Silksong News and Trailer Analysis (Xbox Showcase)

After a year and a half of agonizing waiting,
and the r/hollowknightmemes community trying

to sacrifice me to appease the Team Cherry
gods, Hollow Knight Silksong finally has some

news in the form of a brand new trailer.

Not only that, but Silksong will be releasing
day one on Xbox Game Pass for PC, Xbox Consoles,

and the Cloud.

This means that Silksong is officially coming
to Xbox, which hadn’t been officially confirmed

before now.

But it makes sense.

Team Cherry and Microsoft seem to be on good
terms, considering the first Hollow Knight

is already on Game Pass.

And Team Cherry even streamed Hollow Knight
on Microsoft’s own beloved streaming site,

Mixer.

The Silksong trailer was shown during the
Xbox and Bethesda event at the Summer Games

Fest.

According to Xbox, every game shown in this
event will come out in the next twelve months.

That means that Silksong won’t release any
later than June 12th 2023.

This was even confirmed by Xbox on Twitter.

But some people have challenged this since
Silksong doesn’t appear on this image that

Xbox shared.

But even if Silksong was in this image, it
still says that developers are “aiming”

for these release dates.

So nothing is concrete here.

All that said, and I am really hoping I’m
correct here, Silksong will definitely be

out within the next 12 months.

It’s not really clear if the game is launching
on Xbox the same day as PC and Switch, and

we still don’t have confirmation of a PlayStation
release, but I’m sure time will tell on

all those questions.

Regardless, the real reason we’re here is
to dive deep into this new trailer to see

what Team Cherry has been cooking up for us
these past 18 months.

Does Hornet have any new moves to show off?

Will any exciting bosses be making a debut?

Will Kimmy Gibbler from Full House make an
appearance?

Let’s find out.

First up, we see a Rating Pending logo.

That means that Team Cherry has submitted
Silksong to the ESRB to get an age rating

for the game.

I don’t know how long it takes for the ESRB
to rate a game, and I’m also not sure how

complete a game needs to be before the rating
process can begin.

But if I were to take a complete guess in
the dark, I’d say this is a good sign.

Afterwards, we see a few strands of silk,
and then Hornet shouts.

Hegale!

The first shot of the new trailer takes place
in what appears to be an early area of the

game.

We’ve seen it several times before, and
I’m guessing it’s what connects the opening

Moss Grotto level to the Forest of Bones fiery
area.

Interestingly enough, the Moss Grotto doesn’t
seem to be in this trailer at all.

We’re introduced to some new enemies here.

They appear to be moss-like creatures suffering
from male pattern baldness.

This shot does tell us to “Fight for the
Fate of a Haunted Land”, and we’ll see

examples of that later in the trailer, but
maybe these bugs are also suffering somehow,

causing them to lose their leaves.

We also see these small bugs that fly away
when Hornet comes near, similar to what Maskflies

do in Hollow Knight.

They look like baby versions of the Moss Knight
and that makes me a little uncomfortable.

The next shot appears to take place in a new
area.

It appears to be some kind of crypt or abandoned
church.

We have seen a graveyard-like area in previous
footage, so it might be somewhere close to

that.

We see Hornet do some pretty standard platforming
here by diving head first into balls.

Hornet also has a new tool equipped that we
haven’t seen before.

We’ll be seeing it later in the trailer
so put a pin in that detail for now.

In the next shot, we see Hornet dismount off
the Bell Beast at what I assume is some kind

of station.

I’m guessing that this is an early game
station somewhere near the green bony area.

As mentioned previously, the Bell Beast will
be like the Last Stag in Hollow Knight, the

only difference being that you have to actually
fight and subdue the Bell Beast first.

This next shot is fucking awesome.

Hornet appears to be inside of some large
scale industrial grinding machine, and is

forced to jump from platforms as they fall
out of the ceiling.

Conceptually, this reminds me a lot of something
like the Crystal Peak in the original Hollow

Knight.

And it’s fun to compare these two, because
it really shows how much Team Cherry has refined

their craft over the past five years.

We also have a new tool on display.

The left tool appears to be similar to the
Pimpillo we saw in the reveal trailer.

We know that Hornet is able to upgrade her
tools throughout the game, so this could be

an earlier version of the pimpillo item that
doesn’t have fire.

This tool is never used in the trailer unfortunately,
so we’ll have to wait to see how it works.

The second tool is some kind of drill which
we saw in the Edge magazine interview.

And don’t worry, we’ll see Hornet drill
some bugs soon enough.

Another new detail about these tools is a
slight change to these HUD sprites: they now

have what appear to be arrows.

I’m guessing that this means tools will
use directional inputs.

So you have one tool button, and you press
that along with up or down to use a certain

tool, similar to how items worked in the old
school Castlevania games.

As mentioned in previous videos, these tools
have a limited number of uses, but when Hornet

rests at a bench, she is able to pay shell
shards picked up from enemies to rebuild them.

Next, we see Hornet riding an updraft to move
upward through a room.

Team Cherry explained in the Edge Magazine
interview that Hornet’s larger profile over

the Knight forced them to make Pharloom larger
than Hallownest.

Figuring out how to integrate verticality
into this larger world probably influenced

them to add things like this.

It seems much faster and less committal than
having to ride an elevator, like we see in

the City of Tears, so I’m really digging
this.

One of Hornet’s tools is a Lifeblood syringe.

We’ve seen it before, it basically just
gives her additional Lifeblood hearts.

The next shot appears to be in some watery
area.

What’s most important about this shot are
these white flowers growing here, similar

to the ones seen during the Lace fight shown
off in the reveal trailer.

Another area we’ve seen that has these flower
petals is the arena where Hornet fights Seth.

Seth can be found waiting amidst tangled roots
at the base of the Citadel.

From this, we can assume that this area is
somewhere close to Seth’s arena.

We still don’t know how these flowers tie
into Silksong’s grander narrative.

But we know that similar looking flowers that
were carried to Hallownest by the Grey Mourner

carry some sort of strange power.

Seemingly capable of stopping the Void.

We can see in this shot that Hornet has a
basic pin tool.

She also has a broken silk meter here, which
I assume is the result of having died and

not yet retrieved her cocoon.

The next shot shows Hornet riding a horizontal
platform as it zooms through the Forest of

Bones.

Nothing much of note gameplay wise.

But let’s take a look at the heads up display.

We’ve seen a number of different HUD designs
already in this trailer, which were shown

off earlier in the Edge magazine interview.

But this design is not only new, but also
functionally different from the other ones.

We don’t know for sure, but it seems like
the HUD changes depending on what crest Hornet

has equipped.

Crests allow Hornet to use different types
of tools in different quantities, but it seems

they can do more than just that.

Notice how this HUD design has a few differences
from the other ones.

Not only is the actual area of this top meter
smaller, the bottom meter has a notch in a

different location.

From what I can tell, once Hornet’s silk
meter fills up to this notch, this top meter

lights up, meaning that Hornet can perform
her healing move, Bind.

This means that Hornet can actually heal herself
with less silk when she uses this crest.

This HUD also appears to open up into a harp
when enough silk is collected to use Bind.

There’s plenty more to talk about with these
huds, but we’ll be revisiting this later

so hold tight.

As for Hornet’s tool here, we never see
it in action so I have no idea what it does.

This next shot is so dope, Hornet ziplining!

I just love this shit, it’s so cool looking!

This appears to be an area we’ve seen since
the reveal trailer.

I always call this area a clocktower.

It’s never been confirmed or anything.

But it would make sense to be a clocktower.

We know that the bugs in the Docks keep track
of when certain things needing to happen based

on a bell toll.

A society like this would probably use a giant
clocktower with a bell in it to keep things

running orderly.

In this area, there’s also a new enemy who
puffs up like a hedgehog whenever someone

gets close to him.

If you thought that last shot was cool, check
this out!

Hornet taking an elevator.

Hell yeah!

I know I’m taking this piss right now, but
I just want to say how happy I am to see a

new Silksong trailer.

What is this 2019?!

This could be the elevator that finally takes
Hornet up to the Citadel.

Interestingly, we see a lot of cobwebs in
this room.

We know that Pharloom is haunted by silk,
but it’s nice to see it manifesting in a

physical way like this.

We also see a new tool in Hornet’s inventory.

But we never see her use it, so I’m not
sure what it is.

It kinda looks like a grappling hook?

This other one is just a flying familiar,
probably similar in function to bugs created

by the glowing womb charm in Hollow Knight.

This creature seems to be similar to the one
we saw in the previous shot, but painted red

to match Hornet’s drip.

In the next shot, Hornet fights some enemies
on what might be a bridge between two large

structures.

To me, this looks like it’s just on the
edge of the Citadel.

The Xbox website actually uploaded a few additional
screenshots of Silksong, and we can see another

area that looks like it’s near the entrance
of this large city.

There’s even an enclosed bridge in the far
background.

Another interesting detail here are the white
bugs.

They appear to be the same type of bug that
Lace was conducting before the fight in the

Deep Docks, which might also be the same bug
that freed Hornet from her prison at the start

of the game.

Do these bugs naturally live around the Citadel?

Are they connected to the white flowers somehow?

We also see silk just lying around this area
too.

Getting back to the trailer, we see Hornet
do this tasmanian devil move.

This appears to be like her pogo attack we’ve
seen before, but modified to be more like

a spin.

It appears that Hornet’s pogo, dash attack
and standard attack are actually different

depending on which crest she has equipped.

In fact, in this same scene, we see her do
a modified dash attack where she leaps into

the air like a Naruto character.

Probably.

I haven’t seen it..

And for her standard attack, it looks like
she does a claw slash.

You can see Hornet’s HUD has these little
claws on it in this shot.

Since we’re on this topic, let's cover the
other crest attacks really quickly.

The harp crest’s regular attack is pretty
similar to the base crest.

The dash attack sends Hornet way back if it
connects.

And the pogo launches you slightly upwards,
kinda like the Hollow Knight pogo.

The spikey crest appears to have a wider swing
for its base attack with an uppercut dash

attack, and a sweeping pogo move.

I honestly think this system is pretty cool.

It’s interesting to think about which crest
moveset might make certain bosses or enemies

easier to deal with.

Getting back to this shot in the trailer,
Hornet has some kind of orange jar that we

never get to see in action.

She also has the tri pins equipped, which
we do see her use later in the trailer.

There’s also a different looking cap on
the end of the silk meter.

We get a better look at this from one of the
pictures uploaded to Xbox.

It appears to be something that increases
how much silk you can hold.

I’m fairly certain this is some kind of
tool upgrade.

Believe it or not, but there’s one more
detail we need to address in this shot.

There appears to be some figure watching Hornet
from the background.

This being appears to be one of the vault
keepers mentioned in a Team Cherry blog post.

So these bugs seem to be keeping an eye out
for any potential looters who might stumble

upon their secret.

The next shot shows Hornet fighting an enemy
in what appears to be some windswept desert.

This area is really interesting looking, perhaps
located on the outskirts of Pharloom, close

to the outside world.

The tool she has equipped will be used later
in the trailer, so hold tight on that.

This next shot shows Hornet using some kind
of silk consuming skill to dash through these

freaky enemies that kinda look like baby Bell
Beasts.

I can’t quite put my finger on it, but I
believe that this shot takes place not far

off from where the last shot was, but I could
be completely wrong.

Next, Hornet uses a drill tool to turn into
a blunt and attack this guy.

She then throws a Pimpillo at this other enemy.

The Pimpillo was actually in the reveal trailer
as well, and… it looks a little bit wonky

now.

This next shot appears to take place in a
tower we’ve seen a few times in the reveal

trailer and screenshots.

There’s speculation that this might be the
“Soaring Warlord’s Tower” in Greymoor

mentioned in a Team Cherry blog post.

Hornet uses another attack against this big
eyed monster, which might be either a Crawbug

or a Dustroach, two more creatures mentioned
in a Team Cherry blog post.

I think they are supposed to be Crawbugs,
since they are said to be nesting type bugs

that live in dilapidated towers.

And I mean, look at this thing, the buck teeth.

The disgusting tail.

It’s very clearly supposed to look like
a filthy, disgusting, bubonic plague infested

James Corden.

Once Hornet kills this monster with what appears
to be a nail art, or I guess, needle art,

a small icon appears in the bottom corner
of the screen.

The two best guesses for what this is are
either for completing a quest, or unlocking

an entry in this game’s version of the Hunter’s
journal.

It’s speculated that the Huntress is this
game’s Hunter equivalent, but this icon

doesn’t really look like her.

So I’m guessing this is for a quest.

And if Crawlbugs are nesters, it would make
sense for there to be a quest to go kill one.

Next we see Hornet fighting an ant enemy we
saw in the earlier trailer.

She also throws some caltrops at it.

Nothing much else to say about this one.

I wish we got more ants in this trailer.

I wanna see the ants.

Next is a scene in a swamp area located somewhere
in Greymoor.

We’ve seen this place before in the Edge
magazine interview, but an interesting detail

here is the flower petals floating down from
above.

This implies to me that this area might be
located directly under the area we saw earlier

in the trailer.

We know that there are tangled roots above,
which might explain these large root looking

things sticking out of the ceiling.

Hornet also uses her spike tool as a weapon.

And the enemy is kind enough to fly right
into it.

How nice.

Hornet also has a tool that looks similar
to the weapon the enemy is using, which we

see her throw like a javelin in the Edge magazine
interview.

The next scene takes place in one of the Deep
Docks rooms we already saw in the Silksong

demo.

But Team Cherry made a huge change.

See?

Yeah, it’s pretty blatant right?

There’s now a heat wave distortion effect
being applied.

The next shot shows Hornet fighting against
some burrowing bug creature carrying some

sort of pitchfork.

The enemy looks pretty fun to fight, but what
interests me more here is the location itself.

This is probably another part of Greymoor,
since Team Cherry said it’s the largest

area in the whole game.

The area is full of these strange objects
sticking out of the ground.

I think the only other time we see a similar
design is an enemy in the tower area who is

partway offscreen.

So I think this area is probably somewhere
near this warlord tower.

These objects also seem to be collecting silk.

It seems like all of Pharloom is covered in
this silk.

Enemies shed it when they get hit.

Hornet seems to be encompassed by it when
she enters Pharloom for the first time, and

now we see it collecting in these things.

We can see a giant windmill in the background,
which could indicate that this area is windy.

So perhaps there’s silk in the air that
these bugs are collecting using these tools

and then using that silk to do….

Something.

It seems these bugs are aware of the silk’s
apparent power, especially considering they

walk around with slightly oversized scissors.

The next shot in the trailer is a sequence
where Hornet has to escape from rising lava,

while these freaks with messed up teeth spit
at her.

Like seriously, I hate to even look at these
things.

what are they, (expletive)?

It looks like Silksong will have a lot more
of these scripted platforming sections.

Which is definitely exciting to see.

Hollow Knight’s platforming doesn’t really
get pushed much outside of the White Palace,

so it’s nice to see these platforming challenges
more integrated into the entire world.

Also, these shells all over the walls remind
me of the Masks found in the Holy Grounds,

an area planned in Hollow Knight for the Forest
of Bones, but was ultimately cut.

Next we see Hornet take the elevator…

down!

Can we just take a second to appreciate how
awesome this is.

The next shot shows Hornet stabbing somebody
laying on a platform with a cloth over their

face.

This might be similar to how the Knight destroys
the Dreamers in Hollow Knight.

It gives very similar vibes, especially with
all the candles.

This room is probably located at the top of
the tower area, and I’m guessing this character

is being haunted by silk in some way, and
Hornet is here to release them.

Or, you know, murder them in their sleep.

When the screen flashes white, we do see what
appears to be some kind of face.

At the very least, we can make out a pair
of eyes.

Is this supposed to look like a crest?

Is this how she unlocks them?

Stabbing people in the head?

The next shot features our good old friends
Garmond and Zaza!

They appear to be helping Hornet on a quest
to defeat some wild beast.

We’ve seen this creature before in screenshots
and I always thought those white dots were

supposed to be its eyes, but now I see they
are fangs.

I can’t be the only one who thought this,
right?

Anyway, Hornet has some kind of boomerang
tool.

But unfortunately, she never uses it.

We’re getting to the end of the trailer
now, and Team Cherry is just gonna keep throwing

bosses at us.

We finally get a better look at the Last Judge.

He carries what I think is supposed to be
a censer.

Censers are little incense burners that are
usually tied to chains.

They are used a lot in Catholic ceremonies,
and we can even see them being used as such

in the background of this scene.

It also might be intentionally designed to
look like a bell, since that’s kinda a big

motif in this game.

There’s also another screenshot of the Last
Judge throwing his censer like a ball and

chain.

We also have some footage of this from a tweet
Xbox sent out after the trailer dropped.

As for who this guy is and how he’s connected
to Pharloom, he could be in charge of the

prison we saw back in 2020.

We’ve seen one other enemy who might be
related to the Last Judge.

Perhaps these are officers looking for criminals
to be arrested and judged.

Getting back to this shot, Hornet throws what
is most likely a bugle chip at the Last Judge,

which then bounces around off the walls.

Funnily enough, the next shot shows us where
this tool probably came from.

These two enemies are wearing giant bugles
on their heads.

I’m happy to see another boss fight with
multiple enemies.

They’re such a fun challenge.

I’m not exactly sure where this is, but
we can see some kind of stone structure in

the background and some sand as well.

So maybe it’s near that sandy area we saw
before?

On the other hand, these guys kinda remind
me of shellfish, so it might be closer to

that pier area we saw in the reveal trailer.

The next shot appears to take place in the
crypt-like area we saw earlier.

A strangely humanoid monster covered in leaves
and grass attacks Hornet from above.

This is probably the most striking thing in
the entire trailer.

Maybe even a bit out of place with how human-like
it is?

Then again, I think this enemy is supposed
to be unsettling in a certain way, so maybe

that’s intentional.

The next shot shows Hornet fighting against
this chef and ON MY GOD HIS ASS IS HUMONGOUS!

He literally swings his gigantic ass at Hornet
as an attack.

Is this what’s been delaying Silksong so
long?

Getting the ass attack right?

Did Ari Gibson see one too many inflated Hornet
images and just snap?!

Anyway, this character, referred to lovingly
by the Hollow Knight community as Ass Jim

appears to be located somewhere in the tower
area.

So keep your eyes peeled when you get to that
part.

In these last few shots, we see Hornet go
up against an enemy we saw in the first trailer.

But unfortunately we can’t see their ass
at all.

Then we see Hornet fighting Lace.

If you want to see her ass, I’m sure you
can find it online somewhere.

And the final shot of the trailer shows our
good friends, Garmond and Zaza.

How nice.

And that’s it for the trailer, there are
still a few screenshots I haven’t mentioned,

but there’s nothing new in them, so I wouldn’t
bother studying them too closely.

And that’s all the new stuff we got from
the Xbox Event.

So allow me to share my scatterbrained thoughts.

I’m really excited to fight these bosses!

Outside of the lore, the boss fights are probably
my favorite part of Hollow Knight.

We’re actually up to about fifteen revealed
bosses for Silksong already.

Moss Mother, Bell Beast, Trobbio, Scarface,
Lace, Camelita, Seth, Sharpe and his buddies,

Last Judge, Golem thing, Two members from
the band Devo, Hideous Vine Hag, American

guy, Wears a skull on his head guy, and the
Scholarly Suite.

And I’m hoping there’s plenty more bosses
we haven’t seen yet.

And obviously, the areas look incredible.

You have no idea how badly I want to play
through that clocktower level.

Seriously, it’s killing me.

That said, one criticism I’ve seen of Hollow
Knight is how samey some areas look.

And Silksong kinda falls into that same category.

It’s hard to know what areas I’m even
looking at when I do these analyses.

But that more muted palette is a deliberate
choice from Team Cherry, and I do think it

helps keep the world feeling more grounded.

But I will be curious to see what more casual
people have to say once the game launches.

I think the biggest improvement here over
Hollow Knight has to be the platforming.

It looks so fun and engaging.

As much as I love Hollow Knight, its platforming
is a bit limited, mainly due to so much of

the world being accessible with very few movement
options.

Hornet is more agile out the gate, so Team
Cherry should be able to push the envelope

a lot more in that regard.

So much of the lore is still shrouded in mystery.

I feel like this time around we got to see
a much better look at how silk is really screwing

things up in Pharloom.

It’s getting everywhere, it seems to be
what’s responsible for whatever is plaguing

this bug.

So that’s nice, but we didn’t really learn
anything more about the song aspect of Silksong.

And we still don’t really know what’s
going on with these white flowers and bugs.

So looks like there’s still plenty of lore
to uncover about this game.

I haven’t mentioned the music in the trailer
at all.

And that’s because you should know by now
that the music is just fantastic as always.

It sounds like a frantic battle theme, maybe
a generic boss encounter song.

I honestly have no idea, so we’ll have to
just wait and see.

All that said,

The real takeaway from this trailer doesn’t
really come from analyzing all the little

details.

I mean, that stuff’s great and all, but
I think the best part about this trailer really

just comes from watching Silksong in action.

It's so satisfying to watch Hornet weave through
enemies and environments with a level of style

and grace that just isn’t possible in Hollow
Knight.

I am so excited to eventually get my hands
on this.

Only one year left folks.

We can do this!

And that about wraps things up.

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