Recent reviews by beatrix

extremely engaging td game that starts off very simple and very quickly gets more complex. doesn't hold your hand, lets you experiment on your own

i <3 u outhold

edit 2: got stockholm syndrome until late-game reminded me i wasn't playing team cherry's peak

edit: originally, this review was 'not recommended'. while i still stand by that to some extent (i don't think most people would enjoy the game - it's definitely made for hk veterans), i do think the game is worth the buy. during the mid-game, just existing in the world becomes a lot more manageable and although there are still some horrendous game design choices made (esp when considering certain bosses), for 20 dollars, the game is well worth the price - even with the blemishes.

original review: writing this as someone who has every achievement on the steam version of the original hollow knight. lots of people who can't take the game getting criticized will say "git gud!", and while i understand that the original game's skills aren't directly transferable, it's disingenuous to act as if they have no bearing on this game.

i wanted to love this game as much as i did the first. for a while, i did. i think the first 5 or so areas in the game are great and do a good job of pacing out the early game, but past this - i think the fundamental game design prevents me from enjoying this game.

- lots of enemies and most bosses deal double damage. this means (without certain trinkets), plenty of scenarios in the early game can kill you in 3 hits. three. this is worsened by the low amount of i-frames on hit and the lengthy getup animation after being hurt by an environmental hazard, allowing you to easily die from a single mistake if you're unlucky enough.

- there are runbacks in which you will frequently lose 2 masks to environmental hazards and just have to start the runback again.

- unlike hk, you WILL take contact damage during boss stun. sometimes, bosses that you are hitting from below will fall onto you when they are stunned, dealing contact damage.

- unlike in hk, lots of enemies/bosses will deal TWO masks of contact damage, including the ones previously mentioned that will probably hit you during stun. i feel like this issue is worsened by some moves that you can perform in the game, specifically the reaper crest's pogo , actively moving your hurtbox into the contact hitbox of an enemy

- you do not gain lots of money in this game. this is okay in the early game, but in the midgame, you will really start to feel this, as benches will start costing more money, and maps will start costing almost 100 rosaries.

- rewards (generally speaking) feel like they're too little for the work you put in, or like you're getting something you didn't work to get. progression abilities will be tied to menial challenges, while grueling arena fights will net you pocket change. there is at least one exception to this that i have found while playing; the faydown cloak from mount fay

- some bosses feel like genuine tests of skill. others will feel like you got lucky. like you managed to scrape by. when i defeated a boss for the first time in hk, i felt like i had genuinely tested and challenged myself and learned from my attempts. with silksong, i feel like whether or not i win often comes down to whether or not the 3 different minions summoned in the boss fight decide to cover all of my possible options.

generally, when i open silksong, i play for some time, think about all of the things i could try, and i get exhausted thinking about doing any of it. i don't have fun playing this game. it's tedious and sometimes downright annoying. there are parts that will make you wonder if team cherry personally hates you, the player, for buying their game. despite this, i think the game looks and sounds wonderful, and the controls feel amazing to use. the time that team cherry has put into this game is clear as can be. i just wish i could actually enjoy the fruit of their labor

tldr; there IS a 10/10 experience somewhere in here, but as of right now, i don't think it's there just yet.

the real friend was inside of us all along

the combo system feels un-intuitive and the movement feels like tar. it's hard to describe unless you've played but the controls in general feel extremely clunky and hitboxes often feel disjointed (some are way too small, some are way too big). knockt feels like easily the best character just because you spend the least amount of time interacting with your opponent. rend feels like he barely functions. if the game gets patched, i'd easily consider purchasing again but as of right now there are much better plat fighters out there. if you're looking for a stick figure fighting game, just get yomi hustle or wait for animation vs.

crack

short answer: not worth the 30 bucks for a game with less content than the original

long answer:
- shallow single-player experience and an online built for veterans of rivals makes it hard for beginners to find footing, especially when considering the campy/projectile-spammy tendencies a lot of players online have.

- the game currently has less characters and feels less balanced than rivals 1 (kragg and fleet feel particularly annoying to fight, although i find projectile play zoners un-fun to play against in general), but besides that the movement is the best i've ever felt in the genre and definitely the easiest to get the hang of.

- the rewards feel heavily underwhelming for the time you have to put in; at the time of writing this review, it's taken about 40 hours for me to get one character to level 50 (bugs prevent me from even receiving the level 50 skin reward) and i have only made enough "aether coins" to purchase one common skin. "aether bucks" rewards from events cap out after event level 20, and the only other way to get them once you've recieved all of the leveling currency is...

- microtransactions. this game is littered with them. they ARE purely cosmetic and you are fully capable of getting everything without paying any money, however the grind for currency is currently such a slog that it feels designed to make you pay for the bundles and currency. (each of the bundles are worth 15-20 usd)

side note: the only skins that are purchasable with coins are ones of common rarity, anything above MUST be bought with "aether bucks", this game's semi-premium currency

overall, the game is fun with friends/locally, but i absolutely would not recommend it for anyone who is not a diehard fan of the genre (in its current state, at the very least)

easily one of the best indie horrors i've ever seen
would recommend if you like agony and sorrow

super fun tiny roguelike to spend all your time on :) hope it gets regular updates

this game's movement feels like sex 10/10

yeah i cried so what

1. order
2. discover
3. compassion