If you were to go far enough back in history, you’ll find that every religion has had something that someone, somewhere regrets. I’m not talking about that calling homosexuality a sin thing, but the mass genocides and atrocious acts that have been committed all for the sake of a deity for which no one has discernible proof. It’s really quite chilling and a reason why religion is a popular theme among the horror crowd. Taking on Blasphemous has been my most recent experience with the subject, and it makes excellent use of the source material.

The narrative follows a silent protagonist by the name of The Penitent One, who seeks out the Cradle of Affliction, a relic that will essentially send him off to Valhalla, or this religion’s version of it. The title is packed to the brim full of religious lore and macabre messages that feel more like puzzle pieces than bits of story content to drive the premise forward. To be quite honest, around the thirty-minute mark all of the conversations between our hero and the small cast of NPCs completely lost me and resulted in long, drawn-out conversations going in one side of my head and exiting the other, never properly seating themselves anywhere in my brain.

I am not saying you should skip the story segments, but maybe don’t focus too hard on remembering all the ominous names, locations, and relics, since you’re either going to find them or you won’t – what you should take note of is how freaking beautiful the retro-esque cut scenes look with the fluid motions that the Super Nintendo or Sega Genesis could’ve never replicated. Visually, the game is astounding and provides an atmosphere that is rarely found in smaller games such as this. In most retro-style Metroidvania titles, you either see a full-blown upgrade that would rival games specifically tailored to modern consoles, or more faithful throwbacks to the 16/32 bit eras; Blasphemous nails a perfect balance between retro and current age graphics while keeping the slightly pixelated visuals in place.

The combat is something that you’re going to love or completely hate, as it relies heavily on close quarters combat, dealing as much damage as possible and then either parrying or dodging out of the enemy’s way. At first, it feels like yet another game following the Soulsborne method; however, once you nail the timing, the combat becomes second nature (more in line with The Arkham Asylum combat system) and will only rise in difficulty once a new area is reached including a new set of threats forcing you to relearn your tactics. There are upgrades to be found as well that will up the ante in your favor in exchange for some of the game’s currency. Outside of the standard attack and parry combos, there are singular magic abilities that can be equipped which can deal damning amounts of damage to the enemies if you have the time to let one rip. Each of the magical abilities requires The Penitent One to enact a long-winded, drawn-out animation where he’s open to attack. These abilities make quick work of the smaller enemies, but against the various bosses, they are almost useless simply due to the time it takes to wind up the attack. Regardless of which form the enemies take, the combat is essentially the same – learn their pattern, attack/evade, then repeat.

Featuring a sprawling open-world packed to the bloody brim with secret areas and alternate routes, I managed to get lost as I failed to consult my map, ending up at the start of the game, never seeing the same rooms twice (at least not noticeably) on more than one occasion. Each area incorporates its own set of well-varied enemies and traps that rarely take the easy route by repeating elements or simple color swaps. Each area not only looks different but feels entirely different than the last. The downfall here is that some of the traps are entirely too unforgiving and catapult the difficulty from manageable to ungodly at the tip of a hat. In particular, the cloud of green fog that I have yet to be able to maneuver around without rushing through it like a bat out of Hell, sprinting past enemies and hopping through the next save point with a sliver of health. It was a rush, but not one I was hoping to repeat again and again.

My otherwise immaculate time with the game was marred with one somewhat annoying issue in the PC version. I’ve tweaked every visual setting within the game and my middle of the road, better than average gaming PC cannot get the title to show up in the native 16:9 aspect ratio, leaving the entire screen with a 2-3 inch border of solid black at all times. This could be an issue on my end, but I haven’t run into it with any other PC game I’ve booted up via Steam on this rig.

If you’re in the market for something spooky to play this October (or anytime really…), Blasphemous is a game that delivers solid combat, outstanding visuals, and devilish themes that will chill you to the bone, despite its narrative collapsing underneath its own weight.

8 out of 10

Pros

• Beautiful, Unnerving Visuals
• Solid Combat That Channels the Arkham Series
• A Monstrous Sized Open World
• Tons of Varied Enemies

Cons

• Magical Abilities are a Tragic Miss
• SiNarrative
• Minor Visual PC Translation Issues

Blasphemous was developed by The Game Kitchen and published by Team17. It is available on NS, PC, PS4, and X1. The game was provided to us for review on PC. If you’d like to see more of Blasphemous, check out the official site.

 

Here at GBG we use a rating method that you are more than likely familiar with – a scale of 1 to 10. For clarification, we intend on using the entire scale: 1-4 is something you should probably avoid paying for; 5-7 is something that is worth playing, but probably not at full price; 8-10 is a great title that you can feel confident about buying. If you have any questions or comments about how we rate a game, please let us know.

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