Often time, nerds will seek the cures for what plagues them in the completely wrong places, and with morbidly inaccurate assessments of what kind of panacea they represent.

Both games and memes similarly filling the void of genuine need and concern of addressing intense mental health issues, but a great new game launch is basically therapy for the soul, right?

Continuing on with my playthrough of Silksong, like so many other fervently eager spirits at the moment, though unlike so many who have made the jump on launch day, I was not among the singers belonging to the choir of resounding praise of the first title, in spite of my proclivities involving the Metroidvania genre on the regs. I still theorize as to why, but quite often, the most random assortment of happenings and bizarre non-sequiturs will keep me from enjoying even the highest quality, industry defining games at any moment, so the reason for my bounce off of the first title could have been entirely random in retrospect. The white noise of excitement of the sequels launch was getting rather hard to ignore, or at least, the metaphysicality of my online perusals was constantly inundated with the constant repetitious hollowings of those who hungered for the Silksong, in all of it’s melodic glory.


Both literally and metaphorically, Silksong brings the heat

I was struck with a notion yesterday, upon witnessing such an excited jubilation the gaming masses were showering all over Silksong’s launch, and it was a moment of restrained modesty I must admit, in realizing it might be for the best to tuck back my own indignation’s about my humdrum response to the first games existence, and reserved skepticism involving the second, as everyone seemed to be filled to the brim with optimistic energy, I felt enough of a pang of remorse in generating negative thoughts on the matter with which to fling into the online ether, I refrained full stop in doing so. I think it is more in line with a couple of sentiments; avoiding being the one to unnecessarily rain on everyone’s parade, but also due to the idea that I don’t feel as if my personal experience with Hollow Knight needs to represent this intense devil’s advocacy against the fever pitch of the crowd, and wisely excising the musky odor of aggressive indifference, as if a self-inflicted descenting process following suit, in which I refused to have the shitty opinion contravening the days reason for celebratory selenity of satisfaction as a saving grace.


There is enough explosive volatility in the online space…no need to gratuitously thrust upon it

This supposition towards Hollow Knight was easily diffused, as there have been many a time within the game realm I either just “didn’t get it” or straight up fell prey to “missing the boat”, and this is fine. Few in any realm are part and parcel to every major event, or possess the intensity of infinite eclecticism to rambunctiously upend their own daily doldrums to be lifted by the hurricane of interest that represents any given novelty the public interest lets itself be completely swept away with, whether deserving of the early warning sirens related to the bellowing of excitement that strong gusts of the neoteric persuasion brings along with it. Though, in many ways, exhaustively long winded wordplay aside, what is old is new again, as much of what Silksong bring with it is extraordinarily familiar territory.


Combative commodities and high flying oddities

I’m not entirely sure if my own inability to dive deeply into the particular mechanisms of the design aspects of Silksong are lacking due to the overall simplicity of the title itself, which obviously provides great benefit to any players looking to more immediately understand the “fingerfeeling” of the game itself, or if it is hard for me to believe that few who would bother venturing into the realm of video game critique really need an in-depth reassurance of what exactly to expect of a Metroidvania, in all of their insanely familiar posturing, but the struggle is there, and a very real contention in my lived world. To wit; it may sound completely daft to say, but Hollow Knight, and to that extent Silksong, does quick work in reminding me of the buttery smooth tendencies of Symphony of the Night, even, to some suprising circumstance, more so than many other Castlevania games that followed in Symphony’s wake. This is of course meant as high praise, though underlines my point in question, on just how helpful or distinct that description is in the first place, but there it is.


The sensational phenomena inherent with the basking of a warm glow, the fires of familiarity burn brightly with Silksong

Having ended my second session on boss encounter #3, a creature by the name of Lace, and following the acquisition of the power-up Quick Step, these events did bring into focus perhaps what I had been myopic about in my awkward fumblings in understanding just what the flirtatious fancies were with the Hollow Knight pedigree, and perhaps I was able to finally grasp the idea as to why so many are enamored with the title(s). Bearing in mind, faster traversal and greater rapidity of progression is par for the course with Metroidvania games, and is one of the more immediately identifiable moments of satisfaction one looks forward to building up to, in which to feel as if they’re becoming the master of their own domain, each area at a time, but just the start of a motion tied to the successful parlance of mechanistic intent to which I speak.


Never underestimate the invaluable sense of measured delivery

Much like the commonality of these incremental upgrades, the third boss encounter, Lace, was very much in line with common skill checks across the genre, a fast moving swordsman, putting you in your place, making sure you truly understand the basics of combat and control, and punishing you with a repulsion of possible progress if this be not the case. While both are average happenings in the Metroidvania sense, it ended up being the timing of both of these events that corresponded to the exact brain itch I had, curious musings mere minutes…nay, perhaps solitary seconds before they occurred, where I thought to myself “this game could really use an X, Y…” and before even finishing my thought with a zed, the game perfectly punctuated my preponderance, as if Team Cherry wanting to silently flex from a far, signaled within an effortless breath “I got you”, showcasing the magnificent powers of effective play testing, through and through, with a triumphant crescendo to a well orchestrated movement.


Timing is everything

Rhythmic in its due process, much in tune with the melodies found reverberating off the structures of the game itself, and interwoven within the sweeping sights of Silksong at large, Team Cherry, ironically so, strives to prove their powerful sense of keeping time soundly, leading one to believe the lengthy delay that haunted this game wasn’t a mindless vanity after all.

~Pashford