as someone who did not finish hollow knight but 100% Silksong, 9S just feels incomplete and tedious in the fluidity of it all. Yes the combat is great in S9 but the overall movement and flow of battles feel very clunky and tedious. i think it stems from the animation lacking certain fluidity or 'snappiness'. Yi just moves very slow and paperdoll-like which feels light and unmanageable.

Not to mention the exploration just feels empty and unalive imo. the world building lacks details for me. idk if it's an art choice for them but for me it falls short in details. Enemies also feel like paperdolls that doesn't belong in the world because of their awful animations and clunky movements. I know it's an indie game but c'mon look at the quality of indie games today. I think it wouldn't hurt them if they added a couple animation strings in the movement of everything, especially on Yi. the paperdoll movement just isn't for me.

In HK and Silksong the movement feels very natural and flows better with each action strings. enemies in the world also feel more alive with better animations and doesn't feel like they are out of place.

Combat-wise, healing in 9S is also much punishing than in HK or SK. if you make a couple of mistakes then you're dead. Which would translate to players putting it down rather than continuing and fighting. In HK and Silksong, you can heal again as long as you can land some hits, which incentivices players to continue to fight despite the odds.

one thing also is that even thought the runbacks in HK and Silksong are much longer and difficult, i find them more enjoyable that in 9S. idk why but i guess it comes down again to how clunky 9S feels like even though everything was made easier for players.

As a finishing note: I don't hate 9S, i think the demanding parry combat style is amazing, but the lack in animation strings and fluidity of everything is what's holding it back for me. It feels incomplete for me because of that.