While steady innovation has been part of the games industry for decades, some styles have proven to simply be timeless. The unique indie side-scroller Blasphemous is proof of this. The game recently celebrated its millionth copy sold, a major milestone a game from a small Spanish studio.
Developed by The Game Kitchen and published by Team17, Blasphemous was designed as a Metroidvania-like game. It launched in 2019 and has since grown in popularity, winning awards for "Best Spanish Development" and "Indie Game of the Year" at the 2019 Titanium Awards, where it was also nominated for "Best Art." The developers confirmed that Blasphemous had reached the million-copy milestone on Twitter, joining in the celebration. The game is available on all major platforms, which no doubt helped it reach such a wide audience.
Blasphemous is set in Cvstodia, a land of extreme religion, superstition and worship that is hallowed by an otherworldly force called "The Miracle." This power will sometimes imbue blessings or curses upon its inhabitants, turning them into twisted and monstrous physical manifestations of sins. Players travel across this twisted land as The Penitent One, the sole survivor of the Brotherhood of the Silent Sorrow (called so because their members have agreed to a pact of silence).
The game, with all of its gruesome violence and obvious Catholic influences and iconography, comes across as a 2D Soulslike. It certainly has a dark and depressing story surrounding Cvstodia and its inhabitants. It also has the difficulty so often found in the genre, with players having to properly time their parries to defeat certain enemies and bosses that will typically take more than one try to beat. Even the Penitent One seems to make himself suffer throughout his pilgrimage -- then again, he makes his enemies suffer even more with his bloody execution moves.
The game has also been regularly supported and updated since its release. In summer 2020, DLC for the game was released called The Stir of Dawn. This adds a number of new features and mechanics, such as New Game+, an optional "three penitence" system that alters gameplay, new storylines, NPCs, bosses, side quests, areas, items, counter and execution animations. Plus, there's even a cute little dog that you can pet.
The game's most recent update, Strife & Ruin, released in mid-February and involves a crossover with another Metroidvania, Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night. That game's main player character, Miram, is trapped in Cvstodia and must return to her own world with the help of the Penitent One by engaging in a number of platforming challenges. However, it should be noted that Blasphemous' platforming has been considered one of the weaker aspects of this overall great game. The update also adds a new Boss Rush mode, where after finishing the game, players can battle a full gauntlet of bosses one after another and get scored on how well they do.
Blasphemous is available on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC.
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