10 Hidden Details In Hollow: Knight Silksong You’ll Be Mad You Missed

The Metroidvania genre as a whole is already one that heavily leans towards secret items and hidden areas to discover, but Hollow Knight: Silksong takes the concept to an entirely new level. With virtually every single area in Silksong having some form of incentive to come back with different movement options or abilities, it can be easy to miss some less obvious secrets entirely.

Given Hollow Knight: Silksong‘s record-breaking player count skyrocketing mere days after release, it’s likely that many of the game’s best-kept secrets won’t stay hidden for long. While you might have already noticed plenty of Team Cherry’s creative touch already, there are still plenty of hidden tails you might have entirely missed, even after beating each of Silksong‘s endings for the first time.

You Don’t Need To Attack Enemies To Attract Them

Saving Unnecessary Hits At A Low Cost

With some basic enemies capable of doing as much damage as Hollow Knight‘s Absolute Radiance boss fight, being able to poke down your foes is more than a viable method. While nothing is stopping you from simply jumping in and out of danger to lure an enemy into striking range, Silksong already has a built-in technique to do it for you.

By pressing down on the right joystick of your controller, Hornet will activate a taunting ability at the cost of one spool of silk, drawing in any nearby enemies. This is especially useful against flying or climbing enemies, particularly ones that deal just as much damage as Silksong‘s most challenging bosses. Taunting is a great mechanic that you could go the entire game without realizing you have access to.

A Spooky Cutscene That Is Incredibly Easy To Miss

Only A Small Chance For This Secret To Appear

Silksong‘s mysterious haunting is one of the darker elements of the game world that causes many of the obstacles in your path, but the town of Bellhart is especially susceptible to the curse. Amid the plethora of ominous bugs suspended in the air, there’s still a seemingly innocent bench that offers a momentary respite for Hornet.

Despite the relative safety, there’s a small chance that a secret cutscene will play upon loading your save at the Bellhart bench, which sees Hornet being trapped by the same haunting webs. While you can easily escape these, it just goes to show how even a momentary rest in the wrong place can seal the fate of an ordinary bug, although this scene can be easily missed depending on how long it takes you to beat the Widow boss.

Silksong’s Ants Carry More Than Just Bodies Away

Resourceful Bugs With A Mischievous Side

One of the more unique background details can be found as early as the Hunter’s March, with the ants of all sizes each having their own role to play in the ecosystem. While you’ve likely already noticed that slain enemies will wind up getting carried away for food by the smaller background ants, it’s far from the only thing they can carry.

Given that Rosaries have their own physical mechanics that can be impacted by the environment, often to your own detriment, it’s one of the many things that aren’t safe from scavenging bugs. As if these weren’t bad enough, Silksong‘s ants can even carry away your placeable tools or useful shards that you leave behind, which can be just as comedic as it is annoying at times.

Revisiting Boss Arenas Can Offer Hidden Interactions

Opportunities For Unique Character Dialogue

There are very few reasons to go out of your way to revisit many of the empty boss arenas in Hollow Knight: Silksong, but that doesn’t mean it can’t still be a rewarding experience. Despite the absence of valuables like additional items or secondary bosses worth your time, the environments once ruled by your fallen foes still change in several noticeable ways.

One of the most instantly noticeable changes can come in the form of new NPC interactions that are incredibly easy to miss, with characters like Nuu and the Chapel maid being the most common culprits. On top of intriguing new dialogue or comments about the game world, it’s also another opportunity to check for any additional Needolin voice lines.

NPCs Aren’t The Only Ones That Enjoy Hornet’s Music

Even Your Enemies Can Spare A Moment For Song

Speaking of Hornet’s Needolin, it’s another one of the more unique additions to Hollow Knight: Silksong that somewhat mirrors the previous Hollow Knight’s own Dream Nail. While it doesn’t function exactly the same, you may have already noticed that playing the Needolin for various NPCs across Pharloom can unlock new dialogue and character details through song.

The lines brought out by the Needolin are often somewhat barebones on their own, but they can offer a glimpse into the minds of certain characters that shine even better with those who can’t normally talk to them. While it can be risky to pull off against certain enemies, most hostile bugs across Silksong will pause their attacks to briefly sing alongside you, showcasing the little humanity that still remains in their ruined minds.

Silksong’s Starting Area Contrasts The Knight’s Journey

Mirroring The Knight In More Ways Than One

Even as someone who’s played Hollow Knight several times in the past, it still completely slipped my notice just how strikingly opposite the opening to Hollow Knight: Silksong and its predecessor are. Even aside from Hollow Knight‘s gloomy starting atmosphere compared to the lush greens of Silksong‘s Moss Bottom, the reasons both bugs are here in the first place are completely different.

While Hornet was brought entirely against her will, the Knight came to Hallownest entirely of his own accord, with even the direction of both stories starting at opposite ends. While the Knight’s mission involves braving the depths of Hallownest as far as they go, Hornet’s journey in Silksong involves rising to the very top in an attempt to face the ancient beings that brought her here in the first place.

A Simple Tip To Find Your Way To Fast-Travel Spots

Silksong Has Just As Many Missable Audio Cues As Visual Ones

While this detail becomes far less helpful the further you get into the world of Pharloom, Silksong has several ways of pointing you in the right direction without being blatantly obvious. From NPCs like Shakra singing in secret areas or leaving behind breadcrumbs for you to follow, there’s one hint that can be completely missed if you’re playing on PC.

Unless you’re playing on consoles or in Steam’s Big Picture mode, you might be missing out on vital vibration clues that can point you in the right direction to points of interest like the Bell Beast, which causes your remote to shake more the closer you approach one of its stations.

Silksong’s Bell Motofis Are Far From Random

A Familiar Tune Hinting At Pharloom’s Underbelly

With the word song even in the title of the game, music has clearly been an important part of Silksong‘s story and presentation since its very inception. While several mechanics, like the Needolin and enemy chants, entirely revolve around music, you may have also noticed a familiar theme playing upon activating various benches or bells in Pharloom.

It’s easy to pass it off as simple background ambience, but several players have picked up on the fact that the tones played after activating the Rosary bench bells are actually a motif from “Dies Irae.” As a “Latin hymn sung in a mass for the dead”, according to Oxford Languages, the theme feels like a perfect fit for Silksong‘s haunted world and Hornet bringing death to the infected masses of Pharloom.

The Appearance Of One Oddly Familiar Voice

A Starring Appearance For Indie Fans Everywhere

While you may have heard the news already about how viral the discovery was after release, you might have already missed one of Hollow Knight: Silksong‘s biggest cameos. Credited for offering additional voices to the cast of Silksong‘s charming cast of characters, Stardew Valley’s very own developer played a part in Team Cherry’s long-awaited project.

Even though it seems a bit out of the blue at first, Stardew‘s Eric Barone has been involved with the Hollow Knight series for some time now, even being credited as a contributor to some of the merchandise for Silksong‘s predecessor. Although Barone hasn’t confirmed what character he plays in the game, there have been plenty of theories about exactly who Stardew Valley‘s creator voices in the meantime.

Activating Steel Soul Mode Without Beating Silksong’s Story

Jumping Right Into Silksong’s Most Brutal Challenge

As the most infamous challenge that Hollow Knight had to offer by far, it’s not exactly a surprise that Silksong also includes the incredibly challenging Steel Soul game mode, but how it can be unlocked is another story altogether.

While the normal way of gaining access to Silksong‘s permadeath mode involves beating the main story at least once, you can bypass it altogether by inputting Silksong‘s own riff on the Konami code into the extras menu. Even if you can unlock Steel Soul mode at any point through this method, the sheer level of difficulty makes it an incredibly challenging experience even for those who have fully completed everything else Hollow Knight: Silksong has to offer.