| 1 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/blasphemous.png]] |
| 2 | [[caption-width-right:350:''Sorrowful be the heart.'']] |
| 3 | |
| 4 | ->''"It is not the sun rising, but our sins."'' |
| 5 | -->-- '''Anonymous''' |
| 6 | |
| 7 | ''Blasphemous'' is a 2-D HackAndSlash {{Metroidvania}}, developed by The Game Kitchen of ''VideoGame/TheLastDoor'' fame and published by Creator/Team17. Its Website/{{Kickstarter}} [[https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/828401966/blasphemous-dark-and-brutal-2d-non-linear-platform campaign]] launched on May 23, 2017, reaching its goal in a little over a day. It concluded on June 20, earning a total of $333,246 (an appropriate ''[[NumberOfTheBeast 666%]]'' of its original goal). The game was released on September 10, 2019 for the Platform/PlayStation4, Platform/XboxOne, [[Platform/MicrosoftWindows Windows]], Platform/{{macOS}}, Platform/{{UNIX}}, and Platform/NintendoSwitch. |
| 8 | |
| 9 | The setting is Cvstodia, a morbid world where people's sins have physically manifested, due to something called the "Grievous Miracle" twisting humans into painful monstrosities. Players take on the role of "The Penitent One," the [[LastOfHisKind last member]] of a congregation known as ''The Brotherhood of the Silent Sorrow''. After the deaths of his group, he finds himself in Cvstodia's "Age of Corruption", following the transformation of The High Pontiff into a burning tree whose ashes swallowed up a majority of the church leaders and transformed them into monsters. To set things right, the Penitent One is told to seek out the Cradle of Affliction, but to do so, he must first face three trials known as the Three Humiliations, all the while hunted by agents of the Church, whose leaders seek to ensure the Miracle remains so they can continue to draw power from it. |
| 10 | |
| 11 | A DownloadableContent update, ''The Stir of Dawn'', was released on August 4, 2020. It includes new story content, areas, and bosses, as well as NewGamePlus and new difficulty modifiers. View the trailer [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9QdGzJhunb4 here]]. A second free DLC, ''Strife and Ruin'', was released on February 18, 2021. It features a crossover with ''VideoGame/BloodstainedRitualOfTheNight'', adding new challenge rooms, a BossRush mode, and new render modes. You can view its trailer [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ZEQekkni34 here]]. A third free DLC, ''Wounds of Eventide'', was announced at Gamescom 2021 and was released on December 8th, 2021. The DLC is labelled "the Concluding Chapter" and includes a brand new GoldenEnding for the game. You can view its trailer [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RKg34fPKaQU&ab_channel=IGN here]]. In addition, a sequel called ''Blasphemous II'' was teased at the end of the third DLC trailer and is set for release sometime in the late summer of 2023. Its [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ReA837m2VgY first trailer]] was released on the 19th of March 2023, and a release date of August 24th 2023 [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AKek7_cx7yo was announced later in the year]]. |
| 12 | |
| 13 | ''VideoGame/BlasphemousII'' was released on August 24th, 2023. |
| 14 | |
| 15 | See ''VideoGame/{{Unworthy}}'' for a 2018 game with a very similar premise and gameplay, or ''VideoGame/DarkDevotion'' for a 2019 game with equivalent gameplay, but the inverse worldview on matters of faith and spirituality. |
| 16 | ---- |
| 17 | !!Sorrowful be the Tropes, Penitent One: |
| 18 | * HundredPercentCompletion: The game tracks this based on how much of the map you've unveiled, what collectibles you've obtained, and what achievements you've done. The 100% is scaled to the base game, but with subsequent content added including NewGamePlus features it can go up to 150%. |
| 19 | * AerithAndBob: Given the Collectibles were designed by the game's backers, they span a wide array of different names, many of which differ starkly from Cvstodia's usual naming conventions. Examples range from modern-sounding names like June or Brendan, to less common ones like Tequila or Sabnock, and outright strange ones, like Rikusyo or Aralcarim. |
| 20 | * AffablyEvil: The FinalBoss, Escribar. He's rather polite for someone who controls the theocracy, even when the Penitent One comes for his head. |
| 21 | * AlwaysNight: The entire game takes place under dusk, it is mentioned several times that the Miracle also made Cvstodia to be plunged in an endless sunset. |
| 22 | * AmazonBrigade: |
| 23 | ** The nuns at the Convent of Our Lady of the Charred Visage are obviously all female. Make no mistake, they ''will'' give any player a hard time. |
| 24 | ** The Amanecidas, who are easily the hardest bosses in the game, especially since you can't even fight them in the first place without being in NewGamePlus. |
| 25 | * AmbiguousGender: Pre-release materials for the game used gender-neutral writing to refer to the Penitent One (even in Spanish, while the feminine ''Penitenta'' exists, "-ente" nouns are sometimes considered neutral as they derive from an adjective for someone taking an action) and the game itself never shows what is underneath the armor and helmet. However, the Penitent One is evidently male; the artbook refers to the Penitent One as a male, [[spoiler:as does Deogracias in the original true ending]]. |
| 26 | * AndIMustScream: |
| 27 | ** The lore entry for the Thorned Symbol item reveals that this is the case for Ten Piedad. Driven by dreams of the Miracle, the person who was once Ten Piedad took his rest in the arms of the statue seen in the boss area. The Miracle appeared to him one more time, more vividly than before, and when he woke up his body had transformed into a monster, constantly filled with rage and pain, and he no longer had control over it. In a twisted sort of way, for a boss whose name in Spanish means "Have Mercy", killing him is a mercy to him.] |
| 28 | ** Socorro, our pious Lady of the Perpetual Agony. She asked the Miracle for clemency for the souls ordered to be tortured to death. The answer was an unending death where she suffers all the pain that would have befallen them instead. The Penitent One can at least end her suffering. |
| 29 | * AndYourRewardIsClothes: You can unlock new Aspects (essentially {{Palette Swap}}s) for the Penitent One by accomplishing certain tasks. You receive Aspects for seeing each of the game's MultipleEndings, for finding all the collectibles, for donating 100,000 Tears of Atonement to the church in Albero in ''The Stir of Dawn'' DLC, and for completing [[NewGamePlus True Torment mode]] while under the effects of a [[SelfImposedChallenge penitence]]. One Aspect is also available as paid DLC, and another was a Kickstarter backer reward. |
| 30 | * AntiFrustrationFeatures: |
| 31 | ** Guilt Fragments heal 50% Health and Fervor when recovered to alleviate the damage taken and Fervor spent in a "runback". You can also purge your Guilt at Confessor Statues for a fee, and if you donate enough Tears of Atonement to the church in Albero, you can purge your guilt there for free as many times as needed. |
| 32 | ** You can fill new Bile Flasks at any Sanguine Fountain, meaning stockpiling them allows you to upgrade them all at once. |
| 33 | ** Viridiana will offer to heal you for three out of five boss fights. This is especially useful against Ten Piedad, who is fought when EarlyGameHell is still in full effect. |
| 34 | * ArcSymbol: A strange figure eight-like symbol is strongly associated with the religion of Cvstodia, and thus is displayed constantly throughout the game. |
| 35 | ** In-engine, the symbol is displayed next to the counter for Tears of Atonement (the unit of in-game experience/currency), and also appears onscreen whenever the Penitent One dies or accomplishes a significant task. |
| 36 | ** In-universe, the symbol is seen emblazoned on altars and churches, metal representations of it are scattered half-buried in the ground near Confessor statues, and the Penitent One draws the symbol on his mask in holy bile whenever he heals. Guilt shards also appear to be a ghostly image of the Penitent One, entwined around the symbol. |
| 37 | ** If you look in the background of the starting room of the game, as well as certain menus, you will see a masculine figure bound to a stake, with its limbs in an arrangement indicative of a figure eight, almost as if displayed post-execution. You can also find still-living people bound to stakes in such a manner throughout the game. This makes the symbol an even more obvious Christian cross analogue. |
| 38 | ** Also in-universe, trees seem to be heavily connected to The Miracle. In fact, some of the major events of the story have to do with a tree, namely the backstory of the Twisted One, Escribar's transformation into a giant tree, and [[spoiler:the Penitent One being overtaken by roots in the original true ending]]. |
| 39 | ** Hands are another common symbol, likely referencing the Miracle and how it transforms everything it touches. |
| 40 | * AssistCharacter: |
| 41 | ** Viridiana appears outside of five boss rooms, offering to help the Penitent One. If the player agrees, she will deliver a powerful heal if the Penitent One's health is low for more than a few seconds during the boss fight. Though do note that these heals are CastFromLifespan and she only has enough for three of the five. |
| 42 | ** The ''Strife and Ruin'' DLC adds a prayer which lets the Penitent One summon Miriam to assist them in battle. When summoned this way, Miriam will make a single HerdHittingAttack before disappearing. |
| 43 | * BadIsGoodAndGoodIsBad: Cvstodia is so fixated on the sanctity of anguish, repentance, and suffering that telling someone something like "Sorrowful be the heart" is a friendly greeting, while the idea of someone's Penance being over is something shameful. |
| 44 | * BarredFromTheAfterlife: |
| 45 | ** According to the tenets of the Miracle, those who are not buried whole cannot pass through the Dream into the afterlife. This is why the Order of the True Burial exists: to gather the scattered pieces of those who died and were buried incomplete so that their bodies can be made whole and their souls can pass on properly. |
| 46 | ** Speaking of the Order of the True Burial, one of their sidequests involves gathering the remains of a nun named Tentudia, which have been separated into three parts: her bones, her carnal remains, and her hair. Why was this done to her, you ask? Because Tentudia's hair grew uncontrollably into thorns, and in order to make certain this apparent heresy never came to light, the other nuns of her convent (implied to be that of Our Lady of the Charred Visage) murdered her and scattered her pieces throughout Cvstodia without telling anyone what they'd done. |
| 47 | ** The Blessed Lord of the Salty Shores has also had this done to him. In life, he was a false saint who granted false blessings to his followers with salt, so the Miracle punished him by [[IronicHell trapping him in a salt lake and preventing him from passing on until he manages to bless three]] ''[[IronicHell real]]'' [[IronicHell relics]]. |
| 48 | ** [[spoiler:Self-inflicted in the original true ending, as the Penitent One takes all of Cvstodia’s sins upon himself, [[HeroicSacrifice to spare its people from the whims of the Miracle.]] As Deogracias says, this requires them to remain amongst the living, unable to pass on.]] |
| 49 | * BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor: |
| 50 | ** One of the sidequests involves the story of three sisters who, when forced to marry against their will, prayed to the Miracle for help. The Miracle answered their plea... [[spoiler:by fusing the three sisters into a hideous, three-faced creature called Altasgracias]]. |
| 51 | ** Socorro was once a young woman in her town who was witness to a procession of men being taken to be punished, tortured and finally executed. She prayed to the Miracle that she could take their pain from them. Well, she got what she wanted, taking away all of their pain and suffering onto herself... to the point she never ceases to suffer from the endless tortures the brutal theocracy throws on any heretics, and no matter how much she gets hurt, she'll never die from it. [[spoiler:You can save her from this either by killing her or by returning her three marks of refuge to her.]] |
| 52 | ** Also applicable to Cvstodia as a whole with their MartyrdomCulture that centers around pain and suffering to atone for their sins. The Grievous Miracle brought them that, alright. |
| 53 | * BeefGate: Early in the game you will find a place where the path splits in 3 directions. Going forward is blocked by a massive gate that requires you to obtain three plot coupons first, so you are left with going up into the mountains or going down through series of underground and low lying areas. While nothing is stopping you from going either direction, the mountain path is significantly harder then then underground route due to steep, often vertical climbs, shifting winds that affect your jumps, and much more difficult enemies then you're expected to face in the early game. The lower route, by contrast, has a smoother difficulty curve, less difficult traversal and far more upgrades to find along the way. It still doesn't stop new players from accidentally blundering into the mountains and trying to make the difficult climb into the Graveyard of the Peaks because they don't know any better (and because the game is difficult enough they may not realize the difficulty spike is supposed to warn them to come back later). |
| 54 | * BlackCloak: A couple of variations of ghosts in the Graveyard of the Peaks, Mercy Dreams and Grievance Ascends wear these, giving them an almost GrimReaper-like appearance. |
| 55 | * BlackComedy: The lore text for the Pisiform of Hernandez, the Explorer, states that he was sent out from Cvstodia to 'civilise' barbaric tribes, only for him to return and declare that Cvstodia is the ''least'' civilised of all known places. He was promptly put to death as a heretic. |
| 56 | * BladeBrake: If there are planks lined up on a wall, the Penitent One can cling to that wall by jamming his blade between them. This lets him ascend some walls and make certain jumps. |
| 57 | * BlindWeaponmaster: The tie-in comic reveals Crisanta of the Wrapped Agony has her own penance, giving up her sight, with a close up showing her helmet's eyes are covered. Despite this, she is a fierce warrior, defeating the Penitent One in the comic and putting up a challenge as a boss. |
| 58 | * BlockingStopsAllDamage: For attacks that can actually be blocked, this is the case, and blocking is near-essential in a few fights. A number of enemies become momentarily vulnerable to counterattack after a successful block, and some more powerful attacks from enemies [[KnockbackSlide will push you backward]] and leave you open for another hit. |
| 59 | * BloodyHorror: Dead bodies are littered ''everywhere'', particularly in the starting area where the Penitent One awakens. |
| 60 | * BloodyMurder: As you upgrade your sword, you'll be able to unlock a reliable ranged attack: Fervorous Blood. By cutting yourself, you're able to bless your own blood and turn it into a deadly projectile. You can upgrade it twice after unlocking it, with the first power-up granting it a [[PrecisionGuidedBoomerang boomerang-like effect]], which can hit enemies multiple times on their way back, and the final one making the blood [[MadeOfExplodium explode]] as it reaches its maximum range or when colliding with some particularly tough enemies. |
| 61 | * BodyHorror: Hideous mutations and mutilations are a fairly common result of being "blessed" by the Grievous Miracle. |
| 62 | ** One sidequest culminates in the Penitent One meeting a creature called Altasgracias. From the neck down, Altasgracias looks like an attractive, naked woman of enormous stature. From the neck up... [[NightmareFace less so]]. [[spoiler:Altasgracias used to be three sisters who were being forced to marry against their will, and invoked the Miracle to get them out of it. The Miracle fused them into a giant, three-faced bearded woman cocooned in an egg made of their hair, and knotted their tongues together as punishment for their oathbreaking; these knotted tongues are the relic the Penitent One ultimately receives from completing this sidequest.]] |
| 63 | ** Another sidequest involves a condemned man named Gémino, doomed to die in the frozen wasteland of Where Olive Trees Wither. Gémino is gigantic, easily three times the Penitent One's height. He's been nearly completely encased in a statue attached to an enormous tree, has been shot multiple times with arrows, and his left arm has been bent in such a way that it comes out the ''front'' of the statue instead of the side, but he's so numb from the cold that he can't feel any pain anymore, ''and'' he's slowly fusing with the tree. Gémino's life ''sucks''. |
| 64 | ** Several of the Bosses count, especially since the Miracle revived most into the grotesque forms they are now. Ten Piedad's body looks human with bits of tree roots digging through the skin, and with an inhuman skull for a head. Quirce's body is heavily implied to be burned and has an incredibly unhealthy pallor, and Escribar's body is pure red wood with black sap for his blood. And of course, one cannot expect Our Lady of the ''Charred Visage'' to not fit in this trope. |
| 65 | ** The Custodian of the Stained Glass is a penitent with a sackcloth over their head and multiple shards of stained glass protruding from their back. They move quickly, {{Flash Step}}ping up to the Penitent One and swinging one of these glass shards at him. If killed normally (IE not via execution), they fall over backwards and the glass shards are [[ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice driven forward through their chest]], leaving them writhing in agony for a moment before dying. |
| 66 | ** The Sagittal Martyr is a slightly overweight man, naked except for a golden halo behind his head, who has been ''[[HalfTheManHeUsedToBe sawed in half from skull to groin]]''. This doesn't stop him from hurling a pair of sawblades bolted together at the Penitent One whenever he gets too close. |
| 67 | ** The Amargura. When [[RecurringTraveller Redento]] encounters one of these monsters in the Patio of Silent Steps, it frightens him enough that he can't bring himself to continue onward while it still lives. Understandable, considering that the thing looks like [[https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/blasphemous/images/b/b1/Amargura.png/revision/latest?cb=20190908130819 this]]. |
| 68 | ** Nacimiento, a new NPC added in ''The Stir of Dawn'', whose face [[MerlinSickness ages rapidy in reverse]] while a second face growing out of his chest gets older just as quickly. After he upgrades your flasks enough times, [[spoiler:the old man attached to the face starts trying to climb out of him]], and after he upgrades them all the way, [[spoiler:it finally succeeds in climbing all the way out, which kills him]]. What's worse is that he has ''absolutely no idea'' what sort of sin(s) he might have committed to make the Miracle punish him in this way. [[AgonyOfTheFeet His feet have also been nailed to a wooden board]], but that doesn't seem to bother him that much, and knowing Cvstodia he probably did it to himself anyway. |
| 69 | ** Jibrael, another NPC introduced in ''The Stir of Dawn'', is a skeletally-gaunt giant with lamps growing out of his feet and lower legs and CreepilyLongArms bound together with an oversized, twisted bugle. |
| 70 | * BookEnds: [[spoiler:Assuming you get the original true ending, the game begins and ends with Mea Culpa being pulled from a statue that was once a living being.]] |
| 71 | * BossRush: Completing the game unlocks the Sacred Sorrows side mode, where you are challenged to fight through several bosses in quick succession, with a break in between each boss to adjust your loadout and one-time refills of health or fervor. You are graded based on the time taken, flasks used, and number of hits taken, and your reward for getting the highest rank (S+) on all boss rushes on all difficulties is a new skin. |
| 72 | * BottomlessPits: The Penitent One can fall to his death this way, unless he has the [[BottomlessPitRescueService Linen of Golden Thread]], whereupon he'll fall into the screen directly under the pit (none of the pits are actually "bottomless", just leading to very long falls). Several items can only be acquired by jumping into pits with the Linen equipped. |
| 73 | * {{Bowdlerise}}: The Platform/NintendoSwitch port censors a lot of nudity from the original game, most notably with the Lady of the Six Sorrows, in which she appears topless in the original game, but in the Switch version her nipples are covered with a narrow strip of cloth. |
| 74 | * BurnTheWitch: |
| 75 | ** Quirce, Returned By The Flames was WronglyAccused of heresy and subject to the bonfire treatment, but as his name suggests, [[CameBackStrong it didn't take thanks to the Grievous Miracle.]] Naturally, the inquisitors weren't stymied and decided to instead [[FateWorseThanDeath burn him again and again and again...]] |
| 76 | ** This fate also befell the mother of the infant who would eventually become Expósito, Scion of Abjuration. |
| 77 | * ButterFace: Altasgracias is a very attractive, naked, GiantWoman from the neck down. From the neck ''up'', she's a hideous, three-faced, [[GirlsWithMoustaches bearded]] monstrosity. |
| 78 | * CameBackStrong: Quirce, Returned By The Flames was revived after being burnt at the stake for a crime he didn't commit, gaining fire powers and a flaming sword as a result. |
| 79 | * CastFromHitPoints: The Penitent One can wound himself to obtain a bit of Fervour by holding a button. |
| 80 | * CastFromLifespan: Viridiana will appear before you fight some of the bosses and offer to help, but she can only be used up to three times (out of the five bosses) as she will be [[RapidAging aged rapidly]] after a fight with her aid.[[note]]From a beautiful young woman to an old woman, then to a ''decrepit'' old woman who dies after the third fight.[[/note]] |
| 81 | * CheckPointStarvation: Each [[CheckPoint Prie Dieu]] and WarpZone point is very sparsely placed. It doesn't help that ContinuingIsPainful. |
| 82 | * CentralTheme: The relationship between penance and forgiveness. The entirety of Cvstodia is wrapped up in a religious fervor of sacrificial penance, as enforced by the Miracle. The thing is, many characters use their penance as a form of selfish sidestepping of real meaningful change — they believe that by being punished, their sins will be absolved, instead of having to improve as people. Many characters are also under the impression they deserve to be punished, when in reality it seems like the Miracle will punish anyone it deems fit regardless of the transgression. Forgiveness isn't as easy as flagellating yourself and begging for mercy, since if you want real forgiveness, then you have to institute real change. |
| 83 | * ChurchMilitant: The Anointed Legion, an order of knights and warriors created on the order of the head of the Church of Cvstodia, His Holiness Escribar, who answer directly to him. |
| 84 | * CliffHanger: [[spoiler: The true ending added in the DLC sees the Penitent One and Crisanta meet and kill the very source of suffering in Cvstodia, The High Wills, seemingly ending the miracle. Only at the very end we see a mysterious new entity descend from the clouds. This strange being appearing as a man inside a heart-shaped-womb and we get no explanation on what it is...until ''Blasphemo II'' revealed it to be the Incarnate Devotion, that game's final boss.]] |
| 85 | * ClimbingClimax: The final areas of the game are located at the very top of the world map: Namely, the Archcathedral Rooftops and The Deambulatory of [[spoiler:His Holiness]]. |
| 86 | * ClosedCircle: Cvstodia is one for sure. It's stated in some of the lore that Cvstodia is isolated from the rest of the world somehow, though it's never made clear if the Miracle is keeping the rest of the world out, the rest of the world is quarantining Cvstodia, or some combination of the two, or if it's simply mundane geographical barriers such as mountains or desert. In the end, it doesn't matter because your goal is to reach the center of Cvstodia, the Cradle of Affliction in the Mother of Mothers church. |
| 87 | * CommonplaceRare: You'd think that, in a place like Cvstodia, knots of ''rosary cord'' wouldn't be quite so hard to come by, or that there'd be more than six of them to be found in all the land, especially since rosary ''beads'' are far more common by comparison. This is {{justified|Trope}} by lore stating that the rosary knots in the game were all woven from the thread of ancient monks' habits by a single woman named Engracia, whose work was so beautiful and perfect that rosaries not crafted by her were ultimately found to be "false" and actively destroyed by the Holy See. It's implied that these factors, coupled with Engracia's eventual death cutting off the supply of new rosaries, are responsible for the scarcity of rosary knots in the game. |
| 88 | * ContinuingIsPainful: |
| 89 | ** Dying accumulates Guilt in the Penitent One. In gameplay, this translates in a max Fervor reduction and reduced Tears of Atonement acquisition for every death, until you recover the Guilt fragments left where you died or visit a Confessor. Not to mention that enemies respawn after you died. |
| 90 | ** Averted with the use of a certain rosary item that prevents Guilt accumulation [[spoiler:and is key to the best ending]]. |
| 91 | ** Exaggerated if you choose the Penance of True Guilt in a NewGamePlus. Said penance sets your Guilt level to max upon death (effectively crippling your ManaMeter) and makes you lose all accumulated Tears of Atonement a la VideoGame/DarkSouls, forcing you to recover your Guilt fragments to get them back. |
| 92 | * CoolHelmet: The Penitent One wears an impressively pointy one inspired by the capirote. Other characters, like Crisanta of the Wrapped Agony, also wear similarly-styled helmets; notably, every single one of the seemingly ''thousands'' of dead bodies in the first area of the game appears to be wearing the same helmet (and nothing else). [[spoiler:The normal ending shows Deogracias placing the Penitent One's helmet, the only thing left of him after being swallowed by the hill of ash he failed to climb, on a pile of other helmets, all similar to his own, implying that the player character was far from the only "Penitent One" to attempt the journey.]] |
| 93 | * CoolSword: The Penitent One uses [[NamedWeapons Mea Culpa]], an extremely long, guardless sword that has metallic thorny vines wrapped about it. It also sports an Icon of the [[CrystalDragonJesus Twisted One]] on the hilt. |
| 94 | * CorpseLand: The area of the first boss, the Warden of the Silent Sorrow, has piles of completely identical dead bodies filling up the background, foreground, and pretty much everywhere else as well. Some of the Warden's attacks even cause a few bodies to be thrown around by the sheer force of impact. |
| 95 | * CorruptChurch: The theocracy that rules over Cvstodia. They apparently got worse once the Grievous Miracle manifested. |
| 96 | * TheCorruption: The Grievous Miracle externalizes sin, guilt, and other maladies of the soul in the faithful, turning them into beasts twisted in form and savage in nature, but with their faith fully intact. |
| 97 | * CounterAttack: |
| 98 | ** Parrying an attack lets you avoid damage, and respond with a major blow of your own if the enemy isn't strong enough to give you a KnockbackSlide instead. |
| 99 | ** [[spoiler:Crisanta of the Wrapped Agony can do this to you, if you either get greedy or if you [[SchmuckBait attack her while she holds up her sword]].]] |
| 100 | * CrapsackWorld: Cvstodia was already a brutal theocracy long before the Grievous Miracle manifested and the Age of Corruption began. |
| 101 | * CreepyCathedral: The Mother of Mothers, the seat of the [[CorruptChurch church of Cvstodia]], it features in the latter half of the game and occupies over a quarter of the map. |
| 102 | * CreepyCatholicism: Since it's game focused on horror drawing heavily from Catholic imagery, this is expected... |
| 103 | * CriticalStatusBuff: A few Rosary Beads (and a Sword Heart) bestow attack and defense buffs if the Penitent One is at low health. A couple other Rosary Beads do the same if his flasks have run out. |
| 104 | * CrosshairAware: Comes into play during the boss fight against Expósito, Scion of Abjuration. When the glowing circle on the ground stops moving, get well clear, unless you're a fan of [[OneHitKill death by giant baby]]. |
| 105 | * CruelAndUnusualDeath: Many of the Executions the Penitent One can perform on critically wounded enemies are so needlessly violent they put ''Franchise/MortalKombat'' to shame, usually involving dismemberment, evisceration, and brutal crushing. |
| 106 | * CrystalDragonJesus: The religion of the Grievous Miracle is obviously based heavily on Christianity. It takes Christianity's preoccupation with sin, penance and suffering and turns it up to eleven. It even has an equivalent to Jesus, the guy who suffered for everyone else to gift the world with redemption, in the form of the Twisted One, who was tied to a tree and nearly, well, twisted, in half. It's common to see people tied to stakes in emulation of him (willing or not). |
| 107 | * CycleOfHurting: It's quite easy to get helplessly juggled until death by some bosses' attacks. Two of the biggest offenders are Quirce when he repeatedly drops from the ceiling on top of you while creating fire pillars, and the FinalBoss's lightning attack. |
| 108 | * DashAttack: An upgrade to Mea Culpa allows you to make a Sacred Thrust, which has excellent range and damage. |
| 109 | * DeadlyGas: In the standard way of greenish gas that steadily deteriorates the Penitent One's health as long as he is standing in it. Thankfully, the Penitent One can find a relic that negates this effect. He can also learn a prayer that generates gas that is deadly to his enemies. |
| 110 | * DeadPersonConversation: The first relic you get will likely be the Shroud of Dreamt Sins, which lets you speak to certain corpses to hear their last thoughts, which sometimes give you hints. |
| 111 | * DegradedBoss: |
| 112 | ** In one late-game area, the Penitent One has to fight two Wardens of the Silent Sorrow (i.e. the boss from the tutorial area) at once. The original Warden was already a WarmUpBoss when the Penitent One faced it for the first time; by this point in the game, the pair of them together just barely qualifies as a miniboss fight. |
| 113 | ** At three points in the Archcathedral Rooftops, the Penitent One is locked in an InescapableAmbush with a member of the Anointed Legion. Aside from wearing a helmet instead of going bare-headed, each one looks and fights identically to Esdras, and is only slightly easier to kill. The same area has flying enemies that fight very similarly to Perpetva as well, though they are much easier to kill in comparison. [[SubvertedTrope Strangely enough]] the soldiers do gain the extra ability of being impervious to regular attacks, requiring you to [[CounterAttack riposte them]]. |
| 114 | * DemBones: Melquíades, the Exhumed Archbishop, a giant skeleton being propped up by a dozen hands from offscreen. |
| 115 | * DevelopersForesight: Flagellant enemies will whip themselves if they are left idle long enough. Their model will flash a damage indicator, and if players are using an item that shows enemy health bars, it shows that the flagellant actually takes a sliver of damage. The sliver of damage is inconsequential to gameplay; the detail is mostly for immersion. |
| 116 | * DownerEnding: [[spoiler:Despite everything you do, [[MultipleEndings fail or succeed in reaching the Cradle of the Grievous Relic]], the cycle of suffering in Cvstodia will still continue. This might not be the case in the GoldenEnding, where the leader of the CorruptChurch and the beings that manifested the Grievous Miracle are destroyed. But then again, judging by the SequelHook, the Miracle may not be gone for good...]] |
| 117 | * DrivenToSuicide: [[spoiler:One of the possible endings of Cleofás' plotline has him jumping from atop the Archcathedral Rooftops.]] |
| 118 | * DualBoss: |
| 119 | ** About two-thirds of the way through the fight with [[spoiler:Esdras of the Anointed Legion]], backup arrives for the boss in the form of [[spoiler:his angelic sister, Perpetva]]. |
| 120 | ** The late-game area has you fight two Wardens of the Silent Sorrow, the very first boss in the game, at once. Also doubles as DegradedBoss as the Penitent One is likely to have gotten much stronger at this point so killing each one shouldn't be much of a challenge. |
| 121 | * DueToTheDead: Collecting the bones to place in the Ossuary can be seen as this, but it's much more explicit in the side quest to gather Tentudia's remains for interment by the Order of the True Burial in Albero. |
| 122 | * EarlyGameHell: The Penitent One starts the game with two Bile Flasks that will each fill about 40% of his meager health bar, no Rosary Beads, sword hearts, relics, or prayers, and only the most basic attacks in Mea Culpa. Even the basic ranged attack must be learned later. Additionally, if the player isn't accustomed to Soulslike combat, the learning curve can be brutal, especially with such small margins for error. Needless to say, AssistCharacter Viridiana tends to have much higher impact against Ten Piedad, the very first boss you can ask for her help with, than any of the other four she's willing to contribute against. |
| 123 | * EldritchLocation: Cvstodia might be one of these. Notably on the path to the Wall of Holy Prohibitions you get a very good and pretty view of Cvstodia, except it's unclear just how you're getting this view because you just left the Archcathedral Rooftops and you take an elevator soon after to the convent on top of the Graveyard of the Peaks, so it's a much shorter connection then the path to get to that path normally. |
| 124 | * EvenEvilHasStandards: The lore entry for the Scapula of Carlos, the Executioner shows he HatesEveryoneEqually and was an AnimalLover. Though when the order came down to execute a dog that bit a bishop, it was the [[DoomedMoralVictor first and last time he ever refused an order]]. |
| 125 | * EverythingFades: |
| 126 | ** Defeated enemies burn up or disintegrate without a trace almost as soon as they hit the ground. The obstacles destroyed with your weapons will also disintegrate completely. |
| 127 | ** The Warden of Silent Sorrow leaves behind his corpse and the rock throwers leave rocks where they dropped, but these are gone as soon as you leave the room. |
| 128 | * FacialHorror: The nuns at the Convent of Our Lady of the Charred Visage must burn their faces with boiling oil to be accepted in the convent. It is quite noticeable, even if they're rendered in pixel art. The convent's namesake, which is the area boss, displays this in spades with her giant half-charred face with a large hole exposing a portion of her brain, which is [[AttackItsWeakPoint the only place she takes damage]]. |
| 129 | * FanDisservice: There's a fair amount of full-frontal nudity in the game... and none of it is even the slightest bit sexy. The tamest thing is a nude woman strapped to a tombstone, which she tries to beat the Penitent One to death with. |
| 130 | * {{Fanservice}}: ...well OK, the Tizona enemy (a rapier-wielding ghost taking the form of a beautiful naked woman covered only by a transparent shroud) is actually kinda sexy. Being a ghost it doesn't even have a gruesome death animation, simply disappearing in a flash of flame (and being a flying enemy it doesn't have a more violent Execution animation either). |
| 131 | * FinalBoss: His Holiness, Escribar. [[spoiler:And his second phase, where his title becomes The Last Son of the Miracle. ''Wounds of Eventide'' brings in a third phase, where you face him in the form briefly seen in the original true ending, where he guards the path to the High Wills.]] |
| 132 | * FinishingMove: You can perform brutal executions on stunned enemies, and the animations are [[{{Gorn}} highly-detailed to boot]]. Enemies killed this way give extra Fervor and Tears of Atonement. |
| 133 | * FirstTown: Albero Village is a quiet, dusty little town located just down the road from the starting area, which contains no enemies and serves as home to the Order of the Kissers of Wounds and the Order of the True Burial. It also contains a fountain that leads to the Lake of Silent Pilgrims, as well as a Mea Culpa shrine and a fast travel mirror. As such, it's a peaceful (if melancholy) place where a lot of sidequests come to fruition and [[HubLevel from which a good portion of the rest of the world map can be reached]], and that makes it an ideal base of operations for the Penitent One to rest, re-equip, and generally catch his breath before moving on to the next part of the quest. |
| 134 | * FlamingSword: Quirce, Returned by the Flame, fights with a sword engulfed in a flame. The sword also floats by itself, making it a deadly projectile that Quirce makes fly and bounce all over the boss room. |
| 135 | * FlashOfPain: Enemies flash a golden-yellow color when hit. |
| 136 | * FullFrontalAssault: Various humanoid enemies (and a couple of [=NPCs=]) are either nude or functionally nude. |
| 137 | * GameWithinAGame: There's an arcade machine in a hidden room of the Desecrated Cistern in which you can play an 8-bit platformer version of the game titled "Blasphemous: Alcazar of Grief". Beating it and finding the 5 skulls unlocks a new appearance for the Penitent One; there's also an extra appearance that can be obtained in a hidden room of that same game. |
| 138 | * GiantHandsOfDoom: |
| 139 | ** During the fight against Melquíades, giant hands can reach up from the foreground and try to squash the Penitent One. |
| 140 | ** Our Lady of the Charred Visage primarily attacks by using her giant hands to shoot beams of light and various projectiles at the Penitent One. |
| 141 | * GodIsEvil: The people of Cvstodia worship the Miracle as a "divine will," and even its most pious adherents use words like "capricious" and "cruel" to describe it. Considering the fact that members of its flock tend to turn into hideous monsters or die in excruciatingly painful ways for no real purpose, it certainly isn't ''good'', and at best could be considered [[JerkassGods a massive jerk]]. Of course, given that Cvstodians, by and large, ''want'' to be tortured horribly for the sake of penance, it could just be going the extra mile to give the people what they want. [[spoiler:The High Wills explicitly tell you that all the pain was entirely for their own benefit - they shaped Cvstodia's culture to create a perpetual-motion machine of prayer and pain to keep them fueled through the Miracle, and the horrible fates of Laudes, who chose to love the Twisted One more than the Miracle, and the Fourth Brother, who discovered the charade, make it clear there was no further goal other than keeping them in power.]] |
| 142 | * {{Gorn}}: From the ReligiousHorror being played up for the use of downright disgusting and terrifying foes and environments, to the brutal finishers and executions the player can commit upon foes, and especially several of the bosses in general, blood and death are everywhere in ''Blasphemous'' and in gratuitous amounts of bloodshed at that. |
| 143 | * GuideDangIt: Coming from a Souls-like background, a few quests happen with little explanation. Some examples include: |
| 144 | ** Gémino's quest. It is possible to become locked out of it if you progress too far without actually completing it, and it starts when you enter his room, not when you meet him. You can even miss out on the reward if you don't do the final step immediately after he unlocks the door. |
| 145 | ** A process needed for both locked endings involves dying three times with an apparently useless bead on your rosary. This transforms it, allowing you to break the guilt-ridding statues you see across the game (which most players wouldn't want to do) to enable access to optional arena stages. Knowing these are connected and how to trigger them is not something the average player would intuit. |
| 146 | ** The GoldenEnding added in ''Wounds of Eventide'' is involves visiting a room that's out of the way before an arbitrary point (you get a vague hint that you should have done otherwise if you arrive too late of what you should have done). And as with Gémino's questline, there's an easily missable step near the end that can render the entire thing (which includes having fought two [[SuperBoss Super Bosses]]) moot. |
| 147 | ** One of the hearts is locked in a cage that opens if you do a blood sacrifice in front of it. The hint in the rooms is actually rather obvious, but the blood sacrifice mechanic is literally never explained in the game's many tutorials. |
| 148 | * GratuitousLatin: The game is steeped in Catholic-inspired ReligiousHorror, so inevitably there's Latin. The messages "EXEMPLARIS EXCOMVNICATIONIS" and "REQUIEM AETERNAM" appear on-screen whenever the Penitent One dies or kills a boss, respectively. [[spoiler:Completing the bonus level unlocked after destroying a Confessor statue causes "DETESTATIO SACRORUM" to show up on-screen. Killing the final boss nets you the message "SUMMA BLASPHEMIA".]] It also appears after completing the ''Strife and Ruin'' BossRush mode. |
| 149 | ** For their 2021 April Fools Day video, they add in APRILARIS FOOLSICATIONIS at the end of it. |
| 150 | * GroundPound: |
| 151 | ** One of the attacks performed by the Warden of the Silent Sorrow boss is to simply jump up and land with force where the player was at the time of the jump. |
| 152 | ** The Penitent One can learn a similar attack called "Weight of Sin", which allows you to plunge downward with your sword, dealing great damage. The final upgrade releases a pillar of light on impact. |
| 153 | ** Notably, you can still damage an enemy [[GoombaStomp by landing on them without the ground pound]]. |
| 154 | * HarderThanHard: Upon starting a [[NewGamePlus True Torment]] playthrough, you are given the option to choose one of three Penitences to make the game even harder on top of the already increased difficulty of True Torment. Beating the game with each Penitence unlocks a new PaletteSwap for the Penitent One as well as a Rosary Bead that gives you the positive effects of the Penitence without the negative ones (eg. the Reliquary of the Fervent Heart you get from beating Penitence of the Unwavering Guilt gives you the passive Fervour regeneration without the Mea Culpa damage penalty or loss of Fervour when you get hit[[note]]although the Reliquary of the Sorrowful Heart you get from beating Penitence of True Guilt still causes your Bile Flasks to stop healing your health in exchange for healing your Fervour instead, which is still a drawback[[/note]]). |
| 155 | ** Penitence of the Bleeding Heart: Your LifeMeter changes from a single bar into old-school segmented health, with each hit removing one segment. Bile Flasks slowly regenerate multiple segments but getting hit at any point during this process stops it. Enemies will respawn every time you leave the screen. |
| 156 | ** Penitence of the Unwavering Faith: Mea Culpa's damage is reduced by half, forcing you to rely mostly on Prayers and your blood projectile. Your Fervour automatically regenerates, but getting hit also damages your Fervour. |
| 157 | ** Penitence of the True Guilt: Your Tears of Atonement are left in your Guilt Fragment when you die, ''VideoGame/DarkSouls'' style. Your guilt is set to maximum every time you die. Bile Flasks recover Fervour instead of health. |
| 158 | * HealingCheckpoint: The Prie Dieu altars act as checkpoints when prayed at, and will also refill your health and flasks. However, they'll also make all of the enemies respawn as well. |
| 159 | * HealingHands: About the only non-horrendous effect of the Grievous Miracle is that certain selfless acts actually pay off. The Order of the Kissers of Wounds emerged when they discovered that kissing the wounded in an act of mercy and contrition actually healed the wound and spared the healer any of the disfigurations that the Grievous Miracle usually wrought upon people. |
| 160 | * HealingPotion: |
| 161 | ** Following its overall theme of religious horror and body horror, ''Blasphemous''[='=]s spin on [[VideoGame/DarkSouls reusable Estus Flasks]] is Bile Flasks. Pouring red bile over your head is already a twisted homage to the Four Humors ancient theory of medicine. But lore text on the Empty Bile Flask item implies that the bile is sourced from the coffins of dead penitents, "blessed" by The Miracle to overflow with blood. The protagonist is refilling their flasks at the Prie Dieu altars from a stockpile of holy coffin blood! |
| 162 | ** Many enemies can be cheesed with a jumping attack from below their platform, but the process is slow and finicky. The Bellido enemy is essentially invulnerable to this tactic, as they take a swig from the purple jug on their back to heal the instant they lose aggro on the player. You'll never be able to jump fast enough to outpace their healing animation. The same jug that the Bellido uses for healing is also thrown at the player and explodes; the creature is so corrupted that normal anatomy doesn't apply. |
| 163 | * HearingVoices: Esdras of the Anointed Legion apparently never got over the loss of his sister, and regularly holds one-sided conversations and arguments with himself as though he can still hear her voice. However, the fact that you learn this through [[spoiler:an item drop from a female angel wearing the armor of the Anointed Legion, who shows up again two-thirds of the way through your battle with Esdras to turn it into a Dual Boss fight, and then smites him with lightning when you defeat him,]] suggests that perhaps there is more to Esdras's behavior than people might think. |
| 164 | * TheHeretic: The Brotherhood of the Silent Sorrow was excommunicated when their mission came to oppose the Cvstodian Church. Whatever the incident, it very likely involves the Mea Culpa. |
| 165 | * HeroicMime: For once, this is justified. The Penitent One has taken a literal vow of silence as a form of penance, being the last living member of the Brotherhood of Silent Sorrow. |
| 166 | * HitboxDissonance: When you pull yourself up onto a ledge, your hitbox will ''instantly'' appear in full up on top of the ledge as soon as the game registers the input, even before the animation finishes playing out, which can result in you being hit by hazards or attacks that should have missed your sprite by a mile. |
| 167 | * HolyIsNotSafe: |
| 168 | ** The most... charitable interpretation of the Grievous Miracle. At its best, it produces relics capable of minor miracles, and heals the wounded... at the worst, it drives men mad and warps them into hideous guilt-based monsters. |
| 169 | ** Mea Culpa itself counts: a sacred weapon with thorns that dig into the hands of the bearer, that grows stronger as it absorbs guilt and cuts with sublime indifference. |
| 170 | * HubLevel: |
| 171 | ** Albero evolves into this over the course of the game. A ''lot'' of shortcuts lead back to it in the first half of the game, and it hosts the second Gate of Travel you're likely to uncover (the first being the one that lets you warp to it and unlock its door). As such, you'll likely pay it quite a few visits. |
| 172 | *** It also houses the Lake of Silent Pilgrims (the final stop to unlock three of the seven traversal relics), the first Mea Culpa Shrine (where any unlocked abilities can be purchased), and the turn in points for collectables related to the Order of the Kissers of Wounds and the Order of True Burial. |
| 173 | *** The [=DLCs=] also unlocked the Albero Church in the town proper and placed Nacimiento just a few screens below Albero. The church contains the donation box, where the player can unlock upgrades to the Prie Deux shrines and (eventually) excise Guilt (especially important for the True Ending, which requires destroying all other ways of doing so). Nacimiento performs the vital and unique service of increasing the potency of your flasks. |
| 174 | ** In the mid game, the player will unlock the Monastery of the Brotherhood of the Silent Sorrow. It contains a fast travel shrine, a Confessor Statue, a Mea Culpa Shrine, and the NPC who converts Rosary Knots into usable Rosary Chord. If you haven't donated enough Tears of Atonement to confess in Albero's church, it's a handy stop for most of the money sinks in the game. |
| 175 | * IAmNotLeftHanded: Crisanta of the Wrapped Agony, true to her moniker, fights with a greatsword wrapped in cloth. About halfway through the boss fight against her, she ''burns'' the cloth away with her BattleAura and begins to attack much faster and more aggressively, {{Flash Step}}ping around the battlefield and making lunging charges at the Penitent One. |
| 176 | * IdiosyncraticMenuLabels: The usual "Game Start" option is retitled as "Pilgrimage". |
| 177 | * ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice: Gameplay footage shows at one point a row of dead bodies impaled upon stakes, with some being torn apart at the torso as well. It can happen to the Penitent One as well if he lands on some SpikesOfDoom. |
| 178 | * ImprobableWeaponUser: Some of the enemies that you can found in Cvstodia have some odd choices of weapons, like giant candelabra, censers, broken bells, statues... one kind of enemy found early in the game, the guardainfante, attacks you using the corpse of a deer as a club. |
| 179 | * InescapableAmbush: Several rooms lock you in an area with a number of enemies to fight. Notably, one of the bosses, [[spoiler:Quirce, Returned By The Flames]], attacks you immediately after a section of the floor collapses. |
| 180 | * InMysteriousWays: Almost nothing is known about the Grievous Miracle or its motivations, apart from characters' personal interpretations. From humanity's perspective, it appears to bless and curse people on a whim. |
| 181 | * InvincibleMinorMinion: One enemy type found in the Sleeping Canvases is the Armature — a bronzed statue that animates when the Penitent One draws near and walks slowly towards him, causing CollisionDamage if it makes contact. Hitting one deactivates it and makes it harmless for a time, but nothing in the Penitent One's arsenal is capable of actually destroying them. |
| 182 | * JackassGenie: How the Grievous Miracle most commonly manifests. If one prays fervently enough to the Miracle, there is a chance it will answer those prayers, usually in the worst way possible — and since a lot of Cvstodia's inhabitants pray to be [[ThePenance tormented as penance for their sins]], well... |
| 183 | * KnightTemplar: Crisanta of the Wrapped Agony. She is seemingly unconcerned by the fact that the people of Cvstodia are suffering because of the Grievous Miracle and is angrier at the fact that someone wants to put a stop to it. As far as she and possibly her superiors are concerned, the Penitent One is an evil force that must be struck down. [[spoiler:She even goes so far as to pull out the sword from his body in the original true ending, restarting the cycle that he tried so hard to end, simply because she can only perceive him as "evil". The ''Wounds of Eventide'' allows the Penitent One to free her from the hold of the Miracle, at which point she becomes an ally and aids him in getting the GoldenEnding]]. |
| 184 | * KnockbackSlide: if you deflect an attack that can't be parried, you're pushed back in this fashion. |
| 185 | * LastOfHisKind: The Penitent One is the last remaining living member of the Brotherhood of the Silent Sorrow. |
| 186 | * LifeDrain: The Saeta Dolorosa prayer allows the Penitent One to recover health upon damaging enemies while it lasts. Likewise, the Molten Heart of Boiling Blood for Mea Culpa has the same effect, at the cost of reducing HP recovered by using Bile Flasks. |
| 187 | * LoopholeAbuse: A game mechanics example. Resting at a Prie Dieu shrine refills the Penitent One's health and [[HealingPotion bile flasks]], but has no effect on his [[ManaMeter Fervor]] and also causes slain enemies to respawn. The Penitent One can scourge his flesh with Mea Culpa, recovering a large amount of Fervor for 10 Tears of Atonement and a significant amount of health. However, nothing is stopping the Penitent One from resting at a Prie Dieu, scourging himself for Fervor, and then resting ''again'' at the cost of... respawning the enemies that he already respawned. As such, the Penitent One should always be leaving a Prie Dieu shrine with full health, fully-loaded bile flasks, and as much Fervor as he is willing to pay the Tears cost for. It's a small mercy from a game that otherwise has [[NintendoHard very little mercy to give]]. The devs seemed to think that even this mercy was not enough, because Stir of Dawn expansion added the ability to upgrade the Prie Dieus so that they can refill fervor as well, making this abuse unnecessary...but they [[ObviousRulePatch also increased the Tears of Atonement cost by ten times.]] |
| 188 | * MartyrdomCulture: The people of Cvstodia as a whole are seemingly obsessed with the idea of suffering for their faith, and the onset of the Age of Corruption has, if anything, made this tendency worse. Going by the story of the First Miracle and the Knot of Three Words, the Cvstodian idea of a "happy ending" is dying a slow, agonizingly painful death as penance for one's sins — which, given the way the Grievous Miracle seems to work, may go some way towards explaining [[CrapsackWorld the state of the world they live in]]. |
| 189 | * MeaningfulName: |
| 190 | ** The large, tree-looking boss seen in multiple gameplay demos and fought early in the game proper is called "Ten Piedad", which is Spanish for "Have Mercy". Its design, and how it first appears in the scene leading into the battle (resting on a statue's lap, as if being cradled), is reminiscent of the La Pieta sculpture by Michelangelo, which depicts a dying, post-crucifixion Jesus Christ laying on the Virgin Mary's lap. It's also revealed through FlavorText that Ten Piedad WasOnceAMan and that said man is in an AndIMustScream situation, where he remains conscious and is able to see through the monster's eyes and feel its pain and rage, but has no control over its body. A man in such a situation is likely to wish for a MercyKill. |
| 191 | ** The sword the Penitent One uses is called "Mea Culpa", which means "through my fault". It is usually an admission of guilt, or sin of some kind.[[note]]Notably, both of these phrases are repeated multiple times on two prayers that are key to the Roman Catholic rite. Ten Piedad comes from the Spanish prayer ''Señor Ten Piedad'' ("Lord have mercy, Christ have mercy, Lord have mercy on us") sung particularly during Lent and funeral Masses, while Mea Culpa comes from the Latin text of the ''Penitential act'' ("through my fault, through my fault, through my most grievous fault") where the penitent must admit his sins and then begs for forgiveness for them.[[/note]] |
| 192 | ** Socorro is a double whammy. Her name literally means "Succor", which works for a girl who begged to bear the punishment of those due for torture. But "Socorro!" is also the Spanish word people use when crying for help. Fitting for a girl who is in neverending agonizing pain. |
| 193 | ** Redento. Literally "Redeemed", his name in Latin comes from "rescued by the faith". |
| 194 | ** Altasgracias. While the name Altagracia is not uncommon, Altas Gracias is specifically plural and translates to High Graces as a dark ShoutOut to the Three Graces. |
| 195 | ** Candelaria. While in Spain, the name references the image of the Virgin of the Candelaria in Tenerife, the name literally means "candle bearer"; the main item sticking out of her bag is a candelabra. |
| 196 | ** Deosgracias: "Thanks to the Lord/God" |
| 197 | ** Diosdado. A somewhat archaic name literally meaning "God given". |
| 198 | ** Jocinero: His character seems to reference the song ''El Toro y La Luna'', based on a gypsy legend of a bull in love with the moon, since Jocinero claims to have been born from a bull and the moon: the painting he springs forth from shows both. The name itself is infamous in bullfighting, as Jocinero was the name of a bull who killed Jose Damaso Rodriguez Rodriguez. |
| 199 | * MirrorBoss: Crisanta fights in a similar fashion to The Penitent One, using variations of his moves and can even parry and counter his attacks. |
| 200 | * MoneySink: The ''Stir of Dawn'' update opens the church in Albero, which contains a donation box for you to dump Tears of Atonement into, which makes the inside of the church look progressively fancier and unlocks various rewards, some of them quite useful, such as being able to use the donation box as a free Confessor and being able to warp between Prie Dieus. The final reward is a new PaletteSwap for the Penitent One at 100,000 Tears. These get reset upon a NewGamePlus (except for the Palette Swap), but if you're on NG+ you probably have all of the upgrades and shop items bought already, so you'll be able to get them back pretty quickly since you'll have nothing else to use your Tears on. |
| 201 | * MonochromaticImpactShot: Used when defeating the bosses, it shows the outline of the Penitent One dealing the final blow to the boss. |
| 202 | * MortonsFork: The fate of Martinus the Ropemaker, as learned through the FlavorText on his collectible bone. He was accused of selling poor quality wares, so to determine his guilt, he was sentenced to hang by one of his own ropes, creating what is essentially a hanging version of the "dunk test" for witches: If he was innocent (which he was), then the rope would be strong enough to hang him, and he'd die. If he was guilty, then the rope would break and he would live... and then be executed anyway because he was just proven guilty. |
| 203 | * {{Motifs}}: |
| 204 | ** Blood and wounds. Even discounting the game's [[{{Gorn}} overall bloody aesthetic]], emphasis is placed throughout the story on the use of blood as a sacrament and on self-harm as a symbol of devotion. |
| 205 | ** Trees, particularly [[{{Transflormation}} people turning into trees]]. The Age of Corruption began when the High Pontiff turned into a giant tree; the First Miracle that occurred at the Knot of the Three Words involved a boy being overtaken by tree roots, and a tree growing in that spot now is a significant symbol for the Cvstodian faith; several enemies and bosses appear to be an amalgamation of flesh and animated wood; and [[spoiler:the thorn given to the Penitent One by Deogracias at the start of the game grows over and into his body when he impales himself on Mea Culpa in the original true ending, turning them to wood and causing roots and branches to sprout from them and grow around the throne]]. Also, by coincidence, the name of the town Albero translates to "tree" in Italian. |
| 206 | ** Gold, and in particular molten gold. The saints keeping the Three Holy Wounds have golden visages, half of Our Lady of the Charred Visage's face is covered in gold (and her original name "Áurea" translates to "Golden" in Spanish), the enemy nuns wear golden masks, a "burning golden liquid" erupts yearly from the tree in the Knot of Three Words, and as Escribar says to the Penitent One before their final battle begins: |
| 207 | ---> "Now, may your sword full of guilt, with mine of gold, collide." |
| 208 | *** Additionally, [[spoiler: when they are encountered in the true ending in ''Wounds of Eventide'', the High Wills are shown weeping tears of molten gold.]] |
| 209 | ** Masks and face coverings as well. While it's not exactly touched much in story, many foes as well as main characters wear masks or face coverings, be it veils, cloth, ropes, or even their own hair obscuring them. |
| 210 | * MrExposition: Deogracias, although given [[MindScrew the nature of the plot]] he may leave you with more questions than answers. |
| 211 | * MultipleEndings: There are three endings, [[GuideDangIt depending on whether or not you hunted down certain statues and cleansed them, in addition to performing certain tasks]]. |
| 212 | ** The normal ending has the Penitent One [[spoiler:defeat the FinalBoss. His goal is within reach, but the Cradle of the Grievous Relic, a throne of sorts, sits atop a hill of ash. The Penitent One attempts to climb the hill of ash, but he is swallowed up instead, leaving behind only his helmet]]. And as it turns out, he is not the only one to make the journey, as Deogracias [[spoiler:retrieves his helmet and places it within a ''mountain'' of helmets similar to his own, implying that other "Penitent Ones" have attempted to make the same climb as he did, only to end in failure]]. |
| 213 | ** The original true ending plays out similar to the standard ending, [[spoiler:but instead of being consumed by the hill of ash, the Penitent One climbs up the hill and reaches the Cradle, proceeding to then stab himself. The thorn of the sword proceeds to wrap itself around his body and practically fuses them into the chair]]. Some time afterwards, [[spoiler:the people come to view the Penitent One as a messiah-like figure, with Deogracias claiming that he has taken Escribar's place as the "last son of the Miracle"]]. In spite of his actions, [[spoiler:Crisanta of the Wrapped Agony has not forgotten her appointed task and pulls the sword from his body, implying that the events of the game will repeat once again]]. |
| 214 | ** The GoldenEnding (which in ''VideoGame/BlasphemousII'' is shown to be the [[{{Canon}} canonical]] one) added in the ''Wounds of Eventide'' update has [[spoiler:The Penitent One, after ascending the hill of ash and defeating yet another form of Escribar, confronting the [[GreaterScopeVillain High Wills]], which he proceeds to dispatch alongside Crisanta. This ends the Miracle for good, with Mea Culpa dissolving into dust. With his penance truly complete the Penitent One is entombed by Deogracias and Crisanta. A post-credit scene shows what appears to be a giant beating heart with a naked figure inside appearing above the skies of a city]]. |
| 215 | * NewGamePlus: True Torment mode, added in the DLC ''The Stir of Dawn''. As expected, enemies will be much tougher and your health and fervor levels will be reset, although you get to keep your relics, rosary beads, prayers, and Mea Culpa upgrades. You'll also have the ability to choose a Penance (gameplay modifiers for an added challenge) and have access to the Amanecidas' plotline. |
| 216 | * NintendoHard: As a [[VideoGame/DarkSouls Souls]]-like game, this is hardly surprising. CheckPointStarvation? Check. ContinuingIsPainful? Check. Numerous BottomlessPits and OneHitKill SpikesOfDoom? Check. Low defense and having limited [[HealingPotion bile flasks]]? Check. No way to adjust difficulty? Check. Tons of GuideDangIt occasions? Check. |
| 217 | * NoFairCheating: Think you can quit and reload to get back to the last SavePoint without dying/having to run a gauntlet at low health? Well, you respawn with the HP level and empty flasks you had when you quit. Sure you can just save again to get full HP/flasks, but it's clear the game's wagging its forefinger at you. |
| 218 | * NoNameGiven: The protagonist is only referred to as "the Penitent One". |
| 219 | * NoItemUseForYou: The TrueFinalBoss on the way to Ending C is fought after all your Rosary Beads and prayer are de-equipped, and you cannot re-open the menu to put them back on. You still retain your Mea Culpa upgrades and Sword Heart, and dying will reset you to the start of this fight without any added Guilt. |
| 220 | * NonlethalBottomlessPits: ZigZagged. A late game relic turns most[[note]]For obvious reasons, this doesn't apply to the three boss battles over pits[[/note]] bottomless pits into mere shortcuts to the room below rather than instant death. This might cost you some time to get back where you were, but at least you're not dead. |
| 221 | * NotTheIntendedUse: The ''Taranto to My Sister'' prayer creates several bolts of vertical lightning around the Penitent One. This allows him to easily defend himself from either side, but it also trivializes damaging things directly above him for more than a screen away. This includes lurking enemies or even breaking the prisons of cherubs nominally protected by jumping puzzles. |
| 222 | * NunsAreSpooky: The nuns found on the Convent of the Charred Visage, are these, they attack you by swinging an incense burner holding severed body parts or by pouring molten gold into you. |
| 223 | * OneHitKill: Expósito, Scion of Abjuration can grab the Penitent One and rip him in half for an instant kill. If the baby wails and starts moving toward the Penitent One, get out of the way. |
| 224 | * OneWingedAngel: [[spoiler:Halfway through the final battle, Escribar reveals his true form: a gigantic golem/angel ''thing'' called "The Last Son of the Miracle."]] |
| 225 | * OurGiantsAreBigger: Whether by nature or by Miracle, certain characters in the game who appear to otherwise be human are significantly larger than the average person. Going by the Penitent One as standard, Quirce and Diosdado stand about twice the height of a typical human being, Deogracias and Gémino are about three times a regular human's size, and Jibrael and Nacimiento from ''The Stir of Dawn'' are each the size of a small building. And then there's the truly massive bosses: Expósito is, as mentioned elsewhere, a giant baby who can pull the Penitent One limb from limb like an insect; Melquíades would be several stories tall if he were standing upright (to say nothing of the people whose hands are supporting him); and going by the size of her face and hands (which, admittedly, may be all of her that's left), Our Lady of the Charred Visage is effectively a {{kaiju}}. |
| 226 | * ThePenance: Everyone in Cvstodia seems obsessed with pain and injury as penance for sin. Fittingly, making the Penitent One cut himself to trade Health for Fervor is a game mechanic, and according to the artbook, Mea Culpa is intentionally painful to wield. |
| 227 | * PermanentlyMissableContent: Downplayed. You can miss out on some achievements for completing sidequests in a certain way, but the actual in-game rewards from those sidequests will still be obtainable, though you might have to jump through some additional hoops to get them. |
| 228 | ** [[spoiler:Perpetva ambushes the Penitent One while he is travelling through the Mountains of Endless Dusk, triggering a miniboss fight.]] If the Penitent One wins this fight, he is rewarded with an item and an achievement; if he dies, the miniboss does not return and the achievement is lost, but the Penitent One can still get the item if he returns to the site of the ambush after [[spoiler:defeating Esdras of the Anointed Legion]]. |
| 229 | ** Successfully completing Tirso's sidequest requires the player to alternate bringing him medicinal plants with defeating bosses. If the player defeats two or more bosses between visits to Tirso, he can still receive all the rewards for the quest, but members of the Order of the Kissers of Wounds will die and he won't get the achievement. |
| 230 | ** Gémino's sidequest was formerly a completely straight example. If the Penitent One didn't interact with him, get a key item, defeat Our Lady of the Charred Visage, and then come back with oil from the convent before the tree he is fused with fully consumed him, then that key item, a rosary bead, and a prayer could all be permanently lost for that playthrough. (And unlike most sidequests, Gémino's starts ''as soon as the Penitent One enters his area'', rather than when he interacts with him, meaning that many players failed this quest ''without even realizing it was there''.) This later became an aversion: a patch made it so that all the items from the quest are eventually made available to the player even if they fail to complete it properly — though getting the prayer does require the Penitent One to return to the area after he has acquired a certain relic — and unlike the previous examples, there is no achievement directly associated with Gémino's quest that can be lost if the player screws it up.[[note]]There is still a hidden way to screw things up; if you bring the oil back in time, but save and quit the game before you find the gate he opened for you... the game will close the gate back up when you reload and you'll ''still'' be screwed out of getting into the grave until you find a late-game item.[[/note]] |
| 231 | * PietaPlagiarism: The boss fight with Ten Piedad begins with the creature resting in the arms of a feminine statue. Then it awakens and stands up, desecrates the statue by ripping its head off, and throws it at you. |
| 232 | * {{Pilgrimage}}: The player [[RecurringTraveller comes across a wandering pilgrim named Redento at several points]]. He says that he wanders in penance, but also notes that it's "the gentlest of penances" (the country the game is set in, Cvistodia, has a [[MartyrdomCulture culture based around mortification of the flesh as a way to earn forgiveness]]). He belongs to the Order of Genuflectors and is bent double with the help of a shard of millstone chained around his neck and has his arms tied behind his back, so you have to help him at several points. At the end of it, [[spoiler:he commits suicide in either grief or gratitude that it's over.]] |
| 233 | * PillarOfLight: Many attacks in-game unleash these, including one prayer, the highest-level ground pound, and attacks by Tres Angustias and Melquíades, The Exhumed Archbishop. |
| 234 | * ThePlague: The land of Cvstodia has been hit with one of these, ironically called "The Miracle." |
| 235 | * PlatformHell: The mini-dungeons that the Penitent One traverses to assist [[VideoGame/BloodstainedRitualOfTheNight Miriam]] in the ''Strife & Ruin'' DLC are this moreso than nearly any spot in the base game. Expect SpikesOfDoom, moving platforms, and fireballs. |
| 236 | * PlotCoupons: The Three Holy Wounds in the first half of the game, and the Three Masks of the Archdeacons in the second half. |
| 237 | * PowerAtAPrice: |
| 238 | ** Sword Hearts can be implanted into Mea Culpa, each providing a beneficial effect and a drawback. For example, [[GlassCannon increasing your attack power but lowering your defense]], increasing Fervour generation from attacking enemies, but making your ranged attack weaker, or increasing your attack power if your health is low. The Ultimate Sword Heart from the Fourth Visage gives you a large boost to your sword damage but the game will also warn you that once you equip this Sword Heart, you cannot switch out of it. |
| 239 | ** Nacimiento upgrades the healing strength of your flasks but each upgrade consumes one use of your flasks. At maximum upgrades, you will hold only five flasks as opposed to the maximum of ten, but each can easily top off a maxed-out health bar. Do you take fewer stronger healing flasks, or several weaker ones? |
| 240 | * PraetorianGuard: The Anointed Legion is a brotherhood of elite knights and warriors created by decree of His Holiness Escribar to fight in his name and the Church, serving as his bodyguards. |
| 241 | * PrefersGoingBarefoot: Going unshod seems to be a fairly common aspect of penitent behavior in Cvstodia, judging by the number of [=NPCs=] (both friendly and hostile) who go barefoot. Redento of the Order of Genuflectors in particular makes kind of a big deal about making his pilgrimage barefoot, in accordance with the tenets of his Order. Probably the only example of this trope you'll find where people consciously choose to go barefoot specifically because they find it ''less'' comfortable than wearing shoes. |
| 242 | * RapidAging: An initially young woman named Viridiana offers her assistance with some boss fights, casting a healing spell to keep the Penitent One going if his health runs low. However, beating a boss with her assistance causes her to age about 30-40 years immediately. After three bosses, the now frail old woman thanks the Penitent one for allowing her to fulfill her mission of assisting him, gives him a Prayer, and falls over dead. |
| 243 | * RecurringTraveller: Redento, of the Order of Genuflectors, is a wandering pilgrim whose path crosses the Penitent One's on several occasions. However, since Redento is a barefoot old man with his hands tied behind his back, and Cvstodia is... well, [[EverythingTryingToKillYou Cvstodia]]... each time they meet, the Penitent One has to clear some kind of obstacle that is preventing Redento from making forward progress. |
| 244 | * ReligionIsMagic: Outside of the Grievous Miracle, the spells in the game are called "prayers", holy miracles unlock new ways of progressing, and rosary beads can provide magical buffs to your stats, among many other examples. |
| 245 | * ReligiousHorror: ''Blasphemous'' may as well be called ''Religious Horror: The Game''. The game heavily draws on Christianity (specifically Spanish Catholicism), but emphasizes its more morbid traditions, such as exhuming the corpses of former saints. It also twists its imagery to make horrific versions of traditional Christian themes. |
| 246 | * RespawningEnemies: Using a save point immediately resurrects all of the creatures in the area. The Penance of the Bleeding Heart in NewGamePlus makes all enemies respawn when you leave the room. |
| 247 | * RewardingVandalism: Some rosary beads allow the Penitent One to gain health, fervor or Tears of Atonement by destroying scenery objects. |
| 248 | * RiseToTheChallenge: The boss fight against the Tres Angustias plays out this way. Of course, if you fall into the rising pit of flames, it means instant death. |
| 249 | * RRatedOpening: The opening cutscene begins with a woman stabbing herself, complete with a copious amount of blood. After that, we first see the Penitent One face down in a ''mountain'' of corpses. |
| 250 | * SequelHook: [[spoiler:The final ending in the Wounds of Eventide expansion shows the skies parting as a giant human heart descends with a man inside of it, setting up for ''Blasphemous II'']]. |
| 251 | * ShieldBearingMook: |
| 252 | ** The Shieldmaiden enemy carries a large tower shield which protects her from the front when she is not swinging her saber. The Penitent One can jump over her to attack from behind, or wait until she starts attacking to strike in turn. The finishing move, once she's stunned, is to just stomp on top of the shield, crushing her. |
| 253 | ** The Wandering Tomb and Sleepless Tomb enemies are essentially inversions of the Shieldmaiden. They're sarcophagi where the tomb effigy has become animated and is now walking around, carrying the entire sarcophagus on its back; consequently, each is immune to attacks from the ''back'', and the only way to defeat them is to brave their sword or mace swings and attack from the front. |
| 254 | * ShockAndAwe: There are a few enemies who can use thunder in their movesets. Boss examples include Crisanta of the Wrapped Agony, who can conjure thunder once she's at half health, and Esdras, of the Anointed Legion, who likes to spam a variety of lightning attacks from the very beginning. |
| 255 | * ShockwaveStomp: The Warden of the Silent Sorrow boss seen in the gameplay footage can strike the ground with their chandelier to generate a purple shockwave rippling forwards along the ground. |
| 256 | * ShoutOut: |
| 257 | ** In general, the amount of inspiration the game takes from the arts- ranging from various paintings, sculptures, literature, clothing, architecture, music, even cinema- cannot be understated, and is best read about in detail in the artbook. |
| 258 | ** The Embers of the Holy Cremation rosary bead is described as containing the heat of [[VideoGame/DarkSouls a bonfire lit]] in a distant land. Its very name can also be considered a reference to the act of linking the First Flame. |
| 259 | ** The Calcified Eye of Erudition rosary bead looks almost exactly like a Pebble from '' VideoGame/{{Bloodborne}}''. The lore reveals that the person whose eye it is [[ThingsManWasNotMeantToKnow glimpsed a hidden truth]]. |
| 260 | ** One of the pictures on the wall in the Library of Negated words is a poster of ''VideoGame/CrossingSouls''. |
| 261 | ** To ''Franchise/{{Castlevania}}'': |
| 262 | *** The FinalBoss has a moveset very similar to Dracula’s. The first half of his boss fight is the classic teleporting with projectiles that resemble the “Dark Inferno” attack, and the second half particularly resembles the final stage of Dracula’s boss fight from ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaIIIDraculasCurse'', but with a Spectral Sword. |
| 263 | *** The rooms in the Mother of Mothers cathedral with the giant swinging incense holder, are very similar to the room with the swinging chandeliers of ''VideoGame/SuperCastlevaniaIV''. |
| 264 | *** The skin based on the Platform/GameBoy color palette is named "The Adventure", referencing ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaTheAdventure''. The "Alcazar of Grief" minigame where you find said skin is also very reminiscent of the NES ''Castlevania'' titles, particularly the part where your health can only be refilled with chicken legs that you find in walls. |
| 265 | ** Wounds of Eventide adds a rosary bead called "Crimson Heart of a Miura", which is an unashamed homage, both in shape and lore, to Manga/{{Berserk}}. |
| 266 | ** One hidden room has a corpse that says "Videte Ne Quis Sciat", which is a reference to ''VideoGame/TheLastDoor'' from the same developers. |
| 267 | * SnowMeansDeath: The Graveyard of the Peaks is an aboveground cemetery on a snowy mountain, there are also the frozen corpses of pilgrims who tried to climb it to reach the Convent of Charred Visage at the summit. |
| 268 | * SpikesOfDoom: Tall, thin iron spikes can be found across multiple areas. Falling into them results in instant death. |
| 269 | * StaffOfAuthority: Melquíades, the Exhumed Archbishop wields an ornate golden mace. He can smack the Penitent One with it for a lot of damage. |
| 270 | * StoryBreadcrumbs: Much like in ''VideoGame/DarkSouls'', a lot of the deeper story behind the game and its characters is conveyed through scraps of lore learned by picking up various items. [[AllThereInTheManual Various supplementary materials]] like an artbook and a preview comic also help to fill in some of the details. |
| 271 | * SwordBeam: There's an upgrade to Mea Culpa that allows it to fire these upon performing a charged strike. |
| 272 | * SymbolicBaptism: After defeating the Warden of the Silent Sorrow, the Penitent One uses his helmet as a bucket to gather the Warden's gushing blood, before putting the helmet back on. |
| 273 | * TacticalSuicideBoss: The final boss battle with [[spoiler:"The Last Son of the Miracle"]] would be impossible to win if the boss didn't summon his giant gold crusted dagger, which the Penitent One can destroy to expose the boss's face temporarily. Causing {{Temporary Platform}}s to appear, allowing the Penitent One to reach and [[AttackItsWeakPoint apply his sword to said face]], might not have been the best idea either. |
| 274 | * TemporaryPlatform: |
| 275 | ** Using the Blood Perpetuated In Sand relic allows you to summon platforms of blood that are useful for platforming. Notably, you must step on every blood platform in sequence to spawn the next. |
| 276 | ** Platforms that collapse and regenerate are a common element throughout Cvstodia, often found in conjunction with SpikesOfDoom, pits full of enemies, or other environmental hazards. |
| 277 | * TheThreeTrials: All over the place. Three Holy Wounds needed to progress in the first half of the game, three masks of the Archdeacons needed to progress in the second, three items needed to hatch Altasgracias, three sets of remains needed to lay Tentudia to rest, three Marks of Refuge needed to release Socorro from her suffering.... |
| 278 | * ThwartedCoupDeGrace: If you choose to attack [[spoiler:Crisanta of the Wrapped Agony]] after the boss fight, The Penitent One launches into a furious combo of attacks, but [[spoiler:Crisanta]] blocks the last blow and escapes over the edge. |
| 279 | * TorturedMonster: The majority of enemies are tortured, mutilated former humans. |
| 280 | * TurnsRed: While there isn't always an accompanying visual cue, nearly every boss in the game begins attacking more aggressively or using more powerful moves once its health bar hits certain levels (usually either the halfway point or 2/3 full and 1/3 full). Some of the more visibly-obvious examples include Crisanta of the Wrapped Agony [[IAmNotLeftHanded unwrapping the agony]] and Our Lady of the Charred Visage attacking with both hands at once. |
| 281 | * UndergroundMonkey: Several enemies in the latter half of the game are similar in behavior to early-game enemies, such as the Librarian for the Sagittal Martyr and the Lionheart for the Guardainfante. Other enemy types (such as the Flagellant, Acolyte, and Hopper) simply reappear in more powerful forms in later areas. In all cases, these are more than mere {{Palette Swap}}s — each upgraded enemy has a sprite that is different from its earlier counterpart, sometimes majorly so. |
| 282 | * UpgradeArtifact: Broken down into several categories. The Penitent One carries a rosary with space for several beads[[labelnote:*]](two initially, can be increased up to eight by finding additional Rosary Knots)[[/labelnote]] and a reliquary with space for up to three relics. |
| 283 | ** Rosary beads provide passive buffs, such as increased defense, greater health, or increased Fervor generation. |
| 284 | ** Relics provide more active abilities and gameplay changes, such as making certain platforms appear or allowing the Penitent One to talk to spirits of the deceased. |
| 285 | ** Additionally, Mea Culpa has a single slot for a sword heart. Unlike Rosary Beads and Relics, these can only be swapped at a Prie Deux shrine. They typically combine both a benefit and a drawback, such as causing life steal from attacks but reducing the power of Bile Flasks or increasing the window for blocking attacks but reducing overall defense. Though at least one sword heart only functions at low health instead of actively inflicting a debuff. |
| 286 | * VideoGameCaringPotential: Viridiana offers to help the Penitent One in battle, but upon encountering her a second time you will find she has aged unnaturally quickly. Some players may decide to refuse her assistance to keep her from dying despite her telling the Penitent One not to be concerned, and she ''will'' die if you accept her offer of aid three times. If she is still alive by the time you confront [[spoiler: His Holiness Escribar]], she'll tell you she won't be able to aid you, but gifts you with the Zarabanda of the Safe Haven prayer. Granted, she'll give you this whether you allow her to die or not (if she dies, she'll give you the prayer after the third battle), so it's simply up to the player whether to accept her help three times and allow her to die, or to refuse her help and let her live. |
| 287 | * VillainForgotToLevelGrind: In the comics, Crisanta manages to defeat and kill the Penitent One without much trouble, not even needing to unwrap her sword. By their next confrontation, however, the Penitent One has improved his skills and arsenal while she is the same as before. While she does unwrap her sword to become a tougher fight, it's ultimately not enough to win. [[spoiler:Subverted in the ''Wounds of Eventide'' DLC - when the High Wills realize the Penitent One has the sword heart necessary to break their hold on Crisanta, they do not hesitate in giving her a last powerup, making her much more dangerous.]] |
| 288 | * TheVeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon: The Deambulatory of [[spoiler:His Holiness]]. |
| 289 | * WalkingTheEarth: The Order of the Genuflectors, of which Redento is a member, does this as a form of penance. |
| 290 | * WarmUpBoss: The Warden of the Silent Sorrow. It's big, it's slow, and its only two attacks are heavily telegraphed and give plenty of room to dodge. If you can't take this thing down, you're not ready for the rest of the game yet. |
| 291 | * WarpWhistle: There are several Gates of Travel that allow instantaneous passage between areas of Cvstodia. The ''Stir of Dawn'' DLC added the ability to donate Tears of Atonement to the church in Albero, and 20,000 tears will allow the use of the [[SavePoint Prie Dieu]] as teleporters. ''Wounds of Eventide'' added the Mirabras of the Return to Port prayer which will send the Penitent One back to the last Prie Dieu used. |
| 292 | * WeaponSpecialization: Being [[ThePaladin a holy warrior driven by a divine purpose]], the Penitent One is armed primarily with [[HeroesPreferSwords the sacred longsword Mea Culpa]], backed up by a number of [[ReligionIsMagic combat prayers]]. |
| 293 | * WhamLine: The last line, whispered at the very end, of the ''Wounds of Eventide'' DLC animated trailer, teasing the eventual ''Blasphemous II'': "Suscipe, Pater Retortus, orationem nostram. Fac ut frons sine nomine culpabilissima convertur nobiscumque ibit. Quoniam miraculus recreatus est." [[spoiler: "Receive, Twisted Father, our prayer. Convert the nameless, guiltiest visage, and bid him join us. [[TheEndOrIsIt For the Miracle has been revived]]."]] |
| 294 | * WhatHappenedToTheMouse: [[spoiler:The Blessed Lord of the Salty Shores]] speculates that by helping the Penitent One he might be able to escape his fate. However, when you give him every possible item...nothing happens, and he doesn't say anything. |
| 295 | * WolfpackBoss: The Tres Angustias. They [[SharedLifeMeter share the same health pool]], though. |
| 296 | * WoundThatWillNotHeal: Once upon a time, a young village girl named Áurea was so incredibly beautiful that people began to worship her as an incarnation of divinity. In order to stop their idolatry, Áurea burned her face with hot oil and took up the vows of a local convent. However, the wounds she inflicted on herself never healed at all, remaining fresh, smoking, and agonizingly painful for ''years'' after she received them. Naturally, given the MartyrdomCulture, the people of Cvstodia viewed this as a blessing from the Miracle, leading to Áurea's canonization in life as Our Lady of the Charred Visage. |
| 297 | ---- |
| 298 | ->'''[[CanisLatinicus TROPIEM]]''' |
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