What should I do? 

The combination of rich graphics, full of pixel art details, Catholic mythology mixed with a vastness of bizarre and grotesque monsters, and the classic gameplay of a Metroidvania gave rise to the wonderful Blasphemous, and now the new sequel to the game, Blasphemous 2, which we recently tested in early access.

I will not lie to you; I am a big fan of the franchise. The first title is in my TOP 3 best Metroidvanias, and I say that the new Blasphemous has the potential to enter this list. Despite having some differences compared to the first, it is still excellent, following the same quality standard. 



The story still remains in the mold of the first game; the story is not told clearly and directly to the player, a strong inspiration from the Souls series, where the story is delivered to players in an unconventional way. In Blasphemous, the lore is unraveled through enigmatic clues in item descriptions and conversations with NPCs.

Initially, we are introduced to the new proposal of the "penitent one", who has awakened and received the mission, through a sacred entity called "Announced", which tells you that the new miracle has happened and from it will be born a new child descended from the clouds, and says that you must go to the city where this entity will be born and prevent the birth from happening. 



And she also warns you of the dangers you will encounter, saying that the "Archconfraternity" already knows that you will try to prevent the birth and will have some penitents of the miracle as sentinels to try to stop you, so you must face three bosses and get three humiliations so that you can reach the heavens and reach your goal.

The story seems a little confusing, and it is a little, but that is part of the charm of the game, which uses mysticism and esotericism to create this atmosphere and let much of the game's lore be interpreted by the player without everything being open, creating the charm of mystery to hold more attention. 

This is not "mea culpa" 

And as we have already talked a little about the story, let's address one of the most characteristic points of the Metroidvania genre: gameplay and mechanics. Blasphemous 2 comes with several new features in relation to these themes, adding new mechanics and improving some functions already present in the first game. 

I believe that the most impactful change of these new gameplay mechanics and most visible at first is the fact that you now have three different weapons, choosing one initially and finding the other two when exploring the map, each with a peculiarity, moveset, and usefulness for different situations, abandoning the style of the first game where you had only one weapon, a sword called "mea culpa". 



As I said earlier, each one has its uses. The first one, a kind of flail, is a heavy weapon; it deals a lot of damage to enemies, considering that in addition to the high damage, it can hit the same enemy twice in the same attack, but it has the slowest attack; it cannot attack after giving a dash or block. The second weapon is a pair of rapiers, which are the fastest weapons in terms of attack but have reduced damage, and finally, a cutlass, which is the balance between the two weapons. 

And each of these weapons has individual peculiarities that go beyond the moveset; each of them has some unique ability to help in the exploration of the map, such as, for example, the flail, which can ring bells that make passages open and platforms appear for you to access some areas, or break some structures that make the map change, a very interesting and dynamic mechanic. 



And each of the weapons also has its own talent tree, very similar to the one we had in the first game to unlock new movesets, mechanics, and weapon power, but now it is individualized for each of the three weapons, providing an even greater variety of combos and possibilities. 

Another mechanic that is also similar to that of the first game is that of artifacts, now called "rosary beads", which, when equipped, give us some buff, debuff, or serve some mechanics of the map. We also added another buff mechanic, which is that of the sculptor's pieces. You have 2 slots to equip these sculptures that you get by taking materials to the sculptor, and depending on the combination of the pair you are using, you improve your buffs or get new ones. 



And the skills are still present in the game, which are skills that we use in addition to the weapon's own. Now in Blasphemous 2, they are called prayers and are divided into chants and verses, where these skills can be both combat, support, or utility. 

The gameplay in general, for those who are already familiar with the Metroidvania genre, is quite common, where you know that you must move a lot, make many jumps, and dash to avoid and attack enemies, but for new players who are not familiar, this can be a problem. 

The game has a certain higher level of difficulty, where you will probably die many times for a boss, some annoying enemy, or even for the scenario itself, right in that Dark Souls footprint, but in a platform game, which is a very strong and important feature of the game. 

But although the game is difficult, it is very fluid; you probably won't die from a map design error or from some command that your character didn't obey. In Blasphemous, you depend solely and exclusively on your ability to overcome the obstacles and challenges of the game. 

Divine or infernal enhancement? 

Anyone who is already familiar with the first game knows how stunning the pixel art graphics, soundtrack, and cutscenes are. They are the main factor that makes the player go headlong into the immersion of the game, and fortunately, much of this has remained, but not completely. 

The graphics are still impeccable; I venture to say that at times they even surpass the first game in terms of richness of detail. The way the game's art production team is meticulous is impressive. In this second title, you can expect beautiful landscapes, grotesque monsters, and all the good graphics that were in the first game, with a certain upgrade. 



There were also improvements in the animation part of the game; it comes with many more particles of things from the scenery, in enemies, and especially in our character, who now has a much more lively and organic movement of clothes and body movements as well.

One part that has not changed in terms of quality is the sound effects and the track itself, but we have to consider that these elements in the first game were practically impeccable. I really can't see defects because I can feel the atmosphere of the environment and the impact of each blow. 



However, not everything is flowers; a point that, in my opinion, was lost a little was the cutscenes because now they no longer follow that very characteristic and unique pixel art style that we see in the first game, but a kind of cartoon animation or something like that. 

Don't get me wrong, the animations are not ugly; you may even have another opinion and think that this may have been an improvement; it really is something of individual taste, but I thought it lost a lot of the charm, grace, and originality of the game by changing the style of something that was almost a hallmark of the game. 



So, considering everything that has been covered, we can conclude that Blasphemous 2 is an incredible game. We are looking forward to August 24th, which will be the game's release date. And the game can certainly be enjoyed by people who are already fans of the first title as well as by new players, as the game has excellent quality and extremely fun gameplay. 

For this review, Blasphemous 2 was played via PC through Steam. 

Many thanks to Team 17 for providing the access key to the game in advance and making this review possible.