Stylish New Steam Game Is Perfect For People Waiting For Hollow Knight: Silksong

Summary Nine Sols is a new Metroidvania that could be a great Silksong alternative.

Sekiro-inspired combat in a 2D setting shakes up the formula.

Nine Sols isn't a clone, introducing its own ideas that distinguish it from Hollow Knight and Sekiro.

The wait for Hollow Knight: Silksong can be a frustrating one, but a new indie game on Steam could be the perfect option to scratch a similar itch. Hollow Knight isn't the most revolutionary of great games, standing out more due to how thoroughly it refined aspects of the Metroidvania genre with an incredibly polished and compelling execution. Although it's easy to find titles that fit into a similar vogue, it's hard to find ones that deliver those ideas in a way that's as compelling as Hollow Knight.

Enter Nine Sols, a 2D action platformer that looks promising on a lot of levels. A quick glance at its Steam page reveals detailed art and atmospheric lighting that could easily appeal to the sensibilities of Hollow Knight fans while very much feeling like a different approach. There's more to the game than just its looks, however, and the finer details might be what could make it both a perfect Silksong appetizer and an interesting game in its own right.

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Nine Sols Brings Sekiro Deflection To 2D Gameplay

Aggressive Action In A Metroidvania Setting

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There's one inspiration that Nine Sols isn't shy about, citing Sekiro's challenging deflection system as a model for how its 2D combat works. Often compared to a rhythm game, Sekiro ignores the versatility of combat found in other FromSoftware games like Dark Souls in favor of battles where split-second timing is everything. It's possible to take down some bosses in Sekiro by chipping through their health bars, but the best way to deal with most lies in perfectly parrying attacks until an enemy's posture breaks, setting the stage for powerful finishing blows.

Nine Sols officially releases on May 9, 2024.

Sekiro's system isn't something that's often seen elsewhere, perhaps in part because of the high degree of precision required to execute it well. If Nine Sols can meet that standard, it could give the game a real edge. Hollow Knight is essentially a pitch-perfect Metroidvania rendition of Dark Souls gameplay ideals, and moving on to Sekiro's style could be a more interesting progression than other games sticking to the Soulslike formula. It also feels like a natural evolution of Hollow Knight's own streamlining, which ignores leveling and features limited options for equipment in a way that's incidentally similar to Sekiro.

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Nine Sols Isn't A Hollow Knight Or Sekiro Clone

Unique Combat Twists & A Strong Aesthetic Stand Out

Nine Sols is also its own beast, as giving the demo a spin quickly reveals. Deflecting isn't about breaking posture but about building up Chi to deliver more powerful special attacks. It's a system that can feel even more hyper-aggressive than Sekiro's, and dashing around chambers of enemies while blowing them apart is a complex dance that takes some getting used to. Complimenting the combat is a focus on platforming, with aerial acrobatics and obstacle-laden rooms that might build to something like Celeste's high-precision challenges.

Deflecting even easy enemies can be useful in Nine Sols, making it easier to have a supply of Chi on hand for challenging foes.

All of this action is centered in an Asian fantasy setting, which the Taiwanese developer Red Candle Games deems "Taopunk." There's more of a sci-fi bent to Nine Sols than Hollow Knight's crumbling, low-tech environs, but it's a fusion that feels as organic as it does futuristic. Within this world, a hero called Yi takes on the challenge of defeating the titular nine Sols​​​​​​, who lord over a corrupt realm, with an emerging story told through the piecemeal progression of Hollow Knight and a helping of manga-style paneled cutscenes.

Although the demo is a largely linear experience, Nine Sols promises a setting that opens up into "interconnected regions" filled with inhabitants who can offer new upgrades and abilities. Assuming that regions are gated in part by a variety of unique unlocks, this certainly sounds like the Metroidvania formula that Hollow Knight employs. Promotional material for the game showcases a strong variety of aesthetics and layouts for different areas, although everything is definitely united through a consistent design language.

No game is going to be as direct of a Hollow Knight follow-up as Silksong should be, but Nine Sols certainly seems like it could offer an interesting pivot. There's enough here that's the same for the game to feel immediately welcoming, but it's in no way a clone of Hollow Knight, Sekiro, or anything else on the market. If the lack of a Hollow Knight: Silksong release date is starting to chafe, grabbing Nine Sols on Steam might make the wait a lot easier.

Source: Steam