Maybe the game will never reveal what happened to these people, and who controls their fate, but the idea of all these characters enduring these creative punishments sends my mind reeling. I can’t begin to understand how his story got him to where he is when I cross his path, but I’ll keep playing to discover why. Despite his circumstances, he seems to be luxuriating in his penance and asks me to help him feel more pain. Gémino is another poor soul I meet, a man encased in iron with only one free arm and eye exposed to the elements. This is the sort of detail that keeps me going. What did he do to deserve this fate? I have to find out. No matter where I find him, he greets me in a pose he has no choice but to maintain: his arms are bound with rope in such a way that all he can do is hold up a scroll detailing my comings and goings. He appears throughout the game to give me hints, although they are often so entangled with mysterious terms and unfamiliar character names it’s hard to understand what I actually need to do. Where in the world did The Penitent come from and why did he just do that? I have to know.Īfter that battle I encounter Deogracias, a friendly character whose penance consists of being forced to witness and recount my adventure. He then puts that blood-filled helmet back on, drenching himself. Once defeated, my character proceeds to drain the blood from the enemy’s body, emptying it into his helmet. After I learn the basics of movement, I immediately fight a massive, hulking boss. Like the others, he sports a massive, cone-shaped helmet, except he has a suit of armor on. I’m introduced to him lying amid a mountain of corpses that look similar to his. All of their appearances create questions in my mind I need immediate answers to. That’s the power of the game’s setting and themes.Įach character in the game is steeped in dark, religious overtones and are designed based on the penance they are serving. Yet I persisted through Blasphemous, even after dying more times than I care to admit, because each area introduced me to new characters with their own mysteries that I then felt like I had to unravel. Enemy combinations like a creature that burrows below ground nearly unseen only to burst upwards paired with another that unpredictably jumps around and throws bombs can turn a simple path forward into living minefield. Despite memorizing their unique attacks and making liberal use of the large window of time to parry and counter attack, one misstep can lead to ruin. As I progress, even the simplest of encounters can send me to my death.Īny single screen of Blasphemous can be filled with multiple enemies, attacking at all angles. The finely crafted pixel art might look reminiscent of the 16-bit action games of yesteryear and with it comes the same crushing difficulty. In time, I explore several interconnected lands filling out a map that sprawls out in all directions. I’m constantly waylaid by various monsters and massive bosses as I move through each room, hallway and dungeon chamber. My side-scrolling, 2D quest through ravaged cities and defiled dungeons brings me closer to fulfilling my penance. As The Penitent One, I have to take my silent protagonist throughout the far corners of a serpentine map and back.
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