I've heard so much about the original game, from memes to people talking nonstop of it. The game exudes a grotesque biblical world where a sinner goes on a quest to cleanse the very realm of all sorts of ungodly beings. The kind that would make Dante's Inferno look tame.
Well, it's time to pay penance once more because there are some big changes that also affects its ethos, but sort of make it a better game to play? If Blasphemous II is anything, it's cruel yet fair and fundamentally for the most part the same game. The new RPG systems, weapons abilities, and platforming mechanics provide much variety, as well as creative quality of life changes.
Yes, I've seen the reviews, and they're already shouting for the awards season this fall. It's going to be a tight race, but I do think this one has a good chance of winning. Because man, did I really have fun here. And I kept continuing to play with blisters and all.
Our warrior wakes up in a tomb, like something big just woke him from his slumber. The game had a nice, animated cutscene that has a clearly different art style than the first game. As I make my way out of the chamber to the next room, I've been given a choice to select between 3 different weapons.
One is a saber sword, others are a dual wield daggers, and a large mace. Each of them has use for platforming purposes too, but also effective against different enemy types. I had to often switch up during my play, but for now, all I get is one. There was even a training dummy.
Soon enough, my first encounter is a boss. Who'd literally kicked the snot out of me, I wasn't fully familiarized with the combat and it took the third try to finally beat him. He couldn't give me a single scratch afterwards. I never got to try out the weapon's abilities because of how charged the fight was. But the basics were well seared into my head.
This would also turn out to be ruse, since combat with the foes in the next area makes me environmentally challenged, because of slopes and ledges. But I heard how brutal the first game was, this feels seamlessly easy to get into. The controls feel tight and responsive too.
My saber can parry, and with enough fervour(blue), I can charge it, and stun enemies with increased damage. It also has an aerial attack where it lands with lots of damage on small AoE. That last one is also used to break discombobulated flesh blocking paths downwards. Only defensive mechanic is a dodge button, and will be used very often as fights get more intense.
The shining lady with a gazillion angels behind my back has instructed me to stop another birth from happening, and in order to move to the next phase of the story, I have to beat 3 important bosses. They comes out to be their own macabre world personafied. Renditions of both medieval and folklore that exudes certain viscera. But where the last game went all in, this one sort of held back.
Even then, trekking through my first level, there's so much to extrapolate about its world. The enemies are humans in their sorry states, barely clothed while surrounded by overgrown trees, underneath large bridges, and columns. Before going through a cave then into a town. The main hub.
This town is the central part of the map, and is where the game's extensive RPG mechanics become introduced. I have to talk to a sculptor who helps pair altars for extra stats. Points for abilities from the 3 weapons and unlock altar slots can be earned through several ways. And the rest needs to be found by searching through the tricky areas of the game. There's always life and death involved, even mistakes made platforming through the game, but it all becomes worth it.
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Typical metroidvania stuff to do like maxing HP and MP, powering up weapons aside, there's quite a lot to do. The game didn't made me realize how punishing it can get when progressing into new areas until I got to Profundo Lemento. I got the mace, with the saber was a nice change of pace fighting enemies. I like this more for its stun and attack interruptions.
But the other thing the mace does is ring up bells, which from its resonance, conjurs up platforms for a limited time to climb over and reach the other side of the room. The tricky part comes when the environment enemies like statues are throwing rocks while flying books throw fire.
There's some tricky puzzle solving involved, but nothing around the type that really puts the brain to work. It just needed me to remember exactly what my weapons can do, I would solved the last one easily by equipping the saber last and do a downward strike taking out what's blocking the treasure.
Definitely some Symphony of the Night shenanigans going on, because of the mix of puzzle solving, multiple routed traversal, and fending off enemies. I mean, it's hard to call this a souls-like since me dying doesn't mean my earned currency is gone, but instead it sucks my health and locks off portion of my fervour pool. Yet costs currency for penance if I can't get it back. That's...actually quite genius.
Various enemy types create all kinds of situations, for example; skeletons holding giant candles have huge gap closer that knocks me out, even out to the last room I came from resetting their health. I hate those guys, but then using my knives, the dodge attack made me nearly invincible.
Now, having full access to one area where the boss is would mean just have to beat the guy, and move on. Well, here's the thing. The ruthless, visually appealing part of the game is more culminated and shown from the boss battles. I mean, these guys don't screw around.
Preceptor Radames is a true relentless type, he has projectiles, time based explosions, he can smack the ground to knock me off wall grills, the only way to do serious damage is to attack his back when he charges. But then after significant damage, he comes to his second form, and he is difficult to damage afterwards. I have died over 10 times, and my mistake was not fully adapting.
So I thought exploring and finding stuff to empower me would help, boy, ah, if I couldn't beat him, I'd have a harder time getting around elsewhere. I went to a forest area, where ghosts can ambush attack me unless their skeletons done for. I didn't have the double jump ability yet, so I backtracked.
Then tried looking for the double jump ability somewhere else, and right before I could proceed to another room, I got engaged to another boss battle. This guy I couldn't even do less than 50% damage. Doesn't mean I gave up, I just decided to move to another area.
I didn't unlock much, I got pummeled by the second boss, exploring feels more dreadful and frightening as stuff gets harder as I delve further. I found even weirder stuff, like this woman telling me to find her brother's manuscript in a dining table next to her dead brother. When I come back there, this time the brother's the one talking and his sister is dead.
There's something rejuvenating about this game's take as a metroidvania, its cruel ethos is lighter tone here, but there's stuff to still punish me if I screw up, yet when I start doing better, I can punish my enemies much more. It's fluid, easy to play, and presents all kinds of great but fair challenges.
As a sequel, when it comes to atmosphere and story, sort of dragged down a bit, but in gameplay, there's so much it really offers. It's wise in its way to teach me how to play better, and adapt to whatever circumstances it throws. It becomes kind of like an art form.
