Not as good as the first, but still a very good game. My biggest complaints are the linearity of the second half and the difficulty spike near the end.

I do like some changes to the first game, like no insta-kill pits or spikes, and better build variety. Each of the three weapons has a different play style, and I think there's more meaningful choices in the equippable items.

But some changes I do not like. I feel the new art style of the cinematics clashes with actual game's style. Exploration doesn't feel as good, particularly in the second half where entire areas just pop into existence once you're done with the previous area.

SPOILER WARNING from here onwards.

The atmosphere feels worse as well. In B1, I liked how the ways of the Miracle were mysterious and inexplicable. Things seem much more straightforward in B2. Take Anunciada for example. She fills a similar role to Deogracias, but where he was just a scholar afflicted by the Miracle, she is some sort of divine being. A divine being in a Blasphemous game, I expected there to be more to her, a connection to the Miracle perhaps, some hidden motives maybe. But nope, she's just a straight up good guy exposition machine. She just doesn't feel well integrated into the world.

Expanding on Eviterno The Difficulty Spike, I think the problem is that he invalidates too many playstyles. You can't riposte, a lot of prayers won't hit because he's too fast, a lot of attacks won't hit him without you getting hit in return. There just aren't that many viable strats against him, and I think this is a significant problem in a game that promotes build variety.

Comparing the two games might be a bit unfair as I didn't play B1 until it had already received all of its post-release content, while I played B2 at launch. But it doesn't seem like any post-release content for B2 would address my complaints.

Even though this review has been mostly about the negative aspects, I want to reiterate that I still liked the game a lot.