Blasphemous 2 review: horrible and fascinating

Unlike its predecessor, Blasphemous 2 starts with a crucial choice. The Penitent, who is back in service after a first adventure far from having been easy, finds himself faced with three weapons. Those looking for raw power will opt for the cannonball attached to a chain, capable of spinning and doing heavy damage. Agility enthusiasts will rather focus their attention on the double sword, capable of stinging quickly, like the needle of a sewing machine. Finally, there is the basic sword, the one that will remind Blasphemous. For the regulars, she will be the ideal ally, this bearer of memories linked to bitter battles won.

However, there is a twist in this story: in reality, to end Blasphemous 2, you will have to use these three pieces of arsenal. This means that the Penitent’s new quest will begin by finding the two weapons he initially refused, until discovering that they will be useful to him outside of combat. Above all, he will have to prevent the birth of a “miraculous” child, protected by a Confraternity. With this sequel, the Spanish developers of The Game Kitchen continue to sing their love for a morbid portrayal of Christianity. Horror continues to be everywhere, to the point of becoming fascinating.

Blasphemous 2 is the dream sequel

The fans of the first Blasphemousa true nugget of the Metroidvania genre, will not be disoriented by the first minutes of Blasphemous 2. They will find this artistic proposal as sickening as it is sublime, nourished by a 2D rendering in pixel art worthy of the most beautiful pieces of goldsmithery and accompanied by a mellow soundtrack to the ear. It is therefore impossible to attack the form of a game that refines everything that was already done well by the one who allows it to exist today. The bar was set very high, but The Game Kitchen still manages to hone its skills as a master sculptor. Blasphemous 2 is a game that never ceases to captivate, environment after environment — all within a coherent universe that borders on respect. It will just be necessary to hang on to the craving for hemoglobin. A way of remembering that religion, in the broad sense, has had blood on its hands since the dawn of time.

Hooded in a toga that will win the support — but perhaps not the love — of everyone, Blasphemous 2 above all manages to reinvent itself enough to avoid the feeling of repetition. Apparently, adding two weapons to the equation profoundly changes the game, especially since they each have their own evolution tree. They make it possible to vary the pleasures to rid the decorations of the vile creatures which prevail there. More importantly, they pave the way for ever more paths to walk and secrets to discover. As a good apostle of the Metroidvania genre, Blasphemous 2 offers a field of exploration that makes you dizzy. Admittedly, it imposes incessant comings and goings which may seem redundant, at first glance, before becoming more and more obvious and instantaneous. This observation is of course linked to a well-thought-out architecture, which connects various atmospheres with great intelligence.

Blasphemous 2 is not just a call to contemplation (in the artistic sense of the term) and an incessant quest for secret passages. It remains an action game articulated around a gameplay of surgical precision, which gives as much (the animations to die for) as it takes away (the errors of the players and the players are not forgiven). It is based on a requirement that may make more than one wince, with regard to these passages thought of as stations of the cross, with many pitfalls, if not painful. It still allows itself to correct one of the main flaws of its predecessor: falls are no longer fatal. Alleluia.

The title of The Game Kitchen also plays the customization card. In addition to the three weapons that offer the possibility of varying the pleasures (you switch from one to the other with a single key), various options exist to shape the Penitent as you wish. We find in particular sculptures which, when they are well combined, give secret passives with significant power. When we know the overall difficulty of Blasphemous 2, far from being insurmountable but not within everyone’s reach either, this openness to experimentation is welcome. Everything just responds to each other in the game: you explore to gain powers that open up access to other parts of the setting, where ever more powers are nestled. Eventually, Blasphemous 2 does not need to be asked to offer content responsible for continually preaching to the convinced.

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