Blasphemous

I was waiting for this game after the success they had in his Kickstarter campaing, now I can play it and I must say that that wait was worth it. The art, the main pillar of the game, it's just beatiful and all I've to say is that it clearly see the effort they put on every sprite, animation and all the atmosphere behind that; for me, the best of the game without doubt, and all this perfectly accompained by a very good music and even better lore. Maybe the weakest part is the gameplay, the level design and boss fights are really good and challenging however regular enemies can become repetitive sometimes, but being honest, that never was the strong point of a metroidvania game (the challenge was always in the design of the levels, not the enemies). This game has far exceeded my expectations in every single point (and I totally recommend it).

Based on the most traditional European culture that rose after Constantine. It is so weird that Christianity is the most common religion on Earth, yet, few games are built upon this theme. The sacrament of penance is a gift from God to purify our souls from the sins. This game brings this back, maybe not as a conscious idea from the designers, and it makes us remember what made so many people convert to Christianity: the blood of the martyrs throughout the centuries.

I've played a decent amount of Metroidvanias, and I can say without a shadow of a doubt that this is the best one I have ever played. From top to bottom, it is just an absolute treat, and I am happy to be a participant in this Procession of Flagellants. Right of the bat, it's gorgeous. The visuals are based on that of Roman Catholicism and early 19th-century Spanish art, and it is oozing in visual splendour. Mixing horror with any other style can be difficult, but the game does it seamlessly. I mean, the first boss is literally a reference to The Pietà, how more Catholic can you get? Meanwhile, the more you learn and see about Roman Catholicism such as Holy Week in Spain, it adds so much depth to the incredible atmosphere and designs. Not only that, but the visuals are paired with genuinely interesting writing, both in subtext and text. Descriptions of items take a page from Dark Souls and give depth for those who desire it, as well as educating us on the value (or lack thereof) of the item. Dialogue is great, and while some people may complain about particular voice acting, I NEVER got to a point where I even considered turning off the voices, let alone actually have any specific examples worth mentioning. Some characters are stilted, but them being stilted works well with the world. The world itself is suffering from atrophy, so a lot of the voice acting being stiff actually works for me. Combat wise, it's great. There are a few bullshit enemies, but you get into enough of a rhythm where you learn what enemies to avoid and how to combat them when necessary. There's also a wide enough variety of abilities, skills and upgrades where you feel yourself becoming stronger. If I got angry when I died, very rarely would I get mad at the game, and that's a good sign. The worst examples are generally little game glitches. Finally, you prefer masochistic games, at the end of the game there are even extreme modes! It's just got it all.

The added spanish dub is just incredible, back on release i was baffled why this game being developed by spanish devs and so heavily based on spanish culture didn't have spanish audio. But the work done worth the wait, it's in my opinion the best spanish audio in any game. The Amanecidas are a welcome addition too, since the original bosses has all the look but they were not that interesting gameplay wise, the Amanecidas scratch that skill itch for me. A new canonical Ending, lot of skins, NG+ modes and other little extras makes the game feels so much bigger and better now. The art is still incredible and weird and it's refreshing to see this Bizarre and Baroque Catholic setting instead of the more traditional "medieval" or "dark" fantasy. Love the weirdness of this game. This is probably my 3rd favorite metroidvania of all time. The presentation is top-tier but the gameplay is a bit janky or clunky compared to other metroidvanias. It lacks some traditional traversal move to make the game a bit more fluid and also lacks a bit more variety on fight moves. Also, even after so many updates i still encounter a considerable number of bugs, especially against bosses, Sierpes boss is a clipping mess.

Blasphemous has got some critisism for the controllers, but I totally disagree. It's a bit complicated in the beginning, yes, but you get charms to improve that functionality. "Hollow knight" controls would never work with this style of gameplay since it's supposed to be realistic pixel art gameplay. Japanese anime style controls would never work in a serious game like Blasphemous. But with the right charms, it gets close enough. It's a real metroidvania, and it's totally rad. It's quite similar to Castlevania 2 to the NES, but it's 100 times better. The religious spanish creepy inquisitor theme feels both familiar and unknown at the same time. It's like a pixel art horror movie in some way. There are multiple endings and tons of stuff to explore and to not explore until next time. I used the wiki myself quite a lot, but I would have preferred to do it without. Perfect atmosphere, great spanish guitar music, awesome pixel art graphics and a very creative experience in general. As a metroidvania fan, loving Hollow Knight, Pronty, Castlevania, The Messenger and similar games, this is a perfect game suitable for my taste. Ignore all negative reviews if you like the above games. 10/10. I've spent 30 hours this far since I want 100% completion and I'm at 90% right now.