bog_brain
2022
A visually appealing, somewhat barebones Zelda-like relying entirely on it's single fun gimmick. Excellent soundtrack combining modern electronic production with more classic-sounding staccato trap percussion. After a while the experience of wandering around and finding pages of the manual grows a bit tiresome, especially because the gameplay outside of the 'uncover the game manual' conceit, namely the combat, is a bit of a chore. This falls around the same quality as Death's Door to me: mostly okay modern indie Zelda-like that leaves me wanting more and will keep me chasing the Hyper Light Drifter dragon.
Wonderful world design and beautiful music doing a lot to carry the ugliest character and armour models in a modern MMO. The moment I feel engaged by battling a random dungeon boss, I'm brought out of it by looking around and seeing myself surrounded by cat people, bunny people and a race of small cherubic children.
2023
Level design is extremely boring, tons of really uninspired bosses, more feature bloat than you would expect (skill trees on weapons add nothing to the game), and poorly rendered amateurish anime-inspired cutscenes. The best thing about this game, similar to the first one, is the absolutely immaculate and stunning pixel art and animation. The visual design of Blasphemous 2 lends a sense of gravitas to the game that it probably doesn't really deserve.