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According to the in-game counter, I've spent around 50 hours playing Blasphemous 2 for this review. Sadly, I didn't get the chance to play the first game (albeit, I'm quite familiar with it) so I didn't really know what to expect from this action-platformer from developer The Game Kitchen and publisher Team 17.
The truth is, I think Blasphemous 2 absolutely deserves all the praise it can get. This is an outstanding video game, an instant classic that feels so modern yet so nostalgic. With a grotesque world that is dripping with style, twisted characters and stories and truly enjoyable combat, Blasphemous 2's only sin is that it eventually ends, leaving you wanting more of this incredible experience.
STORY
Just like its older brother, Blasphemous 2's story is heavily committed to eerie religious themes, with the story of the omnipotent being called The Miracle watching over the world of Cvstodia. The Miracle is also present in the first game, known to punish the people of Cvstodia for their sins by turning them into bizarre creatures but also reward them with blessings.
Blasphemous 2 does a wonderful job of balancing the image of The Miracle so the player never has a clear-cut answer to whether this force is neutral, good or just purely sadistic. The question as to why is this mysterious entity allowing certain things to happen or why is it instrumenting pain and suffering is undoubtedly connected to humanity's struggles to understand its own creator and its mysterious ways.
Blasphemous 2's story kicks off when our silent metal mask protagonist, The Penitent One is revived and asked to stop The Miracle from giving birth to a new child. Without asking any questions, The Penitent One embarks on an adventure of life and death, travelling across numerous regions, from deep tombs, caliginous forests, and epic castles to nightmarish environments packed with traps and monstrosities that have only one goal - to stop the Penitent One from fulfilling the important quest.
On your journey, you'll meet various characters with tragic and dark fates and many of these will have such impactful stories to tell that you'll have a hard time deciding whether or not you're disgusted or fascinated by the lengths they'd go through to save their loved ones.
As you progress through the story and beat bosses, the game will use gorgeous cutscenes and a captivating narrative to explain the background of The Miracle and the events that occurred before the Penitent One was reborn.
You'll learn about the Cvstodians and their desperate acts and how the Miracle, which was once this glowing light in the hearts of the citizens of Cvstodia, seemingly lost its way and became unrecognisable in the process.
The story itself is wonderfully laid out and keeps its mysterious plot under wraps right until the very end. I'd say that it's easier to follow than some other soul-likes, especially if you love reading all the lore behind items, which gives a much-needed context to the world and the characters. To avoid spoiling things, I'll refrain from telling you additional story details but there are many surprises here for the fans of the first game.
GAMEPLAY
Blasphemous 2 is a 2D platformer so one would probably think that such design inherently limits the scope of the gameplay complexity and depth. However, that couldn't be farther from the truth as Blasphemous 2 offers enough depth and engaging mechanics to keep you immersed for many, many hours.
Weapons, combat and enemies
One of the biggest changes when compared to the original Blasphemous is the introduction of three new weapons - the greatsword Ruego Al Alba, the powerful flail Veredicto and the rapier/dagger combination Sarmiento and Centella.
All of these weapons have unique combat techniques called Weapon Memories, which you unlock by collecting Mark of Martyrdom across Cvstodia. The game will also reward you with these valuable tokens as you slay enemies.
Each weapon is also designed to offer a different combat experience. The greatsword is the most balanced of the three, offering speed, defence and power. Once charged up, you can cover it with your own blood for a small price of your health, to unleash a series of devastating attacks called Blood Pact. With a couple of upgrades, Blood Pact will even heal you as you strike enemies, which can often be a difference between life and death in boss fights.
Veredicto on the other hand is all about slaming your enemies into the ground with powerful blows and controlling the space between yourself and some bigger enemies thanks to the long reach and wide arc attack of this weapon. Veredicto is also great for stunning enemies making it perfect for crowd control. When fully charged and buffed with fire damage, Veredicto is like a potential nuke in your hands.
The rapier and dagger combination is fast and has the shortest attack time, meaning it's perfect for those who love swift hit-and-dash action. While Sarmiento and Centella have the weakest raw damage of the three, their speed compensates for that, making this one the most fun to use, especially once you power it up with lightning damage.
All three weapons also have extra use in traversal, as each has its unique ability to activate certain platforms, teleport short distances and break otherwise unbreakable obstacles. Combined with other traversal skills that we'll talk about shortly, this creates fantastic puzzle-solving moments that require skilful hands and precision.
The combat in Blasphemous 2 is truly excellent even though it may feel a bit too simple at first when you have only one weapon at your disposal. You can parry some attacks and dash through others while double jump and aerial dash will help you overcome some bigger guys wandering around Cvstodia.
The variety of enemies is astonishing in Blasphemous 2. You'll fight all sorts of monstrosities - from annoying little creatures that attack with lightning speed, skeletons with candle holders that hit like a truck to giants that spew large lines of fire, poison and other elemental damage, Blasphemous 2 has it all.
Certain enemy types also have additional variations that are more deadly, so you may find a fire giant an easier target than a giant who cast lighting spells.
Boss fights
Obviously, the true stars of Blasphemous 2's combat are boss battles, which introduce formidable foes that strike much harder and faster than regular enemies.
Blasphemous 2 has a total of eleven main bosses and you have to fight them all to beat the game. There are no optional bosses here, which is a shame as I've really expected to find some massive monstrosities waiting for me in some cave or forest that I randomly discovered.
Each boss is uniquely designed with their own set of attacks and skills. There are a few bosses that use the same spell or a variation of other spells but for the most part, bosses have their own combat identity and moveset.
The game does a fantastic job of balancing bosses and having a consistent difficulty curve throughout the story so you won't stumble upon an extremely difficult boss right at the beginning of the game. Each boss feels just a bit harder than the previous one, which is a great design in my opinion.
Quick Verses and Chants
As you attack enemies, you'll fill up your Fervour (mana) bar, allowing you to cast various Prayers, which is Blasphemous 2's fancy word for spells.
The spells are separated into two categories - standard spells called Quick Verses and ultimate spells that cost half your Fervour bar called Chants.
There are a total of eight Quick Verses and nine Chants in Blasphemous 2, including the one that is more like a utility spell, allowing you to fast travel back to the city.
Quick Verses allow you to cast things like magical boomerang-like discs, a torrent of flames, a bolt of electricity or a barrage of flying sharp blades that are great for dealing damage from a distance.
Chants on the other hand can be used to completely obliterate several enemies with massive light beams, spawn a guardian that fights by your side or light up the earth with fire damage.
Every Prayer in Blasphemous 2 is unique and adds plenty of depth to the combat experience, especially later in the game when you discover the majority of spells.
Death
While you'll feel almost unstoppable by the time you reach the final boss if you upgrade your weapons, mana and health and unlock powerful perks, Blasphemous 2 is still a challenging game where you'll die a lot. However, I was surprised to discover that the punishment for dying in Blasphemous 2 isn't as severe as in, let's say Dark Souls games.
You won't lose your hard-earned "souls", which are called Martydrom Points, upon dying. Instead, you'll accumulate guilt, which will slowly start corrupting your Fervour bar, limiting your spell-casting ability.
You can remove the corruption by retrieving your spirit from the place you died or visiting a confessor and paying him a small price to purge your sins.
This is certainly a more forgiving design of the classic mechanic where you lose all your points if you don't retrieve them before dying again. It's perfectly balanced in Blasphenous 2 as the game doesn't have a classic level-up system where you spend experience points to level up your character.
The Martyrdom Points you earn are only spent on buying items from merchants and specific tributes so the value of this currency is certainly not as important as "souls" in Dark Souls games.
It's different but I've found the game to be more enjoyable and accessible. It allows you to have more fun in exploration and combat as you try different strategies and combos, while not thinking about retrieving those points all the time.
Perks
Blasphemous 2 also comes with two sets of perks, with Altarpiece of Favours serving as an offensive/spell set and Rosary Beads as a defensive/resistance type perk set.
So for example, over 30 Figures that you can find for your Altarpiece of Favours will increase the damage of your prayers and weapons, increase elemental damage, improve the effect of your healing flask, and reduce the cost of Fervour for certain actions.
As for your Rosary Beads, you can equip a total of five items, which usually increase various resistances, reduce the amount of guilt you drop upon death, or increase Martyrdrop Points earned.
The mechanic itself is obviously nothing new in video games but it's well done, adding another dimension to creating a powerful build that will obliterate everything in its path.
At one point, I had made a build that is solely focused on making my Blood Pact more powerful, which resulted in almost a never-ending barrage of special attacks that devoured bosses' health all while healing The Penitent One.
Traversal skills and exploration
The Penitent One can obtain four traversal abilities as you progress through the story. Ivy of Ascension is wall climbing, Passage of Ash is double jumping, Mercy of the Wind is the aerial dash, and Scion's Protection creates a path of ornaments for you to cling to and reach new places.
Every one of these skills is priceless and unlocks new gameplay possibilities in both exploration and combat. Certain high spots that you couldn't reach early in the game become accessible when you obtain these skills, allowing you to collect powerful new items.
There are complex puzzles that require you to combine these skills, too. So for example, sometimes you'll have to start the puzzle by briefly activating bell platforms with Veredicto, use double jump to get to special mirrors, then quickly switch to Sarmiento and Centella to teleport yourself to the next mirror, then use the aerial dash to break through specific gates and finally, switch to Ruego Al Alba and activate a ground slam technique to break another barrier.
Now, imagine that you have to do this in only a couple of seconds and every tiny mistake means you have to go again. Many such puzzles are found in Cvstodia - some are extremely hard, others not so much, but all of them are a great way to break the flow of constant combat and reward you with great loot so you feel good about your skills and progress.
These skills also make exploration a joy. I've lost track of how many hours I've spent simply running and platforming around Cvstodia, trying to reach every little undiscovered spot on the map, just to see what that spot may hide.
In open-world games, I'd often get fatigued from roaming the world and doing side activity so I'd seek more of the main quest but in Blasphemous 2, I had a feeling that I could spend another 50 hours exploring if there were more regions to explore.
The map is huge with over 20 zones which can vary from pretty simple and straightforward to huge labyrinth-like regions with multiple paths, strongly emphasizing platforming.
GRAPHICS AND SOUND
Just like its predecessor, Blasphemous 2 is a stunning game, oozing with dark and grotesque pixel art that represents the world of Cvstodia as this grim place, where hope is like an almost extinguished candlelight that does its best to outshine the surrounding darkness.
You'll always have this feeling of tragedy as you travel Cvstodia, as even its inhabitants seem to have lost hope that the world will be a better place one day.
The game features various, gorgeously painted regions, and each of these zones are brimming with atmosphere, which is elevated through the art or soundtrack that plays in the background.
Artists have managed to capture that feeling of Miracle's punishment as the enemy design truly represents regular Cvstodians who have suffered at the hand of the omnipotent being. And you'll see the punishment on these enemies, be it a woman trapped in the iron lady, or a man whose lower body is forever sealed into a wall while his mouth serves to spit fire until the end of days.
From the world design to regular enemies, bosses and NPCs - the art style in Blasphemous 2 is truly magnificent.
Depending on the area you're in, the game will play melodic tunes or something dark and moody, to immerse you into this world. It's mostly repetitive, simple tracks but I think Blasphemous 2 doesn't even need complex tunes with choirs and thousands of instruments due to its pixel art style and 2D design.
The game will also have a couple of different tracks for one area, to break the loop that is playing in the background as it can get a bit tiring hearing the same melody over and over again, especially if you're struggling to get past certain spots.
CONCLUSION
In conclusion, Blasphemous 2 is a masterpiece of video game design, plain and simple. It's the highest praise one game can get, and it's fully deserved. It's a game with a wonderfully crafted world, an intriguing and mysterious story and fantastic combat and exploration that make it a joy to play over and over again.
Not only that Blasphemous 2 is a strong Game of the Year contender that would put many AAA games to shame, but it's also becoming one of my favourite games of all time, an experience that I thoroughly enjoyed and sincerely hope that it will touch your heart as it touched mine.
The Good
The world is brimming with stunning locations and secrets- Deep lore and twisted story
- Fluid combat and weapon selection
- Intense and brutal boss fights
- Stylish pixel art style and animations
The Bad
Some minor, almost negligible bugs
