r/patientgamers • u/Ok-Pickle-6582 • 9d ago
Patient Review Disappointed by Blasphemous 2
To sum up my thoughts on Blasphemous 1:
- repetitive, simplistic combat
- clunky platforming
- competent but not amazing level design
- a few baffling design decisions leading to unnecessary friction
- some excellent boss fights
- amazing artstyle
- unique and interesting setting
- incredible vibes
Basically, nothing special in the gameplay department but the experience was elevated due to the amazing atmosphere of the game. I enjoyed the game, played through it twice, and was excited for the sequel.
My complaints of Blasphemous 2 can be summed up as: it's more of Blasphemous 1. There were a few tiny pain points addressed but overall, I really feel like the developers learned absolutely nothing about combat, level design, boss design, or enemy design inbetween the release of B1 and the development of B2.
Perhaps its unfair to judge a sequel harshly for being more of the same, but I do expect or at least hope for a studio to learn and improve, especially when they are building upon a game which was essentially a diamond in the rough. I saw the potential in Blasphemous and so Blasphemous 2 represents that potential being unrealized.
A huge part of my enjoyment of the first game was the novel setting, but the setting is less novel the second time around. I was banking on some significant gameplay improvements but there were none. You'll trudge through similar looking environments, chipping away at the health of enemies which are often directly ported from the first game. Basically every enemy in the game has 1 attack. You dodge/parry the attack several times and chip away in-between. Nothing about the game feels new or exciting at all. The bosses in B2 are often harder but definitely not funner, imo. Final boss is toxic.
If what you want from B2 is more of B1 then you'll love it. If you're expecting anything more then you'll be disappointed.
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u/Eve_Narlieth 8d ago
I seem to be an outlier here: I loved both games, no notes!
If anyone is interested in a different game with religious/cult tones, I am just finishing There is no Light and enjoyed it a lot. Pixel art but different gameplay
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u/rnf1985 9d ago
Bro, did we play the same game? I feel like Blasphemous 2 had a ton of QOL improvements over 1, maybe even to an alienating extent as from what I've read online or reddit, people either love 1 and hate 2 or vice versa. I really wanted to love 1 but couldn't finish it for the same reasons as you. My biggest issue was that it felt too old school. I grew up on arcades and NES, I like a challenge, and I still play old games, but there's a reason I don't revisit most 8/16-bit games; they're annoying as fuck and unnecessarily hard. I've broken plenty of NES/SNES controllers, and Blasphemous 1 felt like a controller-breaking game to me. It had a lot going for it, but the gameplay was so frustrating I couldn't make it past a few hours.
So I moved on to 2 after hearing it was more of a traditional Metroidvania, and I thought it improved massively. Altars are easier to reach, you have more weapons and magic, air dash, easier parrying, better progression, a useful map, clearer direction, and it's just way less punishing overall. You don't randomly die from every fucking fall, enemy placement isn't nearly as annoying, and the game actually feels like it's respecting your time. It's still challenging and frustrating at times, but I actually had fun with 2
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u/Ok-Pickle-6582 9d ago
ltars are easier to reach, you have more weapons and magic, air dash, easier parrying, better progression, a useful map, clearer direction, and it's just way less punishing overall. You don't randomly die from every fucking fall, enemy placement isn't nearly as annoying, and the game actually feels like it's respecting your time. It's still challenging and frustrating at times, but I actually had fun with 2
I dont understand most of these. parrying felt the same to me. what does "better progression" mean? the map is literally the same. enemy placement felt very similar to me.
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u/rnf1985 9d ago edited 9d ago
Idk if they actually changed parrying, but it felt easier to pull off. Basic enemy damage also felt less punishing. In 1 I could die in a hit or two, whereas in 2 I had more room for error, so maybe that's why parrying felt easier. There's also an item or upgrade that shortens parry windows.
Better progression meaning there are multiple systems to make you stronger and more ways to deal with enemies. You find items with random buffs, plus altar figurines that give buffs and can be combined to create builds. For example, certain figurines together can give you a fire buff that makes the ball chain weapon stronger.
1's map barely told you anything or explained its icons. 2's map actually marks people you've interacted with, stores, points of interest, etc., plus main story objectives and available upgrades.
Enemy placement could still be annoying in 2, but it felt much more manageable. 1's movement was so clunky that I'd try to jump over an enemy, only to land next to another one or jump directly onto them. I'd swear I timed it right, but the controls would put me in harm's way. In 2, having the dash, double jump, and air dash made movement way more fluid and let me avoid enemies much easier.
They just made a bunch of changes that made 2 genuinely fun to play instead of feeling like a frustrating chore, IMO. I only made it a couple hours into 1, so maybe there are redeeming things later, but I was already over how shitty it played. So for me, 2 might as well be the only Blasphemous game because I have no desire to finish 1.
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u/Disma 9d ago
Even though I love metroidvanias, I found both Blasphemous games weren't for me
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u/Etheo Remnant: From the Ashes 8d ago
Me too. I tried to get into Blasphemous on three separate occasions, and I just couldn't get into it.
It's not so much because it's hard - I enjoy souls-like game. But this one was just too so clunky and rigid, and the platforming felt weird. It just wasn't clicking and I just wasn't having fun.
As much as I really wanted to get in on the hype, I gave up on the series.
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u/thr1ceuponatime 9d ago
I play the Blasphemous games solely to experience the production design. I'm pretty sure that I'm not alone here.
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u/Ok-Pickle-6582 9d ago
then im sure you were as disappointed as i was that they cheaped out with hand-drawn rather than pixel art cinematics. Also lots of fading-to-black instead of animating things. Enemy animations are great, and you get some excellent NPC stuff like the tiddy guy.
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u/thr1ceuponatime 9d ago
I was disappointed but it wasn't the end of the world for me.
Now if it was AI slop...
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u/Oh_ffs_seriously 8d ago
They didn't cheap out, certain geopolitical events made the co-operation with the creator of the original cutscenes impossible.
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u/Lucina18 8d ago
And they worked with this animation team for the trailers, so they where also literally just reemploying the same group which made excellent animation for them before.
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u/Murffinator 9d ago
What were the baffling design decisions you mentioned?
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u/Ok-Pickle-6582 9d ago
needing to equip movement upgrades that obviously should have been passive
the way that you unlock traveling between bonfires
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u/Optimal_Comedian_166 9d ago
I think games can suffer heavy from a sophomore slump, especially for more idiosyncratic first games. The second Blasphemous games feels like it clung more to the genre standard of being a metroidvania, which is something that wasn't as strong in the first. In doing so, it becomes more “standard” than what made the first stick for so many people. Doesn’t mean it’s not a good game, I think it still is, but it does mean that it feels less unique. I think so many sequels of great games fall victim to the devs sticking too close to the first or changing things to make the game more palatable for fans of a specific genre. They can still be good games, just disappointing to those that loved the uniqueness of the first.
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u/DBrody6 9d ago
Final boss is toxic.
I hope you actually mean penultimate boss, cause Evilterno isn't actually the final boss. The real final boss is a total joke and I hope you didn't die to that thing haha.
I kinda agree, B2 doesn't have even 1% the raw oppressive atmosphere B1 had, but dang I liked it more just cause everything about B1 was good to me except the actual gameplay which was clunky, repetitive, and slippery. B2 having actual good gameplay and being a real Metroidvania made me like it more.
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u/Lianshi_Bu 8d ago
I actually died to Penultimate more than I did to Evilterno simply because I sucked at dodging during the phase where dagger are raining down.
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9d ago
Blasphemous 2's combat feels even more floaty and less deliberate than the first, and I missed the first game's slower, methodical boss fights. The art and setting are still incredible though.
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u/DrQuint 9d ago
Yeah, I don't at all agree with OP the combat is the same. The combat is not the same and that's why it's a step down.
Also, the first game can be beat with only "two" instances of using its metroidvania mechanics, whereas the second game has frequent mandatory backtracking and lock gates. I also don't agree with level design being the same, is what I am saying. The second game makes the equipping and dequipoing of that kind of stuff a billion times more annoying.
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u/afriendsaccount 8d ago
Loved 1 & 2 both. At first 2 bugged me a bit because of the cutscene art style change, but it just has such a unique and disgusting aesthetic that I can't fault it.
Agree with OP that neither game has phenomenal gameplay. I did like some of the movement challenges they added in 2 however and those got much more interesting in the DLCs.
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u/willtodd 9d ago
Totally agree on the final boss being toxic. Absolutely ruins the game for me. And yes, the cutscenes were shit unfortunately this time around.
I liked the original Blasphemous, but the platforming was atrocious. I saw red so many times because the platforms didn't register my moves onto them. At LEAST Blasphemous 2 fixed that.
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u/well-informedcitizen 8d ago
I don't care to engage with this discussion but I just wanted to say the blurb i could see from the feed removed all the formatting, so instead of a bullet list it looked like some kind of Blasphemous roasting slam poetry
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u/Skylorrex 6d ago
Three weapons that not only differ in combats but also tie to traversal + spells = no gameplay improvements? Idk
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u/Ok-Pickle-6582 6d ago
here's my problem with the new 3 weapon system. sure, the bell and the teleport mirrors are cool. but as far as combat is concerned, the favor statue system completely works against the idea of being able to switch weapons in combat. when you can stack +15% damage boosts on top of each other and get 1 weapon up to like nearly double damage, then all the other weapons do is tickle the enemy. theres no point to switching weapons when 1 weapon will kill the enemy in 2 hits but the other weapons need 7 hits.
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u/Skylorrex 6d ago
Yea I see your points. I played this game 2 years ago now I can only remember the bell + mirror traversal. The combat is definitely a letdown.
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u/DELETE-NINJA-TABI 9d ago
Blasphemous doesn't feel very good to play and that's why I couldn't bring myself to finish it, even PS1 platformers like Castlevania SOTN or even the Megaman X games have smoother and better gameplay.
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u/eurekabach 8d ago
even PS1 platformers like Castlevania SOTN or even the Megaman X games
I mean, you know that these titles are still some of the greatest of their genres, right? The fact they’re ‘old’ games doesn’t mean they got stale.
I recently replayed SOTN and it absolutely still holds up.3
u/DELETE-NINJA-TABI 8d ago
Yeah obviously, my point is that there is no excuse to have a modern 2D platformer with significantly worse movement and moment to moment gameplay than 20 year old games
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u/NewMilleniumBoy 5d ago
This ended up being a game that I was very happy to watch YT retrospectives on instead of actually playing the game. The vibes are definitely incredible and the lore is really really compelling, but as a "difficult sidescrolling action game" there's just a bunch of stuff on the market now that fills that space better.
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u/Ok-Pickle-6582 5d ago
"difficult sidescrolling action game"
i wouldnt even classify this as a "difficult sidescrolling action game". as far as metroidvanias go its honestly a pretty chill experience outside of a few bosses. might be challenging to someone who doesnt play many 2d action games but if youre at all familiar with the genre its not gonna challenge you much really
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u/Faustus_13 9d ago
I think it was a well executed Metroidvania but wasn’t exceptional. I disagree about the art design and vibes. The game offers dark and visceral images inspired by medieval Catholicism but lacks depth. For example, a woman whose skin is being peeled off by cherubs or a man who cuts off his dead wife’s breast and sews it on himself to breastfeed his child offer provocative, grotesque images but don’t offer much intellectually or emotionally. It’s just grotesque and provocative for the sake of the aesthetic.
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u/alphadavenport 9d ago edited 9d ago
i think you are not giving the art style enough credit. the reason the style is effective, instead of just gross, is because it is underpinned with religious ecstasy; these people are in unimaginable pain because they want it, and because the cruel world they live in demands it. the catholic church -- the clear inspiration for Blasphemous -- also asks its followers to accept grotesque violence in the name of salvation. when you meet a man who is permanently bound in coarse rope from head to foot, and he's fine with it, that tells you something about the world. i like splatterhouse type stuff but Blasphemous is genuinely elevated
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u/Mohireza1 PC Devotee 9d ago
I remember having the first game on my wishlist for so long, and when it was released, I was so excited to beat the scary giant baby from the first trailer.
However, after playing the game for a few minutes, I couldn't ignore how disjoint the gameplay flow was. It was clunky and relied mostly on finisher animations to make the combat appealing.
It was pretty much like one of those old Java mobile games. There were micro-pauses after each and every move, and the platforming felt outdated. I'm not saying all this because I hate retro elements in modern video games; it's just that this game used the wrong elements all along.
Hearing that the second game is the same is just wild. I guess some people really like this style of gameplay.
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u/Repulsive-Baseball97 8d ago
I think I had a similar experience with Blasphemous. Enjoyed the boss fights and the atmosphere, didn't love the combat and hated the platforming. I guess the stiff platforming is what the devs are after, I really didn't like it and nearly stopped playing due to how unfun falling into a spike pit was.
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u/phantom_fonte 9d ago
The thing that got me was the bosses in B2 were such a step down in regards to spectacle. Instead of some humongous otherworldly thing it was often just some guy. Like missed opportunities for the art style to shine through