Blasphemous 2 - A Morbidly Marvelous Metroidvania Sequel
Hey there! If you’re a fan of the Macabre or Metroidvanias, I’m covering The Game Kitchens’ recently released sequel, Blasphemous 2 - a title that had been hinted at ever since the original hidden ending, before its later confirmation. Given that I wound up sinking 23 hours (after doing a bit of extra achievement hunting), you can bet I'm eager to talk shop about the experience!
Returning To Custodia
For 1,000 long years, the lands of Custodia had been free of the Grievous Miracle, which had twisted prayers into profanity, all due to the sacrifice of the Penitent one. Until something changed. Over the city of the blessed name, a massive heart formed- a sign of things to come. Like a wretched infestation, the mark of the miracle spread through the lands - warping those it touched into shadows of themselves, deformed by their devotion.
Worst of all, this is merely a taste of things to come, because a new Child of the Miracle is soon to be born. Only through the intercession of a recently revived penitent one is there any hope for a future free of that foul and fickle faith - though the journey will not be easy, given he is not the only one to be revived. In his path lies the Archconfraternity, who’ll oppose his path every step of the way.
Premise aside, this does a great job of picking up the narrative from where Blasphemous's true ending (C ) left off. Really, the only thing that might be brutal for fans of the former game, is the fact that the 1000-year time skip means you have outlived all of the original cast. Well, Crisanta’s back again- but, not for very long - given she proceeds to die in the first minute of the game, in order to establish how powerful the head of the Confraternity, Evirterno, is. Oof. Nonetheless, I still found myself appreciating the story as it progressed- as the overall writing is as strong as ever, and the voice acting certainly adds to its impact. Even with the few cutscenes that occur, I never felt like I was locked into unnecessarily long info dumps.
That said, as far as storytelling goes, the real star of the show was all the world-building and auxiliary lore. If you were a fan of seeing and hearing about the twisted irony doled out by the Grievous Miracle in the first game, you’ll have plenty of opportunities to witness its workings - whether it’s by simply soaking in the world, actively engaging with the games’ various sidequests and how they resolve themselves, or reading all the bits of lore lodged within the items you acquire. It does a great job of incentivizing a player to dive as deep as they can into the Custodia’s world.
Cleaning up Custodia
Speaking of which, there is a -lot- to dive in- and Blasphemous 2 provides a bit more freedom on that front this time around. While this remains a Metroidvania with some soulslike elements like it's predecessor, the platforming & exploration elements feel much more pronounced this time around. In fact, once you get through the tutorial segment, and get the initial movement ability, the wall jump, you’ll suddenly find yourself with a trio of directions you can travel to. While at a glance this might seem the same as the first game, it’s not long until it branches even further, in large part because of the multiple weapons that are introduced at the start of the game.
See, Blasphemous 2 changes things up considerably by allowing the player to choose between 3 distant weapons at the start of the game - a heavy censer that acts like an oversized flail, a pair of speedy rapiers, and a more balanced long sword. While this has an obvious impact on combat due to unique move sets tied to each one - this choice also has the unexpected side effect of influencing how a player interacts with the exploration early on- because those weapons also have exploration abilities tied to each one. For instance, The censer can hit bells which activate floating platforms or weaken certain doors. The twin swords can be used to zip between mirrors in a flash of lightning, and the longsword can be used to break down wooden platforms by diving from a large enough height. Essentially, what secrets you can initially engage with are partly dictated by this decision. At least, until you’re reunited with the other weapons in the early game - at which point, the game really flexes its chops by connecting those along with the other movement abilities you'll find to make some truly solid platforming & puzzle segments as you press on. Segments which, I should mention, feel substantially less frustrating than their prequel-related peers, given you no longer die instantly to spikes and the like- instead losing a chunk of health.
Here’s the thing, though - they aren’t actually locked behind bosses, but through exploring those regions, there’s literally nothing stopping you from snagging those weapons, and simply ... leaving to explore the world further and shore up secrets. In fact, I was able to collect all three weapons and then use the combination of their abilities to dive into an area meant to be tackled later and pummel its boss for the double jump ability - which I then used to clown on those earlier bosses I’d bypassed.
This sort of freedom is honestly great, as it provides a lot of choice for a segment that takes up something like 40% of the game. That said, once you do get past this midway point, the game does guide you down a path that generally feels more linear - albeit still with some wiggle room to unlock new areas or secrets that had been previously inaccessible, incentivizing exploration all the same. (Pair that with the fact that you can freely leave map markers, which you can even tweak to showcase what kind of secret you’ve missed- and things click together fairly smoothly.)
Admittedly, it does help that the game is not only porous due to the sheer amount of shortcuts built in - but also provides the players with a number of tools to hasten backtracking. The first one I encountered was a spell that warps the player back to town, which helps to cut down travel time considerably. The second was the fixed teleport system that sends players between certain locations once found. The last option takes a bit more work, but- once you progress far enough down a certain sidequest, you gain the ability to just teleport between any save point - which is the most efficient option at the end of the day.
Now, at this juncture, I’ve likely covered the exploration as much as I’ve needed to- so let’s dive headlong into the combat, and more specifically, your options- and I have to say, it definitely feels like it’s improved. The option of 3 distinct weapons definitely feels interesting, since they all play out differently. The censer, for instance, lacks a defensive skill - forcing players to focus on their evasion in order to find openings for its more ponderous attacks- while managing their fervour (Read: Mana) in order to power it up. The twin swords have a block & parry - but they also have a charge mechanic that requires players to execute fights flawlessly, or risk losing everything they’ve accumulated. Lastly, there’s the long sword- with its own parry…and a system that provides you a power-up - at the cost of a hefty chunk of health.
Honestly, it can be a bit awkward to lock yourself into a weapon you don’t wind up jiving with, but given you get access to the other two fairly early on, it won’t be too long until you’re freely swapping between whichever one suits the situation (a fact that certain platforming segments thoroughly take advantage of). What’s more, while you may not initially jive with a weapon set - if you should find the hidden shrines associated with them, you can expand their skill tree, providing some fairly significant motivation to increase your familiarity with the Penitent One’s Arsenal. (Admittedly, I do wish I could have seen more of what they were capable of before I locked myself in - especially since some of the skill tree nodes are passives that apply as a whole, like defence boosts).
Especially since you do have to be careful about what you acquire, due to a quirk of this game's approach to customization. See, In order to increase their level, you need to acquire a limited resource known as Marks of Martyrdom. These can be accrued by fighting enemies in a manner akin to levelling (up to 40 in this manner), by exploring the world, and by slaying bosses. That said, these resources are -also- shared with another character-building aspect, so even if you’re diligent, you’ll still find yourself unable to upgrade everything until the very end of the game, often requiring you to focus your attention to some degree.
Which, right, let’s get into the system that shares these resources - namely, the Altarpieces. Essentially, these provide the Penitent one with passive abilities, like effecting the damage of their attacks, causing them to slowly regenerate health, or more specialized options- like allowing you to save some charge progress when you’re hit while wielding the twin swords. Essentially, these take the role of the more interesting rosary beads that existed in Blasphemous 1 - with the added bonus that pairing up certain altarpieces will provide unique bonuses, ranging from extra damage, changing up your dodge, or even outright shifting how a weapon functions to a degree. It’s honestly neat stuff to discover, which again really factors into how -good- it feels to explore and find things. Really, the only downside to them, is that you need to go to the hub city in order to re-arrange them.
Which, uh, juxtaposes itself against the rosarys, which still exist- but are now almost uniformly defensive boosts. I mean, yes, there’s a pair that boosts your tears of atonement gain (See: Money), as well as how fast you accrue martyrdom seal - but realistically, they’re just different flavours of defence, which you can slowly equip more of.
Spells, at least, are treated a lot better- since there’s still a plethora of useful options- which have now been divided between verses (less expensive spells), and chants, which are more expensive, and generally harder hitting, or fulfilling very unique roles. Being able to equip one of each makes casting a lot smoother.
There’s just one thing. An element that I’ve yet to mention that makes this whole spiel feel a little bit awkward. Blasphemous 2 feels easier. Yes, you can still get murdered by enemies- in fact, I found myself killed more than once, because you have very minimal recovery frames, allowing an enemy to just bottom out your health by walking straight into you while you’re in a corner. That said, I found that I died considerably less over the course of my journey, and I really doubt that it’s simply a matter of me having experience with Custodia.
Perhaps it’s the fact that you’ll encounter a fair number of enemies that exist within the same ‘family’, functioning similarly enough that you’ve long adapted to their antics. Maybe it’s just the number of tools at your disposal, or the ability to ‘bully’ enemies by stunning them (especially with the censer). Whatever the case- the hardest segments for me were generally marked by battles of attrition- of hikes through areas I hadn’t unlocked shortcuts or save points for yet.
Well, that, and the boss fights. These admittedly still slap- and definitely rated among the high points of my journey. Not only do they have some decent patterns that i had to work to adapt to, but the multiple phases frequently required a bit of quick thinking to adjust. That or some post-humous reflection. Really, it’s at this point that I need to give a special shoutout to the second last boss- because they were the hands-down most brutal encounter of the game - and a reflection of the sort of showdowns I’d been hoping for.
In fact, these encounters were the primary moments where I stopped messing around and abusing Blasphemous 2’s take on the Guilt system. Which, right- so, the first Blaspemous had a soulslike flavoured death penalty known as ‘Guilt’ - which reduced your max fervour as you died, as well as your tear acquisition until you collected your ghost.
Blasphemous 2’s system works similarly on the fervour front, but it actually -boosts- your tear and Martyrdom seal generation rate. Which sounds absolutely fantastic on paper. Just sacrifice casting to get a leg up on customization early on. Only, it doesn’t just mess with your fervour. It -also- tanks your defence. While you can get an altarpiece that halves that penalty - it’s a -noticeable- hit to your survivability, to the point that I found myself thinking twice about it on a number of encounters. Still, I can always appreciate a solid bit of risk/reward - and the ability to be a glass cannon (given there are a few instances where you can get damage boosts for being at high guilt).
The Sights & Sounds Of The Miracle
Now, while I don’t normally have too much to talk about on a visual front, there are a number of interesting details to tackle in Blasphemous 2, so, let’s start from the top. The first difference veterans of the game will notice is the way cutscenes are handled in-game, as there are now fully animated sequences. That said, while this change is obvious- perhaps the more impactful visual detail impacts the gameplay itself. While the overall world itself still looks gorgeous, if you were a fan of the executions in the first game, you may wind up feeling slightly disappointed, because a fair number of enemies will share certain animations. These become especially noticeable once you realize that there’s a fair number of enemies which share a similar ‘family’, which extends not only to executions but their animations at large. That said, the boss designs remain a fantastic element and something to look forward to. The Penitent Ones' combat animations are also solid.
And on the audio front? I only have praise. Once again the music is an absolute highlight of the experience, with a very expansive list of tracks encompassing the various areas in the game, as well as the boss fights. What’s more, the game is fully voice-acted- with a very talented cast.
The Final Judgement
Still, if I needed to boil all this down? I think, on the whole, I enjoyed the sequel a lot- even more than its predecessor. Yes, I was a bit disappointed at the basic enemy roster, and I certainly didn’t feel quite as challenged by the majority of its cast- That said, the exploration, platforming, and puzzle-solving feel -substantially- better this time around, you’re granted an extraordinary amount of flexibility in combat. And hell, you do have the option to make the game harder for yourself if you want to, and you’re even incentivized for doing so. Such as when I walked into this boss fight debuffed out the wazoo, only to perfect him.
Narratively, I think this game did an excellent job of picking up where the last one ended, and further fleshing out the world, and honestly- just bringing things to a satisfying close. Altogether, I think I can call this game an amazing sequel. It -is- a game you should play, and at this juncture, I don’t have a reason not to recommend this to anyone and everyone. Unless you’re a bit squeamish. There’s definitely a few things in here that definitely veer into the grotesque side of things.
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