hollow Knight. Since Hollow Knight was such a monumental indie success story—a deceptively quaint, shockingly deep game developed by a team of just three members—Silksong had to bear the weight of audience expectations. In other words, it didn't have the luxury of releasing into a market untouched by Team Cherry's powerful, unique influence, and as such, it's under stronger magnification.
But luckily, it would appear that Hollow Knight: Silksong is a more than worthy sequel to its 2017 progenitor. Indeed, Team Cherry's second release is miles away from being a sophomore slump, serving the same narrative and mechanical delights as the first game while still being powerfully distinct. Silksong's fearless ingenuity makes it more than just Hollow Knight 1.5: it's a fantastic evolution of the first game's story and gameplay, carving its own path instead of just falling into the old one. A willingness to embrace the unknown is a boon for any video game franchise, but it can also cause a bit of strife—this is precisely what's happened with Hollow Knight: Silksong's Rosary economy, which Team Cherry is already looking to address.
Team Cherry Is Nipping Hollow Knight: Silksong's Rosary Problems in the Bud
The Rosary Economy Is Chief Among the Scant Hollow Knight: Silksong Criticisms
Although Silksong has been praised to heaven and back since its release last week, its surrounding discourse hasn't been without some negative voices. Naturally, there are the anticipated contrarians, rage-baiters, and trolls looking to hate on the beloved franchise for a spirited reaction, but other Silksong detractors have been more measured. Even those who claim to enjoy Hollow Knight: Silksong have offered some constructive notes about the sequel's approach to currency, which is crucially altered from the FromSoftware-inspired economy of the first game.
In Hollow Knight: Silksong, there are two major currencies:
- Shell Shards: used for crafting tools at rest points
- Rosaries: Used to purchase items and activate certain mechanisms
To make a comparison to the first Hollow Knight, Rosaries essentially play the same role as Geo, though they are much rarer. Whereas killing just about any standard enemy or boss would yield a reward of Geo in the first game, only certain foes will drop Rosaries in Silksong; most enemies only drop Shell Shards, and bosses often don't drop either currency. This has sparked some backlash from players, who feel that the conservative Rosary economy hampers a gaming experience that is otherwise well-paced.
To add insult to injury, players lose all their Rosaries upon death, with only one chance to rescue them. This is more frustrating than the corpse-running system of Hollow Knight, since Rosaries are so much harder to find than Geo.
Just as the debate around Silksong's Rosary economy was starting to heat up, Team Cherry announced that it would be releasing the game's first post-launch patch, with fixes aimed at addressing the allegedly problematic system. Specifically, the studio is planning on increasing Rosary rewards for side quests and other miscellaneous tasks, while reducing the cost of Rosary-enabled mechanisms, like Bellways and Bell Benches. Ideally, this will lead to a smoother, more satisfying, but no less challenging, gaming experience.
It's perhaps a bit surprising that Team Cherry would need to issue these changes after Silksong's long gestation, but it's probably for the best. Silksong has a lot of moving parts, and most of them perform their tasks perfectly; if making some relatively minor changes to the in-game economy helps these other aspects shine ever brighter, then such changes can't come soon enough.
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OpenCritic Reviews
- Top Critic Avg: 91 /100 Critics Rec: 97%
- Released
- September 4, 2025
- ESRB
- Everyone 10+ / Fantasy Violence, Mild Blood
- Developer(s)
- Team Cherry
- Publisher(s)
- Team Cherry
WHERE TO PLAY
Become the Princess Knight
As the lethal hunter Hornet, adventure through a kingdom ruled by silk and song! Captured and taken to this unfamiliar world, prepare to battle mighty foes and solve ancient mysteries as you ascend on a deadly pilgrimage to the kingdom’s peak.
Hollow Knight: Silksong is the epic sequel to Hollow Knight, the award winning action-adventure. Journey to all-new lands, discover new powers, battle vast hordes of bugs and beasts and uncover secrets tied to your nature and your past.
- Engine
- Unity
- Franchise
- Hollow Knight
- Number of Players
- Single-player
- Steam Deck Compatibility
- Verified
- PC Release Date
- September 4, 2025
- Xbox Series X|S Release Date
- September 4, 2025
- PS5 Release Date
- September 4, 2025
- Nintendo Switch Release Date
- September 4, 2025
- Nintendo Switch 2 Release Date
- September 4, 2025
- Platform(s)
- PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch 2, Nintendo Switch, PC
- OpenCritic Rating
- Mighty
- Wiki
