Imagine being kidnapped by bugs.

Mr. Wheel gives me the sequel to Hollow Knight first before the OG game as I check out Hollow Knight: Silksong. I got this and the original game mostly because I was interested to see why these games were popular in the first place.

Once I set my screen and brightness, we get a cutscene which introduces things... as... confusing as it may seem. I'll try to explain it. So our girl has been captured by some bugs here as they try to take her... somewhere. But I guess our girl breaks free and the ground below collapses. After a while, I eventually wake up and find myself in this... forest of moss. I have a blade I can swing to attack enemies and cut down moss ropes. The first area I find myself in is the Moss Grotto. Moss is right holy hell. I traverse and platform my way through the land. Attacking bugs and mossy bees along the way. Up high, I collect a moss berry. Lower down, as I reach a dark area, suddenly our girl starts feeling... queasy? Like she needs to take a shit. But sometimes all you have to do... is hold it. Just hold until your stomach eventually feels better! And that's what happens here! After finding a Frayed Rosary String, I drop down and... oh fuck I'm back at the start. Well shit that just gave me Jump King PTSD. After finding back my way, I don't fall down and suddenly the moss is no more. Now it's... sad and... stoney... with a new armadillo like enemy rolling round one of the platforms I need to get on. I do quickly get back to the heavy moss area and a tunnel leading to another dark area makes me need to shit again. But again I hold it and I can keep traversing through the Ruined Chapel. Which takes me to the first boss of the game. Moss Mother. Basically a bigger version of those little moss bees I saw before. Really the only hardest attacks is when it drops down enemies and also swoops down. But do you know what I think is bullshit? I was literally in the process of healing and I still fucking died. But that's not the bad part. The bad part is when I died, I WAS BACK AT THE BEGINNING... oh boy I hope Silksong doesn't turn into a damn rage game. I did eventually make it back to the Moss Mother. On my 2nd go, I try to get a heal off earlier but I guess either I wasn't holding down the button long enough or if you get hit in the process of your heal, you lose the progress and just don't get healed. Shocker, I die and I am back at the start. Before my 3rd go, I find something I wish I did before. A rest bench which also acts as a save point. Wish I would've known that before!

I finally take down Moss Mother on my 4th go at her and I can keep going onward and oh fuck I have to shit again. This time her stomach just can't handle it and she ends up shitting her pants. Thankfully it seems like someone eventually saved me as I am greeted by the Chapel Maid. Our girl recognizes that her kind didn't really treat this land with peace which is why all the bugs want her for dead. Oh yeah our girl has a name by the way. Hornet. She explains that she was brought into the kingdom by force. Hence the opening cutscene. The maid explains as I seek the Citadel, I best be careful. This moss kingdom seems to be cursed as some areas don't seem to be very friendly. I am given an objective. Reach the great citadel. So I head off and make it to bone bottom. A land filled with passive little guys. Seems like these little pilgrims also want to seek the citadel... or cower in fear and hide forever... that's also an option. Pebb offers to trade me something in exchange for rosaries... I have none... so there's nothing I can get for now. Making my way through the bones until I reach a small little boss gauntlet. Surely it's easy to defeat little bone bugs right?... wrong... When I die, I am met again all the way back with the maid. And then I don't know why but I take a drop down which brings me back all the way to the start of Moss Grotto fuck me. Now I'm really getting Jump King PTSD. Though I can take a tactical death to jump ahead a bit. I meet this singing dude who I guess is praying to this gate in hopes that it'll open. Sherma looks to also be seeking the citadel but has come face to face with a gate. Quickly stopping their way. And that a holy prayer is the only way to get the door open. No... bashing the gate down with my blade doesn't do jack. I do better this time in the boss gauntlet. Taking down all the boney creatures. Big and small. But somehow I end up back tracking and falling my way back before the gate... huh... so I work my way around and now I am on the side I need to be. There's a massive lever up top I can pull which opens the gate. So I guess it wasn't prayer that was needed. Someone just needed to open the damn door. Though Sherma is convinced that it was the prayer song that worked. But even after the door is open... Sherma keeps singing! What the fuck are you praying to now?

Sherma with no hope, I keep onward there's a device I inspect where I put in 30 Rosaries... I only have 7 of which. And a sign... the message is very... well basically it's saying to move on through the remains of those who were sacrificed to keep the land standing... or something like that. So i reach The Marrow... also known as hell. Literally. I make my way through the bones of hell, defeating... light bug bone bat.. thingies... I don't know what you call them... yes those spikes do hurt you. I found that out the hard way. Just a quick panic moment trying to deal with an enemy, falling to a crumbling platform, then falling to the spikes. I find a small room holding a tool. I don't know whether the tool lets me equip tools while resting or if that's just a tip. I'm thinking it's just a tip given at the bottom left it says Shard Pendant. I'm thinking that's the tool in question. I make it into the deep and dark parts of the boney cave. After coming across a dead end of spikes, I have to go back as I find another singing pilgrim. Is this one praying too? I guess Poshanka is... a greeting apparently. He tells me about the pilgrims who have made their way here. Like the ones in that camp area I saw shortly ago. This dude tells me to keep a firm grip of my weapon. I don't plan on dropping it any time soon. This dude is another one of those traders. And this time I can get something. I pick up The Marrow Map. Surely this will be useful right? No... it's not... in fact it's the worst fucking map I've ever seen. Can I get a refund please? I admit... I missed the moss. Thankfully I find myself in Mosshome with these weird ass moss spitting bug dudes... fucking gross. And that moss stings like hell. And it spits that shit out fast. Even when I slash away a ball of moss, that bug spits another one right out. And I am dead. And I am right back to the bone bottom camp... oh hell... I eventually find my way back. But during my journey, I find myself across this... big ass bone bug dude stuck in some web... yeah nah I'm good. This time I make it past that moss spitter that was giving me trouble and make my way up. Inspecting a Weaver of Pharloom along the way. Seems like some song lesson. I wonder if maybe down the line I can play music in some way.

This area sure isn't friendly. Trap wires in some places that raise up deadly spikes quickly. Of course me being the him that I am, avoid them easily. This beetle bone bug dude appears from the ground. Tries to kill me... but fails miserably. Spikes do. Not lucky with these ones that shot up. At this point... this is where I decide to stop early. I don't know where the next save point is... and I didn't want to spend another hour on this. It's better I stop now before I go crazy.

And now that it is now future me, I am glad past me did that.