In a recent interview at Australia’s national museum of screen culture (ACMI), developers from Team Cherry discussed the balance of difficulty and player freedom in their highly anticipated game, Hollow Knight: Silksong.
The title is featured in the ongoing Game Worlds exhibition, where co-curator Jini Maxwell spoke with Ari Gibson and William Pellen, shedding light on the game’s design philosophy amid ongoing debates about challenge in video games. Gibson emphasized the game’s expansive structure, stating, “The important thing for us is that we allow you to go way off the path.” He explained that players have the flexibility to follow the main storyline directly or diverge into side paths to uncover hidden elements and alternative routes. This non-linear approach, he noted, provides “a higher level of freedom within the world,” giving players constant choices in navigation and progression.
Addressing concerns about difficulty, Gibson acknowledged that Silksong includes “some moments of steep difficulty.” However, the design mitigates frustration by offering multiple strategies to overcome obstacles. Rather than forcing repeated failures, players can “mitigate the difficulty via exploration, or learning, or even circumventing the challenge entirely, rather than getting stonewalled.” This contrasts with more rigid games where progress halts at tough spots, allowing for a more forgiving experience tailored to individual playstyles.
A key evolution in Silksong centers on its protagonist, Hornet, who is “inherently faster and more skillful than the Knight” from the original Hollow Knight. To match her agility, enemies have been upgraded for greater complexity. Pellen detailed how even basic foes, like the ant warrior, incorporate advanced movesets inspired by the first game’s Hornet boss. These include “dashing, jumping, and dashing down at you,” plus new abilities to evade and counterattack. “In contrast to the Knight’s enemies, Hornet’s enemies had to have more ways of catching her as she tries to move away,” Pellen said. The team’s goal was to “bring everyone else up to match [Hornet’s] level,” ensuring encounters feel dynamic and demanding without overwhelming newcomers.
The discussion also touched on boss runbacks—a common frustration in metroidvania games where players must retraverse challenging platforming sections before retrying fights. While Team Cherry did not detail changes, the emphasis on freedom suggests potential innovations to reduce repetition. A preview review captured the game’s essence: “Pretty and charmingly mean-spirited, this is a game filled with revelations and genuine personality.”
With Silksong still without a firm release date, these insights from the ACMI exhibition highlight Team Cherry’s commitment to blending intense challenges with empowering exploration, appealing to both hardcore fans and broader audiences in the evolving landscape of indie game design.
