Blasphemous

Lore of blasphemy

Blasphemous started as a Kickstarter project but quickly passed its goal and then times that by six. Then it was published by Team17, a massive publisher in the Indie games. It was developed by The Game Kitchen and was inspired by a painting called A procession of Flagellants.

This will be Blasphemous

This is where it gets slightly crazy, so be prepared for some craziness. A curse has fallen on the land of Orthodoxia and all that is living in the area is known as the miracle. It takes a lot of inspiration and lore from the Christian faith with a lot of angel looking enemies about. You play as the only survivor through the game known as The Penitent One, the names of the characters in this game make it feel epic.

The land is heavily religious with the church outnumbering people but with the curse called the Silent Sorrow which has spread and corrupted everything in its path all humans have been transformed into a very strong monstrous beast. They've been trapped in a constant death and rebirth cycle as punishment for worshiping false gods leading to an ever thirst for blood.

Pixel art at its purest

The graphics in Blasphemous takes inspiration from a lot of Indie games and uses pixel art taking it to the next level to nearly a point that’s hard to even tell that it is pixel art and not all hand drawn. The animation to every movement of the main character is pure and inspiring to any pixel artist out there. It's worth playing just for the art and the obvious time and dedication it took for amazing art like this.

Be quick as a sinner or die like one

The gameplay takes a lot of inspiration from games like Hollow Knight and Salt & Sanctuary with unbelievable punishing gameplay. It makes very rewarding gameplay. As you might die to that one boss, uncountable time but if you keep trying, you know that you’ll defeat the boss and when you finally do, the feeling you get is indescribable. The gameplay is a 2D open-world, hack, and slash that you’ll have to learn how to deal with the fast-past action platformer. If you love your game to test your skills this is the game for you.

Godly experience

The game truly looks and feels amazing with its hardcore combat and beautiful artwork. It is a hard game, so it isn't for the faint of heart. If you want, you to want to try your chances with a hard game but don’t fancy a massive series like Dark Souls. This would be a good game to start with as it's not a massive game and it’s a game that rewards dedication. It hits that balance what a lot of hard games don’t, the pain and reward balance. Not every game has that balance but this one hits right in the middle and that is never an easy task.

Blasphemous is a game that I was very excited to play. Any game that gets a lot of hype by fans of Metroidvania style games is always going to grab my attention. I can say that I feel that Blasphemous is certainly not a game that is for everyone, but I can also say that this is a Metroidvania style game that really clicked with me.

Beware The Cross

I must start by saying that the story of Blasphemous has some very heavy religious overtones and I can see some people being turned off by that. I though, thought it was done very well and this is actually one of the most awesome and badass stories I have had the pleasure to play through this year. I really do not want to spoil the story as it has many cool twists and turns, but the basics of it are as follows. The game takes place in Cvstodia and something truly evil and horrific has gone down here. You are an unstoppable warrior and only you can free this place from its doomed and hellacious fate.

Is This The 90s?

Many games go for the 90s 32-bit retro style and that is cool and all. Blasphemous for me does it far better than most. The presentation here is done very, very well. It legit looks like a game that I could have imagined getting for Christmas back in 1998. It is not just the awesome visuals of the actual game, I am talking the creature designs and the awesome levels, but the cut scenes as well. These also look very 90s and it is awesome and very well done.

How Does It Play?

The gameplay of Blasphemous is what really won me over, but it is also what I can see being what turns a few folks off. You have a large place to go and explore and exploration is certainly encouraged. However, this is one of the most action-heavy games of this style I have ever played. It has a kind of hack and slash, almost God of War style (well in 2D, but you know what I mean) in terms of its combat. You are very much expected to kick ass first and try and dodge and block second. I found the combat to be excellent and while you do have magic you can use, I found this to actually put you at a bit of a disadvantage.

You do have this awesome parry move which when executed right can slow down time which lets you unleash even more fury on your enemies. The game has some very, very challenging boss battles here which can be frustrating as they do require a bit of trial and error. There are a ton of items to collect as you make your travels such as rosery beads which can help you greatly so make sure you do lots of exploration!

I absolutely loved my time with Blasphemous and can see myself playing through this game multiple times. The random levels, the huge variety of enemies and the awesome story and setting make this a truly incredible game. I also love the combat, some might find it repetitive, but I really enjoyed hacking and slashing at anything that got in my way.

9/10

Pros

• I got super into the story and setting
• The combat feels truly epic
• It has some very hard and rewarding boss battles
• You can explore tons of areas
• It is just a really fun Metroidvania style game

Cons:

• The religious overtones may not be everyone’s taste
• Hack and slash combat may feel repetitive for some