and being overcompensating is another one of tophs character traits so like, yeah idk this just made so much sense to me from the moment i heard it

and i dont think this contradicts becoming a cop bc i think its easy for someone who lacks respect for The Rules or Authority or The Law as a youth to become fervent defenders of those concepts later in life. (idk a sort of, 'im not gonna let anyone get away with acting how i did' perspective)

yes yes of course part of the point of these episodes (except the earthbending training ep which weirdly seems to totally validate her stupid and obnoxious point of view) is that she Learns A Lesson in each but like, theyre also defining examples of how she views (hah) the world

honestly, super cop brained!

from the "getting along with the gaang" episode and the earthbending training in book 2 to the blind bandit ep in book 3, her primary ethos seems to be "might makes right" and "fuck you, got mine." its also a recurring character trait of hers that she desires to be seen as powerful & intimidating.

i feel like an important detail of her character is that she is only shown being anti-authority insofar as it relates to herself; its p explicitly a character flaw related to her oppressive upbringing, not really a political stance. her defining character flaw in atla is selfishness

it also bothers me when people say 'toph wouldnt be a cop' because what are you talking about they like, hit the nail on the head with that one

ok very sloppy getting hit on the aoe attack thing but on the other hand there is no better feeling than winning a hk boss by the skin of your teeth

also platforming is an absolute bitch with the beast crest tho most of the game is still pretty doable (i fell/launched myself at more spikes than even my first playthru tho)

my beast crest playthru felt really good in every fight *except* boss fights i feel like the beserk mode healing thing is really suited to gauntlets or tearing thru several enemies, but not so much against a boss with a limited strike window

"You're done! You can let go!"

That's the thing: I can't

I do not remember the last time a single player, linear, narrative game pulled me in this hard, where I've finished "everything" and still feel compelled to fire it up and play more.

this game has so many little variations based on order u do things and such im still caught off guard by some

i Did Not Know shakra could assist in the forum fight

6 hours on coral tower is a good indication you forgot clawline is a combat ability and kinda indispensable (esp in the gauntlets)

i had trouble with all three my first time but hours of gameplay's kinda crazy

ok skill issue

the word banger is displayed in white letters on a black background ALT: the word banger is displayed in white letters on a black background

Phantom, Trobbio, Lace, Grand Mother, First Sinner, Second Sentinel

I love Hornet's characterization.

"I only do these quests for the rewards that benefit me and make me more powerful, which I why I gave you most of my shard stock to build a bridge over a hole I have never once fallen into."

silksong is annoying cuz u have areas where ull get 0 rosaries and some that will just disgorge them at you. i get that this is environmental storytelling (first visit to the underworks a standout both gameplay and storytelling wise my first play thru) but it still is irksome

biggest pet peeve even on replays where youd think i would have learned the economy

Oh, and I think Team Cherry might just be bad at game economies because both HK and Skong go from "I have no money" to "I have nothing to spend all this money on" very haphazardly.

In breaking down all of this you can really see the roots of Hornet as an alternate character for Hollow Knight, esp. the tempo of needing to commit an entire bar to a bigger heal rather than being able to chip-heal, but also why she demanded a whole new game: she would *demolish* Hollow Knight.

To top it, bosses are just built differently, with much more permissive healing windows (but a *significantly* more extreme punishment for failure).

The entire philosophy of hit points has changed, it's just the UI looks pretty similar.

Damage in Hollow Knight is very sticky, if you take damage it's difficult (and a huge opportunity cost) to heal it. Damage in Silksong swings way more.

Against most mid-game bosses you can expect to have the opportunity as the Knight to heal maybe 6-9 points of damage. Hornet can easily heal 15+

Aesthetically both require 9 points of resource to heal 3 HP, both build that resource at 1 point per attack, but Hornet has baseline resource generation, attacks faster, and accesses additional resource generation options very early.

It's all holistic: Hornet's whole gameplay loop is much, much more aggressive in both directions. More enemies do 2 damage, but she heals 3 in the time it takes the Knight to heal 1.

To use a comically extreme example, it's like M:tG players looking at YuGiOh cards that do 1000 damage and going "wow, and to think Emrakul only does 12."

So I think it'd be fair to say I've been playing Silksong: a Hollow Knight Adventure and not Hollow Knight 2. And through that lens the "two masks of damage 😩" cries seem absurd, a purely aesthetic comparison that neglects the context of each game's self-contained systems.

Skong good

In contrast even Lost Lace phase 4 or Karmelita phase 3, which are both completely cracked out, have reliable healing windows (assuming you can keep your chill long enough to take advantage of them)