Ever wondered if there’s a recipe for a great game? It might sound odd, but one team figured it out, The Game Kitchen became that team in question when they were founded in 2010 and based in Sevilla, Spain. All you need is a great group of people, a whole helping of passion for what you’re making, a pinch of careful planning, and a light dusting of time. However, there’s also that special secret ingredient, fun. Considering how cutthroat the gaming industry is lately, it’s surprising to see a studio that’s so relaxed and that also cares about the team.

The Game Kitchen started their journey by diving straight into the deep end and rising to fame very quickly with the release of The Last Door in 2014, a story-rich horror design around pixel graphics that was overwhelmingly well received by gamers everywhere. They rode the tidal wave and proceeded to release The Last Door: Season 2, this time with a more Lovecraftian flare while maintaining the same great story-rich environment. Fast forward a few years, and this brings us to Blasphemous, carrying on with the pixel-based designs, but this time, The Game Kitchen went down the Souls-like route and started a very dangerous trend to prove that even side-scrollers can be Souls-like. After a lot of popularity and demand, we finally have Blasphemous 2, the epic sequel and continuation of Penitent One’s story with a lot more danger involved.

Blasphemous 2, just like its predecessor, keeps the story somewhat vague and leaves it to you to figure out. Though you’re not left entirely in the dark at least, get ready, it’s going to be a wild ride with a lot of dying. Then again, that’s the beauty of a Souls-like game. Your struggle starts off with you as the Penitent One, climbing out from what looks like a coffin held up by a stone statue of another Penitent One. Right from the start, you’re already half dead, but you’re at least given your first important item, Bile Flasks.

Bile Flasks are your only saving grace when you need a quick heal, though they should be used sparingly, considering they can only be refilled by kneeling at a Prie Dieu, and you do start off rather limited on charges. Luckily, getting more charges is possible but far from easy. On a more fun note, just like Blasphemous, there are a lot of Spanish references, the names themselves, even if you don’t understand play a big part in the atmosphere. The Prie Dieu is essentially a prayer shrine. However, in a world filled with so much holy reference, don’t expect to find as many Prie Dieu as you’d expect, they tend to be few and far between.

The Prie Dieu is also where you save your progress and it’ll act like a checkpoint, so if you do end up losing the fight against one of the many strange creatures, you’ll be revived at the last Prie Dieu you visited. Unfortunately, any progress you made after kneeling at one will be lost. It’s wise to use them when and wherever you can, even if it’s just to quickly top off your Bile Flasks or health.

As you’ll very quickly come to learn in Blasphemous 2, you have to keep moving forward, in the next section of the land, you’ll be introduced to your three possible weapons – Veredicto (Verdict), a flail with a massive censer at the business end of the chain also the heaviest weapon you can wield. Sarmiento & Centella (Shoot & Spark), a pair of dual blades meant to quickly cut through your enemies. Lastly, Ruego Al Alba (Prayer At Dawn), the most balanced weapon in Blasphemous 2 gives you both speed and damage. Sadly, you can only take one with you on your journey, but you’ll be able to find the other two later on as you progress.

Even though the weapons are limited, each one of them has a special use, and you will need all three of them to fully progress through the harsh lands ahead of you. On a more fun note, each weapon also comes with its own set of special attacks, such as – Ruego Al Alba’s Blood Pact, which will drain your Fervour over time, but you’ll get a massive damage boost and some life steal. However, you’ll also need to bear in mind that your weapons don’t come with the same perks.

Blasphemous 2’s combat system is relatively straightforward at first, so you’ll have access to the usual movement controls like jump and evade, but your weapons can somewhat change that too. Ruego Al Alba comes with the ability to block and parry into a counterattack, whereas Veredicto has no parry or block, but instead, you can drain your Fervour to set the censor on fire or use its charge attack. Sarmiento & Centella takes a more balanced approach to this, you’ll only have a block and the speed, but no parry. This boils down to your preferred playstyle, and you can just use the weapons for the sake of progression, though keeping an open mind with the weapons at hand might just save your skin.

Don’t get too comfortable, as you’ll be thrown into the unforgiving side of Blasphemous 2 with a quick boss fight against Faceless One, Chisel of Oblivion. The fight itself is straightforward but still very unforgiving, you will most likely die during this fight. Nobody likes to die but this also gives you an early heads-up on the accumulation of Guilt. This is the mother of all double-edged swords, because it affects you both positively and negatively. Dying means you’ll drop a Guilt Fragment which will also cut into your Fervour and defense, but at the same time, it’ll increase your Tears of Atonement and Martyrdom Points gain. Collecting the fragments will reduce both sides of the sword, but you’ll need to find someone like a priest who can remove the excess guilt from you… For a price.

Tears of Atonement and Martyrdom Points both serve their own purposes in Blasphemous 2. Tears of Atonement is your currency that you can spend at merchants to buy prayers, chants and quest-related items. Martyrdom Points, on the other hand, is used for weapon upgrades, wood carvings, and a few other interesting things that go into spoiler territory. Both are easy enough to get simply by killing anything that stands in your way, though caution is advised as you’ll also run the risk of dying and losing what you just made. The only other way to get these two is by hunting for objects around the world that can be destroyed, they’re usually placed in such a way that you’ll know they can be attacked, but they’re never easy to reach.

Shortly after your stand-off with Faceless One, Chisel of Oblivion, you’ll be introduced to Anunciada, a divine being from the heavenly mountains. She’ll share a prophecy of sorts with you and task you with stopping the birth of a child that might be a world-ending event. However, you’ll have to take down the Archconfraternity, they are the five penitents that the Miracle took as sentinels to stand guard. Orospina, Benedicta, Odon, Lesmes, and Eviterno – This makes your quest that much more difficult and will take you all over the world. Luckily, with Blasphemous 2 being non-linear, you are free to explore and discover them on your own.

Now, before you go running to your possible doom, you might need a few upgrades for your weapons. Keeping a few Martyrdom Points nearby is always handy when you’re in town, though unlocking new move sets and passives through your weapons will help you in the long run. Each weapon has its own upgrade tree to follow, and it can become a bit confusing when you have more than one weapon, though each weapon serves a purpose in certain areas or against specific enemies.

You’ll eventually reach the City of Blessed Name, a massive city that seems almost abandoned and dead, even if there are a few people around. From the City, you’ll be able to head in any direction to make your way towards one of the Confraternity and explore. However, exploring the City of Blessed Name will also yield some interesting finds in the form of the Priest, Woodcarver and several other points of interest.

The Woodcarver is a good place to stop and spend a few Martyrdom Points for new altarpieces to go on the Penitent One’s back. These same altarpieces also give you useful bonuses and further bonuses if you pair the right ones together, like extra physical damage or fire damage from Prayers. The Priest’s job is pretty simple, he’ll clear your guilt for a scaled fee in Tears of Atonement. The City of Blessed Name is a strange place to visit, but you’ll find all sorts of strange and interesting people who can help you on your perilous quest.

To save the best and weirdest for last, throughout the world, you’ll find flames. These flames aren’t actually fire but instead items, prayers and quest items. Prayers come in the form of Chants and Quick Verses, they are similar to skills that you can use at the cost of Fervour. These come in a mix of useful and pointless but can change things up if you need it. Some Chants and Quick Verses can give you a much-needed edge in a fight with some extra damage through buffs or elemental attacks, while others are more for utility, like teleporting back to town.

Blasphemous 2 has no shortage of world-breaking symbolism and lore that might be confusing at first, though this is half of the point behind the world at hand. However, it all somehow ties together in the most bizarre way, from Cherubs to a giant mother holding her child and telling him to sleep. The best advice to follow when encountering strange events like that is to experiment and explore, you’ll never know what can come from it unless you try.

The Game Kitchen aren’t strangers to pixel-art games, but they’ve definitely taken things a step further in world design with Blasphemous 2. Some of the models and assets you’ll see are technically 3D models with a pixel filter and some minor animations, while others are clearly made with a lot of care in mind during the design stages. However, combining 3D art with the filter and actual 2D pixel art brings the strange world of Blasphemous 2 to life. The darker and muted colors also build that dark but somehow dystopian atmosphere really well while setting you as Penitent One apart from everything else. The combat animations are surprisingly smooth and fluid while maintaining some of the stiffness that’s become a signature feature for any Souls-like game.

On the sound front, the soundtrack for Blasphemous 2 is beautifully done. With the majority of the music being incredibly somber and somewhat eerie, this adds extra layers to the game without being a distraction. The fact that the Penitent One doesn’t speak at all while any other NPC you talk to is voiced really adds to the overall eerie feeling the world gives you. If a game like Blasphemous 2 isn’t for you, there’s still a lot to appreciate in just the music alone.

Overall, Blasphemous 2 is yet another masterwork from The Game Kitchen and a brilliant sequel to Blasphemous. With the mountain of strange lore and even stranger things to fight against, you’ll find yourself coming back for more each time and trying even harder to get to the next part of your adventure.

Jay Claassen (@R3GR3T_3NVY)
Editor, NoobFeed