10 Most STRESSFUL Moments in Hollow Knight: Silksong

10 Most Stressful Moments in Hollow Knight Silksong

Welcome to MojoPlays, and today, we’re counting down the most infuriating moments you’ll encounter throughout Hornet’s journey across Pharloom.

Climbing Mount Fay

Should you decide to venture out to the highest peak in the land, either because you’re curious or you’re in dire need of unlocking that elusive double jump ability, good luck, because conquering Mount Fay will push your platforming skills harder than ever before. It’s not just that you have to deal with spiked walls and pogo off flying enemies using your harpoon, you’re also racing against the clock. Due to the immense cold, Hornet’s life will swiftly start to crumble, meaning you’re going to be jumping for your life to make it to the safe points along the way – otherwise it's back to the start.

Flea Festival

You’ve got to give Silksong credit – it took some of the most heinous insects known to man and made them utterly adorable. Saving the puppy-like fleas was certainly worth it, leading Hornet to eventually find a home for them and their troupe by the Pure Lake. If you return to them by the time Act 3 starts, the Fleamaster decides that to celebrate the fleeting amount of time they have left, they’re going all out with the Flea Festival – three minigames that see you either juggling, dodging or bouncing every flea thrown at you, getting an upgrade for your needle if you get the high score across all challenges. The only problem is that these games are demanding as hell! The RNG mechanics mean no run is the same, but remain equally punishing!

Fake Benches

This is just evil. Benches are the spark of relief and sanctuary throughout any Hollow Knight experience. A place of safety, to heal, to quick save, before continuing the perilous journey ahead. The devs preyed upon this when they installed not one, but two fake benches in two of the hardest areas in all of Silksong – Hunter’s March and Bilewater. The first is rigged to unleash a trap that will knock two points of health off every time you sit on it. The second is far more sinister, as it drops you into a sea of maggot water that devours all your accumulated silk. Apparently, Team Cherry lives to see us suffer.

The Bell Eater

Fast travel is essential in Silksong, as it is in every other Metroidvania, especially when your mode of transport just so happens to be the Bell Beast. Sure, we fought her once, but she quickly became one of our most trusted companions as she tirelessly took us around Pharloom’s major landmarks. And then Act 3 happens. After the Void is released, if you attempt to activate fast travel you’ll be met by the sight of the Bell Eater, a monstrous centipede that for all we knew had devoured our bug buddy! Thankfully, she made her return in spectacular fashion.

Hunter's March

For many, this was the earliest sign that Silksong’s difficulty was going to be far greater than its predecessor. Upon entering Hunter’s March, you’ll be met by a series of red bulbs, which you’re meant to use as platforms to pogo across. But here’s the catch – Hornet doesn’t pogo in the traditional way. Her downwards strike comes in at a descending diagonal angle, making it far more trying to pull off in sequence. As a result, countless players fell to their demise, as messing up any kind of platforming in Silksong often leads to you falling into a pit of spikes.

Coral Tower

Gauntlets run rampant in this game, sometimes to a ludicrous degree. And out of all of them, none tested us quite like Coral Tower. If you want to take down one of the three bosses required to reach the endgame, you’ve got to fight your way through several waves of enemies first. The first three rounds are especially punishing, offering nothing in the way of saving between arenas, all the while you’ll be dealing with an abundance of flying foes who love nothing more than to hover just out of reach while bombarding you with projectiles. By the time you reach the top, you’ll be happy their species went extinct.

Courier’s Rasher

Anyone remember the Delicate Flower side quest in Hollow Knight? Where you had to traverse from one side of the map to the other, with no fast travel, without taking any damage in case you destroy the flower? Well, they brought it back for the sequel, and made it far more challenging. Like other courier missions, Hornet has to transport goods while trying not to get hit by enemies along the way, but in the case of the Courier’s Rasher – its health is diminishing from the get-go. That means you have to leg it from Bellhart all the way to the centre of the Citadel as fast as you can. If this didn’t go towards getting you a needle upgrade, we’re sure a lot more players would have given up this task far sooner.

Saving Sherma

You will not find a more adorable soul in the entirety of Hollow Knight’s world. Pure, bubbly and known to bust out quite the catchy jingle, it was all too easy to become endeared to Sherma, to the extent we all collectively vowed to keep him safe no matter what. So, you can imagine our horror when we learned that Sherma had gone off to Whiteward. You know, the place with all the silk zombies running around. The thought of Sherma being in peril and potentially killed off sent us into a panic spiral! Nobody hurts best boy!

Lost Lace

Most boss battles in Silksong are a nightmare to deal with, but we wanted to highlight this one in particular, because it is on a whole other level. Just look at this! Driven mad by the Void, Lace will dart around the arena, not only attacking with her signature slashes and punishing counters, but also by summoning non-stop tendrils. They’re fast, frequent, and only increase in ferocity as the fight continues, to the point where she’s dishing out attacks that can wipe out three chunks of health in a single go. The fact she’s in contention with Absolute Radiance for Hollow Knight’s hardest boss tells you all you need to know.

Bilewater Runback

Bilewater sucks. No two ways about it. The maggot-infested waters purge your silk, the only working bench is hidden from view, and every enemy you encounter is an asshole. But worst of all is what’s lurking at the end. Groal the Great by himself may be more doable than other bosses, but that’s of little comfort when every time you die, either to Groal himself or the gauntlet that proceeds him, you have to traverse all of Bilewater to get back. Even if you find the hidden bench, you’ve only shaved off a partial amount of busywork. Nothing kills your motivation than failing at the final hurdle, only to realise you’ve got to navigate through this swamp for the billionth time!

Which moment from Silksong almost made you quit? Let us know in the comments!