What games are most like Blasphemous?

Hollow Knight, Nine Sols, The Last Faith, and Salt and Sanctuary are the closest. The Last Faith matches the gothic horror and gore most directly; Salt and Sanctuary shares the 2D souls weight; Hollow Knight and Nine Sols match the interconnected map and punishing boss design.

What is the closest game to Blasphemous?

The Last Faith. It is the only one that shares Blasphemous' specific mix — a grim religious-gothic world, heavy gore, and a Castlevania-style 2D metroidvania map with souls-like punishment. If you want the aesthetic as much as the difficulty, start there.

Are there 2D souls games like Blasphemous?

Salt and Sanctuary is the clearest one — it ports the full Dark Souls structure into a 2D plane, down to stats, classes, and a bonfire equivalent. Death's Gambit: Afterlife and Grime are two more 2D soulslikes worth a look if you finish it.

Is Hollow Knight like Blasphemous?

In structure, yes. Both are 2D metroidvanias with a huge connected map, hidden routes, and bosses that demand pattern reading. Hollow Knight is less gory and leans melancholic rather than grotesque, but the exploration and difficulty curve sit right next to Blasphemous.

Is The Last Faith like Blasphemous?

It is the most direct match on this list. The Last Faith is a gothic action-platformer with a Bloodborne-meets-Castlevania look, brutal melee, ranged firearms, and the same dark religious tone. If Blasphemous' art is what hooked you, this is the one to play next.

Are there games like Blasphemous with parry combat?

Nine Sols is the standout. It builds its combat around Sekiro-style deflection — timing a parry to break an enemy's poise rather than just dodging. It keeps the 2D metroidvania structure and dark story, with a sharper focus on reactive combat than Blasphemous.

Is there an easier game like Blasphemous?

Ender Lilies: Quietus of the Knights. It keeps the somber atmosphere and metroidvania map but softens the punishment — you summon spirits of purified bosses to fight for you, and the difficulty is more forgiving than Blasphemous or the souls-likes above.

Is Blasphemous a metroidvania or a soulslike?

Both, really. The map design, traversal unlocks, and backtracking are pure metroidvania. The punishing bosses, cryptic lore delivery, and death penalty come from the soulslike side. Most games on this list blend the two the same way.

What is KUTO: The Lock of Time?

A time-bending action Metroidvania built in Unity by CPCS. You play Jokoan Kuto, an outcast from the Order of the Time Guardians who merges with the titan Kronos and fights through historical eras with the Scythe of Kronos and time powers. Unlike Blasphemous, it runs on a die-and-retry loop.

Are there games like Blasphemous with time powers?

KUTO: The Lock of Time is the clearest fit. It pairs the dark, punishing metroidvania combat with bullet-time, rewind, and dash powers drawn from the titan Kronos — you carry two at a time and swap them between runs.

Is Blasphemous 2 worth playing if you liked the first?

Yes. Blasphemous 2 keeps the grotesque religious art and tough bosses while adding a dodge roll and three weapon paths, which makes the combat more flexible than the original. It is the natural next step before you branch out to the rest of this list.

Are these games like Blasphemous on Steam?

Hollow Knight, Nine Sols, The Last Faith, Salt and Sanctuary, and Ender Lilies are all on Steam. KUTO: The Lock of Time is coming soon to Early Access on Steam for Windows.

2026-06-17Updated 2026-07-22Andrii Kovalenko6 min read

Games Like Blasphemous: Hollow Knight, Nine Sols & More

Games like Blasphemous — punishing soulslike metroidvanias with brutal bosses and dense maps: Hollow Knight, Nine Sols, The Last Faith, and more.

If you finished Blasphemous and want that same feeling — a grim world that fights back, bosses that take real study, and a map that folds in on itself — the closest matches are The Last Faith, Hollow Knight, Nine Sols, and Salt and Sanctuary. Below are seven worth your time, including a 2025 release and one upcoming game that runs the formula through time travel.

What makes Blasphemous worth chasing

Blasphemous works because three things pull in the same direction. The art is grotesque and committed — religious horror rendered in pixel detail, with execution animations you remember. The bosses are the real test, each one a pattern to learn rather than a wall to grind through, and the first game's lack of a dodge roll forces you to read spacing instead of mashing roll-and-hit. And the world is a single connected place, a metroidvania map with locked routes that open as you earn new traversal.

Most games that get called Blasphemous-like copy one of those three and miss the others. Some nail the gothic dread but play loose. Some have the punishing combat but a flatter world. The ones below are sorted by which part they get right, so pick by the piece you actually want back. If you've already played the original, you might want to know how long Blasphemous takes or whether Blasphemous 2 is worth playing. For the wider field, there's a full best metroidvania games roundup that places these in context, and a closer best soulslike metroidvania games list if the punishment matters more than the exploration. And if you're still not sure Blasphemous itself counts as a soulslike, we've broken that down separately.

The Last Faith

The closest match on this list. The Last Faith is a gothic action-platformer metroidvania that wears its influences openly — Bloodborne in the look, Castlevania in the map, Blasphemous in the gore and the religious rot. You fight with brutal melee and a set of ranged firearms, and the world is dense with secrets, optional bosses, and the kind of bleak architecture Blasphemous fans came for.

It is a little less precise than Blasphemous in places — the combat can feel busier, the difficulty more uneven — but no other game on this list matches the specific aesthetic so directly. If the art and tone are what kept you in Cvstodia, this is the one to play next.

Hollow Knight

The benchmark for the genre. Hollow Knight is a hand-drawn 2D metroidvania set under a ruined kingdom of insects, and it is enormous — a connected world of branching paths, hidden areas, and bosses that range from fair to genuinely cruel. The combat is simpler than Blasphemous' on paper, built around a nail and a handful of spells, but the charm system lets you reshape how you fight, and the late-game challenges ask for real mastery.

It trades Blasphemous' grotesque gore for melancholy — quieter, sadder, less in your face. What it shares is the thing that matters most: a world you want to map completely, and bosses that make you better by losing to them. If you want the exploration half of Blasphemous turned up, start here.

Nine Sols

The one built around the parry. Nine Sols is a hand-drawn 2D action-platformer with a deflection-based combat system lifted from Sekiro — you time a parry to break an enemy's poise, then punish, rather than rolling away and poking. It keeps the metroidvania map and a dark, story-heavy world, this one a "Taopunk" blend of Eastern mythology and decayed sci-fi.

The combat focus is the difference. Where Blasphemous rewards spacing and patience, Nine Sols rewards reaction and rhythm, and its bosses are duels you learn beat by beat. It is one of the sharpest soulslike metroidvanias of the last few years, and there's a separate list of games like Nine Sols if that's the thread you want to pull.

Salt and Sanctuary

2D Dark Souls, almost literally. Salt and Sanctuary takes the full souls structure — stats, classes, a skill tree, a bonfire equivalent you rest at and lose your "salt" when you die — and flattens it onto a 2D plane. The map is interconnected and brutal, the bosses are huge, and the build variety runs deeper than most games here, from heavy strength weapons to spellcasting.

It is older and rougher around the edges than Blasphemous, with a muddier art style, but the souls weight is the real draw — the careful, cautious advance through hostile space, the dread of losing a long run. If the punishment is what you liked, this is the purest dose on the list.

Ender Lilies: Quietus of the Knights

The gentler way in. Ender Lilies keeps the somber atmosphere and the metroidvania map but eases off the punishment. You play a white priestess who can't swing a weapon herself — instead you purify fallen knights and summon their spirits to fight for you, building a roster of attacks as you go. The art is soft and mournful, the soundtrack is one of the best in the genre, and the world unfolds at a kinder pace.

It is the most forgiving game on this list, which is the point. If Blasphemous wore you down but you still want the melancholy, the exploration, and the boss-driven structure, this scratches the same itch without the same bruises.

Ender Magnolia: Bloom in the Mist

The newest game on this list, released in full in January 2025. Ender Magnolia is the sequel to Ender Lilies, and it swaps the somber pace for something closer to Blasphemous' edge — the same hand-drawn melancholy, but harder bosses and a Salt and Sanctuary-style souls weight to the combat. You still don't swing a weapon yourself; you're Lilac, a girl who channels attacks through homunculi she recruits along the way, so the build variety comes from which of them you bring into a fight.

It keeps the interconnected map and the grief-soaked story its predecessor was known for, but tightens everything around it, and it's a fair pick if Ender Lilies felt too gentle after Blasphemous. Reviewers rated it among the best metroidvanias to come out in 2025.

Coming soon: KUTO: The Lock of Time

If what you want is the dark, punishing metroidvania combat with a hook of its own, KUTO: The Lock of Time is worth following — and to be upfront, it's our own upcoming game, so weigh the recommendation with that in mind. It's a time-bending action Metroidvania: side-on movement, a fast melee weapon, an interconnected world of branching layouts, and tough boss fights built to be learned. The one thing it does that Blasphemous doesn't is run on a die-and-retry loop — death ends the run, not your progress, and you push back in knowing more.

The hook is time. You play Jokoan Kuto, an outcast from the Order of the Time Guardians — the keepers tasked with holding the ages in order — who is betrayed by the gods, escapes death, and survives by merging with the titan Kronos. That bond arms him with the Scythe of Kronos, a fast, physical hack-and-slash weapon that stays in hand the whole run, and command over time itself: bullet-time, rewind, dash, and more.

You carry two time powers at a time and swap which pair you bring between runs — a build decision you make before you commit, then live with until you die. And the world moves through history rather than down one castle. Each era is its own battlefield with its own enemies and rules, from ancient Egypt and the Viking age through a falling Rome and ancient Greece — where Athena is a boss — to the Old West, a neon cyber city, the post-apocalypse, and the far future.

Because it leans on both genres, it shows up on two lists at once — there's a best roguelike metroidvania games roundup that covers exactly this hybrid. For the full picture, here's everything we know about KUTO: The Lock of Time.

KUTO: The Lock of Time is coming soon to Early Access on Steam for Windows.

Add KUTO: The Lock of Time to your wishlist on Steam to follow it.

Frequently asked questions

What games are most like Blasphemous?: Hollow Knight, Nine Sols, The Last Faith, and Salt and Sanctuary are the closest. The Last Faith matches the gothic horror and gore most directly; Salt and Sanctuary shares the 2D souls weight; Hollow Knight and Nine Sols match the interconnected map and punishing boss design.
What is the closest game to Blasphemous?: The Last Faith. It is the only one that shares Blasphemous' specific mix — a grim religious-gothic world, heavy gore, and a Castlevania-style 2D metroidvania map with souls-like punishment. If you want the aesthetic as much as the difficulty, start there.
Are there 2D souls games like Blasphemous?: Salt and Sanctuary is the clearest one — it ports the full Dark Souls structure into a 2D plane, down to stats, classes, and a bonfire equivalent. Death's Gambit: Afterlife and Grime are two more 2D soulslikes worth a look if you finish it.
Is Hollow Knight like Blasphemous?: In structure, yes. Both are 2D metroidvanias with a huge connected map, hidden routes, and bosses that demand pattern reading. Hollow Knight is less gory and leans melancholic rather than grotesque, but the exploration and difficulty curve sit right next to Blasphemous.
Is The Last Faith like Blasphemous?: It is the most direct match on this list. The Last Faith is a gothic action-platformer with a Bloodborne-meets-Castlevania look, brutal melee, ranged firearms, and the same dark religious tone. If Blasphemous' art is what hooked you, this is the one to play next.
Are there games like Blasphemous with parry combat?: Nine Sols is the standout. It builds its combat around Sekiro-style deflection — timing a parry to break an enemy's poise rather than just dodging. It keeps the 2D metroidvania structure and dark story, with a sharper focus on reactive combat than Blasphemous.
Is there an easier game like Blasphemous?: Ender Lilies: Quietus of the Knights. It keeps the somber atmosphere and metroidvania map but softens the punishment — you summon spirits of purified bosses to fight for you, and the difficulty is more forgiving than Blasphemous or the souls-likes above.
Is Blasphemous a metroidvania or a soulslike?: Both, really. The map design, traversal unlocks, and backtracking are pure metroidvania. The punishing bosses, cryptic lore delivery, and death penalty come from the soulslike side. Most games on this list blend the two the same way.
What is KUTO: The Lock of Time?: A time-bending action Metroidvania built in Unity by CPCS. You play Jokoan Kuto, an outcast from the Order of the Time Guardians who merges with the titan Kronos and fights through historical eras with the Scythe of Kronos and time powers. Unlike Blasphemous, it runs on a die-and-retry loop.
Are there games like Blasphemous with time powers?: KUTO: The Lock of Time is the clearest fit. It pairs the dark, punishing metroidvania combat with bullet-time, rewind, and dash powers drawn from the titan Kronos — you carry two at a time and swap them between runs.
Is Blasphemous 2 worth playing if you liked the first?: Yes. Blasphemous 2 keeps the grotesque religious art and tough bosses while adding a dodge roll and three weapon paths, which makes the combat more flexible than the original. It is the natural next step before you branch out to the rest of this list.
Are these games like Blasphemous on Steam?: Hollow Knight, Nine Sols, The Last Faith, Salt and Sanctuary, and Ender Lilies are all on Steam. KUTO: The Lock of Time is coming soon to Early Access on Steam for Windows.

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Jul 18, 2026