For more than seven years, “Silksong when?” was less of a question and more of an internet tradition.

The game was announced in 2019. Years passed. Gaming showcases came and went. Fans turned every mysterious Team Cherry update into a potential release-date clue.

Then, on September 4, 2025, Hollow Knight: Silksong finally launched.

And the internet immediately went into meltdown mode.

The sequel to one of the most beloved indie metroidvanias ever made had finally escaped development hell—or at least what felt like it.

But after all that waiting, there was one question that mattered more than the memes:

Was Silksong actually worth the wait?

Hornet Doesn't Move Like the Knight💪

The first thing returning Hollow Knight players notice is that Hornet feels completely different to control.

The Knight was deliberately slow and grounded. Movement often depended on careful positioning, precise jumps and learning enemy patterns.

Hornet is much more aggressive.

She can sprint, climb, leap and attack with considerably more mobility. Her needle gives combat a different rhythm, while her thread-based abilities introduce new ways to approach both enemies and traversal.

That makes Silksong feel faster almost immediately.

Instead of simply asking, “Where can I safely stand?”

The game often asks:

“How quickly can I get over there?”

That difference is important because Silksong isn't trying to make Hornet a slightly upgraded version of the Knight.

It is building the entire experience around her unique abilities.

Pharloom Is the Real Star✨

Then there is Pharloom.

If Hallownest felt like a dying kingdom gradually being uncovered, Pharloom feels more vertical, expansive and constantly in motion.

Hornet's journey takes her through a huge variety of environments, enemies and settlements, with the kingdom designed around her greater mobility.

The scale is one of the game's biggest talking points.

You're not simply getting another collection of interconnected caves. Pharloom constantly gives the impression that there is another area above you, below you or somewhere just beyond the next path.

And that sense of discovery is exactly what made the original Hollow Knight so addictive.

The difference is that Silksong gives exploration a considerably more mobile protagonist.

Seven Years of Hype Is a Dangerous Thing🤐

Here's where things get interesting.

Very few games have had to survive the kind of anticipation surrounding Silksong.

The 2019 announcement became legendary. Every Nintendo Direct became a potential Silksong announcement. Every gaming showcase generated another wave of speculation.

The memes became so widespread that waiting for Silksong became part of gaming culture itself.

That created an almost impossible situation for Team Cherry.

The game wasn't competing only against other releases.

It was competing against seven years of fan expectations.

Players had imagined what the sequel would look like, how Hornet would play and how large Pharloom would be.

No game can realistically satisfy every version of itself that fans have imagined.

And yet, Silksong arrived to strong reviews.

What Are Critics Saying?🤔

The early critical response was overwhelmingly positive.

Silksong received praise for its art direction, soundtrack, combat, world design and Hornet's distinct movement system. Review aggregators placed the game firmly in the acclaimed range, with Metacritic reporting a score around 90.

That doesn't mean the game escaped criticism.

Its difficulty has been one of the biggest discussion points. Some players appreciate the demanding combat and bosses, while others have found certain encounters and progression systems frustrating.

But that conversation is almost inevitable with a Hollow Knight game.

The original built its reputation around challenging exploration, difficult bosses and the satisfaction of finally mastering an area.

Silksong simply takes that philosophy and puts it inside a much larger adventure.

Why Silksong's Release Matters?🤔

The biggest story here isn't simply that another highly anticipated game was released.

It's that an indie game managed to sustain enormous mainstream attention for seven years.

That's incredibly difficult.

Most games disappear from the conversation long before launch. Silksong somehow became more anticipated as the years went on.

Its eventual success also demonstrates just how powerful the Hollow Knight brand became.

The original was created by a relatively small independent studio and eventually became one of the defining modern metroidvania games.

The sequel therefore wasn't just another indie release.

It became an industry-wide event.

What Happens Next?😶

Now that Silksong is finally real, the conversation has changed.

There is no longer a question of “When will Silksong release?”

Instead, players are asking:

How much bigger can Team Cherry take this world?

Players will continue discovering Pharloom, finding secrets, fighting bosses and debating the game's difficulty.

And, perhaps most importantly, the endless speculation can finally stop.

For the first time in years, fans don't need another trailer.

They can simply play the game.

🎮 The Bottom Line

Hollow Knight: Silksong spent seven years becoming one of gaming's biggest punchlines.

Then it finally arrived—and instead of collapsing under the hype, it delivered a huge new world built around a protagonist who plays completely differently from the Knight.

Hornet's speed changes the formula. Pharloom expands the adventure. And the strong critical response suggests the wait wasn't just internet folklore after all.

Seven years is an absurd amount of time to wait for a video game.

But sometimes the best way to end the wait is to finally stop talking about the release date and start playing.

What do you think? Was Hollow Knight: Silksong worth the seven-year wait, or did the hype become impossible for any game to match? Let us know in the comments.