Blasphemous Review

Reading Time: 4 minutes

Fast Facts

Title: Blasphemous
Developer: The Game Kitchen
Publisher: Team 17
Website: https://www.team17.com/games/blasphemous/
Genre: Action, Platformer
Platform: Nintendo Switch
Age Rating: PEGI 16+
Release Date: 10/09/9
Price: £19.99 – Rapid Reviews was very kindly provided with a review code for this title.

Blasphemous hits you in the face as soon as you get going and it never, ever, lets up.  A dark and twisted world, with pixel art that captures the hellish mood perfectly.  It tells a tale of woe, guilt and redemption.  Created by the developers “The Game Kitchen”, this game brings a unique take to the genre.  Another Kickstarter success story, this game smashed so many stretch goals and raised over $330,000!  This action-based platforming game is a hellish romp through a damned landscape.  Read on to find out if this game is a sin.

You play as The Penitent One, the last surviving members of the “Brotherhood of the Silent Sorrow”.  Trawling through the land of Cvstodia, as you fight through hordes of vicious monsters that want nothing more than to tear you limb from limb.  This is a “metroidvania” style game through and through.  Meaning Blasphemous is full of exploration, secrets, platforming and combat (lots of combat!).  Although you start with a limited amount of abilities, you can quickly gain spells, perks and better attacks through exploration of the varied landscapes.

However, as Blasphemous gives with one hand it takes away with the other.  Each upgrade comes with a downside to make you second guess if its worth it.  One of the shining points of Blasphemous is that the developers have  managed to allow you to finish this game without gating progress behind new abilities.  Which means that if you want to explore and find all that the game has to offer, you will have a completely different experience to what someone who tries to complete it with minimal upgrades.  

The enemies you’ll come across in Blasphemous range from spirits that throw balls of magic at you, to giant babies that are ripping bodies in two.  Yes, you read that right!  Often, this game is compared to Dark Souls because of how it looks and feels.  But that doesn’t do Blasphemous justice.  Although the comparison is just, this game does so much to stand out that it deserves to be praised for taking the risks it has.  

Controls in Blasphemous are simple, but perfectly responsive.  There’s no combinations to memorise; you simply attack, jump, slide, parry and climb.  Not much else can be said on the matter,  though it would have been nice to have a more deeper combo system. 

Want to save your game? Fine, kneel at one of the alters dotted around the world.  Your health will be restored, your potions will be filled, your progress will be saved…and everything you just sent to the next life will come back.  It adds a layer of risk to even a standard task in any game, do you risk pushing on without saving to ensure you don’t face enemies again if you need to backtrack? Or, do you push through and hope your skill as a player has increased to slay these foul creatures once again?

This. Game. Is. Gorgeous.  There’s no two ways about it.  Amazing pixel art that really lets you see just how gruesome this game is.  As popular as this style is at the moment, it doesn’t feel out of place here.  The game doesn’t let you forget how dark its subject matter is when it comes to the soundtrack either.  Atmospheric and ambient music fills each stage, and the sound of enemies being broken in two is as blood curdling as it looks.

A game that looks and sounds beautiful, controls like a dream and kicks your butt at every opportunity.  Blasphemous is not a game for the faint-hearted.  However, if you’re up for a challenge, and fancy slaying the monsters that haunt your nightmares, this is definitely one to check out.  

Rapid Reviews Rating

Blasphemous can be purchased for the Nintendo Switch at the following link: https://www.nintendo.co.uk/Games/Nintendo-Switch-download-software/Blasphemous-1629870.html