The Hollow Knight team has been drip-feeding fans information about its much-anticipated sequel, Silksong.
But rather than outlining the new details in blog posts or additional trailers, developer Team Cherry decided to have a little fun with its fanbase. Over the past four weeks, the developers have revealed new characters through cryptic riddles.
The original Hollow Knight was extremely well received, scoring 90 out of 100 on the review site Metacritic. Reviewers praised the title for its depth, challenge, and unique art style. So fans have been champing at the bit for information since the sequel was announced in February 2019.
Until a few weeks ago, all anyone really knew about Silksong was that it would star Hornet, who fought and aided the protagonist in the first game. Now, we’ve been introduced to four Silksong NPCs, both friend and foe.
What were the puzzles?
In early June, Matthew Griffin, a marketer for Team Cherry, left a series of coded riddles on the Hollow Knight Discord server alongside a locked ZIP file.
The riddles required extensive knowledge of Hollow Knight, so only the most dedicated fans had any hope of cracking them. The solution was the name of a new character, “Huntress,” which was the password for the ZIP file. Inside was a description, image, and a GIF of the character in action.
But it didn’t end there. Over June and early July, Team Cherry released three more riddles, and fans uncovered three more Silksong characters.
What have we learned?
Four characters were revealed in full. The first, as the name Huntress suggests, is a fearsome creature: “A towering old predator, awaiting her children to come.” In the released dialogue, she immediately asks Hornet to fetch her some organs, suggesting Silksong, like its predecessor, will have an element of horror.
The second NPC, Grindle, is a “snitchbug,” a burglar complete with a sack of swag. After being freed from prison by Hornet, he appears to serve the role of an information broker. The description states he will “take rosaries in exchange for snippets of information he has gathered, though his gossip is often of questionable value.”
A group of characters was revealed next: A tribe of surprisingly cute fleas known as Caravan. They aim to “gather the playful young fleas scattered across the kingdom” and will likely be asking Hornet to do the job for them, similar to Hollow Knight’s Grubfather.
This week, we were shown a shield-slinging boss character known as Seth. This NPC shares the name of its co-creator, Seth Goldman, a Hollow Knight fan who passed away in June. Seth met Team Cherry, which asked him to design a character for the new game. The result is a tough-looking opponent, an “eternal protector” who “guards a secret long forgotten and will attack any who stray too close.”
Despite these new details, Team Cherry has not yet provided any indication of a Silksong release date. When it does arrive, the game is slated for release on Switch and PC.
