

Some of these contain multiple complicated steps that require some serious thought in order to figure out. The areas are so densely packed with things to find and new mysteries waiting around every corner. As is common for the genre, there’s also a great degree of interconnection between the areas that you’ll find regularly.īut what really separates the game from the pack are its secrets. Everything also oozes personality, with very little wasted space or areas without purpose. The designers have managed to give all the areas memorable layouts with a good sense of place. Take a look aroundīlasphemous‘s level design is truly impressive. I’m not always sure what it is I’m looking at, but I’m definitely looking at something. Regardless of familiarity, it’s very much its own game.īlasphemous has a lot of really awesome boss battles. Blasphemous wears its inspiration on its sleeve, but it doesn’t copy anything. If you’re expecting to be able to kill a bunch of NPCs for items and find different ways of dealing with certain situations, you won’t find that here. It’s worth mentioning that there aren’t many choices in the game. Even if you’re not sure what the hell is happening, Blasphemous‘ story elements will likely grab your attention in a big way. There are cutscenes, though gorgeous, animated pixel cutscenes to be exact. You’re meant to slowly unravel what everything is by having cryptic conversations and reading item descriptions. The game takes its storytelling cues from Dark Souls in a way most other games don’t dare. Their bodies piled to the sky, their many cone helmets standing out clearly against the background. It begins with him entering the land of Custodia and being greeted with the countless corpses of those who embarked on the same journey. Blaspheme from the pasphemeīlasphemous concerns the journey of the Penitent One, a man bearing a mask and cone helmet, on his journey of, well, penitence. However, its combination of visual and atmospheric artistry, tight gameplay, and memorable, intriguing level design elevates it to a plane many similar games fail to go.

Blasphemous is strongly inspired by both of these subgenres - but it doesn’t necessarily do anything new. With a market flooded by Souls-likes and Metroid-likes, it’s really difficult for a game fitting those descriptions to stand out.
