Highlights
- Blasphemous 2 introduces three starting weapons, which adds a strategic element to combat and affects accessibility to certain areas.
- The map in Blasphemous 2 can be difficult to read due to its pixel art style, hindering the ability to locate points of interest.
- Hollow Knight features a more versatile and user-friendly map with clear markers and an item players can find that reveals its collectible grub critters, which would have been useful for finding Blasphemous 2's cherubs.
Blasphemous 2 distinguishes itself from its predecessor instantly when it offers three starting weapons that players must choose from. This is a fairly large decision to make with combat concerned, but an even larger decision when players consider how certain areas will or won’t be accessible to them yet depending on which they select. This is only one of the monumental changes Blasphemous 2 makes, and while it’s great that a little more effort went into making the sequel’s map readable, it still fails at adequately representing points of interest and is therefore another missed opportunity.
The map is difficult to parse since it retains Blasphemous’ signature pixel art, meaning that the map’s geometry is rigid and obscures the few markers that Blasphemous 2 actually does stamp onto it for players. The only way to know if a room or passage connects to another is by detecting a small notched space on one of its sides, for example, but secret rooms and illusory walls contradict that logic. Likewise, the map’s markers are too arbitrary and too few to serve any simple purpose, with Blasphemous 2’s cherubs producing the biggest detriment from that.
Hollow Knight’s Grubs Become Easier to Track Thanks to the Collector's Map
Hollow Knight is similar to Blasphemous in many ways and that’s a testament to each game’s quality as a Metroidvania/Soulslike. Hollow Knight is 2D like Blasphemous, but because it features a distinct art style it is not reliant on maintaining Blasphemous' same rigidity for the purposes of a homogenized aesthetic. Instead, Hollow Knight’s Hallownest map outlines can be rigid and geometric, but they can also be rounded and take wildly different shapes depending on what the landscape demands.
Moreover, Hollow Knight’s map markers come with a legend that helps players familiarize themselves with certain points of interest, and custom markers can also be placed at their discretion. This is massively helpful for obvious reasons, but at the same time, players will find themselves initially struggling to find where hidden grubs may be.
These adorable green critters are kept hidden in jars that the player may free them from. Grubs aren’t originally pinned on the map, but after a lengthy endeavor to locate and defeat the Collector, players will find Hollow Knight’s Collector’s Map. This map is a godsend for completionists and grub enthusiasts alike because it pins a unique marker on purchased maps for every undiscovered grub left in the game. Blasphemous, however, has nothing of the sort.
Blasphemous’ Cherubs Can Be a Chore to Backtrack to and Find
Blasphemous and Blasphemous 2 both feature angelic cherubs that players can free for two different purposes and rewards in each, though they function almost identically to Hollow Knight’s grubs. In this way, players can return to an NPC that rewards players based on how many cherubs they’ve freed and are equally difficult to find while exploring the deepest nooks and crannies of the map.
This is made tedious, though, when players are nearing completion of finding every last cherub in the game, only to now have no clue where to begin their search for the final few. Of course, players are freely encouraged to pin custom markers on the map and keep their own chronicling of which cherubs they’ve found and where, but that onus shouldn’t necessarily be on the player. It would go a long way in making amends if The Game Kitchen added a post-launch Collector’s Map of its own to Blasphemous 2 for the sole purpose of locating remaining cherubs since backtracking and internet guide searching can be taxing.
Such quality-of-life features are apparent in many games, and it’s unfortunate that Blasphemous 2 followed after its predecessor in not including one either. Fortunately, if Blasphemous’ post-launch plan of DLC and updates is anything to go off of, it’s possible that Blasphemous 2 could rectify this in its own future updates.
Blasphemous 2 is out now for Nintendo Switch, PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S.
