Written by Dan Gill
The Game Kitchen served up a gorgeous-yet-gruesome looking action-adventure in 2019’s original Blasphemous, a title with all the ingredients of a MetroidVania with the difficulty veering towards that of a Souls game. While it was a solid piece of work, it fell a little flat in some areas. The combat became a bit dull as the game went on, and the difficulty at times – especially during boss battles - felt cheap.
Blasphemous II picks up after the events of the first game’s
Wounds of Eventide DLC, where the Penitent One is woken to prevent the
rebirth of a curse called “The Miracle” which threatens Cvstodia. The
introduction is beautifully animated and is the first indication that this is a
step up from its predecessor. The game still takes its theme and visuals from
Andalucian culture, Spanish architecture, the nation’s Holy Week and huge
amounts of Roman Catholicism, and the creepy and surreal imagery from the
original is built upon, but more on that later.
Once the player gains control, they’re presented with three
weapon choices. This is the first major change to the original, where the only
weapon available was the Mea Culpa. While the sword was able to be upgraded,
the parry/dodge/attack routine remained throughout. This time combat is much
more varied through the fast twin blades (Sarmiento and Cintella), the slow but
heavy flail (Veridicto) and a balanced sword (Ruego Al Alba). The weapon you
choose ultimately doesn’t matter, since you eventually claim all three during
the game, but it will determine your initial progress, since each weapon’s
abilities unlock certain areas. This makes progress feel more natural than in
the original and feel more in line with other games in the genre. It also makes
for more interesting combat. Each weapon has its own skill tree, giving the
Penitent One more devastating attack combos and rewards for parrying. The
variety offered goes a long way to showing how Blasphemous II betters the first
game.
Other features return, such as the Fervour meter, which is
depleted when using chants and prayers. Chants are lower cost powers, while
prayers are more powerful and tend to deal out damage over a longer period.
This can take the form of a trail of flames or a floating ball of miasma, but
there are also prayers which offer other abilities, such as fast travel to the
game’s hub. Alongside this you also have passive abilities which take the form
of rosary beads. On top of that you now also have statues which can be equipped
to offer additional buffs. These are found throughout Cvstodia or carved by the
sculptor in the City of the Blessed Name (the game’s hub). There’s a lot to
manage, but once you take the time to equip the Penitent One accordingly you
can make the game a little easier for yourself.
Blasphemous II also retains the difficulty of the original,
but the combination of items and weapons you can acquire provide some
flexibility when tackling its grotesque enemies. The Game Kitchen also seem to have adjusted
encounters a little, especially regarding bosses. Blasphemous often felt
unfair, with very little wriggle room during its bigger fights, but Blasphemous
II somehow manages to keep the difficulty, but keeps everything fair. One boss
took me multiple attempts to finish, and while initially seeming impossible, I
could feel I did a little better on each attempt. The placing of Prie-Dieus
(the game’s save points) is generous, and they’re normally close to boss
battles meaning retrying isn’t quite the chore it could be (I’m looking at you
Dark Souls). The battles range from screen-hogging monstrosities to bullet hell
team-ups. They’re quite exhilarating, and there was much air punching and
trash-talking (albeit to an empty room) during my playthrough.
It’s not all dishing out damage through. This is a
MetroidVania, and exploration is key to progress. I found myself stumped at one
point, but that was down to my man-looking at the map, leading me to miss a
massive section. As mentioned, progress feels more natural than in the
original, and it’s worth digging for secrets. NPCs are tucked away throughout
Cvstodia which offer their own quests and/or items, and they add to the game’s
lore. Blasphemous II is one of those games that you more you put in, the more
you get back, and it’s grimdark world is a joy to explore. The game loop of uncovering
those previously inaccessible nooks and crannies you’d expect of the genre is
present here and keeps you coming back for more.
Everything looks as gorgeous as you’d expect. The
silky-smooth animation, both in cut scenes and in game looks great, and the
design of everything from the enemies to the backgrounds really captures that
Catholic aesthetic. While nothing explicitly looks like the works of
Heironymous Bosch, the design has that same feeling of his work; a surreal
vision of hellish creatures and heavy religious imagery. Nothing else looks
quite like it. It’s accompanied with a brilliant soundtrack filled with
melancholic strings and classical guitars. The atmosphere is foreboding yet
light enough as to not feel that it’s being laid on too thick.
There are a few minor gripes. The backtracking can become a
little tiresome, especially as fast travel is initially restricted to specific
portals, and resting at a Prie Deiu respawns any enemies you’ve defeated,
leaving you trying to jump and slide your way past everything to get to where
you want to go, but this is standard for the genre. There are also some
sections where the camera misbehaves in the sense that it doesn’t know what
it’s meant to focus on. These hiccups aren’t game breaking and seldom appear,
but it’s noticeable. This is something
that’s likely to be addressed with a patch (and may even be fixed by the time
you’re reading this), but really, I’m just nitpicking at this point.
The Game Kitchen stated that Blasphemous II was built from
scratch without using any code from the first game, and it shows. They’ve
crafted a MetroidVania with plenty of variety, a feasable challenge, a
distinctive aesthetic and lots of depth. I came into the game expecting more of
the same, and it seems they’ve kept the best bits and tightened up everything
else, leaving something that stands among the genre’s finest. Why wait for
Hollow Knight: Silksong when you can play possibly the best MetroidVania of the
year right now?
9/10
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