Silksong Cheat Code Unlocks New Difficulty Level

Hollow Knight: Silksong has been an unsurprisingly challenging game, with online memes suggesting that the entire original Hollow Knight is a necessary tutorial to succeed in the sequel, particularly in the unforgiving early game. A popular mod has already been created to turn off double damage to ease the early difficulty curve, and now those who prefer a challenge have their own new way to play.

Hollow Knight: Silksong players, posting to sites like Reddit, have discovered a cheat code that introduces the returning difficulty level “Steel Soul” that makes death permanent for the player. The code, which is enabled by going to the extras section and entering “up down up down left right left right,” seems like it was meant to be easily discovered, given that it’s the same as the infamous “Konami code” from classic games like Contra.

Hollow Knight: Silksong’s “Steel Soul” Mode Explained

Once a player activates the sequence in the extras menu, a flash of white light accompanied by a crash sound will confirm it was entered correctly. When starting a new game, players are then given an option between “Classic,” described as the normal play mode, and “Steel Soul,” which has no reviving and warns that “death is permanent.”

Unfortunately, for players who are already struggling, there doesn’t seem to be a cheat code that makes the game easier. While gamers are used to cheat codes that effectively make them gods in a game, that isn’t an option for this particular game yet; however, there are other ways to make Hollow Knight: Silksong easier. In the original Hollow Knight, you could essentially take five hits from regular enemies in the early game. However, in Hollow Knight: Silksong, after the main character, Hornet, is robbed of her powers, beginning enemies can kill you in three hits, thanks to their dealing two masks’ worth of damage.

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I guess one way someone could try to find a happy medium while still enjoying the increased difficulty mode is by installing the “No Double Damage” Nexus mod. This way, you have reduced damage from enemies, but still have to deal with the possibility of permanent death. Personally, I feel like if you are booting up a game like Hollow Knight: Silksong, the challenge is a large chunk of the appeal. If you reduce the difficulty just to get through the game, you aren’t experiencing it fully.

Players can ignore Steel Soul mode if they want, but the game’s achievements do provide an incentive for those who want to truly test their skills. The “Steel Soul” achievement can only be earned by finishing the entire game in this mode, and the “Steel Heart” achievement is unlocked by completing a run with 100% game completion. These achievements, and the Steel Soul mode itself, were also present in the original Hollow Knight, but required the player to finish the game normally first. It’s presumably the same this time around, but there’s also a cheat to get there from the get-go.

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