![]() I just wish the game had a bestiary that explored their history further. Many of the foes I face look like evil pastors or haunted religious symbols come to life. The enemies themselves seem to share some sort of brutal religious fate that they must also carry out. Each design goes beyond the simple ghost and goblins I might find in another side-scroller. Blasphemous has its fair share of backtracking, which requires me to run through the same enemy-filled areas over and over again.Īt first, a new enemy encounter can be thrilling. ![]() Getting the opportunity to unearth all these tales does require a bit of tedium. Every corner of Blasphemous is filled with a certain darkness, of a sense of judgment and unseen supervision, even my items menu. There are even several collectibles that tell small and tragic stories of other denizens of my world. Items I use to upgrade my character’s abilities are trinkets rich with their own backstories that fill my entire screen with text. My magical attacks take the form of prayers that unleash powerful spells or combat boosts. They all come with their own lore, further expanding the twisted world I find myself in. The lingering mysteries of Blasphemous even exist in the items I acquire. I haven’t wondered so much about a game’s backstory based on its tone and presentation in a long while. Maybe the game will never reveal what happened to these people, and who controls their fate, but the idea of all these characters enduring these creative punishments sends my mind reeling. I can’t begin to understand how his story got him to where he is when I cross his path, but I’ll keep playing to discover why. Despite his circumstances, he seems to be luxuriating in his penance and asks me to help him feel more pain. Gémino is another poor soul I meet, a man encased in iron with only one free arm and eye exposed to the elements. This is the sort of detail that keeps me going. What did he do to deserve this fate? I have to find out. No matter where I find him, he greets me in a pose he has no choice but to maintain: his arms are bound with rope in such a way that all he can do is hold up a scroll detailing my comings and goings. He appears throughout the game to give me hints, although they are often so entangled with mysterious terms and unfamiliar character names it’s hard to understand what I actually need to do. Where in the world did The Penitent come from and why did he just do that? I have to know.Īfter that battle I encounter Deogracias, a friendly character whose penance consists of being forced to witness and recount my adventure. He then puts that blood-filled helmet back on, drenching himself. Once defeated, my character proceeds to drain the blood from the enemy’s body, emptying it into his helmet. After I learn the basics of movement, I immediately fight a massive, hulking boss. Like the others, he sports a massive, cone-shaped helmet, except he has a suit of armor on. I’m introduced to him lying amid a mountain of corpses that look similar to his. All of their appearances create questions in my mind I need immediate answers to. That’s the power of the game’s setting and themes.Įach character in the game is steeped in dark, religious overtones and are designed based on the penance they are serving. Yet I persisted through Blasphemous, even after dying more times than I care to admit, because each area introduced me to new characters with their own mysteries that I then felt like I had to unravel. Enemy combinations like a creature that burrows below ground nearly unseen only to burst upwards paired with another that unpredictably jumps around and throws bombs can turn a simple path forward into living minefield. Despite memorizing their unique attacks and making liberal use of the large window of time to parry and counter attack, one misstep can lead to ruin. As I progress, even the simplest of encounters can send me to my death.Īny single screen of Blasphemous can be filled with multiple enemies, attacking at all angles. The finely crafted pixel art might look reminiscent of the 16-bit action games of yesteryear and with it comes the same crushing difficulty. ![]() In time, I explore several interconnected lands filling out a map that sprawls out in all directions. I’m constantly waylaid by various monsters and massive bosses as I move through each room, hallway and dungeon chamber. My side-scrolling, 2D quest through ravaged cities and defiled dungeons brings me closer to fulfilling my penance. As The Penitent One, I have to take my silent protagonist throughout the far corners of a serpentine map and back.
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