Bloodborne (2015)

The best art direction I've seen in a game so far and by far the best story and lore in a FromSoftware-game as far as the ones I played are concerned. Regarding the story I was undecided with DarkSouls, Elden Ring I found not really convincing, but the story and lore of Bloodborne feel conclusive, intriguing and properly thought out.

It's a great adaption and a gift that someone adapted Lovecraft into a videogame in such a wonderful way. Meeting Amygdala on the roofs of Yharnam the first time was magical.

It's one of the best looking games out there, the armor and architecture design is simply icredible.

I will now say some blasphemy but I find the combat rather dull to be honest. Even with the parry system, transformation and visceral attacks, it feels like a simple hack and slay playstation action-gameplay. Very videogamy and straightforward in my opinion.

Also, it lacks milestone progression, making it even more like an action game with a minor rpg aspect, rather than a RPG with action combat. But maybe that is in this case because I played through it with the starting wepaon Saw Cleaver (which I love, by the way).

All in all great game, but with all the praise FromSoft has been getting the last decades, it's hard not to say it's overrated nonetheless.

This game was spectacular. I tried this game a few years ago but souls-borne games were still pretty intimidating to me. After I finished Jedi Fallen Order, I started to see the appeal of those games so I came back to Bloodborne. I played it on PlayStation NOW at first, Sony's competing streaming platform. I was pretty impressed with how little delay there was, but that's probably because I live in Chicago where Sony likely has a data center. The gameplay carried this game for me, because there is little explanation in terms of story throughout the game. After I completed the game, I wondered what the hell it was all about so I read about the story online. To be as spoiler-free as possible, if you are familiar with Lovecraftian horror, then you'll understand what's happening in the game.

I would describe the gameplay as brutal, but fair. The game is tough and you can easily die to some of the low level enemies if you're not careful. I beat the first boss in less than five tries, and I died about ten times to the second boss before I came up with a way to cheese the fight. The next boss that I faced though, blood-starved beast, was rough. I died 25 times before I finally looked at a guide, which I was desperately trying not to do in my playthrough. I wish I did way earlier though because I learned about the "visceral attack" which you can perform after parrying an enemy with your sidearm. The battle became much easier and I beat him in 3 more tries. That was the moment the gameplay clicked for me, and the game became addicting to play.

Since I briefly played Demon's Souls on PS3 back in 2009, I have long been skeptical of From Software even as the Dark Souls franchise and this game ultimately shot them to international fame and glory. I don't consider myself particularly good at video games, and I am a total scaredy cat when it comes to horror games, but Bloodborne received enough endorsement from the games writers I follow that I knew I had to take it seriously.

What really made this click for me in terms of design is that the world of this game is fundamentally similar to the 2D Metroid games I grew up playing. You may wander off into what seems like a mystery but you can always trust that the game brings you back home at some point. Once you let go of your perfectionism the real learning begins and at some point this game got its hooks in me much as it has with everyone else. But the real revelation was that its gothic horror world was really quite beautiful and compelling - much more enjoyable for me than something like Silent Hill or Resident Evil - because the aesthetic and the environmental storytelling are so cohesive as it slips into eldritch cosmic horror mode.

I still haven't played the Souls games but from what I understand the basic gameplay here is very fast moving and offense-based by comparison. The game's first "gatekeeper" bosses like Father Gascoigne and the Blood-Starved Beast require everything you have in those early moments to remain collected as you get brutally mauled for every misstep. Building stats is sort of opaque so I mostly focused on standard strength/defense - the game leaves a lot of room for improvisation, to its credit, but for newcomers it can seem like a lot of incomprehensible choices to make. I coped with the fear by again playing slowly and conservatively, and finding "safe" loops where I could practice my timing.

Which brings me to a surprising generic comparison: Bloodborne is essentially a rhythm game. Each enemy has somewhat predictable patterns and once you know them each level becomes sort of like a Guitar Hero track. You rack up blood echoes the same way you maintain multiplier streaks in any Harmonix game.

Eventually I was so obsessed with the lore in and around this game that I knew I wanted to see everything it contained, and set out to beat the Old Hunters DLC and get every trophy, which - I can't emphasize this enough - I had never, ever done with any game before. I will say I was not really into the labyrinth portion of the game (essentially side content), and used the tombprospectors subreddit to navigate it.

I could go on at greater length but the main takeaway I have for you all is: even though this game is "old," and is notoriously "difficult," you have proof from me that even a big softy who sort of sucks at games and has never been interested in Lovecraftian stuff before can find a lot to love in it.

Played PS4 digital version on PS5.

I've always been a sucker for gothic horror and this game includes near all forms of it. Even how the cut scenes are framed feel like something straight out of a German Expressionism film (introduction to Vicar Amelia or Cainhurst). This game exudes atmosphere from every pore and the transition from conventional gothic horror to cosmic horror was a genuine twist that I didn't see coming. With just one or the other the game could have still stood on its own, but the inclusion of both adds a thick layer of lore and intrigue that doesn't feel contrived. It creates a great sense of replayability since you can now appreciate the hints included in the game leading to the iconic moment when the veil is cast down.

The level design is some of the best. You can tell that Miyasaki had been iterating and improving from Demon's Souls -> Dark Souls - > Bloodborne. There are more maze-like inner looping levels with fewer bon fires and a greater focus on short cuts to create a sense of progression. There weren't any unconventional short cuts, like destroying the ghost armor in DS2, which is a bit unfortunate. The closest thing would be destroying the Mensis brain but that feels lackluster since you have already progressed well past the area where the brain was a meaningful mechanic. It's still an enjoyable lore moment and the entity is appropriately grotesque. There are far less shock moments with the shortcuts as well. What I mean in particular is the elevator in the Undead Parish leading back to the fire link shrine. The best reveal moment would be climbing the large ladder in the woods which leads to Isofeka's clinic. That said, it doesn't detract from the level design even if a potential shortcut is telegraphed well in advance such as the windmill in the forbidden woods. There are still some DS contrivances with doors only opening from one direction for no discernible reason. This could have been fixed with the inclusion of a key, but it's more of a quibble anyways.

A fair criticism to levy against level design is the repetition in Gothic Urban environments. A hefty chunk of the game will be you running around a city that vaguely looks similar. There are some great breakups, such as the Forbidden woods, Hemwick Charnel Lane (admittedly kind of similar to Forbidden Woods), Cainhurst (my personal favorite) or the Nightmare Frontier but compared to Demon's Souls or Dark Souls it is outclassed. What it lacks in variety it makes up for in quality and secrets. My first playthrough, while exploring thoroughly, I only managed to find about 3/4s of the bosses. I completely missed Cainhurst. it's interesting how much optional content was included in the game. I've also never done a dive into the Chalice dungeons, but people seem to enjoy their inclusion. I would like to see the concept expanded upon.

Like with Demon's Souls and Dark Souls, there is strong replayability due to build variety. That said, your options early game are severely limited which results in a bottlenecking of builds until you learn more about the world and game mechanics. For example, there isn't an arcane build you can start with like in DS. Perhaps this was done to better balance game difficulty? Overall, I don't think it was worth it. Even once you have mastered item placement and game mechanics, it can still be frustrating how long you need to wait to unlock your build's weapons. For example, the Burial Blade requires you to beat the final boss of the game.

There are some ways around this, such as using a Chalice dungeon, but it's a missed opportunity to not let players just start with any weapon they want, particularly if they have already beaten the game. On my recent playthrough I did a bloodtinge build which resulted in me feeling extremely underpowered until I got to Cainhurst. I ended up dying a decent amount to both Blood Starved beast and Vicar Amelia because my damage output was significantly crippled due to the weakness of my build until I beat Cainhurst. I would have loved to play around with the Bloodletter, but it requires you to almost beat all the DLC so it's better as a NG+ weapon like the Burial Blade.

My favorite bosses are the hunter (and Logarius) fights because they fully utilize and test the core game play. I get that these fights can be on the easier side (excluding Orphan of Kos) because you can parry spam and win, but that didn't bother me. They were the most satisfying and at their best felt like a duel to the death. I never found the giant flailing beasts to be as engaging since they played mostly like a Dark Souls boss. Thematically, there inclusion is more than worth it. I'm also a fan of the more unconventional bosses such as Rom, Mensis or the Witches of Hemick (this is probably a hot take). While the Witches are basically a buffed up version of normal mobs, the mechanic of constantly summoning minions does make the encounter potentially thrilling if you are under powered like I was. If you want a standard boss encounter, there are plenty of games that offer that. You don't get Maiden Astraea in other action games.

The main change in game play was to design combat around unbridled aggression. This was employed via the rally system, finite healing items and increased mobility compared to other games in the series. The finite healing system is controversial and when I first played the game I disliked it. It has grown on me over time, but I think Sekiro ended up doing it the best with a combination of farmable healing and rechargeable healing. While there are less weapons, each weapon was refined and made viable. The sheer amount of useless and redundant weapons in DS isn't better variety. Finally, the worst element of the game is the loading screens. While it was patched you will still spend a significant amount of time staring at the screen specifically given how you always need to return to the hunters dream to teleport or level...

Overall, this was a great game and my favorite in the series due to it's lore and atmosphere. Miyasaki started to push back against player expectation. Most of the design changes seemed to be implemented to punish players who would dodge roll to victory while naked in DS. Sekiro takes this further and in more interesting ways.

I'm surprised of the lack of any opposite review that doesnt circlejerk this game so i will offer one.

Technically speaking the game suffers from frame drops and issues which makes it very ugly to play because its a game that relies on fast action and reflexes and due to the frame issues this makes the combat worse than its (better) peers like Devil May Cry and Bayonetta and Nioh. Gameplay is only fighting ugly abominations, there's nothing else to it except fight fight fight go go go next level until the credits roll its called a role playing game but there is no role play other than hunt ugly abomination and hear them scream into your ears, it gets dull and boring after i finished the game i was very disappointment with it. Story and characters come off as spooky tryhard and pretentious, the game tries to act like its deep but there is no actual meaning of philosophy behind it its all smoke and mirrors, very bad and the way it tells this bad story is boring too.
Also am i the only one who thought the soundtrack for boss fights was loud and annoying? the music was really so loud and there is a lack for calm atmospheric music like hunters dream. Gameplay has little depth because the only thing to finish the game is fighting you cannot talk or stealth or do any other game style except for fighting which makes this role playing game very shallow. Another thing i dont like is the toxic community around this game its one of the worst fanbase i have ever seen, everyone thinks they are god gamers because they killed a boss, lol i finished harder games its just i didnt like this game deal with it.

The game handles woefully poorly, with often unresponsive controls particularly if you need to use a potion to heal yourself. It feels sluggish to play, which in a game that requires you to have fast reflexes just doesn't work well at all. This could be exacerbated by the awful framerate, which often can dip below the game's 30fps cap. 60fps would have been a much better framerate to aim for. Bloodborne removes all magic/miracles and replaces them with hunter tools. These uninspired tools are completely useless. Instead of a mana bar or a usage amount, Bloodborne's hunter tools utilize your quicksilver (QS) bullet stock . The problem is, you also use your QS bullets to parry enemies. So you are faced with the choice of using either a completely weak and utterly useless tool, or use your bullets for parrying... I'll use them for parrying. Instead of having dozens of weapons to choose from, From Software decided to go with a more stream-lined approach and decided to include 15 "trick" weapons. These trick weapons are pretty much just 2 weapon categories from the Souls series made into one weapon. For example, Bloodborne features the Hunter's Axe which is just a 1-hand axe and when transformed, is essentially a great axe (It's pretty overpowered). Some trick weapons don't even feature a transformation like the Tonitrus and the Chikage, they feature a buff making them nothing more than a mace and a katana (respectively) from Demon's Souls/Dark Souls. These weapons can be modified with blood gems which are dropped by enemies or found in chalice dungeons (more on that later). The effects of these gems vary from adding fire damage to your weapon, adding poison damage, increasing physical damage, etc. At the end of the day you'll end up using whichever gem you have in your inventory is the best, making this game mechanic essentially useless. Chalice Dungeons are randomized dungeons that supposedly offer replayability... I found them to be a complete drag (Not to mention the framerate is consistently lower in chalice dungeons than it is during the course of the main game). You will receive a chalice from defeating a main game boss which you can then place on an altar in the hub world (Hunter's Dream). Your first set of chalice dungeons will not be procedurally generated, you can only access those through the use of what is called a root chalice. The dungeons will vary with different handicaps and difficulties, but ultimately they all look the same and play the same. I slogged my way through them to earn the platinum trophy.

Bloodborne's boss design is atrocious. The majority of the bosses are giants that have sweeping attacks, and there is 2 optional bosses that are nearly identical, on top of that adding the awful camera. Such an overrated game, Bloodborne was a huge disappointment, Fromsoftware games are not for me.

First off it is important for me to say how insanely happy I am that I one day went to the store and made the rather spontaneous decision to buy this game. I only ever heard that this game was hard, good and the score was incredible. I had never played a Souls-Like game before so this really was the first experience I ever had and oh boy am I glad this all happened.

There is so much praise I want to give this game but I think I need to start with the bosses! The lovecraftian style in which most bosses are designed is mindblowing. They look authentic in the world that has been set up and it really feels like these things exist in that world. Secondly, I know that this was the thought behind the design of the bosses, but it feels so incredibly good to beat a boss for the first time, learning with every death how to imporve on mistakes.

Accompanying those bosses is a beautiful and haunting soundtrack! There isn't really anything I can add of much depth as I am not the most knowledgable guy on music, but I can tell you that you need to buy the soundtrack or listen to it seperately as these tracks are simply so enjoyable. And in addition, they suit every boss that they are made for, making you feel more included in the game as you thought was possiblee for a game in which you defeat basically gods.

The final thing which I feel like I should mention is that, although I needed much help from the internet, the lore in this world is very compelling and the world design only adds to the depth of it. The first thing I did after finsihing the game was read up on the lore and what every bosses role in it was and how everything was connected and I have to say, further knowledge of the game's lore only improves it by a lot.

I don't think anything I can say and no amount of praise will really do this game justice. You simply need to experience it for yourself!

Bloodborne is a good game. You know this already. What more could I add to the conversation?

Well, the world design is superb. Combat is fun and rewards fast, aggressive play. The overarching story is weird and impenetrable, but the lore and flavor text are both excellent.

There are highs and lows like any game, but there's really no blemishes here. The worst area is still better designed than what you'd find in most other games. The most boring weapon is still more fun to use than most action RPGs.

Anyway. Like I said, you know it's a good game. People aren't lying! Believe them. Play this game.

and buy the DLC

Find your Zen, achieve Nirvana, or otherwise get your head in the right space, because it's time for Bloodborne. Playing a "Souls game" requires a mental preparation unparalleled in most other game experiences I undertake. In recent weeks I can't say I was in the right space to play Bloodborne, but after seeing some initial impressions, I MADE myself get in the right space. I wasn't missing out on this one. There's a special experience to playing a Souls game (I don't know how else to refer to them) when it's new. I never played Demon's Souls, I came to Dark Souls pretty late, and I waited for the PC release to play Dark Souls 2. As such, I had never played one of these games during the magical discovery period. There's a brief window of time when the internet hasn't solved all the riddles the game has to offer. I wanted in on that.

I definitely got what I wished for, and the result was initially very frustrating. Over time, however, that frustration built into satisfaction and an immense feeling of triumph. There are some key fundemental differences to Bloodborne from previous games, but the ultimate hurdle is just getting yourself back in the groove of things, which admittedly took me several hours.

"Ladies..."

The big talk coming into Bloodborne was the removal of shields. The Dark Souls games heavily featured shields, and I certainly used one at all times as the ultimate safety blanket. I probably wore out my left shoulder button by having that shield up at all times. While many will say playing with a shield wasn't the "true" way to play Dark Souls, those people can kindly crawl back up their own ass. The Souls games were about finding the playstyle that suited you the best. If shields work for you, go ahead and use them. Bloodborne isn't about that. Bloodborne is about mastering the playstyle they've pre-determined for you.

Everyone in Bloodborne will be using the same weapon set with a couple variances. You'll be using a gun in your left hand, and a trick weapon in your right hand. Guns are the closest analog to a shield, being primarily used to stagger opponents to follow up with a counter-attack. The trick weapons are really cool, and provide some neat diversity in your playstyle. My weapon of choice was Ludwig's Holy Blade, which was a standard sword that fit into a massive scabbard which was actually also a sword. Being able to switch between a smaller, faster weapon and a massive claymore was really handy. Other examples of trick weapons include a cane that turns into a whip and a saw-cleaver that is essentially a massive switchblade.

Everything is pared down and simplified on the weapons and armor side. There's only about a dozen weapons in the game, so it's less about finding new weapons and more about upgrading and mastering your existing weapons. It's very plausible that you'll fight the game's final boss with the same weapon you fought the first boss with. Armor is also simplified. There's not really an element of armor weight. Your character moves at the same speed regardless of what they're wearing. Rarely is a set of armor a straight upgrade from any other gear. Instead, the armor specializes in certain defenses and resistances. Picking the poison resist gear in the swamp will certainly help, but there's no Havel's Armor equivalent on offer here.

You can wear this helmet/cage if you're so inclined.

As is often the case for me, I found Bloodborne started really hard and actually got easier over time. I had a great deal of difficulty with the very first boss and ended up summoning in another player to help me past it. I beat the second boss on my own, but it took quite a few tries. After that I settled into a groove where I finished most of the remaining bosses in 1-3 attempts. It really is an amazing feeling the first time you defeat a boss in one try. I did actually have quite a bit of difficulty with the last boss, but bosses 3-9 or so went down with little trouble for me.

In terms of ranking this game I can't help but feel that it's somehow lesser than the Dark Souls games, particularly the original Dark Souls. Namely, I can't think of many good reasons to want to replay Bloodborne. When playing Dark Souls I would do one run as a spellcaster, one as a heavy armor/2-handed player, and maybe one as an archer/katana player. Sometimes Id' get one of the special boss weapons like the Moonlight Butterfly Horn and play through with that. I just don't see that level of variety in Bloodborne. I know there's a lot of debate about the removal of shields, but to me their absence is just symptomatic of a larger issue: lack of variety.

If you've seen one creepy, evil, murderous statue you've seen them all, really.

Still, Bloodborne continues a trend of immersion, and in my case obsession with this series. I'm absolutely absorbed in these games while playing them, and they harbour discussion among my other friends currently playing the game that few other franchises do. While there is a bit less variety to Bloodborne than Dark Souls, they did a great job building a cool and challenging world. At the end of the day, Bloodborne probably isn't as good as Dark Souls, but is probably a bit better than Dark Souls 2, a position that still qualifies it as one of my favourite games in recent years.