Two monumental games, millions of players, and a shared philosophy that elevates sorrow into sublime beauty.
As soon as Hollow Knight: Silksong came out in September, it was compared to Elden Ring by FromSoftware. Both games were eagerly anticipated, but they were both delayed, and there was a lot of discussion about them online. Both were huge hits right away—Silksong sold more than 5 million copies in its first week, and Elden Ring solidified FromSoftware’s rise from niche fame to popular fame.
Players need to be skilled, patient, and creative to win both games. However, the similarities extend beyond the difficulty or gameplay mechanics. The aesthetic and philosophical heart of these books is what ties them together. The main idea behind both Silksong and Elden Ring is the concept of beauty. Not a pretty, polished beauty, but a beauty that is mixed with death, tragedy, and sadness.
These games force you to confront loss, difficulty, and the fact that greatness is fleeting, highlighting how these challenges make beauty more profound. This way of thinking is shown by the trip to the city of Lindell in Elden Ring. Players travel through large areas, such as Limbgrave, past Stormveil Castle, through Liurnia’s bogs, and up to the Altus Plateau. The city itself, though, is hard to find—a dream of grandeur.
A fearsome knight stands guard at the entrance, and the player must defeat the demigods to prove their worth. Outside, visitors bang on locked gates, war debris lies in the streets, and abandoned siege machines lie in wait. But the city is beautiful. Its Roman-Byzantine architecture evokes thoughts of political and military power, while its emptiness suggests a sense of tragedy, illustrating how power and ruin can often coexist.
An empire brought to its knees, but its fall was stunning.
Similarly, Silksong portrays the cruel and perilous world of Pharloom. Players take control of Hornet, the main character, who has been captured by religious extremists who want to bring her to the Citadel. Initially, Pharloom is very cruel, adhering to the animal kingdom’s theory of “kill or be killed.”
As Hornet rises through the area, she learns about the strict theocracy and the hard work its people must do. The Citadel, the highest point of the trip, is just like Lindell: it is beautiful, ornate, quiet, and imposing. Hornet faces almost insurmountable obstacles along the way, culminating in a final fight that brings the fortress to life with music, battle, and the haunting animation of the dead.
Hidetaka Miyazaki, who directed Dark Souls, said in his design theory that tragedy is necessary for beauty. Both cities are great examples of this. During a design interview, Miyazaki rejected ideas that focused solely on blood or fear.
He told them to show instead “the deep sorrow of a magnificent beast doomed to a slow and possibly endless descent into ruin.” This idea is evident in both Silksong and Elden Ring, where players are drawn to captivating worlds that resonate emotionally due to their themes of death, decay, and cruelty.
The cruel world from different perspectives.
This way of thinking affects both the games and the story. The silence and destruction of the city of Lindell in Elden Ring evoke pity, thought, and amazement in the player. In Silksong, the awakening of the Citadel through music and battle reveals a world that is both frightening and beautiful.
It is impossible to separate beauty from sorrow in both cases. The games show that a world that is perfect and has no problems lacks sufficient depth to create an emotional impact that lasts. Miyazaki’s view on game design is rooted in a highly humanistic perspective. Both games are about being brave, having faith, being with others, and being strong when things go wrong.
From the bravery of the pilgrims in Elden Ring to Hornet’s fight against the Pharloom theocracy, the player sees how sadness can make even the most beautiful human events even more poignant. Nature reclaiming broken-down human structures, acts of kindness amidst cruelty, and brief moments of victory all contribute to a poignancy that transcends simple storytelling.
Games that explore the inherent dark, sad, and challenging aspects of being human.
In the end, Silksong and Elden Ring are more than just hard games. They examine the complex relationship between beauty and pain. These worlds are even more beautiful because they are falling apart; the architecture and landscapes are more meaningful in their absence of life, and there are signs of war.
By doing this, they provide people with experiences that are at once beautiful, emotional, and philosophical, and they prompt them to reflect on what beauty truly means. These two games stand out in a world full of games that look great but fail to evoke any emotional response. They tell musicians that beauty isn’t just about being perfect; it’s also about how it makes you feel.
It’s being able to deeply feel something when bad things happen. Silk Song and Elden Ring don’t hide from how bad things are in their worlds. Instead, they welcome them, making experiences where sadness and death make every moment of triumph, awe, and wonder more powerful.
Deeply humanistic, but set in mythical and fantastical worlds.
You can acquire this knowledge regardless of whether you are strolling through the peaceful streets of Lindell or actively battling your way through the Citadel.
As is the case in real life, the most unforgettable moments in video games are those in which beauty emerges from adversity, where the sublime and the sad coexist, and in which success is more satisfying due to the weight of the battle. You are not only able to see beauty in Silksong and Elden Ring, but you are also able to experience it.
