=> Game of the year 2025 right here. <= tldr: Hollow Knight Skillsong. See below the (#spoiler text)

They see your beauty, so frail and fine,
They see your peace, woven of faith and toil,
They forget your heart, bound in slumber and servitude,
When you wake they shall see your truth,
A beast's nature bare to all.

From 'Pharloom's Folly' by the Conductor Romino
60Hrs in and I'm seeing new stuff daily but I'm still not at the citadel [Casual dad review]
✅ No AAA+ Inflation
✅ Map looks huge compared to how small you are, do not let your fear of sizes hold you back in this. You gain more mobility as the game progresses, and even through some secret hide outs :)
✅ Prepare for one of the most rewarding metroidvania's ever. Your lessons will always pay off.
✅ Such a blast to enjoy with a controller! :) [Wireless]
✅ Simple, yet so deep as you keep unlocking more and more of yourself
✅ Huge world with beauty seeping out of the floor you step on everywhere [and a tiny 8GB install]
✅ Well worth the wait!
✅ Incredible sounds, incredible ambience. Creepy, horrific in some places. Peaceful and calm. Welcoming, warm in the places you find nonviolent peaceful characters
✅ Multiple attacks, in direction, up , sideways, jump to attack down too. Multiple crests that change your base identity of items.
✅ Successful attacks build your silk stacks for regeneration to ;Bind; back up to 3+ HP per Bind [+4 Masks after you gain the Silkbinder].
✅ Correctly timed attacks PARRY - BUT ENEMIES always charge through your attacks to hit you one more time. This requires constant choreography in movement.
✅ You're meant to save-scum, whenever you may require it. It's a system called: Menu : SAVE & EXIT> SIMPLE > SAVES LIVES> SAVES ROSARIES > WHEN YOU HAVE 1HP and NO SAFE PEOPLE TO SMACK FOR SILK < QUIT TO MAIN MENU < EtC>

❌ Backtracking implies you're going through the same environments, lost, trying to find your purpose. This is something that you will experience in Silksong BUT: In SS✅ 'Backtracking' is actually Re-Exploration as you have changed since first exploring it. You're even exploring in a different direction, despite it being the same area.
❌ The hardcore comes in touching other creatures. Some are 1HP + their attack, if you don't dodge it , some are -2HP JUST ON THE TOUCH!? then they still beast roll you with more 2HP attacks and drain you in 2-3 hits :) You need to watch where you go. #Classic.
❌ You don't need to have played Hollow Knight to enjoy this adventure, but IF you do play Hornet first, you'll most likely want to play that even more if you beat this before the first. It's a separate journey. Enjoy either, in whatever order you please.
❌ Johnny Bravo 'Hoo' 'Hah' 'Huh' in disguise; :) [it's funny; I love it, but some may not]
Off to ascend to the citadel. The journey is about ascension and taking a break and smelling the flowers from time to time; :) [This has already been toned down to a steadier pace]
❌ The things you pick up don't help you until you equip them -Via a Rest bench - then based on your choice of crest, you may not be able to fit all equipment based on the crest's available/default slots. You need to strategize your builds.
❌ Shops are expensive, but it works out that you run loops nearby / from the bench - make a circuit of like 5-8 creatures you can farm rosaries off - Rest-Repeat. There is a grind, but it's built into the economy, and you get rewards that help you not lose things. You can get string to keep your rosaries on <- that way you lock it into your inventory, rather than losing it on a cocoon. You have one cocoon per death.
❌ if you die on the way to returning to your cocoon , either because the rest bench is too far, or entering the room doesn't allow you to leave, you can lose all your current farm while trying to get it back. Sometimes, you need to accept a different path, when your cocoon is stuck in a big boss' lair.
❌ Don't play this if you don't like exploration, challenges, role-playing in someone else's shoes, or someone else's world.


Here's some screenshots
https://psteamcommunity.yuanyoumao.com/id/1mantisphoenix/screenshots/?appid=1030300&sort=newestfirst&browsefilter=myfiles&view=imagewall


The Hornet's Song
In Pharloom’s weave, where shadows creep,
A hornet darts through dreams so deep.
Her silk-spun grace, a warrior’s art,
She guards the weak with fervent heart. No mere sting, her soul’s a blade,
In twilight halls where light will fade.
Each thread she spins, a tale of care,
For kin and kind, she’s ever there. Her role? To mend, to fight, to roam,
In Hollow Knight’s vast, haunted home.
Silksong’s her stage, where courage sings,
A dance of hope on gossamer wings. So take the plunge, this game embrace,
Where Hornet shines in Pharloom’s grace.
For those who crave a world profound,
In Silksong’s depths, her truth is found.

byme

If you want the fastest possible gameplay, use these steam launch options:
-Vulkan -HIGH -nothreadtimeout / or -DX12 instead of -vulkan.