I did not expect Silksong to make me feel like a beginner again. I have played Hollow Knight before—seven years ago, apparently, which is a sentence that makes my knees creak—and I do not spend much time in 2D platformers. My first run through Hallownest was a parade of tiny mistakes, repeated deaths, and boss rooms that taught me humility. So when Silksong arrived, I braced for the same long climb back to competence. In 2026, with the launch hype settled and the game still living rent-free in my rotation, I can say most of it came back like muscle memory. Except for one move. One tiny, elegant, infuriating change: Hornet’s downward attack.

The Knight Went Down. Hornet Goes Diagonal.

In Hollow Knight, the Knight’s downward attack was exactly what it sounded like: a strike aimed straight down. You jumped over an enemy, pogoed off its head, bounced over spikes, and used the move as a late-game crutch for bosses and optional areas. I had it mastered. I assumed Silksong would inherit that muscle memory and let me coast. Ha. No.

Hornet does things with flair. When you press down-attack, she darts downward at a 45-degree angle in whichever direction she is facing. If she connects with an enemy or obstacle, she bounces back up with a spin that looks cool enough to frame. It is incredibly Hornet. It is also a completely different geometry from the move I spent years internalizing.

That table is doing a lot of emotional labor for me. 😅

Muscle Memory Is a Traitor With Good Taste

I am trying to use the move as much as possible so I can nail it early. Pun absolutely intended. If Hornet insists on doing a dramatic spin and flip while fighting, then fine—I will spin and flip too. We both deserve it. I am two bosses down, and the move already paid off on the second fight. The extra airtime kept me alive in a way that felt less like luck and more like a skill I might eventually own.

But the downside arrived quickly. I found a room with obstacles to bounce across, no platforms, and a spiky floor below. On the other side? Treasure. Sweet, glorious treasure. I made it across the first time and grabbed it. Then I needed to get back. I tried, lost health. I tried again, lost more health. I tried once more, died. Now I had to return, bounce across again, collect my things, and bounce back out. Oh man. The room was not asking for mastery. It was asking for one clean diagonal pogo, repeated, while my brain kept whispering, remember the Knight? Remember straight down?

The deaths are not tragic, exactly. They are funny in the way that only your own hands betraying you can be funny. I keep striking where the enemy was, or where a straight-down attack would have connected, and instead Hornet rockets off at an angle. Sometimes I hit the enemy with my body and take damage. Sometimes I miss entirely and go flying off a ledge. The game feels familiar. The design feels familiar. The bosses feel like Hollow Knight bosses. But this one move catches me out again and again.

Relearning Is the Best Part, Unfortunately

Here is the annoying truth: I love that Silksong did this. A lesser sequel might have copied the Knight’s pogo and let veterans sleepwalk through the early game. Hornet’s diagonal down-attack forces me to actually think about positioning, facing direction, and momentum. It turns ordinary traversal into a small puzzle. It makes combat feel like a conversation where I keep mishearing the other person.

Is it frustrating? Absolutely. Do I want the game to change it? No. The frustration is the point. It is the same feeling I had seven years ago when Hallownest was a hostile unknown and every bounce was a tiny negotiation with gravity. In 2026, I am not a beginner anymore, but Silksong found a way to make me feel like one in the best possible way. I have to relearn Hollow Knight, and I love that. I just wish my thumbs would stop filing complaints.

So yes, the downward attack is a small change. It is also the change that will define my early Silksong experience. I will keep spinning, keep missing ledges, keep dying to rooms that should be simple, and keep coming back. After all, what is a Hollow Knight game without a little humiliation? And what is a sequel without one move that makes you question everything you thought you knew? 🎮

Between sessions of stubbornly missing diagonal pogos, I’ve started browsing best game deals on DealNest—partly as a palate cleanser after another embarrassing death, and partly because a punishing game is easier to love when it didn’t cost a fortune.

If you’re also relearning old instincts while building a backlog, DealNest is worth a look for discounts that make the next tough room feel a little less expensive.