Escribar had dreams of the Penitent One killing him, but because all of the Brothers wear the same helmet, there was no way of telling which one was the one from his dreams. So to play it safe, he had them all massacred.
@@schmoo393 So, does that mean that the Miracle wants The Penintent One to kill Escribar? And perhaps the high wills kindnapped/stole the Miracle or its power? I'm very confused by the story, but it's intriguing, especially since it seems to have some Gnostic influences, which I love.
I love a lot of the small details in the names in this game; "Expósito" is actually the name given to children that were abandoned / left in the care of a church or orphanage in Spain. Quirce (Quirico / Ciriaco) means belonging to god Deogracias is a mix of god and thanks Jocinero was the name of a bull that killed his bullfighter Redento refers to someone freed from sin Almost all names are deliberate and relate to the main theme, culture and history of spain makes this game a joy to play
Deo Gracias is the way the Eucharist ends after the priest gives his last prayer. The laity must say: Deo Gracias. "Let´s give thanks to God" (in latin) and depart.
Actually, The dream's concept is based on Calderon de la Barca's play "La vida es sueño" (life is a dream), one of the most renowned works from spanish literature's golden age . It's a highly philosofical work in which the protagonist questions the meaning of reality. In Blasphemous, the dream is life and "el otro lado del sueño" means the afterlife.
Being raised in a Spanish catholic school, the entire imagery, architecture, themes, clothing design... it just really recall me of many of the things I was taught at childhood.
I don't think I've ever seen something portray Christian culture in a way that felt so infused with magic and a feeling of myth. Most fantasy settings treat religions as creeds, when the creed is only a small part, and they're much better understood as (sub)cultures, which Blasphemous succeeds at brilliantly.
Same here: I'm from southern Sardinia where we have the same rituals and aesthetic of southern spain regarding Semana Santa. This game greatly portraits that fervor and aesthetic! Not catholic anymore but the design is so good
@@_krbrs_ as another former non catholic what i find interesting is that the game also accurately reflects how god actually acted in the bible old and new benevolent one story a tyrant making its creations suffer
@@augustuslunasol10thapostle yup, and also god makes people suffer and push them to kill and torture. and said people are blissful about that. chilling.
One thing I find really interesting about Blasphemous is the class divide. The highest authorities in the church adorn themselves in jewels as an earthly representation of divine beauty, while the lowest people can't get jewels and have to worship through the alternate method of inflicting pain upon themselves. The nuns of the Charred Visage are in the middle, so they inflict pain upon themselves in an ostentatious way. (I think there's an item description somewhere that says the olive trees are dying out because all the olives are being used for oil.) Then you have the Penitent One, who gets power from items that someone valued, whether or not those items are beautiful or traditionally "divine." (One character picked up an olive just so he wouldn't die without any possessions at all, and after he dies, you can equip the olive as an accessory.) I think there's something deliberate about the high authorities' desire for the finest objects vs. the Penitent One's desire for objects that have some kind of meaning.
I know its late but the olive trees in where olive trees wither are dying because Engracia´s suffering, as stated in the object of the withered flowers you give her in her sanctuary
I got to admit; the art style of everything was just out of this world. Huge props to the team behind that. Even the music is spot on and atmospheric. Tight controls, everything, (mwah chef’s kiss).
My only complaint is the floaty jump. Coming to this immediately after playing the last faith, great game btw, the jump just never felt good to me 😔 THAT PARRY THOUGH ❤🔥
I love Blasphemous. The story does not get enough credit. It made me feel ... horrified. The amount of suffering every character goes through - *and then begs for more* is deeply disturbing to me. The fact that the god of this world is more an eldritch horror with a penchant for masochism than some run of the mill diety is truly frightening. It's not like these people can do anything to fight back (el penitente notwithstanding) - they're literally fighting God, and theyre powerless.
This could be said for every hardcore gamer that loves challenging games like this, the FromSoft games, Castlevania franchise and Devil May Cry series. We all enjoy the experience and the suffering it puts us through all around because I guess it makes us stronger by becoming better gamers, and through the messages that those mediums send out.
Because they believe that their suffering will make a change for the better, so they stick by it. Thats how faith work. And since the (current?) high power wants more power (By belief) then they gave it to them. Faith and idolatry are quite scary things.
Some bits and bobs: - Escribar is most likely a reference to Josemaría Escrivá de Balaguer, founder of the Opus Dei lay order. While he's a much more recent figure (20th century) than most other references, he's relevant to the themes of the game since Opus Dei has generally been considered an organization with a heavy emphasis on elitism and authority, which comes in contrast to the inspirations for the Penitent One's Brotherhood of the Silent Sorrow (the Holy Week penitents, from which they get the drip, and monastic orders like the Franciscans, from which they get some of their quirks like the vow of silence), which emphasize humility and poverty. Something that makes Opus Dei particularly fitting as a reference is that one of the things that set them apart among Catholic groups is that they're *really* into "mortification of the flesh". - The Exhumed Bishop (and the bit of lore about him) is a reference to the Cadaver Synod, where a dead Pope was exhumed and Weekends at Bernie's-d around town, though in this case it was to attend trial for Pope Crimes. - The character of Altasgracias is partially based on a Sevillan legend, and partially based on three-faced paintings of Jesus Christ which were a brief trend during the Renaissance and were intended to represent the Holy Trinity. They eventually fell out of fashion because, predictably, people thought they looked creepy as hell.
As tip for everyone getting interested in playing this game, I highly recommend playing it in spanish, the voice acting is wonderful and it fits perfectly in the mood of the game
It's complicated. This game don't really have an "original language". The dialogues where first written in English and then rewritten in Spanish, but the names and the concepts behind what is being said was "thinked" in Spanish. That's why all the Spanish words used as names have a meaning related to what is naming but only works as a name if it's used in other languages, for example "Ten piedad". But at the same time things named in English needs to be translated, for example "our lady of the charred visage".
@@AVAtistar If it helps, the developers are spanish, and the game drinks a lot from spanish gothic. Even tho the spanish language was released later, I do think that it has some tought put into it. It works pretty well!
@@tattoo6862 yes. I know all of that. An I took it in consideration when I was deciding in which language I should play it. But the fact that the game was aimed to the international public and the English version was released first estates is was intentioned to be played in English, but knowing Spanish allows for a deeper understanding of the meanings behind.
@@AVAtistar The developers wanted to launch the game in Spanish but due to budget reasons they could only afford the English dub, which makes more sense commercially, but what they truly wished was to launch the game with the Spanish dub from the start, thanks to the game being a success they were able to make it possible and even making it a free update, so yeah, Spanish dub it's truly the original way the creators wanted it to be. It's also better than the English dub
As an Andalusian, it makes me very happy to see such appreciation in this video and the comments section for a story and imagery that borrows so much from our culture and folklore. Love this game and I'm glad it resonates with so many people around the world.
Como jugador francés (a pesar de haber nacido de madre española), este juego me introdujo en un impresionante corpus de folclore: cultura, arte, religión, creencias, tradiciones, leyendas y mitos. El juego tiene tanto éxito que me hizo querer averiguar más sobre las influencias e inspiraciones que me trajeron hasta aquí. Un gran GG a The Game Kitchen por esto, ¡los desarrolladores españoles prometen grandes cosas en el futuro!
I just played this game recently. It was quite memorable and had really unique imagery and style, but my first thought about it is "I really hate instant death spike pits".
The High Wills may be a reference to the false god Yaldabaoth in Gnosticism. Gnosticism ad Kabbalah are *not* generally accepted by Christianity or Catholicism today, but their unique aspects are incredibly common in media that references religion. Lilith, the Sephirot, and various named angels and demons are a few examples.
Yes that's what I was thinking, they also believed Jesus is a manifest of the true God to save man from Yaldabaoth and the demons that keep man as a prisoner on Earth so that might be what the giant fetus thing is going to be.
@@sanfransiscon isn't the whole point of the game to make religion antagonistic with the protagonist literally killing this game's pope and all the manifestations of the Miracle?
@@AnimatingDreams I thought it was about removing individuals who were taking advantage of the faith and religion. idk maybe I'm just really over the "religion is evil" narrative
Flamenco guitar player here 👋 a couple of fun small facts: The Saeta sound that you like so much is an actual very very old style of singing done in the region of southern Spain. In many of Blasphemous soundtracks you can listen to the Andalusian cadence playing which is pretty much the basis of Flamenco guitar playing. One of the tracks is called Taranto a la hermana mia. Taranto is a very dramatic palo (style) of playing Flamenco. Hope this helps. Very well done video!
do you know the exact style of singing that the Saeta sound comes from (like a name of an artist at least). I am trying to sample it so finding the original would help
Thanks for this video. I really liked your videos on the lore of bioshock. I was really interested in the lore of blasphemous but no other videos were as comprehensive as yours. Keep up the good work!
smoughtown has some great blasphemous lore videos, not to downplay this one cuz it is a great summary of the games story and real world inspirations, but smoughtown goes more in depth on certain characters/places/aspects of the story and its extremely interesting.
My theory is that the Penitent one is the embodiment of the miracle and is trying to break free from the will of the high wills. That's why the brotherhood has so many different dead ones who were killed in their quests, but they are reborn again and again in an attempt to stop the high wills. Maybe it's also why we're the ultimate bearers of guilt because we were the cause of all the suffering that has occurred and would be the only ones who could truly end it.
I played Blasphemous last month for the first time, then all the way through NG+ (though I did hit a brick wall at the end). The gameplay was so simple, yet brilliant. The story as a whole was wasted on me, similar to Dark Souls, since I am blind to subtlety and often don't read item descriptions. Content creators like you and Vaati shed so much more light on these amazing games. Thank you for the effort you make!
Blasphemous has a very effective method of telling a story. On my first playthrough i didn't really pay much attention to it, even though i've read every description and just took it as an interesting story bits, but just didn't put effort to make mental notes and see it as a whole. But one thing that was clear from the very start is that Miracle sucks. I really like the usage of word "Outbreaks" in relation to Miracle, because it just spells out "bad" inside of a mind. It's not a divine force or some magical accurance, it's a force of nature, it's a threat to life and order.
The art of this game is truly gorgeous. There's no other way to describe it. Normally I'm not a massive fan of the pixelated style, but thematically and stylistically, it looks incredible here. I love all the bosses and their animations, and I love how alive the High Wills appear to be in the way they breathe Can't stop watching the golden tear drops as they well up and streak down too
I agree, the art is truly Very beautiful. As an artist myself i feel inspired all the time i look at it and inspect it in different. It takes you to another world in some ways. When it comes to pixelated art, i tend to love specific artstyles that match the themes, story and the gameplay Very well. Art of any kind can be very well done in many ways. This game is a great example of that. The Bosses have alot of personality and the environments and characters represent something different/unique.
I think the pixel art choice let the designers work more freely, since this was done by a small studio... all those intricate designs and style would have been very expensive and time consuming to achieve in a more realistic rendering or a more complex engine, and would have been probably very murky-looking or unpolished as a result
(also the pixel art in this case blends with an emulation of oil-painting and other painterly styles very seamlessly and evokes the works of Goya, Velazquez and other Spanish painters, which is a very nice touch)
I like the theory that the Miracle doesn't understand humanity any more than they understand it, and it is trying to give them what they want. Cvstodia already had a culture of guilt and self-harm even before the Miracle came, as evidenced by the prayer of the Twisted One, and the Miracle is indulging all of their self-destructive instincts. Maybe it is only now starting to figure out that humans are kind of crazy and is sending the Penitent One to try to save what's left of humanity's self-respect.
The theory for me is that The High Wills were either forgotten (which is why they created the miracles) or they came from another land and saw Custodia as a place and created the Miracle to feed them more
The Miracle existed before the High Wills as the HW reside within the old processions, created by the Miracle before they existed. High Wills were possibly shaped by humanity's faith and later somehow usurped the Miracle or somehow gained control over it, again, possibly through faith of the people.
The game in general is so melancholic and beautiful. So stoked for 2. Another excellent video Gingy thanks so much for covering one of my favorites of all time and doing it great service
Congratulations for making sense of this game. It looked really challenging. My take on the plot is that the Miracle is the name of the "magic" source of that world, like mana ou life force or whatever. And the people unknowingly created the Three using the miracle and since then the TW started using the miracle by themselfs for their own goals.
this is so interesting. i too imagined the miracle as more a evershifting tool, a weapon in the hands of the High Wills yet in the hands of man it was a bandage. The Penitent One's slaying of the High Wills could have been a buried manifestation of humanity wanting their suffering to end
I’m so happy that this game continues to have such relevance still. I made a video back in 2019 when it came out and I had a wonderful time talking about this modern masterpiece. Great vid as always!
I'm still in the middle of watching this video (it's amazing, btw. Blasphemous up there as one of my favorite games ever, so thank you for this!) And idk why this is on my mind, but I remember that in Melquiades' case, the Miracle actually affected the followers/the ones carrying him. They revered him so much that when he died, they all grieved for him to the point they wanted him alive again, and the Miracle kinda granted that when they started carrying him and he seems reanimated again- but the price is that they will carry his corpse for eternity.
As someone who was raised in an Irish Catholic family, this game really expertly nails its aesthetic and themes all the way through. The themes of guilt and penance are so pervasive in Catholicism, especially in a historical context. The times and places where the church had the most power were called the dark ages for a reason- life was full of strife ad suffering, much of it arbitrary and random feeling. People didn't turn to science or art until the rennaissance: before that, it was all God's will, to be embraced even as they suffered it. The mad twist at the end that this eldritch being was constructed by man (to me) reflects an atheistic view, and the creators of this game must have alot to say about faith and religion. Truly beautiful work of art, and thank you for making a heartfelt exploration of it here
It's rather dull, IMO. Most games I see, gods are just supermonsters or worship parasites. Blasphemous looked to buck the trend and do it amazingly, and then just decided to do the tired old worship parasite gig, which massively cheapens the setting overall.
I don't know if my feelings are super uncommon, but I haven't seen this specific feeling mentioned yet, so I will here. Blasphemous gave me some catharsis from the worse parts of my religious upbringing, but in the way that watching a sad movie helps you get your sad out. What I felt for the story and the people in the world of Blasphemous, what I felt was grief. So many of the characters are absolutely wracked with guilt, and suffering both emotionally and physically for it. I have definitely seen and felt first hand this kind of guilt, and it is absolutely heartbreaking seeing others endure that sort of suffering.
Games crafted with this level of artistry are staggering. I even think the instrumentation was chosen deliberately not just to reference its Spanish roots but also to highlight the emotional themes of the game. Take for example 'Tarranto a la Herman Mia',, the song that plays when you fight Esdras of the Annointed Legion. Each instrument in the song points to a thematic motif of the whole story and setting. Electric Guitar: agony/sacrifice Drums: compulsion/fervor Cello: despair/sorrow Piano: a distant hope (possibly vain) This doesn't cover other instrumentation such as the acoustic guitar, bells, or vocalizations heard in other songs. I would be interested if they made a sort of motif key and applied it to all the songs.
So, as a posible explanation for the convoluted origin of the high will and the miracle itself from someone who grew in a religious family. In christianity and chatolicism there's a concep called "Dogma de fe". It states that there are immutable truths that no one can deny despite there being no rational explanation, for example Jesus' conception despite Mary remaining a virgin, and that you are required to believe in them, no questions asked, as a proof of devotion and because not doing so is a blasphemy. I know it may be going a bit into meta comentary or tinfoil hat territory but if we count the creators of the game as beings above all else, there might be thigs too convoluted for them to explain clearly and would prefer we just take at face value. Or, returning to in-game scope, we searching for all the secrets to uncover the truth behind it all and not being happy with the basic ending or the original "good" ending, we as the Penitent One are committing blasphemy against the Higher Wills and not accepting their grand plan at face value, thus why the game's name is Blasphemous. I know neither of those are true, but eh, it's a fun theory. Loved 100% the game on release an then the DLC's, it's nice seeing it again covered somewhere, great work with the video, and can't wait for the Hollow Knight one, cheers!
You are forgetting that this game was created in Spain, were the Spanish Inquisition happen, so there is the whole: "Why god punish me by this fate" by the Inquisition by the sightly questioning of the Church, it didn't help that the first queen of Spain, Isabel I was a ardent believer in the Inquisition, like Mary I of England, and they have a similar number of deaths to anyone that oppose them or their religion.
@@jhinelforajido1908 Tell that to the Evangelicals, Mormons, Jehovah Witness, even non related religions, dogmas exist everywhere, if you think that you are right by definition not matter the bad consequences, that is a dogma.
One nit-pick: Mary didn’t “remain” a virgin. She had other children after Jesus, and I doubt they were all virgin births as not much was said about them.
One of my favorite games. The final ending is so good, I can't wait to find out what kind of gruesome calamity we might've unwittingly unleashed by taking out the High wills. A core theme I felt throughout the game is an indirect "be careful what you wish for". With all the well-intentioned acts of faith being twisted by the miracle into brutal torture happening everywhere, I can't imagine killing the collective-subconscious deity will result in things just being fine. Personally I think the Miracle, an event, gained sentience through worship and then orchestrated our journey across Custodia to release itself from the High wills, and we see it being born in the end. It'll be cool if I'm proven wrong though.
Honestly that sounds reasonable to me. The reaction to the miracle itself causing worship in it, thus causing it to take shape. The miracle chooses the penitent one to enact its will to free it from the shackles of the entity that lead to its own creation, and in doing so it can be truly born in to the world it influenced. What it will do when it arrives, however...
the whole 'high-will being manifest by human desire' reminds me a lot of berserk's idea of evil. Given the heart of miura item I would say it's a sure inspiration. Hands down the best looking pixel art I've seen, these artists are impressive as hell. Also a really fun game if you're into side scrollers.
Miura in this context refers to the Miura line of Spanish fighting bulls - though I wouldn't be surprised if it has a double-meaning given the other ways Berserk inspired this game
Small note, once we have achieved the Three Humiliations and open the gateway at the end of the Bridge of the Three Calvaries and enter the tree, the game calls it the Ferrous Tree. I always wondered how can the mountain of ash be the tree that Escribar was turned into and burned and yet the tree can be standing fight there. Well its the FERROUS tree. Its a tree made of iron. The Ferrous Tree is a significant distance from the Deambulatory where Escribar's punishment took place. It must only be a recreation.
@Keshuel hahaha that is because there is no miracle...the stir of dawn DLC shows that the 3 heards(forgot thir names) control everything.....it was theorised by 'smough town' that they might have been willed into existence by the prayers of the people...
This was an amazing experience. You managed to put exactly what was going through my mind but couldn't put into words. This actually explained a lot. Thank you
Excellent video. Last year I visited Sevilla and southern Spain and went in a little “location hunt” finding the places the inspired the areas of Cvstodia, like the Bridge, the Knot of the Three Words, etc. I even managed to visit The Game Kitchen offices and the devs were so friendly and welcoming. Pure sheer passion and love for their work result in perfect video games. Blasphemous is, without doubt, one of the three best games that I ever played since 1985.
I fell in love with this game right at the start for the theme and most important for me, the music, it's simply perfect. There are some tracks that are slower than others, but man, they'all are amazing, evokes such emotions that it's very hard to put into words... Just a work of art, thank you The Game Kitchen.
I'm tearing up at how much work, thought, perfection, love, hate, I don't even know what to call all of these feelings inside me, went into the making of this game, and how grueling and suggestive its horror is. I was blown away while playing the game so many times, and I wish for a continuation or other more Blasphemous content with every fiber of my body
They officially announced that a sequel to Blasphemous will come out this year or next year. Also, have you played the Blasphemous DLC? It's pretty abundant. I know your sentiment. I love this game, and I've played through it 7 times.
The audio in Spanish is haunting, yet beautiful. It gives such a gravity to the game and story that its hard not to be enthralled by the story and the world presented. An unparalleled title and a paramount must as a game for those seeking a story and challenge. Simply put, A disgustingly beautiful tale
YESSS! I beat this recently and never thought you'd make a video on it this is awesome. Thanks gingy not only for this but all the hard work you've been putting in with all these consistent quality videos, appreciate ya!
I just wanted to say I’m really loving these retrospective videos Gingy! I first found your FromSoft story retrospectives and now I can’t wait to see you cover more games with this same sense of detail
Hey man, it’s really good to see you doing so well. I’m really happy to see that you escaped the void of For Honor. I hope you continue to find success!
So fucking glad to see some love for this masterpiece. It's so good you can't put it down besides the pain it brings. The pain you feel is to keep you invested in overcoming the MC's ordeal.
Disfigure yourself so you don't become a blasphemous idol of worship :D Turns out the miracle is into that shit and makes your torment last forever and you spawn a sect who worships and emulates you D:
@@jerrym1218 U Mean the 40-50 year old woman. whose Nose looks like a rocket about to take off And look like a giraffe With long eyelashes, That decided to put gorilla glue in her hair And the internet took pity on her? What has Society come to.
@@theyoungprod9486 Yup that’s the girl. Society has always been insane, ever since the B.C. They still manage to prop someone up as their hero, lolcow, savior or villain to this day.
When you discussed the DLC Endings i felt reminded about the Warhammer40K Gods, they work in a similar manner as that in that universese Acts and Believes can form reality. Thank your for your video and to the Miracle (YT algorythm) for leading me to your channel!
The fact they had free update DLC which includes a Spanish dub is just so fucking cool. I fell back in love with this game with the new dub. It wasn't bad before, but it is heightened big time!
Blasphemous is easily a top 3 game in my life. The images are beautiful and stay with you. The game play mechanics are easy, and the music is sublime. That being said, the fight with Isidora made me want to throw my controller. I will for sure be playing it again and again for the rest of my life. Fantastic video and very in depth.
Ha, yesterday I downloaded the game again to play the 3rd DLC, and now this video, perfect timing. And I agree, the art direction is incredible in this game.
Grimdark religious horror/action has to be consistenly one of the best themes in all of fiction. Same reason the FromSoft games are so good. To anyone that enjoyed this and want more, I recommend going and buying all of the Berserk manga. Kento Miura really kicked off this genre's popularity, and unfortunately just recently departed this life. The story is unfinished, so you'll be left with a cliffhanger for now, but there is hope that his assistants have enough of his notes remaining to tie up the story. Anyway, excellent video Gingy, now I need to go play this game for myself.
I had a lot of free time recently because of jury duty so i picked this game up. Finally finished DLC ending yesterday. What an amazing recommendation.
That makes sense however what if the miracle is the power of belief itself. I mean the people created the high Wills with belief but what if the miracle is the pure power of belief itself. The High Wills were a product of the miracle but then the High Wills intercepted the prayers of the people then gave their interpretation of the prayer to the miracle as like a middle man. I would also explain why the miracle could do good and evil. The High Wills were a type of evil while the Miracle was perhaps neutral or inherently good.
If anyone watching this wants to play this and can also understand Spanish I would highly recommend it. Not only are the names pronounced correctly but a lot of the dialogue and meaning resonates a bit better
@@HelloImCrimson You have no idea what good game design is lmao. If you think it’s boring, look at the OpenCritic score and read what people thought of it.
@@melancholyman369 1. Bloodborne 2. Re4 3. Hollow Knight 4. Dead Space 2 5. Red Dead Redemption 2... number 5 is interchangeable with the Witcher 3 depends which one I played last.😅 what's yours??
I know you didn't ask for the 6th but I'm going to say it anyways because it's not talked about as much as it should but Silent Hill 2. If it wasn't held back by the remaster it would be in my top 5 for sure.
No fh video in a year, but your channel is doing even better than before. Glad to see it, not all the og fh UA-camrs had success when they tried branching out to other video types.
There are a few layers of meaning. Literally, the Latin translation is "by my fault." It's also said in Catholic contexts as an expression of apology and admission of wrongdoing. AND it's also used as a noun for an wrongful act. Like a newspaper can declare an article they published a "mea culpa" and remove it because the information was wrong. All of these meanings can be applied to the Penitent One and it is really cool. The fact that it's the name of his sword which is his tool for completing his pilgrimage and the sword grows thorns that cut his hands so that just holding it is a constant form of atonement is nuts.
"Mea, culpa, Mea culpa, Mea maxima culpa" Latin. " My guilt, my guilt, my great guilt" (it´s a catholic prayer at the beginning of Eucharist) In TLM is said by the priest before starting Eucharist. I Novus Ordo (the cuurent roman rite) all say it: priest and laity before stating the Eucharist.
It's a very basic apology thing, too, I'm confused why it even requires mention. It'd be like explaining that the "sword" he uses is an instrument of war used in the old days to slash enemies. Yeah, no shit.
I think my favorite thing about the construction of blasphemous is the way that the visuals and the storytelling echo each other in presentation, neither focuses too hard on being DETAILED but both excel at being beautiful and evoking strong emotions that convey the themes of the story without necessarily Having to dig deeply into the depths of information available. gorgeous game 100/10
This game's lore is so fascinating to me on several levels. I really wish I knew someone else who was into it just so we can talk about it all the time. 😄
In my early 20s I was visiting Spain and it happened to be during “Semana Santa” or Holy Week. Not knowing much about Catholicism, much less Spanish Catholicism, I was super confused as I saw thousands marching down the streets in robes and hoods. As many of you know, the KKK that was (unfortunately) mostly active in the South during the late 1800s through the 1900s, wore white robes with pointy hoods. From what I have gathered, the similarities of the robes are more coincidence rather than the Klan deciding to use a similar robes as the participants of Holy Week as the Klan drew on other fraternal organizations’ regalia when designing their robes. Definitely an eye opening and unique experience.
Amazing video! I have loved my playthrough of blasphemous back when the dlcs weren't there, but i don't have the patience to go through all of that again, so thank you for explaining the rest of the story to me. What a fascinating game!
I played this game once from start to finish and I highly enjoyed it, but I confess many of its more subtle nuances and messages eluded me. Your video essay is a nice explanation of the overall story
Regarding the ending theories, my take is; the miracle did already exist, but it is a more passive, maybe even sub-sapient force. The High Wills are willed into existence by the Twisted One, who used the Miracle to fulfil its desires. Once fulfilled, the people began praying and the High Wills became a more definitive figure, and likely only developed a form of arrogance after that. So, I see the miracle as a force that comes from the Dream, as this realm was older than the High Wills, but the High Wills used/abused it to seem like a god
As a former religion addict, the Miracle makes perfect sense to me. One of the things you find in a lot of abrahamic sub-religions [including catholicism] is the idea that God works for His own glory first, and then our good. All of our suffering is ultimately to point towards His power and glory and graciousness in sparing us from suffering [all of which He caused in the first place]. He is allegedly all-benevolent, but technically you could call the Miracle benevolent too, by that metric. In line with that, the idea that Laudes was punished for feeling sympathy for the Twisted One rather than worshipping the Miracle is perfectly in character. The Miracle is a petulant megalomaniac with phenomenal cosmic powers, and that would also explain why the fourth Visage was sealed away when it saw the Miracle's true form, because the Miracle needs to hide its true form away in order to maintain the illusion of being worthy of unquestioning worship.
So, not a catholic but I am a licensed minister. Im used to games commentary of religious matter to be sunday-school level at best, and usually just throw latin names and vaguely scripture esc sentences around so it sounds like they actually did something (*cough* diablo *cough*). While this game isn’t groundbreaking in that regard I am pleasantly surprised that there is more beneath the surface here. First, this game seems to be much more influenced by church history (no surprise there as its clearly influenced from Catholicism over christianity in general), and less so on theological principals. Therefore its far less offensive and can say much more, as its based in historical figures and commentary on those people, rather than attempting to understand theology, doctrine, and philosophical biblical truths which requires much more intentional homework, and is painfully obvious when not done (nothing is more intellectually eye-rolling than another 21st century western take on an ancient eastern text with no regard to the language or culture it was written in… or hey, at least an attempt to understand the point of view from the people who actually believe it). But just as enjoyable as the lore itself is hearing the commentary and nuggets extracted in this video. For instance, “many people say that everything happens for a reason, or that God has a plan for all of us. While we might not agree with the plan, we have to assume it has our best interest at heart.” That stood out to me the most, as its actually voicing a genuine issue younger-in-faith christians face, particularly in western culture where they can view God as their personal genie. Its one of those things thats not very deep, and is rather self-explanatory and yet we can easily struggle with it because its hard to relinquish our false sense of control over our lives. Very rarely does God’s plan line up with our own (even when you are intentional about it), however it always better than what we could attempt to do. From the game itself, perhaps most interesting is the ending with the wills being created by man. While I imagine this is commentary on religion as a whole, the bible talks a great deal about man-made religion. It is, in many ways the antagonist in scripture as its the primary manifestation of sin. Referred mostly as “idolatry”. For reference just look at the gospels - Jesus’ primary adversary is legalistic religious leaders. Not pagans, not the Roman occupation. According to the bible, we ALL have a religion. And its not simply an organized place you to to worship, but simply that you do worship. With what you consume, care about, put attention towards, and where you put your money. For many people its yourself - you are the god of your life. For others it can be your family, your political party, ideology, success, popularity. What the bible says, and arguably this game (intentionally or not), is when you put imperfect, imperishable, and flawed things and make them the ruler and object of your life it leads to disgusting, disastrous results. Well, if anyone actually read all that, I appreciate your time 😂. I went on much longer than I intended. Im very much looking forward to checking this game out. Hollow Knight has sent me on a metroidvania kick, so now Im on Ori and the blind forest, and this is next on the list. Gingy if you’ve read this, I very much enjoyed this lore video and am looking forward to a potential follow up for Blasphemous 2.
Hi hi! Before anything, I loved this video, and I would like to thank your for your time and effort. Now, I don't know if someone has said this before, but I'm an Spanish art historian, so just a couple things. Around 33:45, you mention "Saeta", something that the game doesn't fully explain. Well, saeta has two meanings in spanish: first, it's a synonym of arrow, but here is refering to the second one, which is a religious chant. It's music, a type of melody that plays in the Processions in Semana Santa. This songs are "shoot like arrows through the hearts of the faithful", as they sing about Christ's Passion. Yes, the melody played by Jibrael is a saeta. Other thing that has been bothering me a little it's that everyone says this is a medieval set, but... I don't think so. Guilty, penance, martyrdom... Yes, they recall medieval times, but the iconography is eminently Baroque, not medieval. Yes, there are medieval reminiscense here and there because in Spain medieval and baroque have such a smooth transition that they are, in some way, overlapped. In any case, the jewelled corpes, the vivid images of blood and suffering, the profound sorrow, the richness in every detail but with a dark aftertaste... That's not purely medieval. That's Baroque. The realism and the expressions, even the capirote of the Penitent One, that Inquisitional aroma, it's all from the Golden Age of Spain, around 17th century. If you like this aesthetic, you need to do a little research about the sculpture in that time in Spain. It's so amazing and rich. (Medieval art it's also amazing and rich, just a little bit different in form and symbolism). There's so much more I would like to say, but unfortunatly I haven't been able to play this game yet (money and time are elusive right now), so I can only see video essays like this one, that makes me so much more eager to play the game. Gosh, I think I could write a whole book about this.
So glad SOMEONE is talking about this game. I played it before any of the DLC was out, so I definitely need to revisit it. It is one of the most incredible games I've ever played with one of the most compelling stories. My parents both left the church before I was born, but they told me a lot about their experiences with Catholicism. My father is also Puerto Rican descended from Spain, so he taught me a lot about Spanish Catholicism specifically. The game really captures the confusion, torment, and guilt that my parents experienced and caused them both to leave the church. The overall feeling I had playing this game was, "But...why?" Really helped me to better understand this aspect of my own family history.
Your explanations of the content is absolutely amazing, can't wait to jump back into this game, got stuck and gave up lol but you have inspired me to jump back in.
Mate, honestly, I really really hope you one day do one of these for Salt& Sanctuary, since I truly believe it's a very overlooked game with a very weird yet interesting story.
I played through this one before the DLC and didn't really want to do it all two more times to get the story. I actually prefer the Miracle as an ambiguous and unknowable being. Feels very real as sometimes we simply don't know why things happen to us.
I was working my way through a second playthrough when the final DLC came out, which at the point of my playthrough would've required a THIRD torment run. And true torment is already annoying enough; so I actually never got to see this ultimate ending stuff. This story breakdown is excellent; really appreciate this insight, I feel content with blasphemous now. Can't wait to see where they go with a sequel. Great work!
Fun detail; you can’t pause during the Isidora fight. “The voices of the dead cannot be stopped.”
I learned that the hard way when I realized I put the wrong prayer on. XD
Wait, what?
@@Beeyo176 Yup.
What does this mean?
@@roachies4242 You can't stop her singing. So that means you can't pause the game. It's meta.
Escribar had dreams of the Penitent One killing him, but because all of the Brothers wear the same helmet, there was no way of telling which one was the one from his dreams. So to play it safe, he had them all massacred.
Absolute chad.
Now that's very biblical.
Who's the one that resuscitated El Penitente then?
@@rasul01 the miracle resurrects him
@@schmoo393 So, does that mean that the Miracle wants The Penintent One to kill Escribar? And perhaps the high wills kindnapped/stole the Miracle or its power? I'm very confused by the story, but it's intriguing, especially since it seems to have some Gnostic influences, which I love.
I love a lot of the small details in the names in this game;
"Expósito" is actually the name given to children that were abandoned / left in the care of a church or orphanage in Spain.
Quirce (Quirico / Ciriaco) means belonging to god
Deogracias is a mix of god and thanks
Jocinero was the name of a bull that killed his bullfighter
Redento refers to someone freed from sin
Almost all names are deliberate and relate to the main theme, culture and history of spain makes this game a joy to play
Its so cool to see this, im also named Expósito :)
Oh. Deogracias is simple enough that I feel I should have realised but I didn’t. Cool.
@@duss7356 me too,my grandmother told me it would be difficult to track down relatives due to the fact that this name was handled out in orphanages
Nascimiento = birth
Crisanta = saint of christ
Socorro = help me/save me
Deo Gracias is the way the Eucharist ends after the priest gives his last prayer. The laity must say: Deo Gracias. "Let´s give thanks to God" (in latin) and depart.
Actually, The dream's concept is based on Calderon de la Barca's play "La vida es sueño" (life is a dream), one of the most renowned works from spanish literature's golden age . It's a highly philosofical work in which the protagonist questions the meaning of reality. In Blasphemous, the dream is life and "el otro lado del sueño" means the afterlife.
@Keshuel Dude, do you even know how to read? I've never said that...
It is always nice to see fellow lovers of older literature!
Ay misero de mi, ay infelice
Nah sueño is dream. El otro lado de el sueño is the other side of the dream. @NoelCotelo
@@kaneyoder1097 Entiendes lo que es una metáfora?
Being raised in a Spanish catholic school, the entire imagery, architecture, themes, clothing design... it just really recall me of many of the things I was taught at childhood.
I don't think I've ever seen something portray Christian culture in a way that felt so infused with magic and a feeling of myth. Most fantasy settings treat religions as creeds, when the creed is only a small part, and they're much better understood as (sub)cultures, which Blasphemous succeeds at brilliantly.
Same here: I'm from southern Sardinia where we have the same rituals and aesthetic of southern spain regarding Semana Santa. This game greatly portraits that fervor and aesthetic!
Not catholic anymore but the design is so good
@@_krbrs_ as another former non catholic what i find interesting is that the game also accurately reflects how god actually acted in the bible old and new benevolent one story a tyrant making its creations suffer
@@augustuslunasol10thapostle yup, and also god makes people suffer and push them to kill and torture. and said people are blissful about that. chilling.
@@augustuslunasol10thapostle btw fistbump :)
One thing I find really interesting about Blasphemous is the class divide. The highest authorities in the church adorn themselves in jewels as an earthly representation of divine beauty, while the lowest people can't get jewels and have to worship through the alternate method of inflicting pain upon themselves. The nuns of the Charred Visage are in the middle, so they inflict pain upon themselves in an ostentatious way. (I think there's an item description somewhere that says the olive trees are dying out because all the olives are being used for oil.)
Then you have the Penitent One, who gets power from items that someone valued, whether or not those items are beautiful or traditionally "divine." (One character picked up an olive just so he wouldn't die without any possessions at all, and after he dies, you can equip the olive as an accessory.) I think there's something deliberate about the high authorities' desire for the finest objects vs. the Penitent One's desire for objects that have some kind of meaning.
I think you’re onto something re: Objects with Meaning. The whole point of Penance is collecting guilt and sorrow.
That's actually really interesting analysis, unlike the video lol
I know its late but the olive trees in where olive trees wither are dying because Engracia´s suffering, as stated in the object of the withered flowers you give her in her sanctuary
I didn't expect Blasphemous to get the spotlight... Absolute brilliant game
It’s the best Catholic fan fiction I ever played.
@@PhillKaggitz As a catholic we do fight our way and jump alot from deadly spikes just to get to church :)
I am happy that Blasphemous is getting great recognition and spotlight. Its a beautiful and impressive game in several aspects.
@@rishisaaptacha it isnt
@@XxT0kY0DrfTstYlExX nah it kinda is. Great presentation but mediocre gameplay
I got to admit; the art style of everything was just out of this world. Huge props to the team behind that. Even the music is spot on and atmospheric. Tight controls, everything, (mwah chef’s kiss).
My only complaint is the floaty jump. Coming to this immediately after playing the last faith, great game btw, the jump just never felt good to me 😔
THAT PARRY THOUGH ❤🔥
I love Blasphemous. The story does not get enough credit. It made me feel ... horrified. The amount of suffering every character goes through - *and then begs for more* is deeply disturbing to me. The fact that the god of this world is more an eldritch horror with a penchant for masochism than some run of the mill diety is truly frightening. It's not like these people can do anything to fight back (el penitente notwithstanding) - they're literally fighting God, and theyre powerless.
What goes on in Blasphemous makes most of the state religion in WH40k look sane, the Adepta Sororitas are just *mildly intense* Sohei by comparison.
@@saeyabor this is true.
This could be said for every hardcore gamer that loves challenging games like this, the FromSoft games, Castlevania franchise and Devil May Cry series.
We all enjoy the experience and the suffering it puts us through all around because I guess it makes us stronger by becoming better gamers, and through the messages that those mediums send out.
Because they believe that their suffering will make a change for the better, so they stick by it. Thats how faith work. And since the (current?) high power wants more power (By belief) then they gave it to them.
Faith and idolatry are quite scary things.
sounds like religion to me
Some bits and bobs:
- Escribar is most likely a reference to Josemaría Escrivá de Balaguer, founder of the Opus Dei lay order. While he's a much more recent figure (20th century) than most other references, he's relevant to the themes of the game since Opus Dei has generally been considered an organization with a heavy emphasis on elitism and authority, which comes in contrast to the inspirations for the Penitent One's Brotherhood of the Silent Sorrow (the Holy Week penitents, from which they get the drip, and monastic orders like the Franciscans, from which they get some of their quirks like the vow of silence), which emphasize humility and poverty. Something that makes Opus Dei particularly fitting as a reference is that one of the things that set them apart among Catholic groups is that they're *really* into "mortification of the flesh".
- The Exhumed Bishop (and the bit of lore about him) is a reference to the Cadaver Synod, where a dead Pope was exhumed and Weekends at Bernie's-d around town, though in this case it was to attend trial for Pope Crimes.
- The character of Altasgracias is partially based on a Sevillan legend, and partially based on three-faced paintings of Jesus Christ which were a brief trend during the Renaissance and were intended to represent the Holy Trinity. They eventually fell out of fashion because, predictably, people thought they looked creepy as hell.
As tip for everyone getting interested in playing this game, I highly recommend playing it in spanish, the voice acting is wonderful and it fits perfectly in the mood of the game
Damn, I just realised I haven't done that before. I really like the english VA too, But I really should do a run or 2 with the spanish VA.
It's complicated. This game don't really have an "original language". The dialogues where first written in English and then rewritten in Spanish, but the names and the concepts behind what is being said was "thinked" in Spanish. That's why all the Spanish words used as names have a meaning related to what is naming but only works as a name if it's used in other languages, for example "Ten piedad". But at the same time things named in English needs to be translated, for example "our lady of the charred visage".
@@AVAtistar If it helps, the developers are spanish, and the game drinks a lot from spanish gothic. Even tho the spanish language was released later, I do think that it has some tought put into it. It works pretty well!
@@tattoo6862 yes. I know all of that. An I took it in consideration when I was deciding in which language I should play it. But the fact that the game was aimed to the international public and the English version was released first estates is was intentioned to be played in English, but knowing Spanish allows for a deeper understanding of the meanings behind.
@@AVAtistar The developers wanted to launch the game in Spanish but due to budget reasons they could only afford the English dub, which makes more sense commercially, but what they truly wished was to launch the game with the Spanish dub from the start, thanks to the game being a success they were able to make it possible and even making it a free update, so yeah, Spanish dub it's truly the original way the creators wanted it to be. It's also better than the English dub
As an Andalusian, it makes me very happy to see such appreciation in this video and the comments section for a story and imagery that borrows so much from our culture and folklore. Love this game and I'm glad it resonates with so many people around the world.
Como jugador francés (a pesar de haber nacido de madre española), este juego me introdujo en un impresionante corpus de folclore: cultura, arte, religión, creencias, tradiciones, leyendas y mitos. El juego tiene tanto éxito que me hizo querer averiguar más sobre las influencias e inspiraciones que me trajeron hasta aquí.
Un gran GG a The Game Kitchen por esto, ¡los desarrolladores españoles prometen grandes cosas en el futuro!
Lmao you mean as a clown
I just played this game recently. It was quite memorable and had really unique imagery and style, but my first thought about it is "I really hate instant death spike pits".
Yeah the parkour n shit was absolute bullshit, which is why I still prefer Hollow Knight overall, but Blasphemous still has incredible art and style
sounds like spike pits
Spiked pits is the last boss believe it or not.
Its the manifestation of Grievous Miracle itself.
@@IbrahiemLegoFilms at least it doesn't teleport you 3 rooms back when you get hurt by environment
Yeah that and some enemies feel very tanky, it definitely put the experience down for me.
I'm a student of religion and theology as well as a big fan of the souls games; I found blasphemous very fascinating and addictive
Oh I bet this game was an absolute dream come true for you!! Lol
The High Wills may be a reference to the false god Yaldabaoth in Gnosticism. Gnosticism ad Kabbalah are *not* generally accepted by Christianity or Catholicism today, but their unique aspects are incredibly common in media that references religion. Lilith, the Sephirot, and various named angels and demons are a few examples.
Yes that's what I was thinking, they also believed Jesus is a manifest of the true God to save man from Yaldabaoth and the demons that keep man as a prisoner on Earth so that might be what the giant fetus thing is going to be.
Couldn't the High Wills be a reference to the Holy Trinity? Three faces of the same being in christianity
@@AnimatingDreams There being three faces definitely could be a reference, but I don't think it'd make sense for an antagonistic role
@@sanfransiscon isn't the whole point of the game to make religion antagonistic with the protagonist literally killing this game's pope and all the manifestations of the Miracle?
@@AnimatingDreams I thought it was about removing individuals who were taking advantage of the faith and religion. idk maybe I'm just really over the "religion is evil" narrative
Flamenco guitar player here 👋 a couple of fun small facts:
The Saeta sound that you like so much is an actual very very old style of singing done in the region of southern Spain.
In many of Blasphemous soundtracks you can listen to the Andalusian cadence playing which is pretty much the basis of Flamenco guitar playing.
One of the tracks is called Taranto a la hermana mia. Taranto is a very dramatic palo (style) of playing Flamenco.
Hope this helps. Very well done video!
do you know the exact style of singing that the Saeta sound comes from (like a name of an artist at least). I am trying to sample it so finding the original would help
🤣
So the wills are like the idea of evil in Berserk. Nice touch with the Miura item too!
And also similar to the final boss in persona 5
Theres also a berserk reference near the 4th gold face.
The red heart of a miura
@@alexmetaverse Considering that he died of heart problems.... this is like a memorial from the devs
yes
@@IndoManiac90 oh goddamn it I'm like 30 hours into persona 5
The fact that it uses all Pixel art means that this game will still be beautiful and enjoyed 30 years from now..that makes me happy
Thanks for this video. I really liked your videos on the lore of bioshock. I was really interested in the lore of blasphemous but no other videos were as comprehensive as yours. Keep up the good work!
smoughtown has some great blasphemous lore videos, not to downplay this one cuz it is a great summary of the games story and real world inspirations, but smoughtown goes more in depth on certain characters/places/aspects of the story and its extremely interesting.
@@scragglie Thanks for the recommendation, i’ll check him out!
My theory is that the Penitent one is the embodiment of the miracle and is trying to break free from the will of the high wills. That's why the brotherhood has so many different dead ones who were killed in their quests, but they are reborn again and again in an attempt to stop the high wills. Maybe it's also why we're the ultimate bearers of guilt because we were the cause of all the suffering that has occurred and would be the only ones who could truly end it.
I played Blasphemous last month for the first time, then all the way through NG+ (though I did hit a brick wall at the end). The gameplay was so simple, yet brilliant. The story as a whole was wasted on me, similar to Dark Souls, since I am blind to subtlety and often don't read item descriptions. Content creators like you and Vaati shed so much more light on these amazing games. Thank you for the effort you make!
Can’t agree more. I’m positive that I have a solid grip on the story, then I watch a video and find out I only knew about a quarter
Do yourself a favor and play black souls
it will give you what you're looking for
@@Sigismund697 no bozo is won't
Blasphemous has a very effective method of telling a story. On my first playthrough i didn't really pay much attention to it, even though i've read every description and just took it as an interesting story bits, but just didn't put effort to make mental notes and see it as a whole. But one thing that was clear from the very start is that Miracle sucks. I really like the usage of word "Outbreaks" in relation to Miracle, because it just spells out "bad" inside of a mind. It's not a divine force or some magical accurance, it's a force of nature, it's a threat to life and order.
The art of this game is truly gorgeous. There's no other way to describe it. Normally I'm not a massive fan of the pixelated style, but thematically and stylistically, it looks incredible here. I love all the bosses and their animations, and I love how alive the High Wills appear to be in the way they breathe
Can't stop watching the golden tear drops as they well up and streak down too
I agree, the art is truly Very beautiful. As an artist myself i feel inspired all the time i look at it and inspect it in different. It takes you to another world in some ways. When it comes to pixelated art, i tend to love specific artstyles that match the themes, story and the gameplay Very well. Art of any kind can be very well done in many ways. This game is a great example of that.
The Bosses have alot of personality and the environments and characters represent something different/unique.
I think the pixel art choice let the designers work more freely, since this was done by a small studio... all those intricate designs and style would have been very expensive and time consuming to achieve in a more realistic rendering or a more complex engine, and would have been probably very murky-looking or unpolished as a result
(also the pixel art in this case blends with an emulation of oil-painting and other painterly styles very seamlessly and evokes the works of Goya, Velazquez and other Spanish painters, which is a very nice touch)
I like the theory that the Miracle doesn't understand humanity any more than they understand it, and it is trying to give them what they want. Cvstodia already had a culture of guilt and self-harm even before the Miracle came, as evidenced by the prayer of the Twisted One, and the Miracle is indulging all of their self-destructive instincts. Maybe it is only now starting to figure out that humans are kind of crazy and is sending the Penitent One to try to save what's left of humanity's self-respect.
The theory for me is that The High Wills were either forgotten (which is why they created the miracles) or they came from another land and saw Custodia as a place and created the Miracle to feed them more
The Miracle existed before the High Wills as the HW reside within the old processions, created by the Miracle before they existed. High Wills were possibly shaped by humanity's faith and later somehow usurped the Miracle or somehow gained control over it, again, possibly through faith of the people.
Bro your channel was shared on the official Blasphemous Facebook page. Congrats!
Yes!
The game in general is so melancholic and beautiful. So stoked for 2. Another excellent video Gingy thanks so much for covering one of my favorites of all time and doing it great service
Congratulations for making sense of this game. It looked really challenging.
My take on the plot is that the Miracle is the name of the "magic" source of that world, like mana ou life force or whatever. And the people unknowingly created the Three using the miracle and since then the TW started using the miracle by themselfs for their own goals.
this is so interesting. i too imagined the miracle as more a evershifting tool, a weapon in the hands of the High Wills yet in the hands of man it was a bandage. The Penitent One's slaying of the High Wills could have been a buried manifestation of humanity wanting their suffering to end
sounds eerily familiar to real life doesn't it
I’m so happy that this game continues to have such relevance still. I made a video back in 2019 when it came out and I had a wonderful time talking about this modern masterpiece. Great vid as always!
I'm still in the middle of watching this video (it's amazing, btw. Blasphemous up there as one of my favorite games ever, so thank you for this!) And idk why this is on my mind, but I remember that in Melquiades' case, the Miracle actually affected the followers/the ones carrying him. They revered him so much that when he died, they all grieved for him to the point they wanted him alive again, and the Miracle kinda granted that when they started carrying him and he seems reanimated again- but the price is that they will carry his corpse for eternity.
His corpse is huge and so are the hands that carry him meaning the miracle made him into giant and did the same to his followers
I love blasphemous so much, I’m so happy that it’s getting the recognition it deserves, along with katana zero this is one of my favorite games!
man, katana zero is going to get continuation dlc soon too, so waiting for it, it and the Silksong!
@@panterka.f silksong is not real 😔. It was only a dream
@@panterka.fwhen is the katana zero coming out?
katana zero is soooo good
As someone who was raised in an Irish Catholic family, this game really expertly nails its aesthetic and themes all the way through.
The themes of guilt and penance are so pervasive in Catholicism, especially in a historical context. The times and places where the church had the most power were called the dark ages for a reason- life was full of strife ad suffering, much of it arbitrary and random feeling. People didn't turn to science or art until the rennaissance: before that, it was all God's will, to be embraced even as they suffered it.
The mad twist at the end that this eldritch being was constructed by man (to me) reflects an atheistic view, and the creators of this game must have alot to say about faith and religion. Truly beautiful work of art, and thank you for making a heartfelt exploration of it here
I’m glad to see that the classic trope of “kill God” it’s alive and well in video games
It's rather dull, IMO. Most games I see, gods are just supermonsters or worship parasites. Blasphemous looked to buck the trend and do it amazingly, and then just decided to do the tired old worship parasite gig, which massively cheapens the setting overall.
@@Komatik_ It was better without the High Wills and the the miracle was left mysterious imo
@@Abuhan47 Exactly. See my longer top level reply in these comments.
Right, because nuance and fair debate doesn't sound nearly as fun as foaming at people for not siding with your tribe's dogma.
@@Komatik_ I think Blasphemous is saying God doesn't exist.
I don't know if my feelings are super uncommon, but I haven't seen this specific feeling mentioned yet, so I will here.
Blasphemous gave me some catharsis from the worse parts of my religious upbringing, but in the way that watching a sad movie helps you get your sad out.
What I felt for the story and the people in the world of Blasphemous, what I felt was grief. So many of the characters are absolutely wracked with guilt, and suffering both emotionally and physically for it. I have definitely seen and felt first hand this kind of guilt, and it is absolutely heartbreaking seeing others endure that sort of suffering.
Games crafted with this level of artistry are staggering. I even think the instrumentation was chosen deliberately not just to reference its Spanish roots but also to highlight the emotional themes of the game.
Take for example 'Tarranto a la Herman Mia',, the song that plays when you fight Esdras of the Annointed Legion. Each instrument in the song points to a thematic motif of the whole story and setting.
Electric Guitar: agony/sacrifice
Drums: compulsion/fervor
Cello: despair/sorrow
Piano: a distant hope (possibly vain)
This doesn't cover other instrumentation such as the acoustic guitar, bells, or vocalizations heard in other songs. I would be interested if they made a sort of motif key and applied it to all the songs.
One of my favorite games of all time. So damn excited for the sequel.
So, as a posible explanation for the convoluted origin of the high will and the miracle itself from someone who grew in a religious family. In christianity and chatolicism there's a concep called "Dogma de fe". It states that there are immutable truths that no one can deny despite there being no rational explanation, for example Jesus' conception despite Mary remaining a virgin, and that you are required to believe in them, no questions asked, as a proof of devotion and because not doing so is a blasphemy.
I know it may be going a bit into meta comentary or tinfoil hat territory but if we count the creators of the game as beings above all else, there might be thigs too convoluted for them to explain clearly and would prefer we just take at face value. Or, returning to in-game scope, we searching for all the secrets to uncover the truth behind it all and not being happy with the basic ending or the original "good" ending, we as the Penitent One are committing blasphemy against the Higher Wills and not accepting their grand plan at face value, thus why the game's name is Blasphemous. I know neither of those are true, but eh, it's a fun theory.
Loved 100% the game on release an then the DLC's, it's nice seeing it again covered somewhere, great work with the video, and can't wait for the Hollow Knight one, cheers!
You are forgetting that this game was created in Spain, were the Spanish Inquisition happen, so there is the whole: "Why god punish me by this fate" by the Inquisition by the sightly questioning of the Church, it didn't help that the first queen of Spain, Isabel I was a ardent believer in the Inquisition, like Mary I of England, and they have a similar number of deaths to anyone that oppose them or their religion.
I like it! I'll also add I'd prefer a really mysterious or completely unexplained origin of the miracle. It's kinda Lovecraftian even
Dogmas de fe only exist in chatolicism not on Christianity.
@@jhinelforajido1908 Tell that to the Evangelicals, Mormons, Jehovah Witness, even non related religions, dogmas exist everywhere, if you think that you are right by definition not matter the bad consequences, that is a dogma.
One nit-pick: Mary didn’t “remain” a virgin. She had other children after Jesus, and I doubt they were all virgin births as not much was said about them.
This channel is really underrated. The analysis is beautiful and goes into real depth. I love the effort u put, your videos are amazing.
One of my favorite games.
The final ending is so good, I can't wait to find out what kind of gruesome calamity we might've unwittingly unleashed by taking out the High wills. A core theme I felt throughout the game is an indirect "be careful what you wish for". With all the well-intentioned acts of faith being twisted by the miracle into brutal torture happening everywhere, I can't imagine killing the collective-subconscious deity will result in things just being fine. Personally I think the Miracle, an event, gained sentience through worship and then orchestrated our journey across Custodia to release itself from the High wills, and we see it being born in the end. It'll be cool if I'm proven wrong though.
Honestly that sounds reasonable to me. The reaction to the miracle itself causing worship in it, thus causing it to take shape. The miracle chooses the penitent one to enact its will to free it from the shackles of the entity that lead to its own creation, and in doing so it can be truly born in to the world it influenced. What it will do when it arrives, however...
@Keshuel Who said that? What are you talking about?
the whole 'high-will being manifest by human desire' reminds me a lot of berserk's idea of evil. Given the heart of miura item I would say it's a sure inspiration.
Hands down the best looking pixel art I've seen, these artists are impressive as hell. Also a really fun game if you're into side scrollers.
i mean the logo of the game is quite literally the brand of sacrifice nearly one to one
@@randomaj237 wow I either forgot about that logo or missed it entirely... It really is the same isn't it.
Also the same concept as the chaos gods in warhammer 40k, and divinity in general in dungeons & dragons. Its a great trope!
Miura in this context refers to the Miura line of Spanish fighting bulls - though I wouldn't be surprised if it has a double-meaning given the other ways Berserk inspired this game
Brother, this is the best explanation of the story I've heard so far. I generally google the storeis as I am too scared to actually play the game.
Small note, once we have achieved the Three Humiliations and open the gateway at the end of the Bridge of the Three Calvaries and enter the tree, the game calls it the Ferrous Tree. I always wondered how can the mountain of ash be the tree that Escribar was turned into and burned and yet the tree can be standing fight there. Well its the FERROUS tree. Its a tree made of iron. The Ferrous Tree is a significant distance from the Deambulatory where Escribar's punishment took place. It must only be a recreation.
The Quirce theme "and I will give you flames" is one of the best boss themes in the game!!!
@Keshuel hahaha that is because there is no miracle...the stir of dawn DLC shows that the 3 heards(forgot thir names) control everything.....it was theorised by 'smough town' that they might have been willed into existence by the prayers of the people...
This was an amazing experience. You managed to put exactly what was going through my mind but couldn't put into words. This actually explained a lot. Thank you
Excellent video. Last year I visited Sevilla and southern Spain and went in a little “location hunt” finding the places the inspired the areas of Cvstodia, like the Bridge, the Knot of the Three Words, etc. I even managed to visit The Game Kitchen offices and the devs were so friendly and welcoming. Pure sheer passion and love for their work result in perfect video games. Blasphemous is, without doubt, one of the three best games that I ever played since 1985.
I fell in love with this game right at the start for the theme and most important for me, the music, it's simply perfect. There are some tracks that are slower than others, but man, they'all are amazing, evokes such emotions that it's very hard to put into words... Just a work of art, thank you The Game Kitchen.
I'm tearing up at how much work, thought, perfection, love, hate, I don't even know what to call all of these feelings inside me, went into the making of this game, and how grueling and suggestive its horror is. I was blown away while playing the game so many times, and I wish for a continuation or other more Blasphemous content with every fiber of my body
They officially announced that a sequel to Blasphemous will come out this year or next year. Also, have you played the Blasphemous DLC? It's pretty abundant.
I know your sentiment. I love this game, and I've played through it 7 times.
The audio in Spanish is haunting, yet beautiful. It gives such a gravity to the game and story that its hard not to be enthralled by the story and the world presented. An unparalleled title and a paramount must as a game for those seeking a story and challenge. Simply put, A disgustingly beautiful tale
YESSS! I beat this recently and never thought you'd make a video on it this is awesome. Thanks gingy not only for this but all the hard work you've been putting in with all these consistent quality videos, appreciate ya!
I just wanted to say I’m really loving these retrospective videos Gingy! I first found your FromSoft story retrospectives and now I can’t wait to see you cover more games with this same sense of detail
Hey man, it’s really good to see you doing so well. I’m really happy to see that you escaped the void of For Honor. I hope you continue to find success!
So fucking glad to see some love for this masterpiece. It's so good you can't put it down besides the pain it brings. The pain you feel is to keep you invested in overcoming the MC's ordeal.
"Oh she's a sacred image of the holy miracle? Let's pour boiling oil on her face in an act of worship!"
Actual gigachad-move
People didn't do it to her: She did it to herself, and then the rest of the covenant emulated her as a sign of devotion.
Disfigure yourself so you don't become a blasphemous idol of worship
:D
Turns out the miracle is into that shit and makes your torment last forever and you spawn a sect who worships and emulates you
D:
Seems like the Gorilla Glue girl.
She got a lot of views and attention for that.
Has anything really changed since Biblical Times?
@@jerrym1218 U Mean the 40-50 year old woman. whose Nose looks like a rocket about to take off And look like a giraffe With long eyelashes, That decided to put gorilla glue in her hair And the internet took pity on her? What has Society come to.
@@theyoungprod9486 Yup that’s the girl.
Society has always been insane, ever since the B.C.
They still manage to prop someone up as their hero, lolcow, savior or villain to this day.
When you discussed the DLC Endings i felt reminded about the Warhammer40K Gods, they work in a similar manner as that in that universese Acts and Believes can form reality. Thank your for your video and to the Miracle (YT algorythm) for leading me to your channel!
This game is an absolute masterpiece and one of my favourite games of all time. Can't wait for the sequel
Thanks for highlighting this absolute gem of a game. I've been hoping for a good encapsulation like this and you nailed it.
Blasphemous got me into metroidvania games I have so much respect for it 🔥
I was so confused by everything in this game but your video has truly helped me understand it better and truly made me an even bigger fan.
Gotta love the berserk influence on the game. Blasphemous is an amazing piece of art.
@Keshuel I think you replied to the wrong comment.
The fact they had free update DLC which includes a Spanish dub is just so fucking cool. I fell back in love with this game with the new dub. It wasn't bad before, but it is heightened big time!
Thank you so much for these essays! I love them. And I love the games you discuss. Blasphemous and Dark Souls are among my favorite games!
Blasphemous is easily a top 3 game in my life. The images are beautiful and stay with you. The game play mechanics are easy, and the music is sublime. That being said, the fight with Isidora made me want to throw my controller. I will for sure be playing it again and again for the rest of my life. Fantastic video and very in depth.
I love this channel so much
Ha, yesterday I downloaded the game again to play the 3rd DLC, and now this video, perfect timing.
And I agree, the art direction is incredible in this game.
agree 100%, blasphemous is an underrated masterpiece and i think it would make one hell of a universe (because it is so unique)
Grimdark religious horror/action has to be consistenly one of the best themes in all of fiction. Same reason the FromSoft games are so good. To anyone that enjoyed this and want more, I recommend going and buying all of the Berserk manga. Kento Miura really kicked off this genre's popularity, and unfortunately just recently departed this life. The story is unfinished, so you'll be left with a cliffhanger for now, but there is hope that his assistants have enough of his notes remaining to tie up the story. Anyway, excellent video Gingy, now I need to go play this game for myself.
I had a lot of free time recently because of jury duty so i picked this game up. Finally finished DLC ending yesterday. What an amazing recommendation.
Excellent video! I was only planning on watching this for a few minutes but the video was so well done! Thank you for your time!
For me the High Wills are mearly using the power of the Miracle, this being ancient and more powerful
That makes sense however what if the miracle is the power of belief itself. I mean the people created the high Wills with belief but what if the miracle is the pure power of belief itself. The High Wills were a product of the miracle but then the High Wills intercepted the prayers of the people then gave their interpretation of the prayer to the miracle as like a middle man. I would also explain why the miracle could do good and evil. The High Wills were a type of evil while the Miracle was perhaps neutral or inherently good.
@@sykune Fair point
If anyone watching this wants to play this and can also understand Spanish I would highly recommend it. Not only are the names pronounced correctly but a lot of the dialogue and meaning resonates a bit better
Hollow Knight for the next story retrospective would be awesome. My personal favorite metriodvania of all time and on my top 5 list.
What are the others, I'm curious?
Why? Its so boring
@@HelloImCrimson You have no idea what good game design is lmao. If you think it’s boring, look at the OpenCritic score and read what people thought of it.
@@melancholyman369 1. Bloodborne 2. Re4 3. Hollow Knight 4. Dead Space 2 5. Red Dead Redemption 2... number 5 is interchangeable with the Witcher 3 depends which one I played last.😅 what's yours??
I know you didn't ask for the 6th but I'm going to say it anyways because it's not talked about as much as it should but Silent Hill 2. If it wasn't held back by the remaster it would be in my top 5 for sure.
Tremendously well made im at lost for words.
Thank you making this.
I had never heard of this game! So cool, thanks for the vid
Just finished this after almost 20 hours! Not since Bloodborne have I been so enthralled in a game's world, combat, and atmosphere.
Finally someone giving this game the praise it deserves, its absolutely incredible
No fh video in a year, but your channel is doing even better than before. Glad to see it, not all the og fh UA-camrs had success when they tried branching out to other video types.
Could be wrong but I believe “Mea Culpa” translates to “my fault” which is pretty fitting for the Penitent One.
I think "my guilt" is more accurate and sounds better.
There are a few layers of meaning. Literally, the Latin translation is "by my fault." It's also said in Catholic contexts as an expression of apology and admission of wrongdoing. AND it's also used as a noun for an wrongful act. Like a newspaper can declare an article they published a "mea culpa" and remove it because the information was wrong.
All of these meanings can be applied to the Penitent One and it is really cool. The fact that it's the name of his sword which is his tool for completing his pilgrimage and the sword grows thorns that cut his hands so that just holding it is a constant form of atonement is nuts.
"Mea, culpa, Mea culpa, Mea maxima culpa" Latin. " My guilt, my guilt, my great guilt" (it´s a catholic prayer at the beginning of Eucharist)
In TLM is said by the priest before starting Eucharist. I Novus Ordo (the cuurent roman rite) all say it: priest and laity before stating the Eucharist.
It's a very basic apology thing, too, I'm confused why it even requires mention.
It'd be like explaining that the "sword" he uses is an instrument of war used in the old days to slash enemies. Yeah, no shit.
I think my favorite thing about the construction of blasphemous is the way that the visuals and the storytelling echo each other in presentation, neither focuses too hard on being DETAILED but both excel at being beautiful and evoking strong emotions that convey the themes of the story without necessarily Having to dig deeply into the depths of information available. gorgeous game 100/10
This game's lore is so fascinating to me on several levels. I really wish I knew someone else who was into it just so we can talk about it all the time. 😄
Thank you for making this awesome story clear my friend.. respect from Brazil.
I'm so ready to play Blasphemous 2!!
In my early 20s I was visiting Spain and it happened to be during “Semana Santa” or Holy Week. Not knowing much about Catholicism, much less Spanish Catholicism, I was super confused as I saw thousands marching down the streets in robes and hoods. As many of you know, the KKK that was (unfortunately) mostly active in the South during the late 1800s through the 1900s, wore white robes with pointy hoods. From what I have gathered, the similarities of the robes are more coincidence rather than the Klan deciding to use a similar robes as the participants of Holy Week as the Klan drew on other fraternal organizations’ regalia when designing their robes. Definitely an eye opening and unique experience.
Great studio, great lore, great music choice, great story, FANTASTIC game!
This was also my first metroidvania and I had no clue what was going on the whole time but man was it a blast
Might be due for a replay.
Amazing video! I have loved my playthrough of blasphemous back when the dlcs weren't there, but i don't have the patience to go through all of that again, so thank you for explaining the rest of the story to me. What a fascinating game!
I question your definition of “flawless,” but this is a very good analysis.
I played this game once from start to finish and I highly enjoyed it, but I confess many of its more subtle nuances and messages eluded me. Your video essay is a nice explanation of the overall story
Regarding the ending theories, my take is; the miracle did already exist, but it is a more passive, maybe even sub-sapient force.
The High Wills are willed into existence by the Twisted One, who used the Miracle to fulfil its desires. Once fulfilled, the people began praying and the High Wills became a more definitive figure, and likely only developed a form of arrogance after that.
So, I see the miracle as a force that comes from the Dream, as this realm was older than the High Wills, but the High Wills used/abused it to seem like a god
As a former religion addict, the Miracle makes perfect sense to me.
One of the things you find in a lot of abrahamic sub-religions [including catholicism] is the idea that God works for His own glory first, and then our good. All of our suffering is ultimately to point towards His power and glory and graciousness in sparing us from suffering [all of which He caused in the first place]. He is allegedly all-benevolent, but technically you could call the Miracle benevolent too, by that metric.
In line with that, the idea that Laudes was punished for feeling sympathy for the Twisted One rather than worshipping the Miracle is perfectly in character. The Miracle is a petulant megalomaniac with phenomenal cosmic powers, and that would also explain why the fourth Visage was sealed away when it saw the Miracle's true form, because the Miracle needs to hide its true form away in order to maintain the illusion of being worthy of unquestioning worship.
So, not a catholic but I am a licensed minister. Im used to games commentary of religious matter to be sunday-school level at best, and usually just throw latin names and vaguely scripture esc sentences around so it sounds like they actually did something (*cough* diablo *cough*).
While this game isn’t groundbreaking in that regard I am pleasantly surprised that there is more beneath the surface here. First, this game seems to be much more influenced by church history (no surprise there as its clearly influenced from Catholicism over christianity in general), and less so on theological principals. Therefore its far less offensive and can say much more, as its based in historical figures and commentary on those people, rather than attempting to understand theology, doctrine, and philosophical biblical truths which requires much more intentional homework, and is painfully obvious when not done (nothing is more intellectually eye-rolling than another 21st century western take on an ancient eastern text with no regard to the language or culture it was written in… or hey, at least an attempt to understand the point of view from the people who actually believe it).
But just as enjoyable as the lore itself is hearing the commentary and nuggets extracted in this video. For instance, “many people say that everything happens for a reason, or that God has a plan for all of us. While we might not agree with the plan, we have to assume it has our best interest at heart.” That stood out to me the most, as its actually voicing a genuine issue younger-in-faith christians face, particularly in western culture where they can view God as their personal genie. Its one of those things thats not very deep, and is rather self-explanatory and yet we can easily struggle with it because its hard to relinquish our false sense of control over our lives. Very rarely does God’s plan line up with our own (even when you are intentional about it), however it always better than what we could attempt to do.
From the game itself, perhaps most interesting is the ending with the wills being created by man. While I imagine this is commentary on religion as a whole, the bible talks a great deal about man-made religion. It is, in many ways the antagonist in scripture as its the primary manifestation of sin. Referred mostly as “idolatry”. For reference just look at the gospels - Jesus’ primary adversary is legalistic religious leaders. Not pagans, not the Roman occupation. According to the bible, we ALL have a religion. And its not simply an organized place you to to worship, but simply that you do worship. With what you consume, care about, put attention towards, and where you put your money. For many people its yourself - you are the god of your life. For others it can be your family, your political party, ideology, success, popularity. What the bible says, and arguably this game (intentionally or not), is when you put imperfect, imperishable, and flawed things and make them the ruler and object of your life it leads to disgusting, disastrous results.
Well, if anyone actually read all that, I appreciate your time 😂. I went on much longer than I intended. Im very much looking forward to checking this game out. Hollow Knight has sent me on a metroidvania kick, so now Im on Ori and the blind forest, and this is next on the list. Gingy if you’ve read this, I very much enjoyed this lore video and am looking forward to a potential follow up for Blasphemous 2.
Thank you for your insights. Although I myself am not a Christian, I found your thoughts very insightful, open minded, intellectual, and interesting.
Thank you sooooo much for making this video. Just finished the game tonight after your video encouraged me to pick it up. Absolutely stellar game!
This video is so especial as a spaniard, thank you, no one really talks about the culture and mithology of rural Spain
Hi hi! Before anything, I loved this video, and I would like to thank your for your time and effort. Now, I don't know if someone has said this before, but I'm an Spanish art historian, so just a couple things.
Around 33:45, you mention "Saeta", something that the game doesn't fully explain. Well, saeta has two meanings in spanish: first, it's a synonym of arrow, but here is refering to the second one, which is a religious chant. It's music, a type of melody that plays in the Processions in Semana Santa. This songs are "shoot like arrows through the hearts of the faithful", as they sing about Christ's Passion. Yes, the melody played by Jibrael is a saeta.
Other thing that has been bothering me a little it's that everyone says this is a medieval set, but... I don't think so. Guilty, penance, martyrdom... Yes, they recall medieval times, but the iconography is eminently Baroque, not medieval. Yes, there are medieval reminiscense here and there because in Spain medieval and baroque have such a smooth transition that they are, in some way, overlapped. In any case, the jewelled corpes, the vivid images of blood and suffering, the profound sorrow, the richness in every detail but with a dark aftertaste... That's not purely medieval. That's Baroque. The realism and the expressions, even the capirote of the Penitent One, that Inquisitional aroma, it's all from the Golden Age of Spain, around 17th century. If you like this aesthetic, you need to do a little research about the sculpture in that time in Spain. It's so amazing and rich.
(Medieval art it's also amazing and rich, just a little bit different in form and symbolism).
There's so much more I would like to say, but unfortunatly I haven't been able to play this game yet (money and time are elusive right now), so I can only see video essays like this one, that makes me so much more eager to play the game.
Gosh, I think I could write a whole book about this.
So glad SOMEONE is talking about this game. I played it before any of the DLC was out, so I definitely need to revisit it. It is one of the most incredible games I've ever played with one of the most compelling stories.
My parents both left the church before I was born, but they told me a lot about their experiences with Catholicism. My father is also Puerto Rican descended from Spain, so he taught me a lot about Spanish Catholicism specifically.
The game really captures the confusion, torment, and guilt that my parents experienced and caused them both to leave the church. The overall feeling I had playing this game was, "But...why?" Really helped me to better understand this aspect of my own family history.
Your explanations of the content is absolutely amazing, can't wait to jump back into this game, got stuck and gave up lol but you have inspired me to jump back in.
I like to think that the high wills are like some kind of leech demiurge and the miracle is the real God. Great game and good video, cheers
Mate, honestly, I really really hope you one day do one of these for Salt& Sanctuary, since I truly believe it's a very overlooked game with a very weird yet interesting story.
I played through this one before the DLC and didn't really want to do it all two more times to get the story.
I actually prefer the Miracle as an ambiguous and unknowable being. Feels very real as sometimes we simply don't know why things happen to us.
I was working my way through a second playthrough when the final DLC came out, which at the point of my playthrough would've required a THIRD torment run. And true torment is already annoying enough; so I actually never got to see this ultimate ending stuff. This story breakdown is excellent; really appreciate this insight, I feel content with blasphemous now. Can't wait to see where they go with a sequel. Great work!
Please or please for the love of the Miracle do the 2nd game as well. This story comb-through was awesome ;-;
I was on the fence about it but Watching this completely convinced me on playing it. Great work and I’m glad I did. love it.