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Interview: Blasphemous 2 art director Enrique Cabeza
20.08.2023 - 18:59 / pczone.co.uk
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
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