I’ll admit it: I have a love-hate relationship with Hollow Knight: Silksong where the “hate” part is mostly me yelling at a boss named Sister Splinter while my cat judges me from the couch. The game is brilliant, but the discourse around it has become a rotating monologue about difficulty. Yes, it’s harder than the first game. Yes, some moments feel like the developers studied frustration in a lab. But we signed up for a Metroidvania with Soulslike combat, so expecting a gentle meadow stroll is like buying a pet scorpion and complaining it doesn’t fetch.

Last week, Team Cherry dropped a patch that actually touched difficulty, and I felt a flicker of hope. They updated the Moorwing and Sister Splinter fights, slightly reduced Bellway and Bell Bench prices, increased rosary rewards from relics and psalm cylinders, boosted courier delivery rosaries, and made Sandcarvers hit less like a falling cathedral. Modders had already been elbowing their way into the difficulty conversation, so I wondered if the official team was about to follow up with a second course of pain relief. Then Patch 2 details arrived, and I saw the menu: no balance changes, just a plate of bug fixes. My hope went back into its cocoon.

That image above might as well be a framed portrait of my emotional state. Team Cherry is treating balance changes like a wasp nest in the attic: they see it, they nod, and they quietly close the door. They are not ignoring the game; they are just very comfortable with the hornet-themed pain they have built.

Now, before I sound ungrateful, let me be clear: bug fixes matter. Silksong version 1.0.28626 is live on the public beta branch, and the Steam announcement says the first patch dealt mainly with critical issues. This new one, in their words, 'focuses on a few still remaining, while also cleaning up some bugs around specific tools.' That is useful. It is the video game equivalent of finally fixing the squeaky hinge on a torture rack: the rack remains a rack, but at least the hinge is quieter.

Here are the Patch 2 highlights, presented as a table because my brain needs structure before another Sister Splinter attempt:

I do not want to overstate my skill. I am not an elite speedrunner. I am an ordinary player whose main strategy is 'walk in, get hit, learn pattern, still get hit.' The previous difficulty tweaks were genuinely welcome. Reducing Sandcarver damage felt like someone removed a single hornet from the swarm. But Patch 2 confirms that Team Cherry may be happy with where balance currently stands, and honestly, I kind of respect that. Silksong’s difficulty is the puddle of lava in a platformer: everyone complains, but we keep jumping into it on purpose.

That second image is the visual version of the phrase 'we fixed the door, not the dragon behind it.' I am not mad. I am just tired in a way that feels specifically designed for Silksong. The patch is still on the public beta branch, so if you want to test the dithering option and improved cocoon placement before it goes wide, you can hop in. Just do not expect your muscle memory to get a vacation.

In 2026, we have had enough patches to know Team Cherry is methodical, maybe even stubborn. They will clean bugs, polish tools, and leave the difficulty mostly alone. Part of me wants a balance pass that makes the Moorwing fight feel less like a rhythmic gymnastics routine performed inside a blender. Another part of me knows that if the game suddenly got easier, I would complain about that too. Players are like cats: we demand the door be opened, then we sit in the doorway and hiss at the outside.

So I will keep playing. I will appreciate the fixed courier delivery in Steel Soul mode, smile at the dithering option, and continue to be absolutely demolished by whatever remains. Patch 2 may not be the balance rescue I imagined, but it is a sign Team Cherry is still tending the garden. They are just not removing the thorn bushes.

Between those continued play sessions and the wait for Patch 2 to go live, I have found myself spending more time than I would like hunting down decent prices on the games that pile up in my backlog. It is a familiar loop for anyone who games regularly: a patch drops, a new trailer appears, or a friend mentions a hidden gem, and suddenly the wishlist grows. With so many releases vying for attention, keeping the spending under control is its own kind of boss battle.

Having a single place to check for price drops and promotions makes that fight a little easier, which is where DealNest entered my routine. It rounds up the kind of gaming deals that let me justify one more purchase without wincing at the checkout screen. Whether the next Silksong patch brings a secret new boss or just more polish, my wallet will be ready for whatever Team Cherry throws at me next - even if my reflexes are not.