Blasphemous is a Souls-styled metroidvania game, where you take the role of The Penitent One. A Cvstodian, martyr of sorts trying to carry out the mission given to him by some higher power. Or something like that, I think? It's pretty confusing... It's a solid experience with an amazing art style that's slightly let down by some poor design choices and story that doesn't make much sense.


Blasphemous could be divided into two parts, the platforming and the boss fights. The latter is mostly great and I don't have much complains about.

Most boss fights are actually quite fun and challenging enough (exceptions: two early and easy bosses and Exposito which is a random mess). They require some pattern analysis, patience and sometimes quick reactions. My two favourites would probably be Quirce and Melquiades, very fun and intelligently designed fights. Keep in mind, those are not Cuphead or some DS levels of hard, usually a few tries and you're done, sometimes even one is enough.

The platforming can be fun, but can also be frustrating as hell. I'm almost always opposed to instakill mechanics in games and it's no different for Blasphemous. Spikes have probably killed me the most time throughout the playthrough and I think that's really not what I'm looking for in a game. It doesn't help that there's something weird about the ledges in the game, sometimes I was sure I should land on one, but instead I would kinda phase through it an fall to my death. The game also seems to have a fetish of slowing you down while traversing, by putting lots of timed traps that block your path for a few seconds. On the other hand, the enemies you meet in the world are designed really well. Each zone has (mostly) it's own unique enemies and often times I found them really annoying or hard at first just to have that 'Oooh, that's how you should fight them' moment, which I think is a sign of smart enemy design.

The controls were rather smooth, which is crucial in games like this one. However, there were some moments where I felt like I lost control of the character during a jump, I'm pretty sure it was due to some weird bug. I was a bit annoyed with how the dodging works, though. Sometimes you can slide through the enemy, other times they actually have a hitbox, some projectiles hit you while dodging, some don't, it was wildly inconsistent.

The worst part about the game was however the horrible design of quests and relics. First of all, backtracking in Blasphemous is NOT fun. And if you want to have a high % completion rate, prepare to do it a lot. I've defeated the last boss 10h into the game, but decided to do some achievements and it took me another 5 hours of running around to reach half. The quests are often a complete mystery. I frequently didn't know what the NPCs needed, so I ended up visiting them every now and then or just checking the wiki. Some quest items have hints indicating what they're used for, but many sadly don't. Some quests are time limited which is not really indicated clearly and on the first playthrough you'll almost always fail them. What's more, the map doesn't show you NPCs or any points of interest, you can't mark them yourself either. Oh, you've seen some secret area you couldn't reach? Well, good luck remembering it 5 hours later when you actually have the required item to go there. Even worse, the teleports are few and far between, which means that even if you know where to go you'll have to run and jump there and the shortcuts are often really crappy and/or deadly so you don't save time. On top of that, there's LOTS of hidden areas that require relics to reach and those relics are hidden in really non-obvious places, which means you may as well not reach those places at all during a playthrough. And the fact you can only 'wear' 3 relics at the same time is utter nonsense, only adding the annoyance of going into menu to swap them every few steps.


Definitely the strongest point of the game. The art is heavily based on some important Christian pieces (art, buildings, sculptures, you name it) but twisted into something really grotesque. The bosses, enemies, npcs, levels and even the protagonist are all deliciously deformed. There are some pretty repulsive lore fragments and images throughout the game and I loved it! The artist(s?) working on the game has done some astonishing work and I really hope to see more of this style in the future.

The music may be a bit unnoticeable, because it's not too loud or 'obvious', but it's there and it's doing its work. The classical guitar tunes sound very sombre, yet delicate giving the game an inspired atmosphere. I though it had some deep roots in Spanish way of playing the guitar, but maybe it's just my feeling.


The lore in Blasphemous is pretty rich. There's loooots of collectibles and each one has it's own lore description. I think I read most of them and they do build an image of a deeply f*cked up world, kinda Souls-like, but more religious-fruitcakey. The problem I have with it is that if you compare it to the Souls lore and story, it doesn't make much sense. In DS series lore is, also, rather hidden and you, also, get it mostly from item descriptions and NPCs' dialogues, but in DS it actually makes sense, the story comes together and even though there are gaps here and there you can make out the story of the world and understand the significance of the protagonist and his deeds. Meanwhile in Blasphemous, there are some connections, but there are too many whys, hows and whats left unanswered to make up a full story out of what we have. It's hard to even grasp why The Penitent One is doing what he's doing. I've read multiple 'theories' and 'explanations', but they only make sense in some areas and are often completely wrong in some assumptions (going against the existing lore).

Maybe it's just temporary and the upcoming DLC(s?) will shed some more light on what's actually going on in the game. I sure hope so. So far I know who each boss was and how miracle affected them, but I have no idea why did I even have to fight them... If not, well, it would mean the creation of lore and story was just half-assed for the sake of the game looking dark and grotesque.


Despite its flaws, I strongly believe Blasphemous is a game worth playing. It's provides 10 hours of solid gameplay and some top notch visual experience. Additionally, the devs are still actively working on the patches and a DLC, so maybe at least some of the design choices will be changed, bugs fixed (some already have) and game will become less annoying to play.

Blasphemous is a Souls-styled metroidvania game, where you take the role of The Penitent One. A Cvstodian, martyr of sorts trying to carry out the mission given to him by some higher power. Or something like that, I think? It's pretty confusing... It's a solid experience with an amazing art style that's slightly let down by some poor design choices and story that doesn't make much sense. [h1] Gameplay [/h1] Blasphemous could be divided into two parts, the platforming and the boss fights. The latter is mostly great and I don't have much complains about. Most boss fights are actually quite fun and challenging enough (exceptions: two early and easy bosses and Exposito which is a random mess). They require some pattern analysis, patience and sometimes quick reactions. My two favourites would probably be Quirce and Melquiades, very fun and intelligently designed fights. Keep in mind, those are not Cuphead or some DS levels of hard, usually a few tries and you're done, sometimes even one is enough. The platforming can be fun, but can also be frustrating as hell. I'm almost always opposed to instakill mechanics in games and it's no different for Blasphemous. Spikes have probably killed me the most time throughout the playthrough and I think that's really not what I'm looking for in a game. It doesn't help that there's something weird about the ledges in the game, sometimes I was sure I should land on one, but instead I would kinda phase through it an fall to my death. The game also seems to have a fetish of slowing you down while traversing, by putting lots of timed traps that block your path for a few seconds. On the other hand, the enemies you meet in the world are designed really well. Each zone has (mostly) it's own unique enemies and often times I found them really annoying or hard at first just to have that 'Oooh, that's how you should fight them' moment, which I think is a sign of smart enemy design. The controls were rather smooth, which is crucial in games like this one. However, there were some moments where I felt like I lost control of the character during a jump, I'm pretty sure it was due to some weird bug. I was a bit annoyed with how the dodging works, though. Sometimes you can slide through the enemy, other times they actually have a hitbox, some projectiles hit you while dodging, some don't, it was wildly inconsistent. The worst part about the game was however the horrible design of quests and relics. First of all, backtracking in Blasphemous is NOT fun. And if you want to have a high % completion rate, prepare to do it a lot. I've defeated the last boss 10h into the game, but decided to do some achievements and it took me another 5 hours of running around to reach half. The quests are often a complete mystery. I frequently didn't know what the NPCs needed, so I ended up visiting them every now and then or just checking the wiki. Some quest items have hints indicating what they're used for, but many sadly don't. Some quests are time limited which is not really indicated clearly and on the first playthrough you'll almost always fail them. What's more, the map doesn't show you NPCs or any points of interest, you can't mark them yourself either. Oh, you've seen some secret area you couldn't reach? Well, good luck remembering it 5 hours later when you actually have the required item to go there. Even worse, the teleports are few and far between, which means that even if you know where to go you'll have to run and jump there and the shortcuts are often really crappy and/or deadly so you don't save time. On top of that, there's LOTS of hidden areas that require relics to reach and those relics are hidden in really non-obvious places, which means you may as well not reach those places at all during a playthrough. And the fact you can only 'wear' 3 relics at the same time is utter nonsense, only adding the annoyance of going into menu to swap them every few steps. [h1] Graphics and Sound [/h1] Definitely the strongest point of the game. The art is heavily based on some important Christian pieces (art, buildings, sculptures, you name it) but twisted into something really grotesque. The bosses, enemies, npcs, levels and even the protagonist are all deliciously deformed. There are some pretty repulsive lore fragments and images throughout the game and I loved it! The artist(s?) working on the game has done some astonishing work and I really hope to see more of this style in the future. The music may be a bit unnoticeable, because it's not too loud or 'obvious', but it's there and it's doing its work. The classical guitar tunes sound very sombre, yet delicate giving the game an inspired atmosphere. I though it had some deep roots in Spanish way of playing the guitar, but maybe it's just my feeling. [h1] Story and Lore [/h1] The lore in Blasphemous is pretty rich. There's loooots of collectibles and each one has it's own lore description. I think I read most of them and they do build an image of a deeply f*cked up world, kinda Souls-like, but more religious-fruitcakey. The problem I have with it is that if you compare it to the Souls lore and story, it doesn't make much sense. In DS series lore is, also, rather hidden and you, also, get it mostly from item descriptions and NPCs' dialogues, but in DS it actually makes sense, the story comes together and even though there are gaps here and there you can make out the story of the world and understand the significance of the protagonist and his deeds. Meanwhile in Blasphemous, there are some connections, but there are too many whys, hows and whats left unanswered to make up a full story out of what we have. It's hard to even grasp why The Penitent One is doing what he's doing. I've read multiple 'theories' and 'explanations', but they only make sense in some areas and are often completely wrong in some assumptions (going against the existing lore). Maybe it's just temporary and the upcoming DLC(s?) will shed some more light on what's actually going on in the game. I sure hope so. So far I know who each boss was and how miracle affected them, but I have no idea why did I even have to fight them... If not, well, it would mean the creation of lore and story was just half-assed for the sake of the game looking dark and grotesque. [h1] Overall [/h1] Despite its flaws, I strongly believe Blasphemous is a game worth playing. It's provides 10 hours of solid gameplay and some top notch visual experience. Additionally, the devs are still actively working on the patches and a DLC, so maybe at least some of the design choices will be changed, bugs fixed (some already have) and game will become less annoying to play.