Hello and welcome back to my blog!
Hollow Knight Silksong is one of the best games I have ever played. It excels in almost all departments compared to the original Hollow Knight. So much so in visuals and combat. It took me a long time to see how the addition of the new Crest system with multiple options made the whole game much better.
That OST is one of the best OSTs in gaming, in my opinion. And one of my most loved songs is the Bilewater theme. Interesting, I hate everything else about this area. It is one of the worst areas of the map in terms of difficulty.
It is a late-game area only accessible once you have all the movement abilities. And when I accidentally found it, I was excited to explore it. But that excitement turned bad quickly because this area is filled with hazards like spikes, venom-spewing, annoying bugs and the worst of all, the maggots in the water, which get attached to you, making you unable to heal and constantly draining your silk.
And the fact that most of those dealt 2 mask shard damage, falling into the water, would mean a very hard time for you. There is a bench at the bottom of the area, which is so far down that making it back from here to up will kill you multiple times.
The Broken Bench
I remember spending half an hour trying to find another bench in this area. By some luck, I saw a sign and was so happy. I was on my last mask health with maggots crawling all over me. I quickly sat on the bench, but the damn floor broke along with the bench. Well, there goes your second bench. I died in the process of returning there and seeing if there was any other bench in the room.
That was one of the worst things that could happen to you in the game. Never mind, I was fine with this little prank until I accidentally discovered the Boss in this area.
It killed me quickly, which is not surprising in this game. That happens quite often. But this boss was on the opposite end of the map. To come here again, I had to spend 15 minutes getting there, only to die quickly. This made me very frustrated. I tried a few times before giving it up completely.
Luckily, there was an exit from this place, the place where I fell from; there was no way to go back there. But on the left is another area called The Mist.
This was even worse than the last. The platforming and enemies here were fine, but it was a puzzle. The entire room loops around if you take a wrong exit from that room. There were multiple rooms which seemed to be connected. You had no map, and your compass won't even work there.
I found no way to solve that little puzzle and was forced to go back and defeat that boss. I was thinking that I would get an item which would help me clear the next area.
Groal the Great
It was time to kill that boss. But this was no easy fight. You reach here after a 10-minute run from the bench. The fight starts with three phases of smaller flying enemies that deal a lot of damage. Only after defeating those does the boss appear.
It would still be fine if that boss were alone, but nope. There are traps in this fight. Half of the platform is filled with that maggot water. And that boss fight has more smaller minions spawning, which makes it tough.
I found a closer bench, which was very well hidden. That was such a relief, and it cut the runback time to just a couple of minutes. It took me about 7-8 attempts to kill this boss. It has an attack where it swallows you, dealing two mask shards of damage one by one. But while you are inside its mouth, you can strike it as well. I was so lucky when it swallowed me. I had two mask shards, and my last hit killed it, or I would be dead.
You can see that Hornet was inside its mouth when it died and exploded.
This fight gave the best reward possible for this place. A much-needed Bench, lol.
There should have been a lot more benches in this area. It was one of the most horrifying experiences knowing that there was no bench near you in a place which is so brutal.
The only thing that kept me going here was the soundtrack.
Let me know your thoughts about Bilewater. I hate it and love it at the same time.
Thanks for reading...
- All the content is mine unless otherwise stated.
- Screenshots are from the game, Hollow Knight: Silksong.
