After an agonizingly long wait, Team Cherry’s latest effort, 'Hollow Knight: Silksong' (hereinafter Silksong), has finally arrived. While the game has racked up over 500,000 Concurrent Players on Steam and earned widespread acclaim, a wave of negative feedback from Simplified Chinese users is creating quite the stir.

As of 11:00 AM on September 5th, just 12 hours post-launch, Silksong had already amassed over 24,500 reviews on Steam, sitting comfortably with a 'Very Positive' rating. Across the board, 91% of players are singing its praises. Notably, the Korean user base seems particularly enamoured, with a 95% positive rating reflecting high levels of satisfaction.

However, in a sharp contrast to the global enthusiasm, the sentiment among Simplified Chinese users is currently stuck at 'Mixed'. Roughly 45% of these players have left negative reviews, and the culprit is none other than a 'dreadful translation'. According to the players, this goes beyond mere gripes about quality; they argue it genuinely ruins the entire experience.

The Chinese-speaking community has highlighted three primary issues. First, the tone is described as far too archaic, constantly shattering immersion. Many have criticised the text for trying to imitate ancient Chinese, only to end up with awkward, nonsensical phrasing. Some even went as far as to say that the prose reads like it was written by someone suffering from a severe case of 'chuunibyou'.

The second issue is the prevalence of mistranslations and errors. Many players noted that the sentences are often impossible to decipher, with some claiming, "machine translation would be better than this," or even suggesting that playing in English is easier to understand. The third point of contention is the UI and font design, with users complaining that the font choice feels completely out of place and degrades the game's overall visual polish.

Translation woes aside, even the Chinese players acknowledge the game's inherent quality and charm. They have been quick to praise the title for successfully inheriting the unique style of its predecessor, while delivering even more detailed, beautiful graphics and fluid character animations. Furthermore, the mobility offered by Hornet’s new moves and skills has been a hit, making map exploration feel faster and more seamless than ever.

The general consensus remains overwhelmingly positive. Many players have pointed out that the game is priced quite competitively, offering fantastic value. The inventive combat and item systems, paired with a stellar soundtrack and sound design, have been credited with deepening immersion. The improved navigation and map design are also getting high marks for smoothing out the journey, with many noting that the craftsmanship and attention to detail from the developers are evident throughout. Finally, while the high difficulty might be a hurdle for newcomers, veteran fans of the series seem to find it a refreshing challenge that makes the experience all the more rewarding.

That said, some players have raised valid concerns. Issues such as the clunkiness of diagonal attacks, a lack of progression elements, and the high health and damage output of enemies have been noted. Additionally, some have pointed out that the healing system feels more punishing than the previous title, and the split currency system forces a level of repetitive grinding that some find rather tiresome.

Meanwhile, the launch day was marred by chaos as the sheer volume of eager players caused Steam servers to buckle. This led to frustrating hurdles for many, with some forced to wait for hours just to purchase the game, leading to a fair share of vocal complaints.