When last I discussed my early thoughts on Hollow Knight: Silksong, I left off not feeling too happy with the game.  I had, in fact, just conquered the room where you’re ambushed by “birds” before encountering yet another boss fight that was required to progress.  By now, I was getting downright fed up.  It almost felt as if Team Cherry really hated their players when they made this game because of how difficult and frequent the boss fights and ambush rooms were.  As I forged ever onward in my quest to reach act 2, I had highs…and I had lows.  It was, in short, a bumpy ride.  But if you’d like more detail, read on, dear readers.  Spoilers to follow.

My next boss was Moorwing.  Which was awful.  He’s fast, which I could get used to…until he started phase 2 and started shooting out more of these circular discs that I needed to dodge.  Fortunately, you can get help from Garmond and Zaza, though I initially found their assistance to be even worse than playing alone because of how distracting their presence was.  Eventually, I got better at ignoring their movements and just focusing on the boss, and after many tries, I prevailed.  (It also helped knowing that, if you rescue five fleas and return to the flea circus, the battle can, apparently, be skipped entirely because the fleas and their caravans will relocate to where the boss is, thus eliminating the need to defeat him.)

Next up was Shellwood, a rather miserable place to navigate because of all the annoying enemies.  After tolerating this place, I inevitably reached another boss, Sister Splinter.  And let me tell you, I was really starting to hate the game at this point.  Fortunately, she wasn’t too terrible once I got better at dodging her punches.  I also had 6 masks by now (didn’t really help because her attacks deal 2 masks each of damage, but still…), and I could now equip two sets of throwing weapons, which proved very useful against her minions.  Honestly, though, I really hate how these weapons use up their own currency in the form of shell shards.  They’re super useful, but I never feel like I can use them outside of boss fights because of how expensive they are to replenish.

Well, after Sister Splinter, I got the ability to cling to walls, which made the game way more fun to navigate.  So much of the map had now opened up to me, allowing me to actually do my favorite activity, explore!  For a good few hours, mind you!  Without hitting yet another impassible boss!  It was wondrous!  In the process, I managed to get the Wanderer’s Crest, one of multiple items that changes Hornet’s play style.  I hated it and promptly changed back to the default.  I also defeated the Skull Tyrant by being a wimp and hiding in a spot where he couldn’t reach.  By now, I had also figured out a helpful strategy to give you a boost during battles.  If you die during a boss fight, when you return, don’t break your cocoon until you really need it.  Save it, and it can serve as a quick refill to your silk mid-battle.  It’s risky, but it’s gotten me out of more than one pinch!

Frustration did, temporarily, return when I randomly got captured by this fly while exploring Far Fields and got taken to a prison called the Slab.  Poor Hornet had lost all of her items, including her clothing, forcing her to explore this dark place naked!  But at least she wasn’t totally defenseless, as she was still able to kick enemies and heal.  Once I accepted the temporary loss of my freedom, this place wasn’t too bad, and soon enough, I found a few keys and a map drawn on some dude’s corpse.  Spending some time outdoors in freezing temperatures, I managed to get my clothes and gear back soon after, opened up a bellway, and got the heck out of there.

After this, I explored the Blasted Steps, but I couldn’t open the door there until I found the last bell in Bellhart.  I also located Sinner’s Road, then promptly fled when Hornet fell into a pit of bugs, which clung to her and started draining all her silk!  After exploring everything I could think of, I finally headed back to Bellhart, where I was, once again, stopped by a required boss.  But guess what?  This time…the boss was actually pretty fun!  The battle against the Widow is very fast-paced, with her sending bells bouncing all over, slashing at you, or making lots of spikes stick up from the ground.  But they actually give you plenty of time to react to what’s going on, making the fight both frantic and super fun.  The only annoyance was when you think you won, and she pulls a Soul Master and continues to fight back in one final, more difficult phase.  This is the part that took me a lot of tries, but eventually, I managed to prevail and heal Bellhart of the curse that had been afflicting it.  I also get the Needolin, which lets Hornet play her needle like an instrument…somehow.  For some reason.

This is where a rather exhausting adventure began.  So I was now able to go through the door in the Blasted Steps.  Except, ha ha, not really, aren’t I stupid, because I got stuck at another boss called Last Judge.  This boss didn’t seem terrible, but the run back every time I died was extremely aggravating.  I then learned there was a way to skip this boss by traversing the aforementioned Sinner’s Road.  So I tried it, and…I’m not sure if it was a good idea.  First off, this place is brutal.  There are aggressive enemies, including these nasty Muckroaches, everywhere.  I finally reached a bench…only for it to get stuck and not work.  Yes, a bench can indeed malfunction in this world.  I paid for it, only for the stupid thing to fail to rise out of the ground.  I guess you can platform through this secret path nearby and fix it, but I didn’t feel like it.  But seriously, why do I have to pay for 80% of the benches in this game!  What’s the deal!

Without a bench, Sinner’s Road was a miserable cycle of progressing, dying, then having to run back to progress a little more, before dying again.  I eventually got to a bench on the far right, only to find it was a dead end!  Looking online, I found a hidden path clear on the other side that leads to a place called the Mist.  This place was just dreadful.  You must play your Needolin to make the butterflies show you the way to the correct exit.  Along the way, there are these glowing, spectral entities that scream and attack you, and there seems to be no way to defeat them, as far as I’m aware.  So good luck if one spots you because there’s no way they’re going to give you peace for long enough to be able to serenade those dang butterflies!

But at long last, I did it.  I survived the Mist and arrived at a place called the Exhaust Organ.  Fortunately, there was a bench.  A functional bench.  My last bit of relief before I proceeded to spend…at least 1.5 hours fighting the Phantom.  The battle is extremely tedious and mainly involves pogo’ing her over and over again.  And it’s long.  So many hits are required, and I kept getting hit by those big blasts of steam or whatnot.  It was just…horrible.  I learned that the Reaper Crest would make the battle easier because of the higher damage it deals and more accurate pogos, but…that would require traversing the Mist again.

I did finally beat the Phantom.  And I reached Act 2.  Lace showed up.  I yelled at the TV that this better not be another boss fight.  But Lace got the hint and left, thinking better of defying me.  I then started exploring to the left.  In the hopes that I’d meet up with where the Last Judge boss fight would have led.  I then found an elevator.  It got stuck.  Then it fell, trapping me in the Underworks.  I tried to get out, only to find my way blocked by a room full of enemies I was required to beat.

I loaded an autosave that took me back to the start of act 2.  This game is trying my patience.  I am…getting so fed up.  I must take a break.  And return later.