One of the most stunningly beautiful 2D games ever. Every frame of animation, every background has a creepy aura, befitting a franchise simply called 'BLASPHEMOUS.' It suits the Metroidvania trappings because that genre emphasizes exploration and adventure, and in this game every new room treats you to a new, haunting visual or a shitty little enemy for you to gut.
My only gripe, and the reason I'm marking this PLAYED rather than COMPLETED is that the difficulty spike at the final hurdle is perhaps the most insane I have ever seen in a game. Important distinction: not the most difficult game -- the biggest difficulty spike.
I would consider this game tougher than average for the most part. Nothing especially notable, a few sections that took some patience, but nothing crazy. The final level before the final boss, however, was insane. And when I conquered that, after like three days, I just could not crack that last boss. I agonized over it and told myself I wouldn't possibly leave a game 98% complete but this defeated me. I started reading guides on the best possible build to take him on, I started grinding out some items from side quests, doing some menial collection quests to raise my health -- things I never usually bother with. Then, as I was wandering around the map for collectibles, I realised I had stopped having fun. And in the game's modest 15 hour run time, I was always having fun. Even on the previous bosses that challenged me, I had never stopped having fun. But I really had no interest in retreading the entire map to bump my number of healing items, for a boss that still felt almost impossible, so I gave up. It's a bummer, and kind of a sour note to end on, but I'd rather do that then keep padding my play time in an attempt to cheese the boss -- which would feel similarly unfulfilling.
My only gripe, and the reason I'm marking this PLAYED rather than COMPLETED is that the difficulty spike at the final hurdle is perhaps the most insane I have ever seen in a game. Important distinction: not the most difficult game -- the biggest difficulty spike.
I would consider this game tougher than average for the most part. Nothing especially notable, a few sections that took some patience, but nothing crazy. The final level before the final boss, however, was insane. And when I conquered that, after like three days, I just could not crack that last boss. I agonized over it and told myself I wouldn't possibly leave a game 98% complete but this defeated me. I started reading guides on the best possible build to take him on, I started grinding out some items from side quests, doing some menial collection quests to raise my health -- things I never usually bother with. Then, as I was wandering around the map for collectibles, I realised I had stopped having fun. And in the game's modest 15 hour run time, I was always having fun. Even on the previous bosses that challenged me, I had never stopped having fun. But I really had no interest in retreading the entire map to bump my number of healing items, for a boss that still felt almost impossible, so I gave up. It's a bummer, and kind of a sour note to end on, but I'd rather do that then keep padding my play time in an attempt to cheese the boss -- which would feel similarly unfulfilling.