Review for Blasphemous. Game for Linux, Nintendo Switch, PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, the video game was released on 31/12/2018
Di Blasphemous it has been talked about for a while now. The developers, the Spaniards of The Game Kitchen, in fact, they initially financed their project with a Kickstarter campaign, and then finished the work by being distributed by Team 17, a name that certainly requires no introduction in the videogame field. The project therefore already promised very well from the start.
Blasphemous carries us by weight into the hallucinating world of Hortodoxia, a nation in which religion dominates unchallenged both politically and morally every aspect of the life of its unfortunate inhabitants. The whole culture of Hortodoxia is in fact based on superstition and folk traditions, in a sort of grotesque distorted vision of the Catholic Creed.
The narration of Blasphemous starts with the advent of the Age of Corruption, when the Miracle (a rather ambiguous term for the Divine), for mysterious reasons or perhaps simply disgusted by the blind fanaticism of its followers, casts a curse on Hortodoxia, transforming its most fervent devotees in hallucinating transfigurations of their way of believing, while leaving their fanatical devotion intact.
This, in broad terms, is the beginning of the game but the delusional plot of the title will not be immediately available to the player: it will have to be discovered as you proceed on your journey, by reading the descriptions of the objects we will come into possession of, interpreting what the NPCs (whether dead or alive) have to tell us and paying attention to small and large details that characterize the surrounding environment. A bit like in Dark Souls ultimately, a series from which Blasphemous takes much more than inspiration.
Blasphemous looks like a classic Metroidvania in 2d, with pixel art graphics that defining masterful is really an understatement. Everything on the screen, every opponent, every animation of ours, is made in an impeccable, fluid way but, above all, in line with the general atmosphere of the title. A gem above all: the simple act of bending down, for example to dodge a blow from the enemies, will be carried out by our character as if he were genuflecting in front of an altar! Simple details, but which help to create and maintain a certain feeling of the game.
As for the gameplay, as for the great classics of the genre, it offers us a series of levels all connected to each other, freely explorable even in a non-linear way, with areas that can be accessed only if in possession of the right objects, which , combined with the various "secondary missions" in which we will have to deliver a certain object to certain characters, gives life to robust, but never boring, backtracking phases.
Our character, the unnamed Penitent, mute and with his face perpetually covered by a mask of atonement, will not level up with experience, as in other titles. In Blasphemous the build of the character will be linked (excluding the learning of a few attack techniques) to the type of sacred objects that we will find and equip during our journey. Macabre relics of various kinds, special beads for our rosary, scrolls with devout prayers written on them and other such amenities, will give buffs or special abilities to the Penitent or Mea Culpa, or our faithful sword (never name has been more nailed it). Knowing how to combine these skills, equipping the right item at the right time, is one of the keys to progressing in the game.
Fights in Blasphemous will almost always be quick and brutal. Each opponent has its own peculiarities both in terms of attacks and defense techniques, and we will therefore find ourselves having to think quickly about how it is best to approach one or more enemies, given that moreover, very often we will also find ourselves fighting in potentially environments. lethal.
As you may have already understood, we will die a lot and almost always very badly, in a riot of gore, dismemberments and various curses, often due to having to leave from a checkpoint (here, instead of a bonfire or a lantern, we will find a more suitable kneeler), sometimes even very distant. But there is, basically no one has ever spoken of Blasphemous as an experience that is too easy. Too bad that, perhaps the only obvious flaw in a game that is in itself almost flawless, sometimes the controls during the jumps are not exactly the maximum precision. For a good part of the game it is hardly noticeable, but during some very platform (and very punitive) phases crashing for an imprecise jump, and then having to recover the area maybe from the beginning, is certainly a source of frustration and various blasphemy.
COn controls more precise with the jumps, they would be comfortable even during the boss fights, however always fun and really very inspired, with a robust injection of old school gameplay that never hurts.
Blasphemous is really a very pleasant confirmation to the theory that big players don't have to be just AAAs. Fast, playable, brutal, inspired and above all with a visual compartment that is as simple as it is iconic, Blasphemous, in its “small”, hits the mark in practically everything. The only flaw, the very imprecise controls on the jumps. A defect that is not striking but that really clashes in certain parts of the game and that we hope will be solved as early as day one.
► Blasphemous is a Sliding-Platform Beat 'em up game developed by The Game Kitchen and published by Team 17 for Linux, Nintendo Switch, PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, the video game was released on 31/12/2018
