At time of writing, Silksong releases in about 36 hours. About a week ago I got a gamepad for my computer and, to make sure it worked, gave Hollow Knight another spin. I'm happy to say it does; I beat the main storyline with a moderate amount of side-goal fucking about, and along the way was reminded of how beautifully the game handles atmosphere and storytelling.

Much has been made of Hollow Knight's esoteric Lore, but I'd like to keep it to the things you can observe on a casual playthrough: the very first text in the game is this very Kipling-y poem:

In wilds beyond they speak your name with reverence and regret,
For none could tame our savage souls yet you the challenge met,
Under palest watch, you taught, we changed, base instincts were redeemed,
A world you gave to bug and beast as they had never dreamed.

After a brief tutorial, with message tablets addressed to "higher beings", you open the gate to "the last and only civilization, the eternal Kingdom, Hallownest." The first main area clearly lays out the imperial style: well-paved, industrialized, tasteful blue-gray.

The first boss is a tiny maggot puppeteering a massive suit of armor (hm.) After that, you learn your first spell from a snail shaman whose home is utterly unlike any architecture thus far. In the next area, imperial roads are quickly swallowed up by lush foliage, and tablets are full of wariness and hostility towards the kingdom - this land is under the protection of a different being, Unn.

After fighting one being who resembles you and looting the corpse of another, the game truly opens up. Down below, a warrior clan of mantises still honors their contract with the king, holding the line against deeper horrors. The capital city is still under quarantine, but once you find a way in, the royal splendor makes a strong case for itself. The most fascinating area within it is the Soul Sanctum, a cathedral-laboratory obsessively searching for a cure to the plague. The low-level enemies within it are called Mistakes and Follies, and the boss sits atop a deep pit of civilian corpses swarming with them.

Much later on, near the King's palace at the bottom of the world, you must fight a possessed corpse that resembles yourself. Lower still, past a gate that needs the King's personal seal to open, is a chasm full of many, many more of those corpses and their restless, resentful spirits. They are called Siblings.

God knows that this game does not present a robust theory of political economy, it's a Metroidvania that prioritizes tone and mood. But they clearly put thought into this, the push-and-pull of power centers and resource flows. I look forward to how Silksong evolves this theme, in a living kingdom with a protagonist who can talk.