Hollow Knight: Silksong is out now, and seems like it’s pretty good so far if our review-in-progress is any indication. But it commits one terrible, unforgiveable sin: Silksong won’t let players pet the dang dog-er, well, the bug that’s like a dog.
Warning: Spoilers for the first few hours of Hollow Knight: Silksong follow. Everything we discuss below can be found very early in the game, in the first two areas you visit.
If you’re still wondering who or what the “dog” is, I’m referring to the Bell Beast, one of Silksong’s earliest bosses and, once defeated, your permanent fast travel buddy. The Bell Beast is encountered early in the game in The Marrow, trapped within enormous silk webs. You need to unlock the Silk Spear to free it, and once you do, a fight will ensue. We’ve got a whole guide on this guy if you’re having trouble finding or defeating him, so make sure to check that out.
Once you beat the Bell Beast, it becomes docile, and you can summon it at any fast travel station to have it take you to any other station in Pharloom. That in itself is helpful enough, but the absolute best thing about the Bell Beast is how it basically acts like a big puppy whenever it sees you. It’ll dig around in the bells beneath its feet, react excitedly when you ring the bells above its head, and genuinely just gives off enormous puppy energy.
But Hornet can’t pet it. And fans really feel like they should be able to! Here’s a gallery of a lot of community members agreeing with me – they’re all spoiler-tagged due to the Silksong subreddit’s current spoiler rules, but I promise, it’s all just a bunch of cute images of the Bell Beast.
Just look at that baby!! It deserves all the scritches and cuddles! Please, Team Cherry, give us a pet action on the Bell Beast. B.B. has earned it…and we have too.
Hollow Knight: Silksong is out now, and we’re hard at work on our Wiki guides of everything you might possibly want to know as you start your adventures in Pharloom. We’ve also got a review-in-progress covering our thoughts so far that we’ll update with a score as soon as we’ve finished the game.
Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. You can find her posting on BlueSky @duckvalentine.bsky.social. Got a story tip? Send it to rvalentine@ign.com.
