Blasphemous 2 Feels Much More Like a Proper Metroidvania

ign.com:

After crusading through the hallowed, freakish 2D corridors of the original Blasphemous in 2019, I wondered how its followup, Blasphemous 2, might iterate upon a solid first stab. As it turns out, despite the rather fanatical setting they’ve created, the developers don’t appear to be afraid of ditching the dogma of the past to shake things up. Nowhere is that more apparent than with how this sequel retains its combat-focused strengths while significantly overhauling the puzzles and platforming to be more in line with its genre peers. From the few hours I’ve played so far, that gamble seems like it will pay off, and I’m more excited than ever to dive back into this sickening, pixelated soulslike.

The main instruments in Blasphemous 2’s greatly upgraded platforming toolbox are the three new weapons you’ll be switching between in order to defeat enemies and complete puzzles. Gone are the days where your trusty Mea Culpa was the only way for you to smite people. Instead you’ve got the powerful, slow swinging War Sensor, the lightning-fast dual weapon Rapier and Dagger, and the reliable middle-ground between those two extremes called the Praying Blade. Not only do each of these weapons have their own advantages and disadvantages in terms of reach, speed, and special abilities, but they also each have a skill tree that can be upgraded along the way, adding things like a shorter wait time for charged attacks and expanded attack combo options.

But the real trick to Blasphemous 2’s expanded arsenal is in how it elevates platforming and puzzles from its predecessor, as they each have their own traversal ability that helps you navigate Cvstodia. For example, the flail-like War Sensor can be used to smack massive bells that open