Player reviews for Hollow Knight: Silksong have taken a dive in recent days for reasons that aren’t immediately apparent to most players. As the highly anticipated sequel to one of the most beloved indie Metroidvanias of all time, Silksong has generated a lot of excitement. By all accounts, including a positive review from Screen Rant, it’s an excellent follow-up to the original game, masterfully balancing the core Hollow Knight gameplay loop with fresh ideas and innovations. The fan community is vibrant, with players eagerly sharing their discoveries and celebrating achievements together. However, despite this enthusiasm, Silksong’s Steam rating has surprisingly slipped, raising questions about what went wrong.
Silksong Reviews Continue To Plummet
The Steam ratings for Hollow Knight: Silksong have recently dipped, leading to the game achieving a “Mixed” rating worldwide. At the time of writing, the game sits at just over 76% positive reviews according to SteamDB, a stark contrast to the original Hollow Knight’s impressive 96% rating. Interestingly, these ratings haven’t affected the game’s English-language Steam page because of recent review sorting changes implemented by Steam.
It’s not uncommon for divisive games to receive varied reviews, yet it’s surprising for a title like Silksong, which holds a stellar critic rating of 98 on Metacritic and generally positive player feedback. Such an unexpected rating dip usually correlates with a bad update, but Silksong hasn’t experienced any negative updates; its first significant update isn’t even scheduled until next week.
Silksong’s Bad Reviews Are Mainly Due To Poor Translation
After delving deeper into the player feedback, it becomes clear that the primary source of negative reviews stems from dissatisfaction with the quality of the Simplified Chinese translation. Many players have noted in reviews that the translation is subpar, with one user stating they prefer to navigate the game in English due to the quality of the dialogues. Others have echoed this sentiment, describing the dialogue as overly complex or pretentious.
One common complaint among Simplified Chinese reviewers is that the writing feels incoherent and forced, with phrases like “I’ll kill you” being theatrically rendered to “Death thee will become, brought upon by me.” Such translations not only offend the players’ sensibilities but also detract from the overall gaming experience. The original Hollow Knight’s translation received praise for its quality, but Silksong’s localization team appears to have downsized, with only two translators, neither of whom were involved in the first game’s localization efforts.
Adding to the oddity, one of the new translators has even been linked to earlier leaks about the game on social media, raising eyebrows within the community.
This wave of poor reviews doesn’t reach the level of coordinated review bombing, but the concerns over localization are valid. Good localization is crucial for narrative-driven games, and if players find that the Simplified Chinese dialogue detracts from the core gameplay, their frustration is understandable. Notably, while many negative reviews focus on translation issues, a substantial number also discuss game difficulty. Many players are calling for adjustments to boss damage or the addition of an easier mode, showing that there are multiple layers to the feedback.
Team Cherry Is Addressing Players’ Translation Concerns
Team Cherry is fully aware of the translation issues plaguing Hollow Knight: Silksong. The company recently issued a public apology, with Matthew Griffin, a marketing and publicity representative for the studio, assuring players that they will work on enhancing the translation in the coming weeks.
Although the initial response to the Simplified Chinese translation has been lackluster, there is hope on the horizon. Team Cherry seems dedicated to addressing and rectifying the situation. If their efforts yield positive results, Silksong could see an improved translation in the next few months, which would likely help boost its overall rating.
It’s worth noting that even with a swift resolution to translation quality, it might take time for the game to recover its standing and garner the respect it deserves in worldwide reviews.
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