Blasphemous – PC Review

Genre: Adventure, Platformer
Developer: The Game Kitchen
Publisher: Team17 Digital LTD
Release Date: 10 September 2019
Edited by Thorstag

Blasphemous is a Metroidvania-esque action platformer based in the lands of Cvstodia in a Medieval Gothic era with heavy religious and supernatural beliefs. You play as “The Penitent One,” a sole survivor of a large scale massacre of “The Silent Sorrow.” He wears a crown of thorns and a capirote to hide his identity. The Penitent One also wields a sword called “Mea Culpa,” a sword of thorns with a handle sculpted to symbolize the “Twisted One.” It was forged from a prayer from a woman that became a kneeling stone, gifted from “The Miracle.” The main goal for the player is to defeat each of the bosses and put an end to the curse that is The Miracle.

The first thing I want to say is this game is very challenging, and all I can think while playing was, “Is this Dark Souls?” The whole aesthetic, the atmosphere, the enemies, and even the combat screams Dark Souls, but it’s toned down in its difficulty mainly because it’s on a 2D plane rather than 3D. The controls are solid, to say the least, each dodge, attack, and parry felt on point, and I didn’t feel cheated out of moves, each time I messed up I knew it was on my part, and that goes for everything from the combat itself to the platforming. It was still rage inducing each time I did die because of the backtracking that needed to be done, checkpoints felt few and far between, but at the same time, it wasn’t excessively far. The enemies themselves are easy enough to kill off, with a few solid hits, but its the mix of enemies, platforming, and puzzles that made it more difficult as-well-as having only a few healing items that can only be refilled at the checkpoints.

The visual style of this game is something I really like; the whole Gothic style with cathedrals, religious artifact’s and symbolism bring the whole game together with its extremely in-depth lore and story. Some of the imagery can be gore-y or outright weird but still fits within the context of the game. Each area has its own specific enemy types like in the cathedral there’s priests on pedestals or in the library there’s librarians that throw books as their weapon which is a nice touch. The boss fights are interesting and challenging if a bit strange at times, even when you’re thrown into a boss fight right at the start of the game. The character you must face is “the warden of the silent sorrow” a large being with a mask wielding a cross and using it as a club to beat at the ground and player, you know just by seeing the creature from a distance that its bad news and makes you start to wonder what’s really going on. Where the game shines visually is with the backdrops, each area’s scenery is brilliantly made and stunning to look at from snow to ash; each area is distinct, and it feels like you’re looking through the kingdom instead of a small area of a bigger world.

With the audio aspect with this game, less is definitely more, the sounds of the powers you have and swings of your sword are very distinct from the enemies and the noises some of the enemies make you can see them make that kind of noise if they were real. And even the music is a great choice and distinct from place to place. It is soft and somber, in some areas not having any music at all to add to the suspense. Hitting a boss area changes things again, the music kicks up yet keeping to the overall theme of the game. 

Pros

• A long game to keep you busy
• Lots of lore to find out about
• Story intensive 
• Solidly made

Cons

• Large learning curve
• Easy to get lost
• Very difficult 

PiercedRocker gives Blasphemous a Drastik Measure of 9 out of 10 (90)

The game is really well made, and I have little else to add to what I’ve already stated though I will say as solid as it is, it wouldn’t be a game I would usually play. The difficulty is pretty high, and I couldn’t play for long before getting annoyed and having to turn it off again, but I’m not into the whole hit your head against a brick wall till you get through type of game as it is, but there is something about this game that makes me want to try more and push to get further and maybe little by little ill get to the end one day. The only real reason I’m giving a 9 rather than a 10 is you easily get lost and forget where you need to be going, but even that can be argued that that’s part of the open-world feel of the game. Now would I recommend this game? If you like stuff like Dark Souls or Castlevania, then yeah, I would recommend it. It does have the old-school vibe of difficulty and play-style, and most would enjoy it for different reasons. For $24.99 on Steam, it’s not a bad price for such levels of detail and effort put into this game.