Every Prince of Persia: TLC Feature Hollow Knight: Silksong Should ‘Steal’

Moving into 2024, fans are still waiting for the release of Hollow Knight: Silksong. As the sequel to the hit 2017 Metroidvania Hollow Knight, expectations for this game are sky-high, and the developer Team Cherry’s statements about its expanded content imply its intent to meet them. Hollow Knight: Silksong evidently needs all the time and polish it can get to match the superb combat, platforming, and exploration of its predecessor, even if the resulting wait may be frustrating.

In the years since Hollow Knight: Silksong‘s 2019 announcement, plenty of quality Metroidvanias have been released to fill Hollow Knight fans’ time. These even included a couple of AAA 2D Metroidvanias, with Metroid Dread instantly becoming the new gold standard for its franchise, and Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown taking inspiration from both it and Hollow Knight. Even years deep into development, it would be worth Hollow Knight: Silksong’s time to return the favor and borrow some of Prince of Persia’s best mechanics.

Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown’s Exceptional Parry is a Must

Lost Crown’s protagonist, Sargon, will spend a lot of time throughout his adventure parrying enemy blows. Successful parries charge Athra’s Glow, a resource comparable to Hollow Knight‘s Soul and silk, though failed attempts will result in amplified damage. Silksong sporting a parry of its own almost feels like a given, but it needs to be careful with how it implements it.

Prince of Persia’s Parries Can’t Take Over Silksong

There is a precedent for the first Hollow Knight featuring parries, and Silksong’s protagonist Hornet used something like them in her old boss fights. However, the mobility-oriented Silksong can’t afford such a powerful defensive mechanic dominating its combat. Turning parries into limited-use Tools could help, as would copying Prince of Persia‘s penalty for misusing them, but Team Cherry needs to be careful when handling this mechanic.

Memory Shard Map Screenshots for QoL Improvements

While parries could appear in Silksong with heavy changes, there is one PoP: The Lost Crown feature that it needs to copy as-is. Memory Shards let players pin screenshots to their map, reminding them to return to obstacles once they have relevant traversal abilities. Hollow Knight: Silksong should already have a revised map, but a map marker directly assisting the player’s memory will always be appreciated.

The Dimensional Claw is The Lost Crown’s Most Unique Ability

A couple of the time powers Sargon gains throughout The Lost Crown would also be fun to use in Hollow Knight: Silksong. The Dimensional Claw is a unique power-up that allows players to store and throw objects like bombs, as well as certain enemies. Hornet could replicate this with a Tool that wraps enemies or objects in string, allowing them to be thrown in a straight line later. This would also be a perfect avenue to introduce Silksong‘s equivalent to the map-spanning Delicate Flower quest from the first Hollow Knight.

Shadow of the Simurgh

Translating the Shadow of the Simurgh into a panic button Tool could also make quests like that more bearable. Simurgh references the classic Prince of Persia mechanic of rewinding time to undo mistakes, setting down a marker that Sargon can warp back to. It also has combat utility, and both would be relevant to the acrobatic combat and platforming of Hollow Knight: Silksong.

The Lost Crown’s Guided Mode is Essential for Accessibility

One more feature that Hollow Knight: Silksong should lift from The Lost Crown is its Guided Mode. The Lost Crown provides an Exploration Mode for players to explore its world without handholding, but choosing Guided Mode instead reveals objectives on the map and where upgrade-locked obstacles will halt progress. For certain players, Guided Mode can create a smoother experience where progress is always in sight. Hollow Knight‘s world may have been made to get lost in, but some light guidance towards Hollow Knight: Silksong’s next major upgrade could go a long way toward improving some players’ experience.

Hollow Knight: Silksong

Developer(s)

Team Cherry

Publisher(s)

Team Cherry

Genre(s)

Metroidvania