If you’re skilled, you can speed through in a little over ten hours, though exploring every nook and cranny of the map and finding all of the collectables can take upwards of double that, especially considering there are two endings to experience. At any rate, Blasphemous is torturously fun, and one of the best the genre has to offer.

The Game Kitchen’s latest work is ideal not only for fans of metroidvania genre. For me its accessibility and sheer fun of gameplay compares to a “souls” version of last year’s Spider-Man, which is the best recommendation I can give. [12/2019, p.55]

Blasphemous is slowed by a few minor issues but overall has a gripping setting and haunting design presentation.

If you can tolerate the super-annoying instant death traps and are a Metroidvania fan then I highly recommend Blasphemous.

There are minor irritations – some bosses have annoying stun-locks, enemies sometimes don’t load in properly, and platforming can be iffy at times. But trying again comes with minimal punishment. Like the twisted religion testing The Penitent One’s faith, the game’s willing to forgive – if you’re willing to try again. [Issue#168, p.78]

A formulaic Metroidvania with satisfying combat and a thick mood in the air, Blasphemous uses its pixel art style and fixation on religious iconography to establish a powerful vision of a forsaken world.

Blasphemous represents the vision of a true artist, but remains a diamond in the rough due to technical difficulties and a frustrating degree of unfairness. There's room for improvement, let's leave it at that.