And then; at dawn on the 17th, a review of Blasphemous 2 was published. The Virgin, turning to tears, mourned the loss of her son in the twenty hours that he played this game. God the Father was ready to pay homage to the forefathers of the soul-like games and metroidvanias upon which the title is based. And the son… Well, my son really liked it. This game can be described as fantastic and fanatical. Because every time you get off, you will be praying that the boss will finally die the next time you try. And then the next… and the next… and the next. But you will always return to Blasphemous 2 with a smile. And this despite its obvious shortcomings.
I confess frankly that the first Blasphemy missed me by a wide margin. Many years ago, in our editorial office, Lukas led the review, and he praised him very much, but somehow it didn’t reach me. And from what I’ve learned online and from friends, I’m far from alone. This is surprising mainly because I often like 2D metroidvanias with a touch of the soul-like genre. When I was given the second part of the world-famous game for review… I won’t lie, I was a little worried. However, knowing that there is a second part at all, it is probably not surprising to anyone that all my fears practically disappeared within the first few minutes.
As mentioned, Blasphemous 2 is a pure 2D mix of metroidvania and the soul-like genre. And at first glance, you will remember it for its unique graphic style. This is not just pixel art, but one that evokes especially the era of 16-bit games. Thanks to the significantly higher resolution of all assets, a truly beautiful sight is created, equally nostalgic, but at the same time unique. Compared to the first part, there was an increase in detail and softening of animations. This way, everything looks even cleaner, smoother and more colorful, which is pretty darn good for the game. And more than once, while playing, I remembered, for example, old Czech adventure games, so i think it’s a plus..
The hand-drawn graphics, including somewhat more aggressive parallax effects or looping NPC character animations in just a few frames, create a truly unique, yet perfectly readable visual aspect that is very easy to underdo or, conversely, overdo.
However, clean visuals are extremely important due to the type of game. The action-packed and fast-paced combat with occasional accurate platforming sections rarely gets you something free here. But I will take it from a shovel or, in this case, rather from a handle. The very first piece of news you’ll notice in Part 2 is the choice of weapons at the very beginning. The number one Mea Culpa sword is no more, you can take it with you on your adventure instead. the blood-soaked sword of Ruego al Alba, the electric rapiers of Sarmiento and Centella, or the incendiary flail of Veredicto.
This choice will affect how your initial gameplay will look like. Sooner or later, you will still get to all three weapons, but until then, you will only be able to use the one you have chosen, and thus you will partially choose your playstyle. Thus, in terms of combat, we see a fairly typical distribution between a strong but slow weapon, represented here by the Veredicto flail, and a fast, but weak weapon, which is the rapier. The sword is located in the center and is probably the best choice to start with. Mainly because he is quite strong, especially when combined with a parry.
The fights are relatively fast and intense. Enemies in more chaotic cases are usually few on screen, it’s true, but every one of them – small, big, on the ground and in the air – will love to crush you. You can usually only last a few rounds, so timing your strikes and maintaining a reasonable distance will be key tactics. But depending on the weapon, you will be able to afford different strategies. Verdicto can deal with smaller opponents at slightly longer distances and actually poses little threat. Rapiers are great for dealing with groups of enemies, including, and the sword is superior mainly to the mentioned parry, with which, with the right timing, you can block the vast majority of attacks and projectiles and, if necessary, make a strong counter-attack. But if you don’t necessarily want to, you don’t have to deal with separate weapons. For example, I played with this sword most of the time and handled most of the challenges more or less easily.
Source :Indian TV
