Blasphemous 2 was provided by Team17 for review. Thank you!
When the first Blasphemous game came out in 2019, there was something oddly tantalizing about it. The gorgeously haunting pixel-art, the fluid animations, and metroidvania gameplay, were all combined into this horrific, wildly entertaining package that blew me away. Blasphemous 2 takes the original's foundation and expands on it, showing that this series with its grotesque enemies, still has a way into our hearts.
Back as The Penitent One, you will continue your battle against the foul curse known as "The Miracle". Blasphemous 2 picks up right where the last game's DLC ends and brings you right back into the endless cycle of life, death, and resurrection to take down hordes of enemies. You will explore a gorgeous, non-linear world that, as with most metroidvanias, is filled with secrets, traps, and lots of back-tracking. Back-tracking is something that can be a hit-or-miss for me depending on the game, but I enjoyed going back and looking at the beautiful world that has been built.
There are multiple ways to help define how you want to play thanks to multiple weapons where you can unlock new moves, Rosary Beads and Favors to augment your abilities, and Prayers to give yourself other magical abilities. The systems work exceptionally well with each other and give a great sense of control over your fighting style. I want to give special mention of the animations as well. There is something so incredibly appealing about well-made, fluid animations and Blasphemous 2 has them in spades.
With a gorgeous world, beautiful, gross enemy designs, amazing animations, and an engaging gameplay loop, Blasphemous 2 is a fantastic Metroidvania that will keep you on your toes. This is a fantastic sequel that improves upon the original, making it more enjoyable and keeping what made it work so well. And to make things better, the game is perfect to play on the Steam Deck.
Due to how the game is and its optimization, Blasphemous 2 needs no changes to be fully enjoyed on the Steam Deck. You can expect 60 FPS with a 6W - 8W battery drain, making it perfect for portable play and longer sessions without a recharge.
It doesn't support 16:10 resolutions, so there will be black bars at the top and bottom, but there is full controller and cloud save support! Other than this, Blasphemous 2 plays exceptionally well and I can't see any reason to not play like this.
Blasphemous 2 is a fantastic Metroidvania that continues the excellence that its predecessor started. From the fantastic world and animations to the customizability with combat, there is no shortage of fun to be had on your journey to purge the land from "The Miracle". If you are a fan of this genre and games like Hollow Knight, you should do yourself a favor and buy this game. And with how well it runs on the Steam Deck, this is an easy Best on Deck game that I can't help but highly recommend.
Our review is based on the PC version of this game.
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Blasphemous 2 is an exceptional Metroidvania that captivates with its world, gameplay loop, and fluid animations.
