izigame.me

“For twisted are, were, and will be, the paths of the miracle.”


Introduction

This review is based on playing on the Steam deck.
Blasphemous is a brutal 2D metroidvania/souls-like amalgamation about the burdens of devotion and honour and what it takes to achieve your goals despite a world cast against you. With a heavy focus on cerebral combat, precision timing and understanding your skills Blasphemous attempts to take the mantle of genre classic, but does it have what it takes? So take up your blade, steel yourself with your faith and discover a land that seeks penance or be the one to make it fall to the hungering darkness that awaits the hopeless.


🟩 Positives
🟥 Negatives


🟩 There are few means of fighting the vast army of foes that stand in your way. You must become familiar with your limited arsenal and how to best utilise it to succeed.
🟩 The map is large but not overly. There are several biomes to explore, plenty of secrets to uncover and items in abundance to collect.
🟩 Bosses are not only significantly powerful beings. They are also unique experiences to discover, with each being vastly different from the last.
🟩 A wonderfully unique art style that depicts sadness through pixelated forefront and painted background scenery to create an immersive environment.
🟩 And lastly: an immaculate audio selection that accompanies the journey, with excellent sound effects and a song for every situation that captures the moment astoundingly well.

🟥 Despite how fun the boss fights are, they peak in challenge very early into the game, and the title becomes substantially easier until the end.



Story

The once prosperous lands of Cvstodia have fallen from on high at the hands of a foul curse that has come to be known as The Miracle.
You take control of the Penitent One as he awakens from the dead to bear witness to the massacre of his brothers and sisters for opposing the church he once served. With the sacred blade Mea Culpa, he must travel across this tainted world, purging it of its corruption and bringing penance to now-dying lands that embody it.
I genuinely adored the story written here. A tragic tale that cradles you from the moment you start the journey to the moment it ends, delivering you an account of betrayal and vengeance, and as the screen goes dark for the last time, you are left to contemplate if the fight was worth the victory.

Gameplay Analysis

Requiem Aeternam
You will spend most of your time in Blasphemous fighting against the people and creatures that call Cvstodia home, so it is best to become acquainted with the mechanics of how to do so effectively as quickly as possible.
🟩 You have very few means of self-defence early into the game, so you will become familiar with dodging, parrying and counter striking at opportune moments. Firstly, evading is the most straightforward and useful tool because completely removing yourself from the path of danger is the safest method to keep living. The alternate approach that is far more critically timed is the parry mechanic, where you remain at risk to perfectly time a block, stun the enemy and allow a window for you to counterstrike.
🟩 You will slowly build an array of magical abilities as you discover them in hidden and secret places that can be useful in giving you an edge in combat. They vary from buffs to more versatile damage spells.
🟩 Lastly, and probably the most important tool on your belt, is the sword you have in your hand. The Mea Culpa is a sacred blade that starts pretty weak despite how it looks but will gradually get stronger until it becomes as feared as it should be. You upgrade its versatility at shrines located across Cvstodia and by spending Tears of Atonement, which serves as the currency in Blasphemous.
🟥 Boss encounters will be your greatest challenge in testing your growing abilities, as they vary from relatively simple in both method and style to far more complex and challenging. My one major bugbear lies here as there is a rather steep difficulty curve early on, but once past that, the rest of the game becomes spectacularly easy.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3014195123
Detestatio Sacrorum
🟩 The remainder of the experience will entail you exploring the world, and there is a literal plethora of secrets across the game to locate, varying from collectibles to story-related key items and lore-related entries, to name a few.
🟩 These items can help you unlock some seriously invaluable powers which will greatly assist you on your travels, and for the truly vigilant, it can deliver you a new ending.
🟩 Thankfully throughout your journey you will have access to an ever updating map that provides a lot of helpful information you can utilise to traverse the world and locate those pesky hidden items you may have missed. The map also marks specific places of interest and allows you to add your own custom markers as points of reference.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3014194923

Audio and Visual

Blasphemous is probably one of the more eye-catching Metroidvania games I have ever had the chance to experience as it has a firm grasp on a very classic retro style in both how it looks and plays, but at the same breath, the beautifully drawn backgrounds are astounding to take in.
It is also extremely graphic despite its style, and I would not recommend anyone drastically underage to play this title as many of the themes are extremely adult in nature.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3014195305
The audio is much the same, and it wasn't till about 5 or 6 hours into the game that I realised how amazingly the sound effects coupled with the sad, down-trodden music that echoes through your ears in each new biome.

PC Performance and Specifications

The deck delivered the seamless experience I've come to expect of the device whilst playing Blasphemous. The game had no graphical or technical issues to report whatsoever.
With the game set to default for the deck, the battery consumption was fair, giving about five hours of life from a full charge.

Final Thoughts - Excellent

Review chart here.
To say that I have played a lot of Metroidvania games in my life would be a severe understatement, and I am an avid and appreciative fan of the souls and souls-like genre, I wanted this to be clearly known, so when I say that Blasphemous for me was amongst the best experiences, I've had within either of these genres in the past. The whole formula just worked really well for me, and despite some rather small difficulty issues, this was an exceptionally compelling journey that I hope to re-experience numerous times over the years. A worthwhile purchase at any price.
Climbing to the peak of Cvstodia isn’t as easy as going to Summit Reviews, where the reviews are of the highest quality.
If your heart still be filled with sorrow, Penitent One, and your faith be stripped to naught, don't fear for your soul, for Hell, Purgatory and Paradise will deliver you to salvation.