One of the reasons Hollow Knight: Silksongs developers got to have so much fun making it despite taking 6 years is that it's a 2D game
They yearn for the PS1 sidescroller

Despite feeling like the day would never come Hollow Knight: Silksong is finally coming out on September 4. During the six-years since it was announced Team Cherry wasn't exactly the most talkative, with the game going completely silent for extended periods of time often. So while I (One of the many who just started playing Hollow Knight after the announcement) didn't have much riding on the release date, the release of a tell-all Bloomberg report coming alongside that date was exciting to me.
And perhaps the best part of that report was the news that there was no development hell. It was just a group of developers having fun making a game while not feeling the pressure from the wild fanbase. And according to Bloomberg reporter Jason Schrier there was a detail that was left out of the story that was crucial to them having a good time.
In a post on BlueSky, Schrier noted that while it wasn't mentioned in the big report, "one of the reasons that Team Cherry had such an enjoyable time making Silksong is that it's 2D. Nice and flat. Don't have to worry about 3D art pipelines." Schrier added, "In other words, all video games should be 2D."
Outside of handheld gaming where it was still prevalent, the early era of Indie games felt responsible for the return of 2D gaming to consoles, picking up where we left off after the 32 and 64 bit era went all-in on 3D. Now we're at the point where there's a wealth of excellent 2D games releasing regularly, with vastly different styles. As the old adage goes, "I want shorter games with worse graphics made by people who are paid more to work less."
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Scott has been freelancing for over three years across a number of different gaming publications, first appearing on GamesRadar+ in 2024. He has also written for the likes of PC Gamer, Eurogamer, VG247, Play, TechRadar, and others. He's typically rambling about Metal Gear Solid, God Hand, or any other PS2-era titles that rarely (if ever) get sequels.
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