There's still no sign of Hollow Knight: Silksong, and while I'm hoping the Summer Game Fest schedule 2024 might change that, a recent Twitter trend has thrown up a pair of Team Cherry-inspired Metroidvanias that might help make the wait a little easier.
Earlier this month, indie devs took to Twitter to show off their games and the inspirations behind them. There's a huge amount of variety out there, but with the wait for Silksong stretching ever longer, a couple of games caught my eye. The first of those was Bo: Path of the Teal Lotus, a beautiful hand-drawn Metroidvania inspired by Japanese folklore. As well as citing Paper Mario's style and Okami's colorful take on that mythology, Bo's developers pointed to Hollow Knight as the inspiration behind its Metroidvania gameplay.
The indie game I made and three inspirations behind it pic.twitter.com/QMX53DVBOPMay 8, 2024
If that weren't enough, Everdeep Aurora matches Hollow Knight's subterranean setting. While its visuals borrow more from an Undertale-inspired Motherload, and the developer also cites Steamworld Dig in its other inspirations, the spectre of Hollow Knight resides here too.
The indie game I'm making and three of the inspirations behind it.https://t.co/qVIBVB1w5P pic.twitter.com/Sah8kIZhK3May 8, 2024
Last but not least, another hand-drawn Metroidvania, Constance, cites Hollow Knight alongside a very different pair of games. Its paintbrush-wielding protagonist draws obvious comparisons to games like Splatoon and Chicory: A Colorful Tale, but even the briefest of glances at its color-soaked backgrounds is enough to evoke the beautifully gothic vistas of Hollow Knight.
Way too late to the party but here's our game Constance and her three main inspirations🖌️💜 pic.twitter.com/2yb8VauikmMay 13, 2024
Sadly, only one of these games has a solid release date yet - you'll be able to play Bo: Path of the Teal Lotus in just over six weeks, when it releases on July 17. Even if Constance and Everdeep Aurora are still a little while away, however, the wait for those two is likely to be a little less painful than the five years we've been holding out for Silksong.
Need even more? Here are the best Metroidvania games.
