Blasphemous

Blasphemous is a Metroidvania video game developed by Spanish studio The Game Kitchen and published by Team17. The game was released for Nintendo Switch, PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One on 10 September 2019.

It began as a Kickstarter campaign in 2017.

Development
Creative director Enrique Cabeza has cited the religious art and iconography of Seville, Spain as a major influence on Blasphemous ' story and design. Cabeza has also pointed to Spanish painters such as Bartolomé Esteban Murillo, Francisco Goya, Jusepe de Ribera, Diego Velázquez and Francisco de Zurbarán, particularly noting significant inspiration from Goya's A Procession of Flagellants.

Setting
A foul curse has fallen upon the land of Cvstodia and all its inhabitants - it is known simply as "The Miracle". The game is set in a land of religion and superstition, with multiple influences from Christianity and Spanish folklore.

The game begins in the Brotherhood of the Silent Sorrow, a religious order opposed to Pontiff Escribar's authority, after all its members have been massacred. One of them, the Penitent One, is reborn by the Miracle and departs on a pilgrimage. Shortly after defeating the Warden of the Silent Sorrow, he finds Deogracias, who tells him about the Cradle of Affliction, a sacred relic that the Penitent One seeks, and the Three Humilliations he must carry to access the place where it is located. He also gives the Penitent One a thorn to add to his sword's handle. This thorn will grow as the player completes certain optional dungeons and its state at the end of the game will affect the ending.

The Penitent One travels to different locations in Cvstodia, including the decaying town of Albero, the snowing hills Where Olive Trees Wither, and the underground Desecrated Cistern. He manages to complete the Three Humilliations, each of them involving a trial against a different boss, and gains access to the Mother of Mothers, the cathedral where both Escribar and the Cradle of Affliction reside.

Following certain events Escribar's voice will be heard, telling his own backstory: a long time before the Penitent One began his pilgrimage, the Miracle transformed Escribar into a massive tree. At one point the tree caught fire and burned entirely, leaving behind a massive pile of ash on top of which stood Escribar's throne. The Miracle drove countless people to attempt to climb the mountain, but all of them failed, being swallowed by the Ash. As a form of punishment, the Miracle turned them all into beasts. This included Escribar, who was reborn as the Last Son of the Miracle.

The Penitent One finally arrives to the top of the Mother of Mothers, and he battles and defeats Escribar. The latter engages once more, revealing his true form as the Last Son of the Miracle, but is defeated and permanently killed. The Penitent One then finds the pile of ash mentioned in Escribar's story, and attempts to climb to its top and reach the Cradle of Affliction. If the player did not complete all the optional dungeons and upgrade the thorn to its final stage, the Penitent One fails to reach the top and sinks into the ash, leaving behind nothing but his mask – which Deogracias then picks up and deposits next to countless other masks, declaring the protagonist's penitence over. However, if the player did complete the dungeons and fully upgrade the thorn, the Penitent One reaches Escribar's throne at the top of the ash mountain, sits there and stabs himself with his sword. Thus, he turns into a tree (as it happened to Escribar before him) and becomes the new Father and Last Son of the Miracle thus ending the cycle of Guilt and Penitence. However, Crisanta's voice is heard as the female knight draws the Mea Culpa from the Penitent One's remains.

Gallery
All artworks are illustrated by Juan Miguel López Barea.


 * Characters