The original Blasphemous (review) was already a unique and super fun Metroidvania game, particularly in its later patched state, but Blasphemous 2 rockets that great foundation up even higher into the top tier of the genre.

At the start of the game, you choose from three starting weapons, each with a very different combat feel and a unique traversal ability. The early levels provide ample opportunities to use that ability, but also the abilities of the two weapons you didn't choose. In this way, each starting choice opens up slightly different paths through the early game until you collect the other two weapons. This design creates such a nice flow of progression and natural interaction between systems that I am really surprised I have never seen it in another Metroidvania.

You really have to use all of those weapons, with trickier platforming sections asking you to swap between them midair to chain their abilities together with other moves. And while I mostly relied on the giant club to get through most of the game, I absolutely had to switch to the other faster weapons for certain boss fights. Skill trees for each weapon are a nice way to feel like you're powering up over the course of the game, and other upgrades and bits of empowered gear were also very worth collecting and optimizing for tough encounters.

Also worth noting are the game's dungeons, somewhat self-contained areas that offer some unique twists to the action and exploration. The first one I took on had me shifting sands vertically to uncover buried areas or raise myself up a giant room. Another turned the edges of the screen into a warp to the other side, with some pretty fun platforming implications. Perhaps the coolest one comes later on, with a SotN-inspired inverted castle that you flip back and forth to and a very interesting way of unlocking the boss arena. There's not one bad one in the bunch, and even the ones that go a bit too heavy on combat for my tastes still offered some cool aesthetics, exploration, and platforming.

Like its predecessor, this game's placement of checkpoints, shortcuts, and fast travel points really minimizes "boss runs" and aimless backtracking or retreading your steps. I felt like almost everything took the exact right amount of time for me to not get overly tired of any one activity or area, even after playing for hours on end. You're very regularly either getting to a totally new area or getting something that opens up somewhere notable you've been before, and the world is interconnected in unexpected ways that keep it flowing remarkably well. The only big pacing thing I might change is that some encounters just go on a bit long, with little cutscenes or easier first phases/waves that can get old after several failed attempts.

I'll be honest, I have trouble understanding the stories in these games, which definitely seems intentional to some extent. At the very least, on a superficial level there are some really cool and bizarre designs drawing from a twisted Catholicism-inspired lore. The art style in cutscenes is "cleaner" than that of the first game. I prefer the original style, particularly since it blended with the look of the gameplay a bit better, but this is still very well-executed, and the actual characters and stuff while you play still look great.

I hope this game doesn't get too buried among all the big releases happening right now. If you liked the original at all, a lot of the room it left for improvement has been filled here. If you're (im)patiently waiting for Hollow Knight Silksong, I think this would soothe your pain for a while. If you have no experience with the first game, definitely know that you're getting in for something pretty tough, but I think this is a very "achievable" example of this kind of "Souls-lite" Metroidvania and my new favorite game in that particular genre intersection.

Let me start by saying that I absolutely adored the first game. I thought it was super original, fun, perfectly balanced, and horrified me in all the right ways. This one took everything I loved about the first and just threw it away.

Neat pixelated cutscenes that match the art style of the game? Nah, we're going JARRINGLY HD. They weren't even good cutscenes either. Like they show a building move or appear out of nowhere for 95% of them.

Perfectly crafted bosses? Nope. Bosses now know between 3-5 moves that border on impossible to dodge. Well, you can dodge them but you have to react perfectly. Well, you can react perfectly but you have to remember that's an air dodge and not a ground dodge. Well, you air dodged, but you didn't do it at the exact pixel the game wanted you to, so you're getting stun-locked by the other 7 projectiles the boss sent your way. And all of the bosses did SO. MUCH. DAMAGE. If their health was down by about 30% and they did about 25% less damage, I think they would be great. After almost every boss, I felt relief that it was over instead of that joy that I had just overcome a challenge like most other souls-like/metroidvanias.

I swear that I wanted to like this. The platforming was fantastic, the new weapons made combat feel like it had the option to be more fun, even if I just used 1 weapon until I encountered a roadblock that I HAD to use another weapon to kill a boss something. The puzzles were very good and the atmosphere was just beneath the first game's atmosphere, so still very very good. This is one of the first games that I truly enjoy the genre, but can't recommend the specific game at all.

Blasphemous 2 pretty much improved on every aspect of the original, while still remaining true to all the things that made it so wonderful.

A dark Catholic horror Metroidvania, it still has totally jaw dropping art. The background literally took my breath away a couple of time, as well as some of the most grotesque body horror creatures that you can’t look away from. It’s truly a feast for the eyes.

But wow did it make some great changes to the gameplay. This one is irrefutably a Metroidvania, unlike the original. Critical upgrades are needed to progress, and you really have to earn them. They change how you interact with the entire map - as the best of the genre does. Without spoiling anything, you become much more agile as the game progresses.

It does away with the missable collectibles and obtuse puzzles, making completionist goals much more feasible. It also refines and improves the visceral bloody combat, adding variety and great skill trees/badge systems.

My ONLY complaint - I much prefer the pixel art cinematics of the original. The new cutscene art is pretty, but the style gives me Sunday school illustration vibes. Truly my only complaint.

I absolutely recommend this one - easily in the top 3 Metroidvanias of the year. It’s a total blast start to finish, and continues to prove how incredible The Game Kitchen is with every game they put out.

I know it's a little trite to call every metroidvania a Hollowknight clone but that game has had such a rattling effect on the industry that it genuinely feels apt, like talking about any thriller without at least vaguely referencing Hitchcock on some level feels impossible.

The thing I love about most Hollowknight clones is they are easier, I'm being serious. For one reason or the other the boss fights in Blasphemous 2 seem to be less tightly designed making the whole project a lot more approachable as a whole. I had a love hate relationship with The Knight as I recognized that the world Cherry built was one of the most beautiful to ever have been designed and yet progression always felt halted by these grueling skill requirements. With that said because of Blasphemous Dos' accessibility the fights aren't exactly staying with me. Give and take I guess. I imagine that'll change towards the end of the journey.

I wish the story here was at least a little bit coherent, but that might me too much to ask from a team clearly heavily inspired by FromSoftware. I feel detached from Blasphemous emotionally beyond the visual spectacle of it, I will say that sense of almost apathy does fit the overall tone though.

Overall solid work, I hope it stays consistent till roll credits.

UPDATE 1st Feb: The game uses it's weapons as a progression mechanic and MY GOD that's so brilliant, and so novel. Its such a functionally simple addition yet it blends narrative with game-play in such an intuitive way. Everybody should take notes. Bravo

UPDATE 20th March #DNF at 50% Finally calling it quits. There's a difference between challenging and annoying. As Blasphemous progresses it sadly leans increasingly towards the latter. I still consider it a brilliant game though, just not one I'm interested in finishing.