Hollow Knight: Silksong Tops 92 On OpenCritic In Tight GOTY Race
Hollow Knight Silksong's 92 OpenCritic score tops the original and ties Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 as 2025's best-reviewed game.
I’ve kept a close eye on Hollow Knight: Silksong’s post-launch reception, and after nearly two weeks of reviews filtering in, the picture is remarkably clear. Team Cherry’s long-awaited Metroidvania sequel currently sits at a 92 on OpenCritic across 45 critic reviews, including our own Josh Robertson’s 4/5. That score is two full points higher than the original Hollow Knight and ties it with Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, a game many considered the frontrunner for 2025’s Game of the Year before Silksong finally emerged.
That 92 is not just a number. It places Silksong at the top of an unusually crowded year while also outperforming one of the most beloved indie breakthroughs of the last decade. I’ve seen plenty of sequels struggle under expectation, but Silksong has managed to turn years of anticipation into critical validation.
What Critics Are Saying
Our own review captured the consensus well: “Its boss fights are exhilarating and challenging, its world is a gorgeous marvel to explore, its unpredictable art design is impeccable, and everything else about it looks and sounds stunning.” Robertson’s only real criticism was that Silksong’s punishing difficulty can sometimes feel “obnoxious,” which kept it just short of a perfect five.
That difficulty conversation has become one of the most debated points of the launch. VGC handed the game a 3/5 and argued that Silksong’s challenge sometimes becomes tiring rather than exciting, with spikes that hurt overall pacing. It is an interesting split: some reviewers see those same spikes as part of the game’s identity, while others think they go too far.
Outlet
Score
Key Takeaway
TheGamer
4/5
Exhilarating boss fights, gorgeous world, occasional obnoxious difficulty
VGC
3/5
Difficulty spikes feel tiring and disrupt pacing
Screen Rant
10/10
Masterful bosses and a high skill ceiling
Eurogamer
5/5
Mean-spirited at times, but charmingly so
Screen Rant gave Silksong a 10/10 and framed its controversial difficulty as a “high skill ceiling,” praising the boss encounters as masterful. Eurogamer was similarly unmoved by the difficulty complaints, awarding a 5/5 and describing the game as mean-spirited, but charmingly so. For me, that tension is exactly why the review spread feels so healthy: Silksong is demanding enough to produce radically different experiences depending on player temperament.
A Tight Race At The Top
The race for best-reviewed game of 2025 has shifted several times. Monster Hunter Wilds, Split Fiction, and Blue Prince all led at various points earlier in the year. Now the top of the pile is messier. Silksong and Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 are tied at 92 on OpenCritic, which makes direct comparisons difficult because both games occupy very different design spaces.
There are also two titles with higher aggregate scores worth acknowledging. Shujinkou sits at 94, but that average comes from only seven reviews, making it statistically fragile compared with Silksong’s larger sample. Tears of the Kingdom’s Switch 2 edition also holds a 94, though I hesitate to treat that as a brand-new 2025 release. It is a port or enhanced version of a game that already made its own historic mark elsewhere.
So as 2025’s award conversations move into their final phase, Silksong has done exactly what Team Cherry needed it to do. It did not merely match the original; it exceeded its critical standing, anchored itself at the center of the difficulty debate, and forced every other major contender to share the spotlight. Whether it ultimately takes Game of the Year honors depends on how voters weigh punishing challenge against flawless execution — but from where I sit, Silksong has earned its place among the very best of the year.
For players who have been waiting on the sidelines through the Silksong review discourse, the urge to finally dive into Hallownest is understandable. But with so many other major 2025 releases also competing for attention and budget, choosing where to commit your time and money is not always easy. PC players in particular have become savvy about waiting for the right moment to pick up a game, especially when a critical darling like Silksong is still hovering near full price after launch. Keeping an eye on [PC game discounts]( can make the decision much simpler, letting you grab several of this year's biggest contenders without blowing past your gaming budget.
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