What was more important was testing the waters, taking a leap of faith into an area you aren’t yet familiar with, learning enemies telegraphs. Those enhancements are there, don’t get me wrong, but they never felt like they were the core gameplay loop. It doesn’t necessarily offer up anything entirely or original or new, and while many may groan at the thought of another Metroidvania game dropping onto the marketplace, Blasphemous is a game far more intent on progression being determined by your skill rather than discoverable upgrades. The usual suspects are here, resting at shrines that act as checkpoints to an area, a limited amount of healing charges you refill and slower, methodical pacing to the combat. Despite how visceral Blasphemous, it’s engaging in a way that many games wish there, drawing me in for plenty hours of punishing combat, discovery and just a little too much backtracking.īlasphemous is a Metroidvania, taking a great many of its gameplay inspirations from the likes of Hollow Knight and Dark Souls.

Outside of that strange Dante’s Inferno game a few years back and the equally bizarre El Shaddai: Ascension of the Metatron, Blasphemous kind of stands out from the crowd with its very purposeful use of Christian and specifically Catholic imagery, simultaneously creating a world that’s equal parts horrifying yet consistently interesting. Don’t get me wrong, I understand why: Games receive enough backlash from the media as it is without inciting The Crusade 2: Holy Boogaloo, but on a creative level, religious texts offer such a fresh space to explore. We have an endless stream of games that delve into post-apocalyptic worlds, fantasy settings, the endless chasm of space yet very few have ever drawn explicit inspiration from the world’s religions. I always find it interesting how religion is often left untapped by video games.

Blasphemer heretic game