Blasphemous

Blasphemous is a platformer game with an interesting twist: it’s set in a doomed world. If you want to see what that’s like, go ahead and get Blasphemous for your Windows PC from Steam.

Graphics 5/5

Blasphemous relies on the graphics to create the oppressive atmosphere of doom that’s present throughout the game. There’s a lot of blood and gore, which may put you off if you’re not a fan of such things. On the other hand, these visual elements really complement the overall atmosphere, so their presence seems to be justified and almost necessary.

Gameplay 4/5 

Playing Blasphemous is fun in a weird way. The game depicts so much suffering that you can’t help but wonder what else could have befallen your enemies after a while. Well, whatever that unfortunate event was, you’re there to end their misery. Sometimes it seems like killing an enemy is almost equal to doing them a favor because the existence they had in Blasphemous was nothing short of horrible.

The boss fights have the potential to get quite epic, especially if you struggle with finding the altars that increase your attack stats. Some bosses are very tough to beat and it may take you hours to finally squeeze those remains of life out of them. Fighting the bosses and the enemies you meet on your way is a pretty simple, straightforward experience once you’ve learned what their tactics and weaknesses are. Before that, it’s all about trial and error, and maybe a little swiftness on your part.

Controls 4/5 

The controls themselves are quite good and it’s not easy to find something to complain about, but there’s a catch. Blasphemous is a platformer, so moving through this weird world of suffering requires you to jump around a lot. The problem with that is the need to perfectly time and execute most jumps, so getting from one enemy to another can actually be more challenging than killing those very same enemies. Since Blasphemous is not all about platforming, it would be nice to be able to move around a little easier and faster.

Replay Value 3/5

Once you’re done with Blasphemous, you don’t have any additional objectives to complete. Also, if you struggled with the difficult jumps, you probably won’t want to put yourself through them once again. Still, there are multiple different endings available, and you can always go back to explore the gloomy world and see if you missed an item or an enemy.

Conclusion

Blasphemous is a fun game with some flaws that fortunately aren’t big enough to spoil your overall impression of it. It has the potential to appeal to hardcore and casual gamers alike, although the latter category is probably more likely to be discouraged by the challenging jumps between platforms.

• Graphics 5
• Gameplay 4
• Controls 5
• Replay Value 3

Pros

Unique atmosphere;
Exciting boss battles;
Multiple endings.

Cons

Difficult jumps;
May get repetitive after a while.