Are you finding Hollow Knight: Silksong too easy? Did you clock it already and fancy a new challenge? Probably not, but developer Team Cherry has you covered anyway.
It turns out the game features a hidden hard mode of sorts. Steel Soul is a hardcore permadeath mode that locks you out of your save file after a single death. “No reviving. Death is permanent,” reads the description.
Steel Soul mode was present in the original Hollow Knight and unlocked after beating the game once. But Team Cherry has included a secret method to unlock Silksong‘s Steel Soul mode at any point, as fans discovered almost immediately after the game’s launch.
To unlock Steel Soul mode in Silksong, select the Extras option on the main menu. Then, when on the Extras screen, enter these commands: up, down, up, down, left, right, left, right (which is similar to, but not quite, the famous Konami code). A flash and a thudding sound will let you know the code has been recognized.
Then, when selecting a fresh game file and starting a new game, you’ll be offered a choice between Classic and Steel Soul. If you die in a Steel Soul run, the save file will be marked as “Defeated.” Select it and you’re given the option to clear the file and start again.
It’s a simple enough mode, but given the game’s already notorious difficulty (which Team Cherry has already pledged to tone down slightly), it’s a monumental challenge for anyone hardy enough.
