Two-thirds of Metroidvania Blasphemous 2 are excellent

polygon.com:

The search for meaning is never-ending and takes more than one form. In Blasphemous 2, from developer The Game Kitchen, people are still trying to cope with reality through the lens of the divine, using penitences and blessings as the language to interpret their world. Blasphemous 2 effectively conveys this world by melding exploration with storytelling. But its boss fights — the star attraction for anyone who has played the first game — are more uneven.

Blasphemous 2 is a 2D platformer/adventure game akin to Dead Cells and Hollow Knight. By deploying religious imagery throughout, The Game Kitchen has created a potent world where an omnipotent divine will, the Miracle, has power over everyone’s lives. You control the Penitent One, the returning protagonist from the first game, who fought the Miracle once before and has now been resurrected to face the almighty being again. A Soulslike difficulty pervades Blasphemous 2 as well: You face not only a good variety of challenging enemies, but a few bosses that require a considerable number of tries to beat up.

These similarities to household genres belie a unique sense of place, though — a mix of the foreboding and the bizarre. As the Penitent One, you’re less the focus of the story than a vessel through which to explore this singular world — one in which the inhabitants turn to faith, over and over again, despite all evidence pointing to this practice being the origin of the terrible state their world has been in since the first game.

Blasphemous 2 does a decent job of matching its overt storytelling themes with strong mechanics and systems. A floating hand, for instance, increases your max fervour (the resource used to cast magical spells) in exchange for kisses of