Hollow Knight: Silksong is getting review bombed for its Simplified Chinese translation issues. Read on to learn more about Silksong’s varied Steam reviews and what Team Cherry’s silence means for the game’s post-launch plans.
Silksong Post-Launch Woes and Updates
Review Bombed in China
Hollow Knight: Silksong was finally released after over 6 years of waiting, but fans in China (CN) are disappointed with its localization. While its overall Steam review rating is "Mostly Positive," when categorized by language, it received "Mostly Negative" for its Simplified Chinese reviews.
Comments using this language revolve around the game having poor Simplified Chinese translation, which ruined the experience for them. According to the CN translator for OMORI, TigerHix, the Silksong CN translation "reads like a Wuxia novel instead of conveying the game’s tone."
Amidst these woes, Team Cherry PR and Marketing Head Matthew Griffin posted on Twitter (X) on September 5 to address these issues. He stated that the team is aware of the current problems regarding the quality of the CN translation and will work to improve it in the coming weeks.
Despite acknowledging these issues, Team Cherry has yet to confirm when fans can expect an update to resolve them. As of writing, 72% of the 28,743 Steam reviews for the Simplified Chinese language are negative.
Meanwhile, the reviews for the Japanese language are "Mixed," with most players pointing out the game’s difficulty and problems with balancing. Even though Silksong is having a rocky start in some regions, the game still has 77% of its overall reviews rated positive.
Here at Game8, we gave Hollow Knight: Silksong a 98 out of 100 for taking the original game and making it even better, making every second of the six-year wait worth it. Read more about our thoughts on Hollow Knight: Silksong below!
Long Boss Runbacks Frustrate Fans
Beyond translation issues, Silksong fans also pointed out the long runbacks they had to do to challenge bosses. On Silksong’s official Reddit page, players noted that the lack of checkpoints near boss fights makes redoing those fights tedious.
While fans have noted that the game upped the ante compared to the boss fights in the original Hollow Knight, not placing benches near bosses means that players must take on long runbacks over and over again just to attempt to defeat them. One commenter stated, "The real boss is the path honestly," and others said that these paths are riddled with enemies, making the whole cycle annoying.
Most players mentioned the runback for the Last Judge boss fight, stating that although the fight itself is quite manageable, the runback makes the whole ordeal much more difficult. The community has somewhat accepted that these runbacks are part of the boss fight, but is asking Team Cherry to fix this issue to make rematches against these bosses quicker.
Team Cherry’s Silence May Be Linked to Upcoming DLC Plans
Now that the highly anticipated sequel to Hollow Knight has been released, Team Cherry returns to its silence, which the studio has been famous for, especially during the game’s development and lead up to launch. In an interview with The New York Times on September 3, original Hollow Knight Technical Director David Kazi shared his experience during his time with Team Cherry and what this silence means for the team.
According to Kazi, Team Cherry’s silence may be attributed to the developers’ high work ethic. He stated, "The work ethic is off the charts. If they're not talking to anyone right now, I bet they're over at the office working on stuff."
Aside from working on several issues regarding CN translations and long runbacks, Team Cherry’s silence may be linked to the team working on possible DLCs or expansions. During an interview with Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier on August 21, Team Cherry Co-Founders Ari Gibson and William Pellen mentioned their post-launch plans for Silksong.
While Silksong’s release date was just announced at the time, Pellen stated that the game’s launch is just as exciting as "what comes after." Gibson added, "The most interesting thing now is what can we add to it next. We got a plan. Admittedly, some of the plans for that stuff are kind of ambitious as well, but hopefully we can achieve some of it."
This comes as no surprise, as the original Hollow Knight also had substantial updates not long after its release. For Hollow Knight, the game received four free DLCs, all of which launched during its first year. Although Team Cherry has yet to announce anything regarding this, fans can expect something similar for Silksong.
Regardless of the issues the game is currently facing, Silksong remains one of the most popular games right now, ranking third in both the Top Selling and Most Played categories on Steam. With its DLC all but officially announced, Silksong could continue to be at the top of these charts for the foreseeable future.
Hollow Knight: Silksong is now available on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch, Nintendo Switch 2, and PC. To stay up to date with the latest information about the game, check out our article below!
Source:
Hollow Knight: Silksong Steam page
Matthew Griffin Twitter (X) post on Silksong Chinese Translation Issues
Not putting benches close to a boss doesn’t make the game harder, it makes it tedious.
Thought Hollow Knight Was Hard? Try Waiting for Its Sequel.
Why ‘Silksong’ Took Seven Years to Make
Steam Charts Overview
