It has been a year since Hornet finally graced our screens in Hollow Knight: Silksong, and I find myself returning to the original Hollow Knight as much as I devour its sequel. The release of Silksong in 2025 felt like a lost friend returning from a legend, and now, in 2026, the conversation has settled not on which game is better, but on how they illuminate each other like twin moons over a kingdom of bugs.

When Hollow Knight arrived in 2017, it was a lightning strike in the Metroidvania genre—a hand-drawn world so somber and intricate that every frame felt like a secret whispered in ink. The Knight's silent journey through Hallownest was a masterclass in minimal storytelling, where the environment itself was a narrator of fallen grandeur. Silksong, by contrast, feels like a vibrant opera where Hornet’s red cloak is both a battle cry and a paintbrush. The evolution in motion is immediate: the original game’s downward thrust was a precision tool, a rhythmic punctuation in combat akin to a drummer who never misses a beat. Silksong’s diagonal replacement is more like attempting to play a harp while falling—beautiful when it works, yet maddeningly elusive to master. Even with Crests that mimic the classic downward strike, I never feel the same percussive certainty I once felt piercing an enemy’s crown in the original.

Traversal is where Silksong turns the page. The Knight moved with the deliberate grace of a clockwork automaton, each step measured and weighty. Hornet glides through her world like a needle through silk—appropriate, no? Her agility turns every platform into a dance floor, and the new Tools and Crests system lets me sculpt her mobility with the intricacy of a watchmaker adjusting a pocket watch. Combat becomes a fluid negotiation rather than a series of rigid exchanges. She speaks, too. The Knight’s silence was a mirror; Hornet’s voice is a lens. Through her text-based exchanges, Pharloom’s biomes stop being beautiful mausoleums and become living bazaars crowded with personalities. Shakra, the cartographer, and a dozen other NPCs give the sprawling map the pulse of a humming city, while the original Hallownest now feels like a solitary shore at low tide—breathtaking but lonely.

Yet that sprawling map is both Silksong’s greatest triumph and its quiet betrayal. After the credits rolled in Act 2, I found myself adrift in a world that felt less like a labyrinth and more like an ocean without a compass. The original Hollow Knight’s map had a coiled spring’s tension, a tight geography that rewarded obsessive explorers without ever loosening the dramatic thread. Silksong’s immensity resembles a sprawling galaxy—dazzling, but easy to float away from. I watched several fellow players lose momentum simply because the path forward became a fog of possibilities. That sprawl, paired with an unforgiving difficulty where common enemies can cleave through your health like a scythe through silk, creates a jagged mountain range of frustration. Silksong’s challenge became legendary quickly, but often in the way a hailstorm is legendary: awe-inspiring yet punishing without reprieve. The original’s difficulty was a steep but staircased climb; Silksong’s is a cliff face that sometimes demands you grow wings mid-fall.

Visually, the contrast is immediate and intoxicating. In 2026, playing both games back-to-back reveals how Silksong’s palette has bloomed. Where Hollow Knight draped itself in twilight blues and grays, Silksong erupts with coral inks, sun-bleached golds, and the deep crimson of Hornet’s animated cloak. The details on character sprites feel sharper, as if hollowed ghosts have been replaced by breathing fables. It is the visual equivalent of moving from a charcoal sketch to a stained-glass mural. The original’s artistry remains timeless, but the sequel makes it feel like a memory gaining color over time.

Ultimately, the two exist in symbiosis. Hollow Knight is the first movement of a symphony—measured, melancholic, laying the foundation. Silksong is the second movement, a tempest that dares to be faster, louder, and more complex. I still recommend players wear the original like a pair of worn-in boots before leaping into the sequel’s whirlwind. Only then does Hornet’s journey resonate as more than a difficult metroidvania; it becomes a conversation with a silent legacy. Silksong does not render its predecessor obsolete, but the scales tip ever so slightly toward the new. With its better protagonist, richer biomes, and motion that feels like poetry in the making, Hollow Knight: Silksong stands as one of 2025’s finest—and in 2026, it remains a bellwether for what Metroidvania can become when it dares to speak.

For players who are still deciding whether to dive into Hollow Knight: Silksong or revisit its predecessor, timing can often play a role. With seasonal sales and periodic discounts, it’s possible to experience these masterpieces without stretching your budget. Exploring options for game deals can be as thrilling as uncovering a hidden path in Pharloom.

One tool that stands out for this purpose is the steam deal finder. It’s a reliable resource for tracking discounts on both indie gems like Hollow Knight and blockbuster titles. Whether you're new to the genre or a seasoned Metroidvania fan, finding the right price can be the perfect nudge to embark on Hornet’s whirlwind journey.