Is Hollow Knight: Silksong harder than Hollow Knight? Most major outlets say yes, although a few voices play the difficulty down. Below you’ll find exactly what IGN, GamesRadar+, PC Gamer, PCGamesN and Eurogamer wrote, how Team Cherry itself explains the challenge, what the studio changed in patches, why there is no difficulty setting and how to unlock Steel Soul mode straight away with a code. Everything applies to all platforms, as of 20 October 2026 (version 1.0.30000 on PC).
The short answer: what critics say
You won’t get our own verdict here, because difficulty is very personal. Instead, here is how the outlets that reviewed Silksong or wrote guides for it describe it:
| Outlet | What it says about the difficulty |
|---|---|
| GamesRadar+ | Silksong is “way harder” than Hollow Knight. |
| PCGamesN | “A step up from Hollow Knight, but a natural progression.” |
| PC Gamer | Talks about its “brutal difficulty”. |
| IGN | Compared with other tough action games, its review calls Silksong “pretty dang forgiving”. |
| Eurogamer | Describes the difficulty as “confrontational” and stresses that it’s subjective. |
So the consensus is that Silksong is more demanding than the first game. Where outlets differ is how tough it is next to other hard action games (IGN) and how much of it comes down to personal perception (Eurogamer).
Why Silksong is harder
Two masks per hit
The most obvious difference is one IGN, GamesRadar+ and Rock Paper Shotgun all describe: many enemies and almost all bosses take two masks of health per hit. In Hollow Knight one mask was the norm, so every mistake costs you more.
What Team Cherry says
Developers Ari Gibson and William Pellen discussed the difficulty in a book accompanying the ACMI exhibition, quoted by GamesRadar+. In their words, Hornet is faster and more skilful than the Knight, so even basic enemies have to be more complex. Team Cherry admits the game has “some moments of steep difficulty”, but adds that you can soften it by exploring, learning or finding a way around an obstacle. Rock Paper Shotgun put the same quote in a headline.
What Team Cherry changed in patches
Team Cherry worked on the difficulty as early as the first patch. Patch 1 (version 1.0.28497, blog post 11 September 2025, on Steam 12 September 2025) was mostly about fixes, but it also:
- slightly reduced the difficulty of the early bosses Moorwing and Sister Splinter,
- lowered the damage dealt by Sandcarvers,
- made the Bellway and Bell Bench cheaper in the mid-game,
- added more rosaries from relics, psalm cylinders and courier deliveries.
The fixes apply retroactively, so if a bug blocked your progress, the update unblocks it. The opening of the game is a little gentler today than it was at launch on 4 September 2025.
Difficulty settings and accessibility
Silksong has no difficulty setting and no easy mode. GamesRadar+ explicitly notes the lack of difficulty modes in its review, and PC Gamer says it would have liked options to tone the game down.
Steam lists these accessibility features for the game: camera motion settings, playable without quick-time events and playable with keyboard only. No other official accessibility or difficulty options are listed.
Steel Soul: no respawns
Steel Soul is the opposite extreme. You play without respawns, so a single death ends the whole save. The mode already existed in Hollow Knight, and Team Cherry’s patch notes confirm it’s in Silksong too. It normally unlocks once you finish the game, but a code makes it available right away:
| Step | What to do |
|---|---|
| 1 | Open Extras in the main menu. |
| 2 | Quickly press Up, Down, Up, Down, Left, Right, Left, Right on the D-pad. |
| 3 | A sound plays to confirm the code. |
| 4 | When you start a new game, you can now choose Steel Soul. |
This is the only known cheat code in Silksong, and it makes the game harder, not easier. There are no other cheats and no official mod support, as explained in our cheats and mods guide.
What to do when you’re stuck
Critics give one simple tip, and Team Cherry says much the same: go somewhere else. If an area or a boss won’t let you through, explore elsewhere and come back later with better gear. IGN describes how Bilewater felt like a “cakewalk” when its reviewer came back to it.
- Revisit older areas with new abilities, where new paths, masks and rosaries are waiting.
- Spend Silk on Silk Skills too, not just on healing.
- Try other Crests and Tools, which change your attacks as well as the number and type of slots. Our Tools and Crests guide explains the system.
The basics, from healing to maps, are covered in our beginner’s guide. Silksong also features in our list of the best Xbox games.
Join our Discord to swap notes with players who have already beaten the boss you’re stuck on: GamersTogether Discord.
FAQ
Most critics say yes: GamesRadar+ calls it way harder, PCGamesN a step up and PC Gamer speaks of brutal difficulty. IGN, on the other hand, calls it pretty forgiving compared with other tough action games.
No. There is no difficulty setting and no easy mode. Steam only lists accessibility features: camera motion settings, playable without quick-time events and keyboard-only play.
Open Extras in the main menu and quickly press Up, Down, Up, Down, Left, Right, Left, Right on the D-pad. After the sound, you can pick Steel Soul when starting a new game.
Slightly, yes. Patch 1 from September 2025 toned down the bosses Moorwing and Sister Splinter, reduced Sandcarver damage and added more rosaries.
Information verified on 20 October 2026. More guides are waiting in our Silksong guides hub.