"Blasphemous" is teaching me that its okay to die sometimes

Blasphemous is the latest game I've been playing, and while I definitely do not have a full grasp of the game (and definitely not the story--truly, I have a very vague idea of what is happening), I think there is something to be learned from the core gameplay loop of this game. Blasphemous is considered a souls-like metroidvania. To those not as well acquainted with game genres, this probably sounds like a whole lot of nothing. Basically, a "souls-like" game is referencing the popular series Dark Souls from FromSoftware games. It is regarded as a very difficult series, with technical and punishing boss fights, purposeful overlapping level design full of enemies, and just generally a high difficulty level. "Metroidvania" describes two series: the Metroid series from Nintendo, and the Castlevania series from Konami. These games are characterized by the players having to navigate a large, 2D, interconnected map in a nonlinear way. Players will then unlock certain areas and abilities based on what they discover.

With these two genres combined, the best way I can describe this game is well... pretty hard. I've just recently hit eleven hours in the game, while only completing 44.26% of it (the game tracks your save file progress from the main menu. It only wounded my pride a little). This game continues to beat me down, time and again, and yet I keep coming back--I keep trying, ramming my head against a brick wall. I started to wonder if it was my own stubbornness keeping me in this game, or perhaps a feat in the design of this game itself. I think I lean towards the latter.

https://www.indiegamewebsite.com/2019/09/10/blasphemous-guide-beginners-tips-tricks/, The Penitent One depicted in the opening moments of the game.

I will definitely be writing about the story and design elements of this game once I beat it, because already there is a ton I want to talk about (the religious imagery, the boss designs, why is this guy's helmet full of blood, what the heck is "the miracle," etc.). But for now, I really just wanted to talk about my impressions of the game and how I think it accomplishes its difficulty without feeling unfair.

This is a problem I notice in a lot of souls-like games in general. When some developers try to attempt the genre, they get too distracted in trying to make the game hard that they lose sight of actually making it enjoyable. From this, you get a lot of souls-like that don't actually feel like a souls-like, because it feels like the player is being punished for playing.

I have, so far, had the opposite experience with Blasphemous.

An example that immediately comes to mind is one of the first bosses I fought in this game. Of my eleven hours, I spent about two of them on one boss. On paper, that sounds pretty miserable, but to me it wasn't, surprisingly. I spent those two hours learning the boss attacks, where to go to dodge them. I eventually learned that one attack in particular could be deflected repeatedly to do some extra damage to the boss. All of this learning culminated in what I can only describe as an absolutely awesome triumph against a really difficult early-game boss. I think I literally jumped out of my chair and cheered out loud.

Every time I died, I didn't feel like it had gotten a cheap shot on me. Rather, it felt like each death was a mistake that I could correct--I learned something new, and was more equipped for the fight each time I walked into that show down. In fact, as I continue to play the game, I feel better at the game. I know what certain enemies do, how the platforming works; this is generally how most of the game has continued to feel for me, even in terms of exploration. Sometimes you have to just take a chance and jump down a pit. You might die, or you might discover something new. More often than not, the game rewards the player for taking a risk and exploring an especially dangerous area--which ties back into my point on this game's design. Blasphemous understands the frustrating nature of difficult games, especially in the souls-like, metroidvania genres. But the precise combination of the two create a perfect give and take of difficult, technical mechanics, and rewarding the player for their accomplishments.

I'll keep running into that brick wall. It will hurt. Sometimes the bricks will leave marks on my forehead; and my eyebrow might split; and blood might get in my eyes. That wall will be weaker each time. And I will only be stronger.