As the gaming community eagerly anticipates the release of Hollow Knight: Silksong, feedback from Chinese players has revealed a stark contrast to the global reception of the title. According to a report by Eurogamer, the game has garnered a mere 42% positive review rating from nearly 20,000 users who speak Chinese, indicating a “Mixed” status that highlights significant dissatisfaction with its localization.
Localization Challenges
Players have expressed their disappointment, citing that the game’s translation fails to capture its essence. One user, Tang, articulated that the localization reads more like a wuxia novel rather than aligning with the intended tone of the game. “This isn’t about effort, but about taste and direction,” Tang noted, suggesting that the issues may stem from a fundamental mismatch in translation style that could require a complete overhaul of the translation team.
Further criticism has emerged from translation expert Loek van Kooten, who likened the Chinese dialogue to “a high-school drama club’s Elizabethan improv night.” This sentiment echoes the frustrations of many players, who have reported instances of the text devolving into incoherent gibberish. The localization team for Silksong consisted of only two translators, a stark reduction from the six credited for the original game, raising questions about the quality of the current translation.
In a twist of irony, one of the translators, Hertzz Liu, has been active on social media, sharing insights about the game. A user on the r/Silksong subreddit, Infinite-Lake-7523, even shared a screenshot of a Q&A session on the Chinese platform Tieba, where Liu hinted at a pre-Christmas release date and discussed plans for the localization. This revelation has added another layer to the ongoing conversation about the game’s translation quality.
The situation raises an important question: is it still considered a “review bomb” if players are genuinely upset over a flawed product? The current state of the Chinese translation has drawn comparisons to the infamous restoration of Ecce Homo, suggesting that the issues are not merely superficial but deeply structural. Given the extent of the feedback, it seems likely that Team Cherry will need to commit to a comprehensive reworking of the Chinese localization, though such an endeavor will undoubtedly require time and resources.
