To get us in the mood for taking on the role of The Penitent One for a second time, we spoke to the creative genius behind the art of the beautifully twisted world of Blasphemous 2.
This man would be Enrique Cabeza, Art & Creative director of Blasphemous 1 / 2 and The Last Door at The Game Kitchen studio.
Enrique’s game development journey started 16 years ago with his friend Mauricio – CEO of The Game Kitchen. The creative duo made their indie game breakthrough with their first successful project – the horror adventure game The Last Door.
The team’s second game – Blasphemous, was published by Team 17 in 2019 and was critically acclaimed for its distinctive pixel art aesthetics and brutal Metroidvania gameplay.
And soon, we will experience the sequel Blasphemous 2 with all its grotesque pixel glory and soulslike challenges.
What games are you loving right now?
Enrique Cabeza: Recently I’m replaying old hack & slash games like God of War, Ghost of Sparta (PSP) and Dante’s Inferno on XBOX Game Pass. Also Resident Evil 4 Remake, Demons’ Souls, Celeste. And today will start Final Fantasy XVI and try to finish it before Lies of P comes out.
What is your experience in creating art for video games?
EC: As I had previous experience in graphic and web design, my first job in video games was as a general UI designer, then I kept evolving as an environmental artist and developed skills as an art director.
I then became personally interested in pixel art as a hobbyist and so when we developed The Last Door, a small horror adventure game. I used the pixel art skills I had learned to create the art for the game.
I then continued to develop my skills until I made the first mockups for Blasphemous.
Was the decision to use pixel art for the Blasphemous games technical or artistic?
EC: I guess both. At the time we had no artists in the team and I had to develop my skills as a pixel artist to create the first mockups for a project that we could develop as small a team as we were at the time.
But it was also something that came naturally because we love this style of art.
Which artists and games influenced the art style of Blasphemous 1 and 2?
EC: The most obvious references might be games like the Castlevania series, and the Dark Souls series, but perhaps some of the biggest influences have been Ghouls n’ Ghosts, Demon’s Crest, and 3D games like the classics God of War and Dante’s Inferno.
And to try to be more original and make a space for ourselves in such a competitive market we decided to be inspired by the local folklore of southern Spain and from there we have filled the game with references to our culture, from painting and architecture to literature, theater, cinema, music, etc.
Were all the visual artists influenced by all the Italian masters, or were there also some unconventional choices?
EC: Actually, the game is not so much influenced by Italian artists, but by Spanish artists, and mostly from the south of Spain. There are exceptions, like for example the influence of the British Francis Bacon, but in general the influences come from Spanish artists like Francisco de Goya, Murillo and Velazquez.
How did you try to incorporate religious themes into the visual style of the games?
EC: As the culture of southern Spain is so closely linked to religion, these religious elements have been mixed with the artistic ones for centuries in a natural way. Actually here in the south religion is generally experienced as part of the culture and folklore and not in a purely religious way.
You have to be humble, patient, work hard, be very self-critical…
Did you change the approach to the artistic style for the sequel?
EC: Not too much. Although we learned a lot from the development of the first Blasphemous we didn’t want to change it too much as it is something that is absolutely unique to the game.
It’s also an aspect that both we the developers and the fans of the game like and we didn’t see any need to change this aspect too much.
What are you most looking forward to from the reception of Blasphemous 2?
EC: I hope that players will find the game fun, full of possibilities, addictive, and that they will fill the forums talking about the discoveries they find.
What advice do you have for those who want to make art for video games?
EC: I think that one of the most important things is that they learn about the evolution of the art of videogames from its inception.
That they learn about the great variety of types of art that continue to emerge, that they analyze them and understand what each one expresses.
Also that they understand the technical reasons behind each artistic style. Another very important aspect is that they develop their criteria, without criteria and without self-criticism it is difficult to evolve to be a good video game artist.
It is crucial that they know how far they can go based on their abilities and where they are in their careers.
You have to be humble, patient, work hard, be very self-critical, develop criteria to know if you are taking steps in the right direction and above all learn from the great video game artists in history.
What awaits your team after Blasphemous 2?
EC: I can hardly speak of them. Right now we are really focused on the release of Blasphemous 2 and the reaction of the players. We’ll see what the future holds for us.
And there you have it, sinners – biblical revelation straight from the brain-box of an amazing pixel artist and game developer – Enrique Cabeza. Blasphemous 2 is out on the 24th of August on Steam for PC, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch and Xbox Series S/X.
