3/5 ★ – TalonJedi's review of Blasphemous II.

While I much more enjoyed a lot of things present in the sequel here such as the ability to utilize different sets of weapons not only as offensive tools but methods of progression and traversal a-La Metroid, there were some things I could have done without. Like some of the cheap bosses once again present with multiple phases and crushingly brutal DPS. Even with the numerous amounts of prayers, beads and other items you can utilize to buff up your character, it just never seems enough for some bosses like the 2nd to last boss fight which took me a bazillion attempts at only to have the final boss be a cake walk in comparison. Alas, besides the various unbalanced boss fights, the game really is quite good and a step up from its predecessor in many ways, one of which mentioned above. Other mechanics such as unlocking moves like double jump, air dashing etc like Metroid were most welcomed as well. And the art style continues to impress with its gothic like undertones and dreary backdrops alike. And also there’s more quality of life improvements now such as progressing in certain side quests to unlock different methods of healing at an altar or being able to fast travel from any altar to the main city hub or clear out any guilt you’ve accumulated at an altar. I also liked the fact of hunting for collectibles to increase my HP, fervor, and damage dealt by unlocking new levels for the 3 game’s weapons you get. The game still retains that sense of wanderlust for clearing the entire map like any Metroidvania as well. Overall minus some difficulty balancing I rather enjoyed this sequel a little more than the original. I just hope if there’s a third game they’ll be able to tweak it a bit more in the difficulty balancing department.