Happy Monday, folks, and welcome to the Weekly Video Games Thread!
A month ago, I did a header themed around Hollow Knight: Silksong and wrote a largely tossed off excerpt about how the fire in the game looks nice. I pretty much always write excerpts that way, very quick and unimportant. However, there was a bit of mild confusion over it, I promised to turn it into an actual prompt, and, well, at 2:00PM yesterday I received an email that I had scheduled for myself the afternoon of that very Games Thread. I try not to build consecutive headers around the same topic, so this was sent with the assumption that by October, I’d have referenced plenty of games that weren’t Australian bug Metroidvanias (which was true; my topics after that were centered around Banjo-Kazooie, Donkey Kong Bananza: DK Island & Emerald Rush, Hades II, Age of Mythology: Heavenly Spear, and Mario Kart World. Go me). But, it’s October, I’ve got one more Games Thread to do a Halloween prompt, let’s do this.
By this point, it’s pretty well understood that Hollow Knight: Silksong began as DLC for the original Hollow Knight. The game had a lava level that was cut during development (I think it was absorbed into Deepnest?), the Kickstarter had promised a bonus mode, so combining the two was probably sensible from both a creative and marketing perspective. When it was spun off into its own game, the lava level came with it, but it didn’t just hang along; it became arguably the most important kind of biome. Lava is everywhere in Silksong‘s world. It’s most notable in Deep Docks, but it’s also in The Marrow and Far Fields, all levels that act as the bedrock for the 2D level design. Lava is found in the Underworks, where Hornet gets her iconic Clawline power. And many enemies spew fire, which deals an almost universal double damage. That’s less memorable now, goddamn everything does double damage, but between lava, superheated steam, and fire attacks from enemies, flame is one of the most prominent and consistent threats Hornet will find across Pharloom.
Many enemies in Hollow Knight could attack with a strange orange acid. It was part of the lore, and something that you’d increasingly find as you went deeper into the world. But it wasn’t fire. What’s more, there isn’t a red-themed area in the game. Crystal Peak is pink, Deepnest is black and blue-tinted, Fungal Wastes is brown and orange, Greenpath is… well, you know. It’s a rare omission from a game that used color as an indicator of location really, really well. But in Silksong, even though color is slightly toned down due to the abundance of metal and brass, the red is everywhere. There are the red thorns of Hunter’s March, red bosses like Father of the Flame and Troppio, Hornet’s red cloak, and fire. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that the title card, the logo, the promotional material repeatedly emphasizes Hornet in front of a mysterious flame. Or, for that matter, that the fire graphics are as strong as they are. Whether it’s as a physical object or a flame effect, Silksong is very invested in pushing this specific graphic, more than its water or snow or whatever modifier we’re using to describe the water in Sinner’s Road and Bilewater. Fire matters to this game, a lot.
So… what does the fire mean in Silksong? I guess, metaphorically—because its gameplay role seems fairly obvious—it has a few potential meanings. Fire is often associated with wild destruction, and that’s a fate that Pharloom has suffered. This very austere, Catholic-coded world is full of harsh metal surfaces and steampunk technology, so the barely controllable and largely uncontrolled lava feels symbolic of the kingdom’s disrepair. It helps that the fire here typically comes from underground, like steam vents or lava rivers, which brings to mind an image of the earth itself attacking the land. But it could also be an association with Hornet herself. Like, yeah, it’s killing her again and again because this game is at times way too cruel, but she’s also busting through this land and destroying what’s left of its power. Given that the plot involves her being captured by the kingdom only to turn her needle on it, there’s a potential reading of both character and obstacle and representing Pharloom’s ultimate and perhaps inevitable inability to hold. Which I guess makes the Act I ending feels just slightly less satisfying?
Okay, I gotta find a prompt to work with in this. And I think it’s this: what is your favorite depiction of fire, physical or metaphorical or narrative, in a video game? This could be a purely aesthetic response, or a discussion of fire as a mechanic, or something more metaphorically strong. To be honest, I’m not sure how much I’d back any of my readings for this one, but I’d like to see some from you.
And, as always, what did you play this weekend?