Almost bounced off B2 but now I'm hooked!
I'm fairly new to metroidvanias after Hollow Knight got me into the genre. Enjoyed a few others and started to realise there are quite a few soulslike crossovers which is my usual kind of game. I even really enjoyed Mandragora for the Diablo style dopamine hits of constantly finding upgrades and unlocking skills (seems an underrated game but a little on the cheesy side).
Anyway Blasphemous sounded great, decided to go with the second instalment due to comments about gameplay. Loved the art and atmosphere from the start, but the combat and exploration seemed boring. Went with Veredicto, I guess no parry made initial combat a bit one dimensional. I wandered around some of the 'wrong' areas with no idea what the blue angels were for or how to get through the brown walls.. obviously no boss fights yet as I hadn't found any. Was a bit frustrating hitting unpassable stuff at every turn!
Then all of a sudden I get through the entombments area and fight the first boss. I admit I did a bit of googling and realised the link between the 3 bosses and 3 weapons. The momentum built from there and all of a sudden I've got a build coming along, I'm finding amazing boss fights, interesting areas and NPCs. And the tone and dialogue just gets better and better. The voice acting sends chills. No idea what's happening most of the time but I can feel something building.
I can't put the game down now, it's easily my favourite metroidvania so far. I just got through the Elevated Temple and released the first dove. If it carries on at this standard/ gets better it's gonna be a 10/10 game for me!
Only minor criticism - the style of rhe cut scenes feels a bit wrong.