Blasphemous 2 and its Goya-inspired brutal action-platforming is out now
I'd eat the wee guy on my back, too
There are a lot of brutal action-platformers, but Blasphemous set itself apart with its pointy-helmeted protagonist and gory Catholic imagery. The sequel, Blashphemous 2, again puts you inside the barbed traffic cone of The Penitent One, this time in a new, no-less-grotesque world. It's out now.
Matt called Blasphemous 2 a "fittingly punishing mashup of Metroidvania and Dark Souls" in his review last week:
The bosses tend to be especially delicious. They never invoke the same level of ‘oh God how do I even...?’ as Dark Souls, but still serve as stumping, session-ending milestones that then feel great to come back and wallop. An early boss whips round and eats the little guy on his back once you’ve stabbed him enough, in explicit Saturn-Devouring-His-Son style. The developers have mentioned they’re inspired by Goya paintings, and it shows. You never know what poor monstrosity you’ll bump into next, but it might be a man cursed to eternally ooze honey.
He did also note that you might want to use a guide if you don't want to risk missing important quality-of-life improvements, though.
We liked Blasphemous 1 well enough that it found its way onto our list of the best Soulslikes. It's probably too early to tell whether the sequel will take its place, but you'll find it on Steam now for £25/$30. There's currently a big discount on the original, too.