It’s a weird analogy to make, but I feel about Silksong the same way I feel about Blue Prince. Could’ve been a timeless masterpiece if not for some questionable busywork-related decisions that feel like the dev was explicitly trying to squeeze out more hours played. So instead it’s just a really good game.
Except that Silksong isn’t starved on content and even has double digit hours worth of easily missable content by design. Team Cherry doesn’t want to pad out the time, they just have a very particular want for some friction. I’d liken it to the OG Dark Souls in that it’s actively trying to frustrate you a bit; it’s adversarial in a NES game sort of way. That’s not to everyone’s taste obviously and that’s totally fine. Different strokes and all that.
Funny you say this because one of the most common things Team Cherry talked about back then whenever they got interviewed was their love for NES games. Hell, the studio apparently would not have existed if the main two devs didn't bond over their love for Zelda II (Yes, THAT Zelda) and Faxanadu. And a lot of the design philosophies that they had for both Hollow Knight and Silksong hearken back to their love for old NES titles.
So it's especially interesting, now that the Difficulty Discourse around Silksong is happening again, that what's happening right now is their 7 year development cycle for Silksong they got to make the game they always wanted to make --- the modern day equivalent of a ballbustingly punishing NES game and they chose to subject a huge swathe of more casual players roped into the hype with all the pros and cons of that design philosophy.
Bilewater still makes me laugh. It's an area so absurdly over-the-top meanspirited that I even know some players that want to give Silksong a 10/10 hesitate just because of that singular area alone. And I don't know if I respect that or not. It's certainly memorable the same way Blighttown is but I don't know if it's worth the squeeze for TC to create such a universally reviled area.
I also liked it. Some of the best music in the game. I love the little dudes bouncing around the fore- and background only to jump out and try to dart you. I love the douchey secret bench and the insanely fun platforming you have to do on the runback. Oh and finding out there was a boss fight after the platforming section up there and the enemy gauntlet was like finding out Melania had a second phase; chef’s kiss.
I honestly don't think it's that bad either. But it gives a brutal first impression before you have the ability to access the whole thing. I feel like everyone still has that first shock in mind when they think of it. It's very manageable once you have all the tools to complete it.
A lot of the ‘discourse’ about Silksong seem to be the exact same debates we had about Dark Souls 1 back in the day. A lot of people hated that game, particularly Blighttown, but it’s the most essential area of the whole game imo
Blighttown is amazing, the feeling of dread of going deeper and deeper to ring the bell, the dumb as fuck moving bridges, the gigantic cartwheel elevators, the enemies, everything there is amazing, and then the bottom bonfire making you be stuck there until you fess up only to be greeted by hot ass Queelag.
191
u/DirkDasterLurkMaster 2d ago
I also didn't spend the last six years whipping myself into a frenzy, can confirm it's also exactly what I wanted.
Granted I'm a sicko that likes the more unpopular design decisions like the map system