Blasphemous was way creepier/eerier than Blasphemous 2
I loved Blasphemous in part because of its eerieness/creepiness: it felt as if no-one was sane in their mind.
Mortification everywhere, from genuflectors to charred visages and flagellants… To be honest, the wound kissers seemed to me like the "milder" version.
The gorgeously rendered pixel art executions really helped too! The anime-style animations of Blasphemous 2 were a huge letdown in that regard for me.
But in Blasphemous 2? Things feel much less creepy, and also sometimes… more random than creepy:
- A blind sculptor? Meh…
- A merchant being carried on the back of another man? Meh…
- Another merchant which you only see the hand out of her wares ? Meh…
- A talking hand that asks for kisses? Meh
- A woman cursed with holding a crumbling temple? Meh…
- Most bosses are also much less disturbing than in Blasphemous 1.
- Lots of executions rely on crushing enemies with vines. I understand this is mostly due to the variety of weapons, but the result is still less impacting than in Blasphemous 1.
- A father breastfeeding his child with a sewn breast? Okay, this is kind of creepy. But it’s very mild and late in the game.
- A women whose skin is being flayed by cherubs? Okay, this is what the Miracle is about! But why only one such character?
And as for the random stuff:
- What’s the purpose for Silver-Clad Crystal Shards? They increase the effect of the bile flasks. Like… what’s the logic?
- A man turning into a beehive… and gives you an breakable altar figure, which he’ll repair using… honey. What did the devs smoke?
To be honest, I’ve had the same random feeling with the beads and spells: their names are often very thinly related to their effects. But overall, it felt slightly more "obscure" than "random".
Overall, I still like Blasphemous 2 more than 1 because of its better polish and quality of life improvements, but I’m disappointed/frustrated that I was not disturbed as much as with Blasphemous 1, as if it was watered-down.
What do you think?
