One strand of historical influence on the narrative architecture of Blasphemous is unquestionably medieval. Where my first piece, ‘ Feeling History in Blasphemous: Affective Piety and Our Lady of the Charred Visage’ explored the relationship between religion and empathy in the game, using the historical concept of affective piety to explore the narrative’s approach to medieval religion and sainthood, this piece will explore the way the game uses monstrous representations of women’s bodies to explore the differences between historical approaches to ‘otherness’, and the different ways in which sympathy and repulsion acted on ‘strange’ bodies between medieval and early modern Spain. He can be found on Twitter Blasphemous II currently on the horizon, and the latest DLC, Wounds of Eventide, having been released in December of last year, I’d like to bring you some further thoughts on historical emotion in The Game Kitchen’s 2019 Metroidvania masterpiece, Blasphemous. His PhD was on reading practices in 18 th century women’s correspondence networks and he is currently researching the parallels between historical readers and contemporary video game culture. Jack is Content Editor for the Electronic Enlightenment project based at the Bodleian Libraries, Oxford, and holds a PhD from Swansea as well as a BA and MA from University College London. Which ending the player gets depends on whether or not they have completed certain quests earlier in the game.This is a guest post by Dr Jack Orchard. In the 'good' ending, The Penitent One fulfills his quest, whereas in the 'bad' ending, he doesn't. Escribar is the final boss of the game, and when he is defeated, there are two possible outcomes. In the Deambulatory of His Holiness, the final area, he meets His Holiness Escribar, the supreme leader of the church The Penitent One has fought to defeat the entire game. He defeats the bosses of each area, and comes closer and closer to the final area. He traverses old storerooms, cursed libraries, prisons and rooftops, all located within the giant cathedral. The Penitent One then enters The Mother of Mothers, the cathedral where the second half of the game takes place. For each boss he defeats, he gains a holy wound, and when all three are defeated, he crosses The Bridge of the Three Calvaries, where he battles and defeats Esdras, an knight mad with grief over his sisters death. He explores a lone mountain constantly ravaged by blizzard, and enters a sanctuary, The Convent of our Lady of the Charred Visage, and defeats the titular lady. He explores a disgusting sewer, a hot mountainside, an underground mechanical bell, and a moss-filled catacomb called Grievance Ascends, before defeating Tres Anguistas, the boss of that area. He explores a church-filled wasteland and a dungeon named Mercy Dreams, and defeats the boss, Ten Piedad. His first task is to infiltrate three enemy-infested areas, each located in a different part of the map, and defeat the boss lurking at the end of each area. He then enters Albero, the only town in the game, and from there he starts his adventure. The Penitent one then proceeds to walk through a twisted forest, functioning as the tutorial level for the player. He also tells the player the name of the main character, which is The Penitent One.

After defeating the boss, called The Warden of the Silent Sorrow, he exits the church, and meets a strange man who goes by the name of Deogracias, who informs him of his mission and tells him about Cvstodia, the hellish and miserable realm the game takes place in. He then climbs down and tries to exit the church, although he is interrupted by a large demon-looking figure, which serves as the first boss fight. A man, wearing armor and a strange tall helmet, wakes up in a large church-looking building, called The Brotherhood of Silent Sorrow, and finds himself lying on top of a hill made up of countless corpses wearing the same armor and helmets as him.The synopsis below may give away important plot points.

Blasphemous grievance ascends