What Ya Playing 08/30/23
What Ya Playing Wednesday
By: Evan1Sonic. It's Wednesday, which means it's time to talk about the games you and I have played over the past week. This week I've finished Blasphemous 2, Automatoys, and Venba.
Blasphemous 2 is a side-scrolling adventure game from The Game Kitchen. I’ve finished this game and had a really great time with it. Good helpings of Soulslike and Metroidvania, Blasphemous 2 is an excellent sequel full of tight gameplay and dripping in an often sickening style. With additions such as new weapons and a bevy of slight improvements, this adventure is a step up from its predecessor. While the narrative of this adventure wasn’t very compelling to me, being someone who hasn’t played the first title, aside from a few moments that will stand out clearly in my mind, there's a lot to dig into and enjoy, especially if you are a fan of deep lore and backstories. The highlight of my experience was the incredible gameplay that rarely got repetitive. This is a brutally hard game that will stop at nothing to give you a challenging fight. Twisted bosses are the real stars of the show. With distinctive attack patterns and imposing abilities, they put your skills to the test. Most had me jumping in triumph after dealing the final blow, sometimes even with just a sliver of my health bar left. At one moment when playing, I was thinking back on some of my favorite Metroidvania titles, including but not limited to Hollow Knight and Metroid Dread, and where this title would fit on my list. While Blaphemous 2 never quite hits the highs of those games, it’s an amazing adventure worth experiencing. If you’d like to learn more about the game, I wrote a full review of it that you can read here. Blasphemous 2 is available on PS5, Xbox Series X/S, Switch, and PC.
Quick Play is this section of What Ya Playing where I share some of my short thoughts on games I’ve been playing lately.
Venba. I’ve finished this short game. I had a great time playing through this title. Though making each of the meals is an enjoyable part of the game, the emotional narrative is the main focus, and it’s wonderful. Venba is a neat little experience that’s worth playing.
Automatoys. This mobile puzzle title is delightful. I was looking for a game to pick up and play on my phone, and after stumbling on this game, I can say it's exactly what I wanted. I had a great time figuring out how to get to the end of the levels and completing each of them. Having easy controls and being immensely satisfying to play, this title is fantastic and works wonderfully as a mobile game.
This has been this week's What Ya Playing Wednesday. I'll see you all in a bit for another article about what games you and I have recently played and/or enjoyed.
Thanks for reading and Game On!!
