Video Game Review: Blasphemous - Nintendo Switch

Rob Lake reviews Blasphemous on Nintendo Switch...

Blasphemous is the bastard lovechild of the Soulslike and Metroidvania genres. It's gorgeous pixel world and brutal combat hits you hard and fast and it never lets up. The story is also a thing of hellish beauty as you travel through a world filled with religious woe, guilt, death, and redemption. Developer, The Game Kitchen has merged the Soulslike and Metroidvania genres in a way that sets the benchmark for future releases incredibly high.

 But what makes Blasphemous that game? 

Much like Dark Souls, the story of Blasphemous is fed to you through drips and drabs via its world and characters. You play as the Penitent One who just so happens to be the only surviving member of an ancient order, The Brotherhood of Silent. As the Penitent One, you roam the hellish world of Cvstodia which has been ravaged by a supernatural force known as 'The Miracle'. This force manifests itself in numerous and often cruel ways which sometimes blesses,  but mostly curses Cvstodia's inhabitants. These curses then mutate the helpless citizens into monstrous physical manifestations of Sin. 

As characters go, The Penitent One is quite interesting and fairly complex considering that he doesn't talk. So The Brotherhood of Silent is all mute due to agreeing to a silent pact. This naturally means that throughout Blasphemous we have no interaction with The Penitent One. Everything we learn about his pilgrimage and motivations is learnt from both the characters we meet, and the descriptions of the items we find. What's immediately noticeable is The Penitent One's appearance. Our silent protagonist wears a piece of non-customizable piece of armour that's incredibly unique in its design. It features a mask and helmet that features a crown of thorns and a capriole as well as a sword that's embedded with religious effigies and a row of thorns on the handle. It's quite a striking design that fits into the Spanish and religious themes of Blasphemous incredibly well. 

Much like our protagonist, the world of Cvstodia is also an incredible sight. Custodian is very much influenced by Roman Catholicism, its Iconography, and Spanish Culture - particularly that of the Andalucía region. The effects of 'The Miracle' on this world are pretty evident as once-mighty cities lay in ruin and the population either lay dying or are hideously mutated by it. Considering the pixel art style, Cvstodia looks gorgeous in its unique and horrific way. The Game Kitchen have put an incredible amount of detail into the world. Everything from the Brotherhood's destroyed Monastery, to the frozen wastes, all play their part in both the story and building The Penitent One's hellish playground. 

Gameplay is very much your standard Metroidvania affair. There's plenty of nooks to explore as you traverse the games vast map. Much like other games in its genre, Blasphemous doesn't necessarily point you in which direction to go first. It also doesn't punish you if you go the "wrong" way, you may just have a harder time accomplishing the task at hand. Enemies vary from your traditional Metroidvania/Soulslike tropes and there is quite a variety of enemies to fight. Everything from slow-moving brutes to bell ringers who raise the exploding dead, all feature on The Penitents One's journey. 

Of course, no Metroidvania wouldn't be complete without a few well-placed boss battles, and Blasphemous has those too. Much like those seen in the Dark Souls series, these boss fights exist to test your patience. On the odd occasion, they can see quite cheap, but in reality, it all comes down to studying their moves and utilizing The Penitent One's skills and abilities to sway the fight to your advantage. On occasion, you can also get some assistance from a certain NPC who will attempt to heal you once your health reaches a certain level. While this character can be a great help at times, she also ties into the overall story so beware! 

Controls are incredibly fluid and The Penitent One is fairly quick on his feet. There is a multitude of skills that you can deploy and each is upgraded via a progression system much akin to that found within the Dark Souls franchise. These skills can be upgraded via a certain statue, and once acquired they can be switched out at any save point. 

The overall difficulty is very much styled on other Metroidvania titles. On occasion, there are some frustrating areas but these never feel cheap or 'un-winnable in their design. If you do happen to die, you will respawn at the last save point. The plus side to this is that you keep all your acquired 'souls'. but defeated enemies will respawn, and you will lose a chunk of your magic bar until you recover your death totem. Again, this may all seem unfair but its incredibly balanced and offers a very tantalizing risk vs. reward style of gameplay.

In summary, Blasphemous is an absolute must play if you're a fan of both Metroidvania and Soulslike titles. It's the gorgeous world that is full of pixilated beauty and there's plenty to see and do through your journey. The Penitent One is a unique character that oozes lore - albeit not from himself. The brutal combat can seem a little unfair at times but as fans of Dark Souls will know all it takes is a little patience and foresight and you'll best whatever The Game Kitchen throw at you., The bar has bee set incredibly high with Blasphemous and I cant wait to see what comes next. 

Rating 9/10

A review copy was kindly provided for this review

Blasphemous is available now via the Nintendo eShop by clicking here. 

Rob Lake - For more Comic Book and Video Game chat why not follow Geek Culture Reviews on Twitter and Facebook @GeekCultureRev