Blasphemous 2 has the best interconnected map I've seen since Dark Souls

Blasphemous 2
(Image credit: Team17)

In our Blasphemous 2 review, I describe The Game Kitchen's blood-spattered second coming as "a Soulslike sequel that's as unsettling as it is unpredictable". For the most part, that's in reference to the Metroidvania-meets-FromSoftware-styled adventure's brutal boss battles, its disparate themes of tragedy framed by religion and cultism, and the omnipresent dread that fuels all of the above. 

Carrying the torch forward from its 2019 forerunner, Blasphemous 2 is an accomplished sequel, and an asset to the genres and games it's so heavily inspired by. It borrows heavily from many areas, sure, but there's one key feature that, for me, it does better than everything from Elden Ring to Sekiro and Hollow Knight – its interconnected world. In fact, so fluid is Blasphemous 2's map that I don't think I've enjoyed clambering around such a labyrinthian yet cohesive space since Dark Souls.

Lead the way

Blasphemous 2

(Image credit: Team17)
FUTURE GOAT?

Hollow Knight: Silksong

(Image credit: Team Cherry)

Hollow Knight Silksong: Everything we know so far

Where Blasphemous 2 and the likes of Dark Souls differ most in exploration terms – besides their 2D vs 3D presentation – is the inclusion of a viewable map. For the first half of Dark Souls (ie, prior to unlocking fast travel between bonfire checkpoints), exploration is underpinned by haphazard discovery. Lordran is in essence built on a vertical plane, and so those first times you emerge from some rickety old elevator or other to realize that you've somehow made it back to an area you last visited hours ago become watershed moments. Be that Undead Parish to Firelink Shrine; Valley of the Drakes to Blighttown; or Havel's Tower to Darkroot Basin, each time you emerge in a 'new' location, only to realize you've simply come in from a different angle will stop you in your tracks. 

Players have, of course, spent the last 12 years hailing this feature of Dark Souls. Blasphemous 2's approach is different, leaning into its Metroidvania trappings as seen elsewhere in the likes of Hollow Knight. But, unlike Team Cherry's esteemed action-adventure epic, Blasphemous 2 doesn't offer map fragments, purchasable or discoverable, lending it a more old-school feel to match its pixel art aesthetic. Like every other Metroidvania game, much of Blasphemous 2's map can only be discovered after you've unlocked new traversal powers – the likes of double jumps, air dashes, and ground stomps – that allow you to reach once inaccessible areas.

Blasphemous 2

(Image credit: Team17)

"But if we're dealing in inter-connected sprawls that use verticality to illustrate scale, Blasphemous 2 is as good as it gets."

Where Blasphemous 2 rises above, however, is how all of this is tied to its narrative. The landscape of this world is constantly shifting, and with each key figure The Penitent One – aka you, the player – forcibly removes, the process of change is continually fast-tracked. And so, when the Basilica of Absent Faces becomes accessible, it makes perfect sense that it's attached to the Crown of Towers. Beneath Her Secret Grounds naturally sits below Mother of Mothers, with Profundo Lamento above leading to the City of the Blessed Name at ground level; while The Severed Tower could really only sit between the Sunken Cathedral and Labyrinth of Tides. 

I'm fully aware that to the uninitiated this reads like me simply rhyming off in-game locations, and while that's true, it's not worth spoiling exactly why it makes sense here. Just know that through Blasphemous 2's overarching mainline story, its side ventures, item descriptions, and the snatches of dialogue its cast of twisted and tormented NPCs share with The Penitent One along the way, it becomes clearer why this world is the way that it is. Moreover, it's only when you get towards the game's end that all of this hits home,  prompting a series of eureka moments as you study the wider uncovered maps and things click into place. 

I'm an absolute sucker for well-designed maps of all shapes and sizes. I think Hollow Knight's Hallownest is a stroke of genius. I think Elden Ring's Lands Between is one of the most intriguing and coherent game worlds I've ever seen. Red Dead Redemption 2's American Frontier is up there with the most beautiful sandboxes in the history of video games, whereas I probably know the streets of GTA Online's Los Santos better than I do my hometown of Glasgow. But if we're dealing in inter-connected sprawls that use verticality to illustrate scale, Blasphemous 2 is as good as it gets. I genuinely don't think I've seen a more confidently executed example of it since Dark Souls, and that's the highest, most vertical praise I can give. 


Keep up to speed with our video game release dates rundown across all platforms

CATEGORIES
Joe Donnelly
Contributor

Joe Donnelly is a sports editor from Glasgow and former features editor at GamesRadar+. A mental health advocate, Joe has written about video games and mental health for The Guardian, New Statesman, VICE, PC Gamer and many more, and believes the interactive nature of video games makes them uniquely placed to educate and inform. His book Checkpoint considers the complex intersections of video games and mental health, and was shortlisted for Scotland's National Book of the Year for non-fiction in 2021. As familiar with the streets of Los Santos as he is the west of Scotland, Joe can often be found living his best and worst lives in GTA Online and its PC role-playing scene.

Read more
Bloodborne
10 years on, Bloodborne remains an unmatchable feat of atmosphere thanks to the mind-boggling oppressive scale of Yharnam
Exploring and fighting in Blades of Fire
Blades of Fire plays like a lost Xbox 360-era mashup between God of War and Soulslikes, and it's coming from the studio behind Metroid Dread
Big in 2025: Revenge of the Savage Planet
Revenge of the Savage Planet hopes to follow in the footsteps of Metroid Prime
Hollow Knight: Silksong
10 Games like Hollow Knight to play while you wait for Silksong
Three knights riding on a scenic dirt path in the hills of Bohemia in Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2
"Instant gratification in gaming has become a problem" – Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 dev says the RPG is meant to feel like a spiritual successor to Oblivion and Morrowind
Dark Souls
10 games like Dark Souls that will test your survivability
Latest in Gaming
Helldivers 2 Borderline Justice Warbond helldiver using hoverpack to shoot down with hunting rifle
Talking points from the Game Developers Conference 2025 and how they could impact the future of gaming
GDC The Game Developers logo
Biggest announcements from the Game Developers Conference 2025
FGS Spring 2025
How to watch The Future Game Show Spring Showcase 2025 – and what to expect
Image of the Death Stranding 2 On The Beach Collector's Edition on a purple GamesRadar background.
Death Stranding 2 collector's edition is a sight to behold and here's where to pre-order yours
GDC The Game Developers logo
When is the Game Developers Conference 2025 and why is it so interesting?
Pokemon Legends: Z-A screenshot
Everything announced at Pokemon Presents 2025
Latest in Features
Naoe kills a target with a black and white filter over the camera highlighting the red of blood spray in Assassin's Creed Shadows, with an On The Radar orange frame
Assassin's Creed Shadows "has a little bit of Tarantino flavor", but its real secret ingredient is intrigue: "It's almost like you're watching an episode of Shogun"
Helldivers 2 Borderline Justice Warbond helldiver using hoverpack to shoot down with hunting rifle
Talking points from the Game Developers Conference 2025 and how they could impact the future of gaming
Flexispot E7 Plus with plant, monitor, soundbar, and controller on top next to white wall lighting.
Gaming desks vs regular desks: which surface should you buy?
Google Pixel 9a smartphones on a beige background
One Google Pixel 9a feature could make it a better gaming phone than most budget mainstream models
Yasuke and Naoe ready to fight on the Assassin's Creed Shadows On The Radar thumbnail
On The Radar: Assassin's Creed Shadows coverage hub
Alan Ritchson as Jack Reacher in Reacher season 3
Reacher season 3 ending explained: Who dies, does Reacher get his revenge, and how does it set up season 4?