After being announced more than 6 years ago, Team Cherry’s long-delayed Metroidvania, Hollow Knight: Silksong, is finally supposed to launch within the next few months. While a lot of Hollow Knight fans can’t contain their excitement for the game anymore, others are a bit more skeptical of the title. The hype for the game, some have argued, is so high at this point, that it will never be able to live up to fan expectations. Hollow Knight: Silksong is, indeed, the most anticipated indie title in recent memory, so if it doesn’t knock players’ socks off, it may potentially be viewed as a disappointment in the long run.
Although the jury is still out on whether Hollow Knight: Silksong will be everything that fans dreamed of, it at least seems that Team Cherry isn’t resting on its laurels with the game. As the company revealed several years ago, Silksong is going to have a much more expansive scope than its predecessor. The game will not only feature several side quests and a larger game world, it will also contain improved movement mechanics and over 150 new enemies to defeat in Silksong. While Team Cherry’s ambition for Silksong is commendable, there is one area from the original Hollow Knight that the company will never be able to surpass, at least lore-wise.
In the easternmost area of Hallownest, the kingdom that the original Hollow Knight is set in, players can come across a place called Kingdom’s Edge. This area of the game, which is inhabited by bosses like the Hornet Sentinel and Markoth, can easily be recognized by its colossal cliffs, pale color palette, and lack of vegetation. Kingdom’s Edge is connected to several notable locations, such as The Hive and the City of Tears, but its most unique point of interest is arguably the Colosseum of Fools.
Located right at the very top of Kingdom’s Edge, the Colosseum of Fools is a place where players can test their combat skills by facing off against three waves of enemies in front of a live audience. As players progress through the Colosseum’s trials, each of them becomes gradually more difficult than the last. The first of these three trials, the Trial of the Warrior, can be completed pretty easily by a seasoned Hollow Knight fan, but the final one, the Trial of the Fool, is so absurdly difficult that many have been unable to finish it. If players manage to beat the trials that the Colosseum of Fools has to offer, they can earn a lot of Geo as a reward.
Aside from being one of the most unique locations in the original game, what makes the Hollow Knight‘s Colosseum of Fools particularly notable is its relevance in the game’s world. According to Hollow Knight‘s official manual, the Colosseum of Fools is the number one destination for bugs and beasts who are looking to make a name for themselves. The strongest warriors from all over the world have competed in the arena in an attempt to take the title of champion of the Colosseum, but the majority of them have failed to do so. The corpses of those who are defeated at the Colosseum of Fools are unceremoniously thrown into the chasm below it.
Since the Colosseum of Fools is supposed to be the most significant and deadly place of its kind in the world of Hollow Knight, it is implied that there are no other coliseums like it in either Hallownest or its surrounding kingdoms. Therefore, Hollow Knight: Silksong — which takes place in the all-new kingdom of Pharloom — cannot contain any coliseums that are as challenging or as dangerous as the one in Hollow Knight. Otherwise, the inclusion of such an arena would neither make sense from a continuity standpoint nor fit the storyline of the two games.
Some players can get a taste of the game via two Silksong demo opportunities: one at Gamescom later this month, and one at Australia’s ACMI Museum in September.
2025
Team Cherry
Team Cherry
Unity
Hollow Knight
