Hollow Knight: Silksong / 空洞骑士：丝之歌

先说背景，前作是我接触的第一款恶魔城，只打了空洞骑士一个结局，白宫过了，神居没打，苦痛之路第一段跳了一个小时都没过去就放弃了。丝之歌我玩的第二款恶魔城，在花了57小时通关所有结局，100%通关之后，游戏带给我的快乐与惊喜远远超过了恶意。作为一个热衷于探索的玩家，丝之歌的地图设计是最戳我xp的。箱庭式设计，捷径，各区域之间的通路（苔栖乡坐电梯回到骸底镇幻视魂1教堂回到火鸡厂），刚买完地图的虚线区域，探索完一片区域后地图上的缺口，四处敲打、跳跃后发现的隐藏地点（谁懂听到隐藏音效那瞬间的兴奋感），以及解锁一个新能力后，原先被打上图钉的地方，都是驱动我探索下去的动力。

在难度方面，由于我玩的时候已经是一号补丁更新之后，把一些陷阱从二伤降到一伤，并且删除了一些恶心人的小怪，探索的难度已经比首发低了很多，我没有在任何一个区域卡过半小时以上。本着发现一个区域就探完的精神，我在前期就去到了网上差评如潮的猎者小径。本来想着作为手柄玩家，如果跳跳乐过不去就先放着（前作尝试苦痛之路的时候按爆了一个手柄而且手还生疼），结果跳跳乐比我想象的简单，远没有网上说的那么离谱。这里也推荐手柄玩家用大拇指指肚操作十字键，比摇杆精准多了还不容易误触。虽说猎者小径的配置是跳跳乐奖励一个小怪连战，对于前期就来到这的玩家，会有地图师助战，导致在熟悉了跳跳乐之后难度甚至比中期来还要低。实际上，对于游戏中大部分的难点，除了一部分极度头铁，打不过不睡觉的玩家，制作组都留下了降低难度的方法，那就是探索。猎者小径看门的打不过怎么看，那就去其他地方收集面具碎片，拿到冲刺再来吧。翼沼领主打不过怎么办，那就去探索救出老爷子和他一起打吧。高庭连战打不过怎么办，那就去做老爷子或者地图师的任务和他们一起打吧。作为一个类开放世界的设计，探索是最有效的降低游戏难度的策略。

虽然大部分区域设计的可圈可点，也有腐殖泽这种纯粹大粪让我破防一下午。尤其是腐殖泽隐藏椅子的设计，我敢说不看攻略百分之八十的人都找不到。为了找到这个椅子，需要主动跳下蛆水，并且由于水下无法攻击，需要在水中跳起来打破隐藏墙壁。最主要的是这个隐藏墙壁和其他墙壁浑然一体，基本看不出什么差别。倘若没找到隐藏椅子，迎接你的将是730里路+小怪连战+奖励一个boss，能不破防的都是神人了。

再说战斗方面，众多的飞行怪绝对是最令人恶心的。诡异的飞行轨迹，后撤步，有一些能无限瞬移，再加上碰撞体积，经常会有站在地上打不到，跳起来又被撞的情况，很是让人头大。不过还好的是，在我顿悟到如何用飞针的时候，空战的难度瞬间降低一倍。对于boss战，所有主线boss的设计都是不错的，机杼舞者的音乐以及第四阶段让它作为一个艺术品，蕾丝、蚁后战斗非常爽快。少数的粪坑boss基本都属支线，可打可不打，不想吃屎的可以不吃。

当然，我游玩中最不爽的也是大家最诟病的就是经济系统，实在是太缺钱了。作为一个舔图玩家，身上的钱还是远远买不起商店里的东西，被迫需要刷钱。收租赚钱的功能竟然在不缺钱的第三幕才解锁，个人建议是放在第二幕，缓解一下财政危机。最好的做法是在小怪连战房之后爆一堆钱，拉满正反馈。另外有些钱花的就不合理，这里点名针匠，我冒着生命危险把你救出来，结果还要给你大几百才能升级武器，能不能有一点感恩之心？

中文翻译问题就不多说了，文化工作者一点要有文化，喜欢自己编意淫的东西是什么意思？

总的来说，丝之歌在前作的基础上，又构建了一个细节拉满的虫子世界，有着各种有血有肉的NPC。在我57小时的游玩中，至少有45小时都是纯粹的快乐。剩下的槽点，希望后续补丁能慢慢修复。

The following text is translated from Chinese using ChatGPT.

Let me start with some background. Hollow Knight was my very first Metroidvania. I only finished one ending back then: I cleared the White Palace, skipped Godhome, and gave up on the Path of Pain after an hour of trying to get through the very first section. Silksong was my second Metroidvania, and after spending 57 hours to see every ending and get a 100% completion, I can honestly say the joy and surprises it gave me far outweighed the frustration.

As someone who loves exploration, the map design in Silksong absolutely hit my sweet spot. The sandbox-style layout, the shortcuts, the clever interconnections between regions (like taking the elevator from Moss Grotto back to Bonebottom, or going from the Vision Soul 1 Chapel back to the “Turkey Factory”), the dotted-out unexplored areas right after buying a map, the little gaps that open up after clearing a region, the thrill of hitting walls and jumping around only to discover a hidden path—nothing beats the rush when you hear that secret-room sound effect. And of course, unlocking a new ability and returning to the pins I’d marked earlier was a huge motivation to keep exploring.

On difficulty: I played after the first patch, where they nerfed some traps from two-damage to one-damage and removed a few really annoying enemies, so exploration was way easier than at launch. I never got stuck in any area for more than 30 minutes. Playing with the “clear one region fully before moving on” mindset, I went to the infamous Hunter’s Path very early on. I thought if the platforming was too tough I’d just leave it for later (back in Hollow Knight, I literally smashed a controller and hurt my hand trying the Path of Pain). But surprisingly, the platforming wasn’t nearly as bad as the internet made it sound. Pro tip for controller players: use the d-pad with the ball of your thumb instead of the analog stick—it’s way more precise and avoids misinputs.

The Hunter’s Path is designed as “platforming first, combat gauntlet later,” but if you go there early, you even get the cartographer to help in fights, making it easier than going mid-game. Honestly, for most difficulty spikes, the devs left behind ways to soften the blow—through exploration. Can’t beat the gatekeeper of Hunter’s Path? Go collect some mask shards and come back once you’ve got the dash. Struggling with the Marrow Lord? Free the old warrior and fight alongside him. Having trouble with the gauntlet in the High Court? Do the cartographer’s or old warrior’s quests and let them join the fight. Exploration is the single most effective way to “lower the difficulty” in this semi-open-world design.

Not everything was great though. Fungal Mire almost broke me. Especially that hidden bench—without a guide, I bet 80% of players will never find it. You need to intentionally drop into grub-infested water, then jump underwater to break a hidden wall. Problem is, the wall looks completely identical to its surroundings. If you don’t find that bench, what awaits you is a 730-step trek + enemy gauntlet + a boss reward. Anyone who doesn’t tilt there is a god.

Combat-wise, the flying enemies were the most infuriating. Weird movement patterns, backsteps, some teleport endlessly, and they’ve got chunky hitboxes. Often I couldn’t hit them from the ground, but jumping up got me smacked. Once I figured out how to properly use the needle throw in the air, though, aerial combat suddenly became twice as easy. As for bosses: all the mainline ones were solid. The Weaver Dancer felt like an actual piece of art, especially with its music and the phase four transition. The Lace and Ant Queen fights were pure fun. The few garbage-tier bosses were mostly optional anyway—you don’t wanna eat crap, you don’t have to.

Now, the part I disliked most (and the community too): the economy system. The game is way too stingy with money. Even as a map-completion player, I still couldn’t afford most shop items and was forced to grind. The “rent collecting” feature unlocks only in Act 3, by which point you don’t even need Geo anymore—it should’ve been in Act 2 to ease the money drought. Best design would’ve been throwing heaps of cash at you after gauntlet rooms, giving strong positive feedback. And some spending just doesn’t make sense. Looking at you, Needlesmith: I risk my life to rescue you, and you still charge me hundreds to upgrade? Show some gratitude, man.

As for the Chinese translation issues—let’s just say, localizers really need to respect the culture instead of making stuff up.

All in all, Silksong built another finely detailed bug world on the solid foundation of Hollow Knight. Out of my 57 hours, at least 45 were pure fun. The flaws are there, but I’m hopeful future patches will smooth them out.