Beloved horror devs' new soulslike and Metroidvania mashup Nine Sols is proving a welcome distraction for Silksong hopefuls: "My dream was Hollow Knight but CAT and it came true"

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Nine Sols is a hit with players on Steam

Nine Sols
(Image credit: Red Candle Games)

Nine Sols, a brand new Metroidvania from the developer of Detention and Devotion, is giving Hollow Knight fans a real treat as they whittle away the hours waiting for Silksong.

Released last week, Nine Sols already stands proud with an average Steam user review rating of 'Very Positive' after more than 2,200 reviews. It's a hand-drawn 2D action-platformer Metroidvania, infused with the DNA of FromSoftware's superb Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, and we absolutely adored it in our full Nine Sols review, rewarding it with a four out of five score.

Interestingly, it looks like fans of Hollow Knight are loving Nine Sols. "My dream was Hollow Knight but CAT and it came true," writes one positive user review, adding that their "potato PC" runs it smoothly. "Sekiro, but Metroidvania!" adds another user review, while another writes simply: "Reject Silksong. Embrace Nine Sols." Damn, that's glowing praise.

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"Hollow Knight meets Sekiro, all wrapped in fantastic animations and art direction. Crowned with an excellent soundtrack and story too. An absolute joy to experience and explore," writes another user review. That same player adds that Nine Sols does a great job of letting you run loose with abilities and teaching you how to use them throughout its Metroidvania environments.

This is no doubt brilliant news for those who've got a little fed up of waiting for Team Cherry's Hollow Knight Silksong to eventually appear from hibernation. Silksong was meant to be playable in the first half of 2023, and since then we've heard scant news about the anticipated Metroidvania sequel, except from the fact that it was very obviously delayed. 

Nine Sols is only on PC right now, but there's good news for those who have a potato PC. Red Candle Games wrote on Twitter yesterday that it would continue to "optimize the game," plus work on console ports, so Nine Sols' excellence is bound for new platforms in the near future.

Read up on our Summer Game Fest 2024 schedule guide for a look over all the new showcases at which Silksong probably won't appear.

Hirun Cryer
Hirun Cryer
Freelance Writer

Hirun Cryer is a freelance reporter and writer with Gamesradar+ based out of U.K. After earning a degree in American History specializing in journalism, cinema, literature, and history, he stepped into the games writing world, with a focus on shooters, indie games, and RPGs, and has since been the recipient of the MCV 30 Under 30 award for 2021. In his spare time he freelances with other outlets around the industry, practices Japanese, and enjoys contemporary manga and anime.