Gothic metroidvania Blasphemous features some truly inspired pixel art

Call me vain, but looks are important - and good god is Blasphemous, a newly Kickstarted 2D metroidvania, a looker!

Having soared past its $50k Kickstarter goal in only a day, it's little wonder why. The retro 2D sidescroller's pitch trailer captures the sheer wonder and breathtaking horror that the Castlevania series reached in its heyday.

Sure, the pixelated sprites are a nostalgic callback, but Blasphemous' mesmerising scenery and inspired demon design is as grossly evocative as anything on the market today. Like Hyper Light Drifter and Superbrothers: Sword and Sworcery before it, Blasphemous uses its grainy medium to arouse awe in a way that would likely get lost in a more contemporary, representational aesthetic.

It has a decent pedigree behind it too, with developer The Game Kitchen's previous effort, The Last Door, being a fairly critically-acclaimed creepy point-and-click adventure. The question is whether those skills will translate to a real-time action game.

That could go either way, of course, and all we can do right now is daydream about the game Blasphemous might end up being. Right now, I'm happy to do just that. I mean, look at this thing!

At the moment Blasphemous is slated for a PC, Mac and Linux release, though if it hits enough stretch goals it will also receive a console release with PS4, Xbox One and Switch all on the docket.

Given its radical success so far, it seems very likely that this will happen. At the moment it's raised $63,789 with 28 days to go before its 21st June deadline.

Blasphemous is still a ways off with The Game Kitchen aiming for an estimated Q1 2019 launch. You can reserve a copy now for $20 (or your local equivalent).