Before buying
🖥️ What is it on, and what does it cost?
PC (Windows, macOS, Linux), Switch, Switch 2, PS4, PS5, Xbox One and Series X|S since 4 September 2025, and on Game Pass from day one. It launched at $19.99 (€19.99), and Sea of Sorrow will be free.
📖 Do I need to have played Hollow Knight?
No. Pharloom is a new kingdom and Hornet explains herself. The last act rewards knowing Hallownest, and that is all.
⏳ How long?
Twenty-five to forty hours for an ending, more for act 3; the Speed Completion trophy exists because 100% under thirty hours is possible on an informed second file. First files take longer.
🔥 Is it as hard as they said?
It was, for a week. Patch 1 softened the two early walls and the Sandcarvers; the two-mask damage from the Citadel on is still real. It is harder than Hollow Knight and fairer than launch-week threads claimed.
Playing it
🚫 Is anything missable?
Two fights, yes: Shakra’s duel (she offers it once her Trail’s End wish is done) and Garmond & Zaza in the Whispering Vaults cannot be fought at all once act 3 begins — no rematch, black-threaded or otherwise. Everything else stays open but one ending: Twisted Child needs Greyroot’s curse still on, so curing it or reaching act 3 first loses it on that file. The other endings split at the Cradle (Silk and Soul first, or the game ends).
🎭 Which crest?
Hunter to learn, Reaper for silk against slow bosses, Wanderer for speed. The right answer changes per fight, which is why a bench lets you swap.
🧵 Why can I not heal?
Bind needs most of the spool. Hit things to fill it; Silk Hearts refill it once from empty; Multibinder makes a Bind slower but heal more.
🌊 When is Sea of Sorrow?
2026, no date, free. Team Cherry said there would be no major updates before it, and there have not been since March.
Still to verify
Cross-checked on 23 September 2026 and re-checked on 26 September 2026 against Wikipedia, the Hollow Knight Wiki, Nintendo Life’s patch coverage and boss list, Eurogamer and Vandal, and on 3 October 2026 against PC Gamer’s report of Team Cherry’s price announcement. Not from a playthrough: nobody here has played it, and what the sources do not describe is not on this page.