While its creators recently told fans they wanted it to match "the quality and scale of Hollow Knight" before announcing a release date, this week, I got to spend over 20 minutes playing through two different areas of the game, and it feels like it must be pretty close. Please?

In the sequel, you play as Hornet, a slender, faster character that mixes different skills and attacks which make Silksong feel slicker and more urgent than Hollow Knight. Hornet's abilities, which you might recall from the first game, are silk-based attacks mixed in with diagonal dives and plenty of jumping. Now, as you're in control of her, those silk abilities are tied to her life.

When she's accumulated enough silk by bashing enemies, she can treat herself to a swift health burst that heals three masks. Hollow Knight only healed a single mask after a second or so of focus -- it's probably the most obvious indicator about how the game is built around a more chaotic, thrilling play style. Recall how Doom was reinvented a few years ago: you're on the attack now, fight hard, because your life and victory depends on it.

There's a drawback to this swift recovery, however. Hornet's "Bind" healing move will consume your entire silk meter -- so don't screw it up.

My demo re-trod the parts of the game Nintendo showed off at E3: The Moss Grotto, which appears to be the start of the game, and Deep Docks. Moss Grotto feels similar to the greener parts of Hollow Knight, and acted as an opportunity to acquaint yourself to playing with a different type of character. Hornet's jumps seem more elongated and vertical, and she'll even automatically vault onto platforms she bumps into, which is a forgiving (read: welcome) change from the original game.

Deep Docks, however, threw several more skills your way (a dash ability that is continuous, rejoice!), and pitted you against trickier enemies ( the developers are promising far more enemy types) and a couple of more major antagonists.

This was what I was looking forward to. Hollow Knight's tour de force may be its boss battles: an opportunity to show how well you can control the character, and the degree of mastery you have over new moves and upgrades.