Blasphemous 2

Blasphemous 2 is an excellent metroidvania that succesfully builds upon the strong foundation of its predecessor and improves, changes or adds pretty much everything that was lacking in the first game. First and foremost, it includes more combat and movement mechanics which make for more fun moment-to-moment gameplay and allow more elaborate level and boss designs. The usual metroidvania power-ups like air dash and double jump are finally brought it, environmental traversal unlocks are more interesting, there are several weapons with their own unique traversal and fighting capabilities, new spells and even some light RPG systems to tweak your builds. The world feels more cohesive and lived-in right off the bat. Areas are connected very well, the individual level designs are pretty clever, the environments are even more beatiful with a true sense of grandeur this time around. The game gives just enough direction to the player, so it's easy to jump in, follow and unlikely to ever get completely lost, but it still demands a lot of spontaneous exploration and story / lore research. It is paced well all throughout and the progression feels quite good with no odd difficulty spikes or lengthy periods of new power droughts - various unlocks from different categories are nicely placed and spaced out, so along with the game's somewhat open-ended structure it enables quite a few slightly differing paths despite some of the key objectives being strictly ordered. No matter where you decide to go though, you are bound to open up new pathways or earn upgrades. Areas are quite memorable both in theme and mechanics, often with a similarly striking boss fight serving as the finale and unlike the first game - there aren't really any sections that feel irritating. Just a good fair challenge, be it with platforming, combat or simply figuring out the critical path. Decent lineup of bosses, more straight duel fights and even the gimmicky ones are for the most part well thought out... and, the final boss is actually solid this time around! It also has incredible enemy variety, bringing back quite a few from the first game while also adding a bunch of completely new ones, all carefully distributed to provide different challenges and give each area its own identity. Quests, secrets and collectibles are also a step up. There are more of them, some even more elaborate or better hidden, but all generally less obtuse and slightly shorter to complete, often with exciting goodies ranging from spells, items to skins and lore drops and so on, which further helps make the adventure consistently rewarding. Stories also feel a little easier to piece together. So overall, the exploration is very satisfying from start to the end. Worth noting however, the aesthetic and atmosphere here is a little more hopeful and vibrant, but it is still very much in the Catholic-inspired dark fantasy territory. The technical aspects have been improved too, with more options, superior UI, lots of QoL additions, no clunky fighting or traversal actions and a generally bug / glitch-free experience. This might not be the most impressive or original entry in its categories, but I would say it absolutely delivers in all regards a title like this should. Very well rounded product where nothing is quite ground-breaking, but everything is above average. It still has some difficult parts with combat and to a lesser extent platforming and careful marking and dilligent exploration are required to access all the content, but if you have some experience within the genre - Blasphemous 2 is a must play.