I disagree with you.

Path of pain was dlc, we’ll probably get a something equivalent in sea of sorrow. It should be more of a comparison between base hollow knight game, no grimm, no godhome, and current silksong.

5:00 by this point in the game you should be able to comfortably dodge 1 projectile flying at you

I played silksong before HK.  Had no idea how much harder it was and just thought that’s how it was.  Going back to HK was soooo much fun actually wanting to explore.

Financial system is good. You can go to work and earn some rosarys on a treadmill 😂

Rose tinted glasses final boss

I wish the game did not have such a divide between Act 2 and Act 3. It permanently changes the world instead of just opening up more for you, and I just found myself missing the old world I was exploring instead of enjoying what I was given. Going into Act 2 was wonderful, because while it temporarily locked you away from the parts you explored before (if you did the Last Judge route instead of the alternative), you got to go back again.

I really enjoyed your video, so I want to share some things I personally agree and disagree.

1. SK is indeed more difficult than the original HK, which I think it's correct. It is a sequel and a step up in difficulty, made not only for new players, but for those who are already familiar with HK and wanted a new challenge.

I don't think enemies dealing double damage in the first area was that crazy. The original HK also has an enemy that double damage in the first area. And, unlike the Knight, Hornet has much more freedom to heal, because of the mid air healing mechanic.

Some of the difficult bosses can be avoided. In act 1, Beastfly is optional. Moorwing and Last Judge can be skipped by exploration and different routes. You have tools that reduce the damage and remove the debuffs, like the Brothers and Judge with Magma Belt and Groal and Lugoli with Wreath of Purity, making them more doable.

2. I think the difference between both games is that HK feels more like an adventure, while SK is more like a mission, which is why SK feels more linear and HK more open to explore. None of these are bad, just different stories and approaches.

3. I also enjoyed the runbacks in HK and SK and I agree they force the player to master not only the boss fight, but the whole area (the enemies, the platforming, the shortcuts, etc).

4. I honestly disagree the backtracking part. Moss Grotto has Weavenest, Eva and the Chapel. Deep Docks and Far Fields have entire new sections after you get Simple Key and Silk Soar. Wormways changes completely in act 3. Greymoor has Whisp Ticket and Verdania.

What I do consider bad is when there is a secret spot, but the only thing there is a bunch of shards, an item that you can farm easily and is pretty much useless if not using tools.

5. I heavily disagree that side quests break immersion. I think those quests serve to flesh out Hornet's character. She donates to help Pilgrims. She helps to collect Plasmium. She stops her quest to save Sherma and Jubilana. She meets Shakra in Bilewater. All those actions tell us that she cares about the others and it's basically what she does at the end: she saves a character that also saved her.

6. I don't get your point about the controls. In the original HK, you also need to press up and down to use a different spell. I like that in SK we can customise the controls for each skill or tool, depending the crest.

7. I don't think the auto-climb and cloak were an issue. Sorry, but it sounds like a personal issue rather than a real problem.

I think the Dash-Sprint in SK is a highly improved version and QoL of the original Dash in HK. It feels much more smooth to control and also allowed areas to be larger.

I have to say that Dream Nail is superior to Needolin tho. Dream Nail opens doors, reveals lore, collects soul and evolves throughout the story. It's important for the story, lore and useful for both exploration and combat. While Needolin pretty much is only used to open doors and lore.

8. I think the platforming challenge in HK is more localised in White Palace, while SK has challenging platforms scattered throughout Pharloom and The Citadel. In HK, at least I don't think there are crazy platform sections, besides White Palace. In SK, there is Hunter's March very early with obligatory pogo, the platforms with wind and obligatory pogo in Blasted Steps, the collapsing platforms in Sand of Karak, Mount Fay can be very challenging first time, the vine section in Putrified Ducts, the very intense escape from The Abyss, the climb to The Surface and many others. All of them with decent variety of mechanics.

9. I don't think none of the stories are bad. What I really consider underwhelming in SK is the build up for Lace. In HK, Hornet is a recurrent character, like Lace in SK. We fight her in Greenpath and Kingdom's Edge, see her in Fungal Wastes, meet her at the City, in Distant Village, in the Abyss, she saves us and helps us in the final battle against THK. In contrast, we only fight/interact with Lace once in act 1, talk with her once after entering The Citadel and fight her once in The Cradle, that's it. I don't think she is well connected with Hornet. I also agree her fight isn't cool as The Radiance in Dream No More, unfortunately that one is hard to top.

10. Act 3 was cool in my first playthrought, but didn't age very well, because it's very repetitive. I don't like to go to the Chapel, to go to The Abyss, to then go to the Chapel, fight more bosses, go to the Chapel again and return to The Abyss again, to fight Lace AGAIN. It really feels like walking in circles. The only things that save this act for me is that it has some of favourite bosses, Karmelita, Khan and Nyleth.

Sorry for the wall text. That said, good video.

I really missed Hollow Knights Atmosphere. The game felt really lonely(?) for me and i really liked that. I like silksong too but its mainly to the gameplay and not the world itself

11:57 you are torturing yourself on purpose gang 🥀🤞

4:40 nah man forge brothers were fun! :)

GREAT video i completely agree with you for the most part and, honestly, i'm glad to see i'm not the only one who thinks most of these things! i hope your content gets the appreciation it deserves!!

The double damage isn't an issue personally because hornet heals for 3 masks instead of one like in hollow knight. Which means it honestly cancels out for me. Like in some bosses in hollow knight like Pure vessel I might only heal 4 masks but in basically every silksong boss you can heal way more masks. The double damage is meant to balance the new healing system.

Can't agree with your take on the story. The story is one of the best parts of the game for me,which is arguably better than the first game. You missed the core element of the story of Silksong—— mother-daughter relationships, which is present throughout the whole game: Moss Mother, Karmelita, Shakra's mentor/adoptive mother,Broodmother,etc and of course, GMS with weavers,phantom and lace. The world of Pharloom is bigger, yet the story lands on a more personal touch, which I think is a brilliant choice for this game.
Also the fetch quests have a purpose in the story,they're meant to be Hornet connecting with the people of Pharloom,which is necessary for her character growth in act 3.If they cut some of the quests and make act 3 easier to reach, the impact of act 3 would be significantly diminished imo.

You make a lot of reasonable points. Can't even argue. When HK is 10/10 and Silksong is 9/10 that one missing point will make you rage, even though it's still a great game.

31:50 a third ogdo bogdo has hit the silksong

Finally, someone talked about it.
I feel like talking about the bad points of Silksong gets me crucified.
While I don't agree with everything, this game had it's flaws that is hard to understand how did they even happen in the first place.
Like the game though, happy someone said it.

5:01 perhaps the biggest argument towards “skill issue” known to man, look at the screen brother

Don’t forget hk dlc is a huge part of what makes the first game so deep. Gotta wait to see what the silksong dlc will be

I think it makes sense that in HK you have to find things out yourself, because the knight has an in-universe reason not to know things, because he likely left Hallownest before really exploring it, whereas Hornet knows about the white flower before ever setting foot in Pharloom

and her thoughts aren't shown to us, so she likely thought of the "really specific things that need to be done", which, if we had her memories, we would have thought of as well