If you happen to fall upon one of the several spike pits in the game, you die. You see, the jumping is fine in this game, but unfortunately the people at The Game Kitchen seem to have an affinity for spike pits, moving platforms, and constant obstacles. In addition to combat, this game also has a lot of platforming. PREVIOUSLY: Mable & The Wood Review: Pixeled Potential Not Quite Reached If you like collecting stuff, Blasphemous has all kinds of creepy knick-knacks for you to hoard. There's various collectibles that give you some extra souls and a ton of lore: relics which give you different bonuses, rosary beads that boost your stats, sword hearts that offer different effects for your sword, shrines that increase your health, little cherubs in cages that you have to rescue, and on and on. In terms of things you can find, there's actually a metric ton of little items for you to gather. Although I didn't find these that useful since they take a second to charge up, so they're actually way less effective than just swinging your holy sword. Instead, you drop a Guilt Fragment, which reduces your health, as well as the amount of health you can recover, and magic that you can build up. You also have spells (which are obviously called Prayers) that you can find and equip. However, despite these obvious Souls hallmarks, Blasphemous does do things a little differently in some areas.įor example, when you die, you don't lose your souls. You have your refillable healing flasks that you just kind of smash into your face, you can parry and counterattack, you get Souls (or Tears Of Atonement if you will) from killing enemies that can be used for upgrades, you have a bonfire (or Prie Dieu, whatever that is) to rest at, etc. That's always delightful.Įven though I do feel more of a Castlevania vibe, the Souls influences are pretty blatant. I also liked that you had a pretty efficient upward swing, and you could really cheese your way through certain parts by just attacking foes from below. You gain more moves and methods of murder as the game progresses, but your sword is pretty much it in terms of weapons. The swings are fast and fluid and the hits are meaty and bloody. You go around hacking and slashing enemies and the swordplay feels pretty great. One late-game fight in particular demands a mastery of parrying, and I’m still buzzing from it.The Penitent One's main form of attack is his sword, which holds some kind of religious importance and is also good for stabbing things. Their grotesque designs are a high point. You’ll need to learn their tells to reliably predict incoming moves, sure, but there’s plenty of margin for error. I came into Blasphemous expecting the bosses to be the big swear-inducing hurdle – and admittedly, some of them are no joke – but they are by no means grueling. I dig it – I just would’ve liked more options at my disposal.
On the flip side, it never seems to get old. Whether you’re a few minutes in or your save file is pushing fifteen hours, combat doesn’t evolve in a meaningful way. You can accumulate minor buffs with items on your rosary and unlock a handful of attack upgrades on a short skill tree, but nothing crazy. There isn’t much else in the way of player progression, though. Rest assured, you can also earn additional healing flasks. To even the odds a bit, you can search for special rooms that serve as permanent upgrades to your health and mana reserves.
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