Blasphemous 2 is significantly better than the original, making any issues I had feel like nitpicks. It kind of has the Dark Souls 2 problem where most of the bosses are relatively normal swordsman and dudes in armor. I wanted more freaky shit like the baby that rips you in half. To be honest, the imagery overall feels a bit toned down from the first one.

All that said, it plays so much better that it’s hard to be disappointed. The Miracle granted me double jumps and an air dash so I can handle a bit less gore.

The basic framework of this game makes for a much better experience than the first game. However, a few design choices even it out for me. First of all, the added emphasis on the weapons deepens the combat significantly. The selection is versatile and offers three relatively unique styles. Similarly great is the movement. Having a metroidvania without most of the common traversal options can work (and it does in Blasphemous 1). To me, though, a well implemented double jump and air dash always make the experience more satisfying. The bosses are mostly a huge improvement as well and work splendidly in tandem with the new movement and combat to make for a way faster, more intense approach than the first game. Now for the complaints: Firstly, this game has the same problem as Symphony of the Night in that it gives you way too few i-frames when you get hit, leading to situations where you get rallied back and forth between enemies until you're close to death or worse. This issue is exacerbated by the many, many enemy gauntlets where you get locked in a room until either you or everything else in it is dead. These rooms come off as a cheap excuse not to design more actual level. More often than not they come out of nowhere when you 're already low on heals and kill you right before the next checkpoint, leading to frustration. The new guilt system is just baffling to me. I wonder if the devs ever heard the phrase "if it ain't broke, don't fix it". Having to run off to pay an NPC during boss attempts just to not have an instant handicap after a few deaths is just anti-fun. It adds nothing to the game and is purely annoying. Lastly, and this is a nitpick, I prefer the old cutscenes for fitting the tone better than the ones here.

overall big improvements from first game to this in gameplay and art except theres a lot of reused enemies from the first game and the new enemies having reskins with just a different attack element. beads have the same problem as well, theres like 30 beads but actual power ups are 10, theres not much build you can do. (it goes level 1 fire resitance, level 2, level 3 ect.) finding some new item and seeing it being the same is not the problem but it being so many times is in my opinion. and because of this system you can cheese bosses and they lose their challenge. for example in mid-end game lets say youre about to fight a boss that uses only lightning attacks, you can just equip 3 of the lightning resistance beads and have 6 lightning resistance, go in the boss room and just tank all of its attacks. (it doesnt work on last boss tho thats neat) other cons it has is some enemy replacements are frustrating and bullshit. being locked up in a small room and having to deal with same three enemy that have dash and high attack speed (skeletons that have candle as weapon) just gets you stuck and you just die.

still a time spent good tho recommend

Oh. My. God. Where do I start...

INSIDE is a great and coherent game with lots of well-designed puzzles and, let's call them, "action segments."

The difficulty is just right for this type of game. Sometimes it can be challenging and make you pause for a moment, but usually, the solutions are easy (and fun!) to find.

The movement of the main character is well-executed and really comfortable.

The world-building deserves separate praise. It has everything you need to fully immerse yourself in the game. Amazing ambiance? Yes. Almost seamless transitions between locations? You got it! Things happening in the background? Absolutely!

Honestly, I don't know if I can say anything negative about it.

In conclusion - GO AND PLAY IT RIGHT NOW!