Hollow Knight: Silksong excels at keeping players tense: even seemingly ridiculous foes can down Hornet in seconds, and a daunting encounter feels imminent at every turn. Frustrated quits have become part of the Silksong zeitgeist — and no single zone has sparked more ire than Hunter’s March. The spike-strewn region has generated a torrent of angry posts from players stuck trying to push forward in the much-discussed Metroidvania.
Hunter’s March isn’t necessarily the game’s most punishing area, but it can show up quite early depending on the route you take. With the game still fresh for many since launch, a lot of players are discovering the level around the same time. For many, Hunter’s March functions as Silksong‘s first real skill check: a gauntlet of spikes that demand utterly precise platforming on tiny ledges, all while you’re still acclimating to Hornet’s downward needle attack, which fires at an awkward angle and often feels like an extra obstacle rather than a help.
And that’s just the platforming. The zone offers almost no safe ground, so a single misstep can force lengthy runbacks through hazards you’ve already cleared. It’s maddening to clear a long stretch only to have one failed jump end the run. Adding insult to injury are the foes that camp the few narrow spots Hornet can stand on — you’ll make progress, feel a surge of relief, and then be ambushed by angry little buggers who seem as annoyed as you are. To top it off, many players reach this area before the Hunter’s March map has even been unlocked.
The final gag: after slogging through all that, your reward is, spoiler alert, a boss fight. You must defeat that boss to enable the bench in Hunter’s March, which feels almost mean-spirited. Even worse, some players make it to the bench only to fall into a cruel trap and die afterwards. It’s the kind of sequence that leaves you baffled and furious in equal measure.
One highly upvoted Reddit post puts it bluntly in its title: “I’m angry.” The author then catalogues everything they loathe about Hunter’s March — and still insists, amusingly, that they “absolutely love Silksong 10/10.”
Another frustrated post asks, “am i just terrible at this game?” — a question many players have echoed as they repeatedly die in the same spots.
If anything positive has come from Hunter’s March, it’s the wave of shared complaining that’s produced some excellent jokes and memes across social platforms.
Some players meet Hunter’s March with gallows humor; others fault Team Cherry’s design choices outright. One Reddit thread bluntly proclaims “Hunter march is a bad game design.” Equally bemusing are the players who sincerely expected a lavish in-game reward for surviving the ordeal — a misconception poked fun at in another thread. Some even believed the zone would hand them tangible spoils for their suffering.
Personally, though I started out furious — firmly in the “why would they do this?” camp — I found that practice paid off. Over time my runs grew cleaner and faster, even if dying remained a frequent outcome and many successful attempts still ended with barely any health left.
Part of my early struggle came down to tackling Hunter’s March too soon. Silksong allows wide freedom of exploration, so you can wander into an area before you’ve gained key tools. I arrived without the hover ability unlocked from the Deep Docks, which makes several sections far more punishing. Hunter’s March is also optional; you can skip it entirely and still finish the game. Will that stop me from revisiting it obsessively? Of course not — but you might have better sense than I do.
In the end, expect another gauntlet somewhere later on that will make Hunter’s March look almost tame, according to players who’ve progressed deep into this devilishly crafted platformer.
Source: Polygon
