Last year, I did two playthroughs of Blasphemous and Hollow Knight...each. And as a way to justify spending so much time on games I've already played, I will do a comparison contrasting their strengths and weaknesses.
Originally, this blog was going to be a simple recommendation of Blasphemous. But in talking about it, I couldn't help but mention Hollow Knight in almost every facet of the review. This is obviously because both games share key influences. The main two being Super Metroid and Dark Souls. It's interesting then to discuss their slightly different approaches to the presentation, gameplay, and story...and then talk about why I think Blasphemous is better.
Presentation: Atmosphere, Aesthetics, and Some Other A-Word
Before I continue, I should preface that Hollow Knight is a great game in its own right. I'm saying that because criticizing anything about this game tends to bother the swarm of bees that is the Hollow Knight fanbase. However, I feel Hollow Knight is a great example of a game where its death is through a thousand tiny paper cuts or nitpicks if you will.
For example, the aesthetics are generally wonderful. It's representative of the rest of the game in that its polish rivals AAA game studios. The colors are finely tuned and the character/sound designs have a nice range of cute and charming to cartoonishly morbid.
But, and I don't really know how to put this to words, the environments are quite samey.
When I think of Dark Souls and Metroid, the moments I think highly of are usually the moments where the player walks into a new area for the first time. I still remember vividly the first time entering Anor Londo or Phrendrana Drifts, and they're are plenty of levels in both individual games that I can pull from memory.
Aside from the honey bee hive and the White Palace. There isn't many environments that struck me upon entering them. I feel the game is trying to draw you in via gameplay either through introducing a new enemy or obstacle such as the ones in Crystal Peak or by how they pull the rug under you like entering Deepnest through the Mantis nest, but those truly great moments are few and far between and I still find them much less memorable to me than a striking new environment.
Blasphemous, on the other hand, leaves an almost literal scarring impression. There is little competition in this contest, but Blasphemous is the most Catholic game I ever played. The way the harsh penance is conveyed is some of the most shocking I've seen in a game, and it doesn't give you any time to adjust to it. Almost immediately, you are introduced to woman stabbing herself with the sword, and the main character pulling out said sword in order to use it for the rest of the game. It might come off as grotesque to some, but it connects to the themes in a way where the game would be lesser if the decrepit visuals weren't there. Hollow Knight is a polished game, but the aesthetics is one of the few places where the polish somewhat holds the game back. For a game about bugs, disease, and ruined civilizations, the game looks rather clean. Blasphemous's visuals definitely have a lived in grittiness to it that makes world feel authentic. Authentic! That's the other A-word.
So while Hollow Knight puts up a valiant effort, Blasphemous has a more enjoyable art style.
Oh, and p.s., Blasphemous has a Spanish dub, and it is so good. It does so much to enhance the atmosphere of the game.
Gameplay: Combat and Boss Fights
Again, Dark Souls and Metroid play a large part in the style of both games, but they aren't the only influences seen in the game. There is also a clear influence from Castlevania: Symphony of the Night in that there is sword combat in a side scrolling setting with magic attacks and equipment that buffs certain attributes. For Blasphemous, the only difference is the ability to hit upwards and to block/parry. For Hollow Knight, the only difference is the ability to hit upwards and doing a pogo bounce alla Ducktales.
Game feel in Blasphemous is overall pretty satisfying. Sword slashes have a nice sound to them, and they have the usual trimmings modern day action titles have such as good haptic feedback and solid animation. Boss fights are climatic and share the same striking visuals as the rest of the aesthetics. All that being said, it is far from perfect.
Blasphemous has an unfortunate amount of jank and clunkiness that makes it more frustrating at times compared to Hollow Knight. Bugs are consistent throughout a normal playthrough. Certain areas have potential to get either stunlock or put into a tedious position. Rooms can be filled with too many enemies and or enemies too big to jump or dodge past making exploration more of a chore.
Granted, a little jank isn't the end of the world. However, it stands out more here because certain areas have less room for error affecting the fairness of the challenges. Unlike Hollow Knight, there are many sections that have instant kill hazards such as spikes and bottomless pits. And similar to Castlevania, there are platforming challenges where the player has to navigate these hazards while avoiding flying enemies or other moving obstacles. Oh yeah, like Castlevania, anytime you get hit while on the ground or holding onto a wall/ladder, you will have set knock back that can careen you off into said bottomless pits and spikes. This isn't even the worst Blasphemous has to offer. There are also Miriam challenges that test the player in these awful auto scrolling platforming challenges that are too trial and error to be fun.
Hollow Knight is much more fair in regard to combat. Health isn't limited to an limited potion system like Blasphemous instead relying on a soul meter that you can refill by engaging in combat. There are no death traps. In fact, the most damage you can take from anything is two hit points which is far less punishing. The game is also less reliant on difficult platforming challenges. A few areas aside, Hollow Knight is mostly on enemy variety to challenge the player, and this is where I feel Hollow Knight excels in. They're cleverly design to be fun for both players who will take their time and advanced players who will play fast and aggressively. Thanks to moves like the pogo jump and midair dash, there are multiple ways to maneuver around enemies leading to movement that has a lot of depth. By comparison, Blasphemous is one dimensional in its enemy designs. Some enemies are simple wait to block/parry affairs while others are enemies you have to wait to bait out their attack.
Bosses are also stronger in Hollow Knight, retaining the same qualities as Blasphemous while being more polished, containing more quantity, and doing more with the character's toolset. The only thing that Blasphemous manages to do better in this area is being more generous with checkpoints. Hollow Knight has the problem where check points are almost never put in front of more difficult fights leading to wasted time walking back to the boss arena. Only four bosses in the entire game of Blasphemous that don't have checkpoints close to them. And even in those cases, they are either just a couple more rooms away and or in places where there are few substantial obstacles to navigate through.
That all being said, Hollow Knight is the clear favorite when it comes to combat and boss design.
Gameplay #2: Exploration, Power Ups, and Other Knick Knacks
So far, both games seem to show clear strengths whether it be combat or atmosphere. However, we have reached the point where comparison is muddied by nuance and slight detail. With that in mind, I feel a good place to start is to explain the basic world progression and win condition of each and explain their qualities as I go.
In Hollow Knight, the game follows a more traditional Metroidvania formula. The player navigates the areas collecting powerups that opens up more of the world while simultaneously defeating bosses that serve as keys to the final area. You might say that the player also may collect supplemental items like upgrades or trinkets, but the thing is that Hollow Knight is severely lacking in that mechanic.
Hollow Knight doesn't have much going on in terms of discovery. The bulk of the collectables are the following: grubs that can be rescued, charms that enhanced your character, and trinkets that can be sold for cash. The problem is that none of these are satisfying. Charms will vary in usefulness depending on your playstyle making most of them worthless. Grubs are fine but they mostly give you money which you can gain an abundance of in this game and other charms that again vary in usefulness. And finally, trinkets don't offer much since cash is pretty easy to get as I previously mentioned. The interesting collectables such as health ups, spells, ore for sword upgrades are very few by comparison. Some are simply purchased from shops which is far less enjoyable than finding them out in the overworld.
There is a over reliance on money in this game likely due to the developers trying to give added weight to the death system which like Dark Souls takes away your money upon a game over. However, Dark Souls's death system makes sense because, while souls are important, they don't completely halt your progress if you lose them. Losing money in Hollow Knight can lead to a variety of unfortunate time sinks such as the inability to open checkpoints, fast travel locations, and other important items. There is not a single thing that obstructs your progress in Dark Souls if you have no souls unless you are willing to count the Seal of Artorias. No money in Hollow Knight could potentially mean long halts in progress. And then, by a certain point in the game where you have purchased most of the expensive items in the game, money simply becomes another useless goodie to put in the bag.
This is made worse considering the game already has long halts in other areas. In remaining faithful to the Metroid titles, the game also has points where you can potentially get lost on a first playthrough meaning you either meander around hoping for another path or have to resort in a walkthrough. It's arguably worse here since Hollow Knight is extremely non-linear and doesn't have the elegant level design seen in Super Metroid.
At least, the parts of the exploration that are enjoyable are really enjoyable. Fast Travel for example has a nice balance where there are plenty to use but not to the point where you just using the fast travel to get around.
God, I didn't expect to write this much on just this one part of Hollow Knight. I haven't even talked about the Blasphemous side. And oh God, I still have the story. Yeah this is going to be a long review.
In Blasphemous, your progress is seemingly similar except with one very substantial difference. Powerups take a major back seat and play no part in the progression of the main story. Instead, the emphasis is placed on bosses as keys. It's closer to Dark Souls in that regard as the game is split in two halves where the goal is to kill bosses that activate a macguffin that unlocks the next major section of the game or the final boss. In Dark Souls, it is the Bells of Awakening that open Sen's Fortress and the Lord Vessel that unlocks Gwyn. In Blasphemous, it is the bronze door that blocks the second half and the three masks that unlock the elevator to the final area.
I am more partial to Blasphemous's world design because of this since the pacing of the progress isn't blocked by one powerup or random key. At the same time, it also still retains the exploration since you still have to navigate the world to find the bosses.
Interestingly, powerups are used are keys to access extra items, so the game retains the enjoyment of collecting powerups as well.
As for the collectables, they are about as good as Hollow Knight for different reasons. The good news is that the bulk of collectables are far more satisfying: bones that give you money and unlocks an optional boss, charms which are more satisfying to use due to the streamlined nature of Blasphemous's charm system, and cherubs that need to be rescued which gives a spell and a very important powerup. More substantial items like extra heals and spells feel more abundant than in Hollow Knight.
However, they are drawbacks.
Firstly, your powerups can only be equipped three at a time which I don't understand why they did that. They don't stack in a way where they overpower the player character, so why weren't they automatically equipped like any other Metroidvania? Secondly, the powerups and puzzles contain there own jank as well. Blood floors that create extra paths operate on a timer and must be jumped in an exact order. Climbable roots can retreat for whatever reason making you fall into whatever death pit the roots were over. And while these are optional, it is annoying the abundance of items are hidden behind hidden walls. Even more annoying are the cryptic nature of some of the items and puzzles. Some items don't have enough affordance to convey what they are meant to be used for which leads to a few more visits to a walkthrough.
Finally, the fast travel system isn't as strong as in Hollow Knight. They try to band aid this in an update by adding an upgrade to allow teleporting between checkpoints as well as giving a spell that returns you to checkpoints. The problem is that the spell is pretty out of the way and the teleport upgrade requires paying 20,000 souls which is one of the most expensive purchases in the game. And unfortunately, Blasphemous also has trouble making money an enjoyable mechanic. It sort of has a reverse problem of Hollow Knight where there is too little money going around to get the upgrades at a reasonable pace. It means in the case of the fast travel upgrade that you won't get access to the upgrade until much later in the game or earlier at the expense of other important upgrades. In the case of going for 100%, it also means grinding which means fighting the first phase of a particular boss fight over and over again until you gather the necessary funds.
In the end, both games tie for me. I guess Blasphemous barely edges out for me personally. But frankly, both have a set of annoying issues that balance everything out.
Narrative: And Why I Prefer Blasphemous
First of all, I like to say that I hate reviewing these kind of stories. The Dark Souls kind of story where characterization is hidden in lore texts. Where plot has to be figured out by either deciphering the most cryptic dialogue ever or by listening to an obsessive Youtuber. Even then, there are stuff intentionally left ambiguous making the whole endeavor frustrating. I hate reviewing them because if I find some problem with the plot or the characters, someone will point out to one item description that rectifies it. It requires basically an encyclopedic understanding of every word to fully grasp the story. Jesus, my high school English teachers must be getting hard-ons right now knowing I have to essentially write and read book reports in order to enjoy the story, but I digress.
So, forgive me as I try to review two of them back to back.
One thing Hollow Knight gets right out the door are the characters' ability to show a lot of personality. The way mantis' bow after defeating the area boss which visually show their culture. The many bosses and enemy attacks that subtly convey their attitude. Like the game's visuals, it is writhe with detail. And like the game's visuals, the detail holds it back for me.
I feel the problem is that that level of detail isn't really seen in the parts of the narrative that matter. The key players of the main story: the Pale King, the Hollow Knight, and the Radiance don't get much in terms of development. And as someone who values characters more than anything, it was disappointing to receive their backstory through item descriptions and speculations/memories of surviving characters. Even in Dark Souls, the major characters at least had an opening cutscene to establish their motivation and place in the world. In Hollow Knight, the world is deep but ultimately unengaging. And while I imagine there is also a lot of thematic strength, it is hard to care about themes when you can't give two shits about the circumstances of the most important characters in your narrative. It's why very few Soulsborne like this ever grab me. They're intensely complex, but they never connect to you on a human level.
Blasphemous, on the other hand, is a much better example of using this structure. In fact, it is my favorite story in this structure, even better than the games that popularized it.
It's great because it doesn't sacrifice character and it gives you enough visually that players that don't want to bother with the item descriptions or extra dialogue can still enjoy the baseline of the narrative. The story is cryptic but not to the point where it's unappealing. And personally, the game is so striking and engaging anyway that it might compel you to research the lore after playing. It did for me.
To me, nothing demonstrates these qualities than with the main character, the Penitent One. He is the closest a character from a Metroidvania has evoked the qualities of Samus from Metroid. Despite never speaking, you get a clear sense of his motivation and personality just through his body language and action. You know he is extremely reverent to his traditions. You know he is so focused on his pilgrimage that he will morbidly slaughter any monsters that get in his way.
Granted, you can argue Blasphemous is operating under a cheat sheet since it makes heavy use of Christian mythology and tradition whereas Hollow Knight is a little more original with its world. However on the flip side, I feel the blatant Catholic imagery enhances the story of the game. It also ties with the game's themes. When does penance go too far? Is guilt a righteous emotion that should be sought after? Is the relationship between a God obsessed with the retribution of sins and the sinners an abusive one?
Metroidvanias have a comfort food quality for me, but Blasphemous is one of the few that go beyond that. One where you left thinking about the experience. It's why, despite the jank, Blasphemous is my favorite indie Metroidvania. Its art direction, world design, and narrative. And considering the closest comparison is what some consider one of the best indie games ever made, that should indicate how strong Blasphemous is as a title.
But that's it. Tune in next time where I will compare Blasphemous 2 and Silksong in the year 2027.
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