The search for meaning never ends and takes more than one form. In blasphemous 2, from developer The Game Kitchen, people are still trying to deal with reality through the lens of the divine, using penances and blessings as the language to interpret their world. blasphemous 2 effectively conveys this world by combining exploration with storytelling. But the boss fights – the star attraction for anyone who played the first game – are more uneven.
blasphemous 2 is a 2D platformer/adventure game similar to Dead cells And Hollow Knight. By using religious imagery everywhere, The Game Kitchen has created a powerful world where an all-powerful divine will, the Miracle, has power over everyone’s lives. You control the Penitent One, the returning protagonist from the first game, who has fought the Miracle once before and has now been resurrected to face the almighty creature again. A soul-like difficulty penetrates blasphemous 2 also: not only do you have to deal with a wide variety of challenging enemies, but also a few bosses that take a significant number of tries to defeat.
However, these similarities to household genres belie a unique sense of place – a mix of ominous and bizarre. As the Penitent, you are not the focus of the story, but a vessel through which to explore this unique world – one in which the inhabitants turn to faith again and again, despite all the evidence pointing to this practice as the origin of the terrible state their world has been in since the first game.
Image: The Game Kitchen/Team17
blasphemous 2 does a decent job of matching its overt narrative themes with strong mechanics and systems. For example, a floating hand increases your maximum fervor (the resource used to cast magic spells) in exchange for kisses of adoration; in other words, the penitent’s spiritual development depends on worshiping a new deity. Then we have Montañés, a sculptor who believes he has been given a mission by the Miracle, and thus creates hand statues for the Penitent. These figurines have different beneficial effects, allowing you to create different builds during gameplay; one reduces the fiery cost of skills, while another increases the duration of a weapon’s special ability. With characters like these two, blasphemous 2 weaves its themes of faith and divine purpose into its systemic loop.
blasphemous 2 glues everything together with a huge explorable world. Crucially, while there are some dangerous enemies – and annoying birds – waiting for you in many rooms, the exploration process never gets frustrating. The game uses a nifty teleport system that lets you move back and forth through specific rooms on a whim, turning the inevitable backtrack sessions into less tricky affairs.
In addition, each region of the 2D world has its own character and aesthetic. Sacred Entombments is an arid area where giant buried statues fill the background, and many dangers are hidden in large swaths of desert. On the other hand, you will also visit the Palace of the Embroidery, where rooms with forgotten furniture and creepy monsters accompany ancient ghosts. Each of these areas has its own environmental hazards: waves of sand or falling chandeliers, to name a few.
Image: The Game Kitchen/Team17
By spreading three unique weapons around the world (an increase from the first game’s single Mea Culpa Knife), The Game Kitchen smoothes out your exploratory progression. These weapons – a rapier, a curved sword and a flail – also play an important role in the story. Each of these instruments is connected to three of the main antagonists the Penitent One will face, telling bits of their stories while also hinting at the best approach to defeat said wielders. Of blasphemous 2The Game Kitchen has woven story and combat into one rewarding experience.
Despite all its strengths, blasphemous 2 falls flat when it comes to contextualizing these great foes. The Archfraternity is a group of five penitents sent by the Miracle to stop you. Individually, some of these characters have good backstories to match the grim tone of the wider game, such as the Monk unable to empathize with the people whose confessions he has heard forever. However, the concept of grouping villains as a “task force of evil” ultimately comes across as silly and clashes tonally with the broader script. In addition, the boss fights themselves are uninspired – one of which is a simple matter of wall jumping to dodge the enemy’s attacks. The gravitas lent to some of these creatures, however silly and anathema to the overall narrative, feels hollow as a result.
Finally, blasphemous 2 is a strong union of story and function. The bleak world is full of nooks and crannies to explore, and its inhabitants have compelling stories to tell. The boss fights – arguably the biggest piece of rope – may be frayed, but the slick mechanics and biting themes more than make up for any weakness in the braid.
blasphemous 2 will be released on August 24th on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, Windows PC and Xbox Series X. The game has been reviewed on PC using a pre-release download code from Team17. Vox Media has partnerships. These do not affect editorial content, although Vox Media may earn commissions for products purchased through affiliate links. You can find additional information on Polygon’s Ethics Policy here.