I noticed that this game recently got an update that adds the main character of the game I'm playing as a crossover, and I noticed it's on sale right now (anyone have a link to the sale page?), so I am wondering whether I should get it.

However, I do have some questions and concerns:
* I use Linux, and apparently there's a Linux build, but not on GOG. Does the Windows version run well in WINE? (Note that getting it from that other store isn't an option because I have a strict no-DRM policy.)
* How are saving and death handled in this game?
* I heard they added an 8-bit arcade with the recent patch. How easy is it to access? (In particular, how much of the main game has to be played through it to access it?)
* How does the game difficulty compare to Hollow Knight, or to Bloodstained?
* How is healing handled?
* What's the level cap? (If this question doesn't make sense, explain why.)

Blasphemous is good! Now with that out of the way, the recent update added a bit more content, more polish and details.

Miriam is present in the second half of the game, introducing you to a set of challenge rooms (think tight level design of Volgarr, but now under a timer to get through various traps and hazards - or HollowKnight's path of pain). It's not some huge content btw, not like one chapter of a game or smth.

The 8bit mode is pretty much like an easter egg I reckon, it's a small segment in 8bit style. I've enjoyed it, gave me a chuckle and I would say it's well made...it really hooked me and I wished for more. You can access the zone it is in quite early in game, but iirc it requires one relic to be able to jump there...and I forgot how far into the game you get that one.

It's weird that linux version is not on gog too, but I dunno how well it runs under wine.

Game kinda autosaves during important events, like talking with npcs after you give em some item or finish their quest, beating bosses and also by resting at shrines (think bonfires of dorksoulz). Death is handed the same way... you die, you drop a ghost of sorts with your tears on it (iirc not all of them though, except in one of the challenge modes in ng+). I would say that death is considerably less punishing than in dorksoulz.

Difficulty-wise, I would say it's kinda like Hollow knight, although with recent updates we also got stronger items/boosts, so the vanilla course might feel slightly easier now. Game world feels smaller but more detailed and concentrated than HK's, but the style is different ofc...this one is grim and I really adore it for that. I mean you look at it and you should know whether it speaks to you. It has that oldschool goodness and honesty to it too.

Healing is handled the way that our hero smashes a bile flask on his face/helmet. Restores hp (except in one of the challenge modes in ng+), you can find more flasks which you later fill to be able to use. Also you can upgrade their potency since the first expansion/update.

There are no level-ups, but you improve your hp, fervor(mana) and number of rosary bead slots a set couple of times, where you can store various beads you find, giving you passive bonuses and altering your abilities.

Now it's your turn. Please tell me how BLoodstained is compared to HK for example, since that seems to be our common denominator.

Does GOG's version of Blasphemous have both the "Stir of Dawn" and "Strife and Ruin" DLC's?

It sounds like Blasphemous might be the same subgenre of Metroidvania as Hollow Knight. Bloodstained, I would describe, as being in a different subgenre, one which it shares with Castlevania: Symphony of the Night (and the other Igavanias), Timespinner, and perhaps even Dust: An Elysian Tail.

Bloodstained has only manual saves. There are save points where you can regain your HP/MP, and have the option of saving in the save slot of your choice (and the game provides a lot of them, more than you'd realistically need, as I find that 1 slot per playthrough is enough). If you die, you get a game over screen, then a loading screen, then you are right back to where you just saved. You lose everything since that save, but nothing from before the save. (I far prefer this save system to Hollow Knights.)

Difficulty-wise, the game unfortunately suffers from a bit of an inverted difficulty curve. Normal is reasonable at the start, but it gets too easy later on. Hard is a bit rough at the start (the first boss is more difficult than a first boss should be), but gets manageable (though you still need to watch your HP) later on (excluding a certain boss who uses an instant death attack that appears to be undodgeable). Nightmare is even harder than Hard, and while I haven't played that much, is likely to remain difficult until you start getting the big lategame boosts and abilities. (I'm thinking that Nightmare might be designed for New Game +, to be honest.)

Aside from healing at save points, you heal by opening the menu, going to your inventory, and using a potion or food item. Each type of food also provides a permanent boost the first time you consume it. There are a few shards that appear later that allow for healing, but they tend to be weak (though maxed out Regenerate is nice).

The level cap, I believe, is 99 on Normal and Hard, but a typical player will reach about half that by end game. On Nightmare, you are capped at level 1, which is one reason that mode is much harder. You can also get permanent stats through food, as well as via the HP/MP/ammo max ups found throughout the game. (Ammo is used for guns; the first one is found early, but they do not dominate this game, plus you always have an infinite supply of weak bullets if you need them.) There's also plenty of equipment to find, buy, or craft in the game.

Also, enemies will sometimes drop shards, which provide you with various abilities, including MP-using attack spells and passive boosts. (Some shards, usually from bosses, open up movement options allowing access to more of the map.)

One thing to note is that the game has an extensive, perhaps too extensive, item crafting system. There is the nice fact that, once you've made an item once, it appears in the shop, but then the shop inventory gets huge later in the game, and money is scarce in the early game.

Classic Mode doesn't use 8-bit graphics, but it instead plays like the original Castlevania, except that you have most of the moves from Rondo of Blood's Richter (but no item crashes). There's a code to turn on 1986 mode, which restricts your moveset to that of Castlevania 1. The mode is about as long as the original Castlevania, and it's a nice tribute to it, and a change of pace if you're tired of the Metroidvania gameplay. (It's also a separate menu option.)

Yes, gog version does come with both Stir of dawn & Strife and ruin updates, so it's on par version-wise with e.g. steam. Stir of dawn originally lagged behind in release here on gog compared to other platforms, but Strife and Ruin was released on time with the rest... so it was nice to play it right away.

Cheers for the good infos, I appreciate!
You are right, Blasphemous is closest in gameplay and mechanics to HK from all the mentioned games, although I didn't play Timespinner myself. It's the same in terms of upgrades where you just slot in relics (charms), you have only one weapon that you can upgrade by visiting certain altars that also unlock/upgrade various combat skills. There is also a ranged attack, plus you can charge your sword to shoot a shockwave - it's one of those unlockable skills, plus some beads offer additional waves under certain conditions. However there's no crafting or real inventory management like in rpgs to speak of. There is a traveling vendor that sells empty flasks/relics/beads/keys for tears (think souls in dorksoulz). Those you get from beating up enemies, bosses and completing tasks, finding collectibles etc.

With recent updates, the game gets more streamlined in places I feel where people complained previously. I didn't mind for example that in the early version you could fail a sidequest and miss its reward. I mean if an npc says that he is dying and wants to get one item before it's too late, then I would get to it right away. But people wandered to the other direction, beaten up some bosses there and when they came back, the npc was dead and they were angry that they failed the quest. It's wasn't strictly timed, but tied to beating bosses in other locations. Iirc now even if he dies, he drops the item or smth like that... Or they updated one quest that was apparently way too obscure for some to figure out (you have to equip certain relic at a specific spot, etc). But they are mostly QoL tweaks and changes. Personally I would like to have it even more obscure, it's rewarding to figure these things out on your own, or when you discover something new. But I certainly wouldn't say that Blasphemous is one of those hand-holding titles.

Regarding those saves, Blasphemous also has 3 separate save slots for 3 different playthroughs. The game gets saved only in your current saveslot then as you progress (i.e. you don't get to alternate between slot 1 and 2 during one playthrough), and after finishing your run, you can decide to keep playing and finish the rest of content + beating the final boss anew, or ascending that saveslot into ng+. I think it saves automatically on those keypoints, because one can see the icon spinning at the bottom right corner, but I'm always saving manually by touching the shrine before I quit, oldschool way just in case. Also there is a fast-travel and one way is exactly the same as in dorksoulz - warping between bonfires (so here you warp between lit shrines), so the game saves then too.

The only extra mode so far is the bossrush mode, accessed via main menu. I only wish that the 8bit mode in Blasphemous was longer, or if there was some spin-off game in similar vein. Those 1986 and classic modes in Bloodstained sounds like fun to me though!

I really dislike permanent missables, so if they made that quest no longer permanently missable, that would be a good thing.

By the way, I noticed that there's apparently an Accessibility option on the menu. Do you happen to know what options are contained under it? If you like Castlevania: Symphony of the Night or any of the other Igavanias, I highly recommend Timespinner, as it's very similar to those games (albeit with a bit of time travel, where you explore the same world in 2 different eras).

Well there is always ng/ng+ now, so ppl could try different approach next time. The game itself is not super long content-wise, but I understand that not everyone is like me and would replay the game multiple times for ~100hours.

Accessibility tab in the options has the following: controller vibrations on/off, screen shake on/off, achievements pop-up on/off.

Others tabs offer the usual settings, new are those retro crt filters. Noteworthy is that spanish voiceover, they did stellar job with it imo - I did my last full clear with it + english subs for a change. There is also skin selector, where you can choose all the unlocked skins after completing various things in-game, etc.

Thanks for the recommendation, I will try to check Timespinner out... although I should get Bloodstained too, I reckon ;)

Does the Blasphemous map system update when you get to a new area? Or do you have to find a particular NPC to update it like in Hollow Knight?

It autoupdates on its own when you visit new rooms, pinning important spots with markers. You can also place custom markers on the map yourself, similar to HK past certain update iirc.

Thanks for the info!

I decided not to get this game, at least for now. The terrible save/death system ended up being the deciding factor.

I'm a big fan of both Hollow Knight and Bloodstaind, and I think you should reconsider - it really isn't that bad (though I understand they have made some changes with the latest update, which I admittedly haven't really tried yet), and the game is awesome.

It's still my biggest complaint about Hollow Knight, and Blasphemous didn't seem to have enough to grab me otherwise. (In particular, the soundtrack doesn't seem to measure up to Hollow Knight's or Bloodstained's, and there's also the fact that the main character appears to be male, as opposed to Bloodstained's female protagonist or Hollow Knight's genderless one.)

(Also, I seem to have gotten burend out on Bloodstained, and am thinking I may want to play something slower paced, like replaying the remake of Final Fantasy 3 or SaGa 2, or going back to Nox Archaist; it should be obvious why Blasphemous would not be able to fill that role.)

Whoaa! I think you did good not getting the game then, from what I read. If the aesthetics, theme, music and not even gameplay elements interests you enough, it's for the best this way. It's quite grim and metal, its spanish roots are ever present in every single facet of this game too. The main character is The penitent one (of silent sorrow) and never speaks. Women were allowed in that covenant, for there are female corpses with the same helmet in some cutscene. So I roleplay and imagine the penitent one as a strong male mc going through a brutal pilgrimage against all odds, but others mileage might vary.

Hope you find something to chill out to. I know what burnout from a genre feels like, just recently went through 330hours of Yakuza0 and didn't feel like playing Yakuza 1 right away for obvious reasons.