With all of this waiting going on, it seems like the perfect time for interested newcomers to catch up on the series. Hollow Knight and Silksong won’t be identical, but there will be more than enough similarities in the world, characters, and actionized metroidvania gameplay to draw old fans in. Still, the original Hollow Knight has a lot of content, and that includes several large DLC updates. A couple game-spanning quests and many bosses were added by this DLC, as well as lots of little improvements, but is it necessary?
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How Does Hollow Knight Lead Into Silksong
The first game sees players taking control of a nameless Knight who sets out to explore the epic underground bug kingdom of Hallownest. Eventually, it is revealed that the Knight is an empty vessel powered by the Void, and was created by the seemingly divine Pale King. Originally a child of the King and Queen, the knight was thrown into the Void once it was deemed less suitable than the titular Hollow Knight for sealing an old god called The Radiance. However, now that the Hollow Knight’s seal is weakening, it falls to the player’s discarded Knight to re-establish the seal.
This goes differently in several endings, though Silksong clearly favors a particular ending as canon. The Knight can simply replace the Hollow Knight, serving as another temporary seal against The Radiance’s plague. Alternatively, the Knight can inadvertently drag its implied half-sister Hornet into becoming part of the seal as well. However, if all steps are properly taken, the Knight is able to enter the Hollow Knight with Hornet’s assistance. Becoming an avatar of the Void, the Knight strikes down The Radiance and saves Hallownest permanently at the cost of it’s own life. Hornet is left to walk the earth, and ends up travelling to Pharloom to fulfill some goal in Hollow Knight: Silksong.
Is Hollow Knight’s DLC Connected To Silksong
Thus, the question rises again: is playing Hollow Knight’s DLC necessary to understand Silksong? Thus far, the answer seems to be “no.” The four content packs released for Hollow Knight do contain more details on its world and characters, but the true ending of the base game holds fast as the canon ending and series of events. Two of the content packs, Hidden Dreams and Lifeblood, took the form of larger than normal content updates for the game. They only added one or two bosses each, and were otherwise concerned with polish. The Grimm Troupe added a major sidequest, but even though it spanned most of the game’s map, it was fairly self-contained.
That leaves the final content pack, Godmaster. This DLC takes the form of an expansive endgame quest, having players fight harder versions of the game’s many bosses. This update actually has two new endings associated with it, although it seems that neither are canon. The first simply requires the player to complete Godmaster’s challenges — which involves a grueling boss rush that is by far the hardest thing in the game. Hallownest is apparently destroyed in this ending, but by completing a secret sidequest, a happier alternate ending can be unlocked. While this ending resolves the game’s storyline and gives the Knight it’s best ending, the lack of Hornet doesn’t set up anything for the sequel. Ultimately, while a lot of Hollow Knight’s DLC is worth experiencing and is probably worth passing the time with, it is likely not necessary to understand the main plot of Silksong.
Hollow Knight: Silksong is in development for PC and Nintendo Switch.
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