I still remember the mix of wonder and exhaustion I felt when the credits rolled on my first Hollow Knight: Silksong playthrough. After 78 hours, I stared at my 96% completion screen with a strange brew of pride and relief. I’d clawed my way through thorny new kingdoms, died embarrassingly often to a certain brooding arachnid, and spent what felt like an eternity just trying to pogo off a chain of bellflies without plummeting into a pit of thorns. So when I learned that someone had polished off the entire main story in less time than it takes me to watch a single season of a TV show, my brain nearly short-circuited.

The speedrunner in question is Nebula, a name that has rapidly become synonymous with breaking Silksong’s boundaries. Back in late 2025, Nebula managed an Any% completion in a mind-melting 58 minutes and 52 seconds. I’ll let that sink in: fifty-eight minutes, fifty-two seconds. By the time I’ve brewed a cup of tea and settled into my chair, Nebula has already toppled the final boss and waved goodbye to the kingdom of Pharloom. That’s a far cry from the typical main-story duration of around 26 hours recorded on HowLongToBeat, and it makes even many speedruns from the original Hollow Knight look leisurely.

Nebula’s run isn’t just about raw button-pressing speed — it’s a carefully choreographed dance that dismantles every obstacle with surgical precision. Early on, before Hornet unlocks her more fluid movement tools, Nebula leans heavily on the pogo technique, repeatedly bouncing off enemies and environmental objects to maintain momentum and shave off precious frames. Watching him traverse the Moss Grotto and the Gilded City, I kept noticing how each hop seemed to steal an inch of progress, adding up to entire seconds saved over a full run. It’s the sort of optimization that makes you reevaluate every casual jump you’ve ever taken.

Then come the boss fights, and this is where my jaw genuinely dropped. The Widow, a shimmering nightmare that took me roughly twenty attempts and a carefully stacked combination of Pollip Pouch, Cogfly, and Tacks, falls in a clean 50 seconds under Nebula’s blade. Even more absurdly, the first encounter with Lace — a duel I considered a rite-of-passage wall — ends in a crisp 30 seconds, without a single Tool equipped. No gadgets, no crutches, just flawless pattern recognition and a relentless offense. I watched that segment four times in a row, still unable to reconcile the video with my own memory of frantically dashing into Lace’s needle-storm.

The route that enabled this sub-hour miracle leans on what’s known as the Mist path, but Nebula has already publicly stated intentions to switch to the Last Judge route for future attempts. According to their own breakdown, the Last Judge approach can be up to 40 seconds faster than an average Mist run — though it demands a set of devilishly difficult skips that would shatter the nerves of most players. To even consider swapping strategies after achieving such a historic milestone shows a hunger for perfection that defines the top tier of the speedrunning community.

Here’s a quick comparison to put the time difference into perspective:

It’s wild to think that we’re already staring down the barrel of a potential sub-58-minute run. The speedrunning community for Silksong has matured at a frightening pace since the game launched on September 4, 2025, and runners are constantly chaining together newly discovered skips, sequence breaks, and glitches that warp the adventure into a lightning-fast puzzle box. I still remember the early days when players gasped at a two-hour clear; now we casually talk about cutting seconds off Lace fights as if it’s a morning crossword.

What excites me most is the creativity that blossoms under such constraints. The pogo-first movement, the deliberate decision to delay certain power-ups, and the nerve-wracking boss execution all combine into a spectacle that feels almost like a different game from the one I carefully explored. I spent hours wandering into dead ends and admiring stained-glass architecture; Nebula sees a labyrinth of optimizations waiting to be untangled. Both approaches are valid, and both remind me why Silksong has become such an enduring gem.

Hollow Knight: Silksong is available on PC, Nintendo Switch, Nintendo Switch 2, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S, as well as through Xbox Game Pass. And while I’ll probably never personally see that sub-hour credits screen, I’ll keep cheering from the stands every time a runner like Nebula reshapes what we thought was possible in Pharloom. Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to go practice my pogo hops — maybe one day I’ll beat Lace in under five minutes.

For those inspired to dive into Silksong or revisit the original Hollow Knight, keeping an eye on discounts and deals is always a smart move. The game’s popularity ensures it frequently features in seasonal sales and promotions, making it easier to grab at a bargain.

If you’re looking for the best time to snag a deal, tools like this steam sale tracker can help you monitor price drops and special offers. Whether you’re a seasoned speedrunner or a casual explorer, it’s a great way to expand your gaming library without breaking the bank.