one of the most breathtakingly perfect games I've ever played. It's so good that mentions of games I love like Hollow Knight and Sekiro frustrate me; this feels far too original to me for those kind of comparisons. I don't think I've ever played a game that can combine a traditional story with the classic Metroidvania feeling of isolation and losing yourself in an alien world as successfully as this did. The story had such well developed themes of mortality, morality and change while having intricate lore and background and being relatively easy to follow even as a casual player. I felt so completely invested all the way through, eagerly awaiting every new interaction with Shuanshuan or Heng. The main character even has a satisfying and believable arc based on exploring and understanding the world IT'S SO GOOD
That's not even mentioning the gameplay, incredibly smooth and fun parry-based combat that never gets old even after hours of playing. This has some of the most intricate, challenging and well-designed bosses of any game I've ever played, satisfying platforming and secrets that are just hidden enough that you need to be paying close attention but not so hidden that they become frustrating or unintuitive.
The art direction is also just jaw-droppingly beautiful and varied, this has so much lovingly crafted hand-made animation and backgrounds, from the charming character designs and environments to the stylish comic book cutscenes. The music, the gameplay, the story and themes, the art, the exploration, it all came together into something even better than I expected when I heard about this game. An easy pick for not just my game of the year so far but an all-time favourite. Will absolutely replay for 100% and both endings (even if it means having to beat Eigong again 💀💀💀💀)

really dug the aesthetics of this, there were some pretty cool moments but ultimately it doesn't live up to it's influences. As much as I generally like games that are just odd vibes (and i'm a sucker for incredibly obvious messaging), I just don't really enjoy these linear "cinematic" puzzle platformers where most of the gameplay involves waiting around for enemies to look the other way or for some kind of cycle to sync up then going, it's 2 hours of red light green light and when it's not that it's just holding A or D and watching a movie play out. This really could've been something special I think, but the final product wasn't for me.

jagged and clunky and raw, but all the more mesmerising for it. I think it's difficult to say now which Blasphemous I prefer, but despite the far more polished gameplay of 2 there is an atmosphere here, a feeling in the art and the music and the air that is indescribable. Which i now know is the result of this being made by a group of very dedicated and very desperate people who had no idea whether they could get this off the ground in time. This is truly a passion project from start to finish, and far better than I gave it credit for the first time around a few years ago. More than worthy of entry into the Metroidvania hall of fame

from what i remember of Blasphemous I actually enjoyed this even more, although to be fair it's been a while and Blasphemous is even more my shit than it used to be. Love the 3 weapon system, the game is really good and encouraging you to experiment with and use all 3 and they're all super fun. The art and music are still absolutely fucking gorgeous too, this is one of the most well-presented metroidvanias i've ever played. Look all you really need to know is i bought this like 2 days ago and i already have 100% and 20+ hours, this game rules. Will probably replay the first one at some point, once I get some more stuff off my list.