Blasphemous

I love this game! It is a lot like a 2D Dark Souls, but never feels like a copy. Combat is harsh, but never unfair (plus, you get to keep your leveling resource when you die...but there's another, sometimes even harsher punishment for dying...). The world building works much better for me than it does in Dark Souls (Cvstodia is a dark world indeed, but the item descriptions aren't usually as convoluted as in DS). The gameplay is reminiscent of oldschool games like, well, Castlevania, or Demon's Crest (a game for true hardasses on the SNES). The whole mechanics work perfectly and the enemies don't bore you to death. BUT: I encountered a bug that, as I've found out just now, is probably game-breaking! Or at least game-breaking enough to restart. When I entered Jondo, I lost a lot of bonuses I had accrued: One of my rosary beads (which let you equip more items), two of my bile flasks and a bit more. Having played a considerable bit further (even as a permanent loss, well, I like a challenge...) it would now seem that my sword leveling was broken as well, and that I can't level up my sword anymore at all. It also seems like it reverted to its weakest form. So...I'd probably be stuck with its current abilities and possiby strength until...the end of the game? That seems not just harsh, but boring. So I guess I'll give it a while and revisit the game later, starting from the beginning. I'm a backer and while I can't say I feel disappointed (since the overall quality exceeds what I expected), I feel a little cheated about all the time I've already sunk into the game. Sure, a LOT of the time that you need to play a game like this goes into "gitting gud", and "gud" I've become, but it still sets me back quite a few hours. I hope this will be the last time I encounter that bug...

This game is damn near perfect. It's one of those rare cases where my biggest cricism is that there isn't more of it. That said it isn't too short I just love it that much. It took me about 20 hours to 100% everything and every bit of that time was well spent. The lore is there via item descriptions and the world is just so macabre, and it leans into that macabre setting and feeling so much and owns it so well that it just becomes that much more immersive. I never thought I'd use the word immersive for a side scroller, but here we are in 2019. Long story short, if you enjoy any games that involve a lot of exploration with a non-linear layout, interesting boss fights, beautiful pixel art, great ambient music, and so much to discover and find that is findable without a guide (all the signposting is there if you know what to look for) then you really really should consider picking this one up. This game were it released in the formative years of gaming would undoubtedly held up next to the pillars of the genre. End Note: I own the Switch version of the game, but I can't leave a review there... but I haven't heard of any issues with the PC version and if you're getting it on PC get it on GOG.

This is a great game, gameplaywise. But it is also a work of surreal, macabre and grotesque Christian art unseen before. The soundtrack really helps pull the player into a sense of desperation and dread. Highly recommended, 8/10.

The game is great, smooth, interesting story and a gory gameplay. It's basically 2D darksouls, and I love it. But I can't give this game 5 stars because it looks like the publishers have done it again and are treating GOG players as second class costumers. A free DLC has been released and the good people on steam have received and enjoyed it while we continue to wait with nothing but a ' we hope to have news on it soon'. Regardless of the reason why it was delayed, it should have been delayed for both platforms, instead gog players are once again feeling like their purchase isn't worth as much. I suspect that this is just another ploy to move players away from GOG and to Steam and control how, when and by who their game is played. For that very reason I still reccomend that you buy this game on gog - just to show it to them.

This game blew me away. It's a triumph on every level.