Blasphemous Review (PC)

On paper, Blasphemous is a 2D metroidvania action-platformer, but what it tries to convey to the player transcends a simple game genre. At its core, Blasphemous is a Souls-like game, and just like From Software's series, it's ruthless, punishing and brutal. It's much more gory than the likes of Salt & Sanctuary or Dark Devotion, similar action-platformers that draw inspiration from Dark Souls.

Developed by Spanish studio The Game Kitchen after being successfully funded on Kickstarter two years ago, Blasphemous borrows many game mechanics from Dark Souls and even retains the same eerie atmosphere of mystery and anguish. Don't play this game when you're stressed and just want to relax and forget about everything. “Fun” is definitely a word that shouldn't be used anywhere near Blasphemous.

And somehow the game manages to offer fans of the genre a lot of “fun” without detracting from the developer's vision. Blasphemous' setting is heavily inspired by the Spanish Catholicism and everything that you see in the game can easily be considered “blasphemy.” Religious objects are often used as weapons by contorted monsters, landscapes are populated with twisted corpses that look like they've given their last breath after horrifying torments.

The premise of the game is quite generic, a curse has fallen upon the land of Custodia and, ironically, the force responsible is called “The Miracle.” Somehow, your character, The Penitent One, manages to survive a massacre and starts his journey of penitence. And what better way to be absolved than kill the supernatural force responsible for creating physical manifestations of people's guilt throughout the land of Custodia.

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Since Blasphemous is a metroidvania game, you'll have to do a lot of backtracking on a single, giant map. Although accessing some parts of the map will require certain items, your journey to the last boss isn't blocked by such requirements. In the traditional Dark Souls style, you'll meet mysterious NPCs who will give you cryptic quests that will reward you with powerful items or access to otherwise inaccessible areas.

All NPCs are voiced in Blasphemous, a choice that really makes a difference for the overall atmosphere of the game. The sprite art-style is spot on when it comes to depicting grotesque monsters or gruesome chasms full of bodies.

Even though it belongs to a different game genre, Blasphemous borrows a lot of Dark Souls game mechanics. For example, you'll replenish life and bile flasks (small health potions) at small shrines, but once you rest here, all enemies, except bosses, will respawn. However, unlike Dark Souls game where you'll find a wide range of weapons, in Blasphemous, you'll play and upgrade a single weapon, a sword called Mea Culpa.

That doesn't mean that you won't have a couple of other types of attacks at your disposal like magic and ranged, it's just that these will require fervor, a resource The Penitent One gains every time it kills an enemy. Combat is smooth and fluid with a few exceptions like the healing animation that I found painfully long.

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Apart from that, combat can be described as fast-paced with a slash attack that can be combo-ed after three hits. A successful block can be immediately followed with a devastating counterattack or a quick execution that rewards more fervor and Tears of Atonement, the in-game currency.

Death is not as punishing as in Dark Souls game or any other souls-like game. Dying in Blasphemous will leave a Fragment of Guilt that you must recuperate if you don't want to be penalized. The guilt will prevent The Penitent One from gaining the same amount of fervor and tears, but there's another option that will allow you to get rid of the guilt. You'll have to find specific statues that will absolve your sins and remove the guilt for a certain amount of in-game currency.

Blasphemous may seem a hard game at first, but the more you play the easier it becomes. Enemies aren't hard to beat, although some bosses are quite interesting. What makes Blasphemous frustrating is the platforming aspect where some of the jumps you need to make must be perfect. No to mention that some jumps you need to make while avoiding ranged attacks from otherwise easy to beat enemies.

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The Good

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Conclusion