Is Hollow Knight: Silksong a Soulslike? I’m not so sure

Is Hollow Knight: Silksong a Soulslike? It feels like the answer to that question would be a simple yes or no, but the reality of the situation is that it’s a lot more nuanced.

Upon its massive launch on September 4, many were taken aback by the difficulty of Hollow Knight: Silksong.

It’s an unforgiving adventure with some very challenging boss battles and corpse runs that cost you currency if you die again before getting back to where you previously perished.

That structure certainly makes the game feel a lot like FromSoftware’s works, even if its primary genre is considered to be Metroidvania.

Steam reviews, players on websites like Reddit, and even outlets like IGN are using Soulslike as a descriptor for Hollow Knight: Silksong outright.

I even found myself believing it was one through my first several hours of play. But the more time I spent with the game, the more my opinion started to shift

The structure, difficulty, and mechanics implied by using that “Soulslike” label have a deep history and connective tissue to the Metroidvania genre itself.

Hollow Knight: Silksong really does its best to blur the line between Metroidvania games and Soulslikes, perhaps affirming that the two genres are much closer in style than you may think.

The argument for Hollow Knight: Silksong being a Soulslike

It shares quite a few mechanics with Soulslikes

According to Game Rant, games within the Soulslike genre share several key elements.

That includes high difficulty, methodical combat that rewards precise timing and execution from players, a simplistic story with shockingly deep lore, and an emphasis on environmental storytelling.

On the surface, those are all descriptors that can be used to describe Hollow Knight: Sillksong.

It even shares some more specific mechanics with the Soulslike games, such as the corpse run to retrieve lost currency and checkpoints that players have to go out of their way to find and activate for temporary respite.

If difficulty is the main thing that you associate with Soulslikes, then Hollow Knight: Silksong is even more likely to fit this description.

It’s an unforgiving game that truly rewards player mastery of Hornet’s skillset and learning the timing of boss attacks. Those same skills are required to beat the toughest bosses in Soulslikes like Wuchang: Fallen Feathers.

While playing Hollow Knight: Silksong, you’ll hit the same emotional peaks and valleys that you would while playing Elden Ring or Demon’s Souls. Both Hollow Knight: Silksong and Soulslikes award player endurance and skill above all else.

Because of that, I can definitely understand why it feels fitting to call Hollow Knight Silksong a Soulslike.

The argument against Hollow Knight: Silksong being a Soulslike

Many Soulslike design tenets apply to Metroidvania games

While there are some similarities, Hollow Knight: Silksong also diverges from most Soulslikes in some obvious ways.

There’s no stamina system preventing the player from dodging or attacking at certain points. Parrying is possible, but not nearly as central to combat as in most Soulslikes.

More importantly, Hollow Knight: Silksong doesn’t really have any RPG elements. You aren’t finding weapons, improving stats, or making your way through a skill tree to make Hornet more powerful.

The way you’ll get more powerful and expand your tool set is by exploring like you would in any Metroidvania.

Historically, Metroidvanias have had pretty tough boss battles, too. Try fighting Ridley in Super Metroid or Galamoth in Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, and you’ll be reminded of the tough bosses that Hollow Knight: Silksong’s developers have felt the need to nerf.

It’s easy to conflate Metroidvania and Soulslike because both genres share design DNA.

Both let players explore interconnected environments, reward players for taking on tough challenges in platforming or combat, and reveal themselves more and more to players as they put more effort in.

If you agree with me on that, then you’ll understand why it’s possible to argue that Hollow Knight: Silksong is just a Soulslike.

It’s clear that Team Cherry has taken some ideas from that genre, but it doesn’t have all the same gameplay RPG systems as self-perscribed Metroidvania Soulslikes like Mandragora: Whispers of the Witch Tree.

Hollow Knight: Silksong is more Metroidvania than Soulslikes

But the two genres are closer than you may think

This past weekend, I was playing Hollow Knight: Silksong and debating this exact topic with Polygon Editor-at-Large and my former colleague, Giovanni Colantonio.

He staunchly believes that Hollow Knight: Silksong is not a Soulslike game and that it simply shares some design DNA with Soulslikes, leading to the comparison.

I do think that’s true, but there’s a bit more nuance to that truth. Metroidvanias and Soulslikes are sibling genres.

They’re both about exploring mysterious worlds, finding ways to improve your character to overcome tough challenges, and rewarding players for putting a lot of time into the adventure.

Difficult boss fights and mechanics like the corpse run work within both genres because they’re supported by those shared gameplay characteristics.

Ultimately, I do think Hollow Knight: Silksong is a Metroidvania first and foremost, rather than a Soulslike. Using Soulslike as the primary descriptor just doesn’t account for a lot more of the game design lineage that Team Cherry’s newest game is pulling from.

The two genres are more similar than you may think, though, so this is ultimately a matter of perspective.