Recent reviews by Papa Smoke

yakuza kiwami 2 is great i can run into a bike and make it explode into parts

This game doesn't really give you any incentive to do a good job at anything, only to do the fastest job you can and cut all possible corners. I guess that makes it an accurate simulator of house flipping, but it ends up creating a play experience that feels really empty, repetitive, & unfulfilling. There's no real end goal or reward other than more money to flip further houses with. Everything is slightly buggy & the game as a whole feels somewhat unfinished. I don't think the developers get why people would want to play a house flipping game.

The cops are way too difficult. No matter what I do in night mode I'm instantly swamped by at least 5 cops and have to either quit or just lose all my progress. Really frustrating, not worth it.

If you are the sort of person who doesn't mind a game with difficult platforming and some truly challenging combat, this might be the sort of game for you. If you are the aforementioned sort of person and the idea of a simultaneously gorgeous and horrifying world full of incredibly designed enemies and environments dripping with the aesthetics of Catholicism appeals to you, this will definitely be the game for you. Those in search of a "pure" metroidvania might find some of the punishing aspects a little too punishing, but in true form to the soulsborne genre the difficulty feels incredibly fitting for the game's narrative. The soundtrack is utterly perfect, every track fits in seamlessly with its world/boss fight/etc. In my opinion, it's worth buying the deluxe edition just for the soundtrack alone, although I will say the art book is delightfully full of all sorts of goodies. All of that being said, Blasphemous isn't a game for everyone (both due to the challenging gameplay and dark subject matter), but the sort of people who find it to their taste will be rewarded with an incredible experience.