Yes I finally played Bloodborne, after all these years. I wanted to play this game for years but for some reason I never did. I always liked the art style whenever I watched my friend play it or when I watched a video of it. Now that I played it , I can say for sure that I absolutely adore the aesthetics and the art style even more.
But about the gameplay? It's great, I like the different type of weapons and how you play them. On top of that you get the satisfying soulslike formular which is only interrupted by a few problems that stop Bloodborne from becoming a masterpiece. The first thing is the technical aspect of the game. You clearly feel that it's locked on 30 FPS and that was a problem in the beginning 'cause the gameplay and movement is so fast. But I got used to it after playing for few hours and at the end it wasn't that big of a issue anymore. The bigger problem for me was the design of a few bosses, namely every boss which used fodder enemies. I absolutely hate that kind of boss fights, doesn't matter which game, it's such a lazy way to make a boss fight harder. The other thing was Micolash, I mean really? A boss that runs away and also has fodder enemies. Whoever thought that this was an interesting or cool idea, please just stop. It was just boring, not fun and wasn't even difficult. But the hardest enemy was by far the camera. The amount of times that I died in the beginning due to the camera doing a 180 was hilarious. My dual sense controller also started drifting, so that means the camera flipped to one direction because of Bloodborne and then in the other direction due to Sony saving money on the controller, yea that was fun...I also didn't like the health potion system and the fact that you have to farm health potions. I enjoyed the flask system in Elden Ring a lot more. Oh and chalic dungeons are annonying as hell, Yharnam Pthumerian Queen will be fun... Other than that, I really liked the enemy design and the story was subtle but captivating. World & leveldesign are expertly executed. I love running down the dark, abandoned alleys and that I never knew if there was a beast lurking around the next corner which created a great atmosphere. Overall I'm really glad that I finally played it because Bloodborne is now my favorite game from Fromsoftware. As a big fan of anything horror related the aesthetics and the art style are right up my alley and I'm already on my way to unlock the platinum trophy. I will probably remember this experience for a while because Bloodborne is a freaking bloody good game.

Games I finished 2023 ranked

Sony's first party games ranked

Absolutely fantastic game. So much attention to detail in everything from enemy placement to lore details to characters, just like the other Miyazaki games. The increased healing items and rally mechanic let the player play much more aggressive and loose than dark souls, and lets the bosses themselves be more vicious and faster than other souls bosses. Not every boss is a winner, but the vast majority of them are well designed. They feel like dances between the Hunter and the boss in the best boss fights.

I've had divergent experiences with Bloodborne every time I've played it. The first time, I found it aggravating; the second, I found it transcendent. This, my third, felt like a mix between the two. Bloodborne is a flawed game, and in some ways endlessly frustrating. But those flaws rise from its ambition, as one of the biggest swings a developer has ever taken.

I cannot identify a game with better level design than Bloodborne — the way its world interlocks with itself, transforming space and using verticality in a way that never makes sense until its moments of sudden clarity. But with that comes constant friction — some that works (fast-paced, hard-hitting combat), and some that really, really doesn't (needing to grind for healing and essential consumables). It's so deflating to lose a high-octane fight and realize that, rather than taking it on again, you need to spend 20 minutes grinding instead. With that, Bloodborne contains some of the worst, most boring bosses Fromsoft has ever made — and several of their best. The Old Hunters, Bloodborne's DLC, is a masterclass in game design. Narratively and aesthetically, it's a brilliant piece of cosmic horror that takes the genre's history of racism and xenophobia and uses that as fuel for a story about how the humans at its core — insular religious orders and guilds of hunters and cults of violence — are far more terrifying than anything its alien "Great Ones" ever do. On a visceral level, it still manages to make me jump — even though, next to something like Elden Ring, its performance issues are deeply frustrating.

But for me, Bloodborne's flawed ambitious are most clearly embodied in the chalice dungeons — an entire system that locks many of the game's most powerful combat options behind procedural generation and a series of quasi-roguelite dungeons. The chalice dungeons are entirely optional — and before this playthrough, I'd never engaged with the "root" chalices (i.e., the truly randomized ones). After running through all of them in this playthrough, at least one of each root, I can see in them the core of games like Returnal and Prey: Mooncrash, and occasionally, they're revelatory. But more often they're just frustrating. And that's Bloodborne — the power hitter of video games, unafraid of striking out in search of home runs.

I recall getting my PS4 Pro on a frigid winter evening. I was attending my grad school introductory course when I received a notification that my recent Black Friday purchase has arrived. The problem was that my apartment was located at an open courtyard rather than a covered building and Game Stop just so happened to ship the package without a box, meaning anyone could come and see a fresh expensive piece of hardware just hanging out unattended. I got permission to leave class, place the box into my apartment, and return. This only took about 10 minutes as I lived across from the campus, but it was an unsettling feeling to have a commodity I yearned for just left out as if it was nothing. I do not remember anything about the console's setup or my first impressions of the Sony interface. However, I do remember my first trip into the PS4 library and perhaps played its best offering. My first game was Bloodborne.

Bloodborne is a peculiar game. Like my PS4 abandoned in the cold, Bloodborne has seemingly been forgotten by its publisher. Fans want, if not demand, a PC port that has not even been teased while other Sony exclusives have graced the platform (with mixed performance, but extending a series to a new audience is always a good move). It is a shame because Bloodborne is one of the best games on the console. It is one of the best games on any console, maybe even the best game I have played. It is, as far as I recall, the only game I played to "completion" as I have a platinum trophy sitting on my digital mantle. I completed at least two complete playthroughs, one utilizing strength and another focused on dexterity and blood lust. I think I even completed a New Game Plus cycle, but my memory is too hazy to trust. What I can trust is the memories of playing a truly amazing game.

FIrst, Bloodborne perfected the Souls model. I have been with the series since I bought Demon's Souls used as an impromptu birthday gift and I have since played every game except for Sekiro (which will be topping my post-thesis-completed gaming list). I do not think Bloodborne is as revolutionary as Demon's or even Dark Souls, but I do believe Bloodborne is at the peak the FromSoftware design for two key reasons: its fantastic combat and the sheer vitriol of its bleak setting and atmosphere.

Bloodborne wants the player to attack first and think second, at least at first. I remember having to adapt to the speed of the game which sprints past the slower pace of previous "Souls" games. Bloodborne is not as fast as games like Bayonetta or Devil May Cry, but the game has a momentum that works perfectly for its intended goal. Fore I lied; the game does not want you to attack first, it wants you to be methodical in movement. It just wants you to be quick with your theories. Some bosses are tight races between two opposing health bars, where a well-planned pistol shot can be the sole factor of your unlikely survival. Other fights are dances with danger; waltz that reward delicate steps that circle past the swing of a club or the blaze of a kindled sword. Bloodborne does not want you to button mash, but it also does not want you to wait too long between attacks. Its unique style switching mechanic mixed with the projectile parry work together to keep you agile and strategic. I fondly remember ringing my bell to support fellow hunters fight foes for hours even against my least favorite enemies. Now, I would be lying if I said all bosses and combat encounters are perfect; I have my issues with the moonlight monster housed in the DLC for example. However, the game truly feels fair throughout as you have everything you need to succeed. And you will need every hunter tool available to survive this eternal night.

Bloodborne's world has a strong presence from the moment you are introduced to the infamous hunt. The darkness of the story fills out an already dire world. The influence of plagues are as relevant as the twisted horrors which hide behind the cursed curtain of madness and together they craft a realm that you want to explore just as much as you want to escape. Souls lore is hit or miss for me; the dark fantasy tropes are not as compelling as those of the cosmic. I am enamored with the intense imagery of the incomprehensible . The insight mechanic is an ingenious way to present information to the player. Just as your sense of security dwindles as each fog gate and boss arena leads to a new place of challenge, your hunter gains bits of knowledge that intrigues the player to move forward and see what new monstrosity lures atop a snowy castle or trapped in an endless nightmare. I also appreciate the experimentation of subtle femininity seen within the narrative, as YouTuber Honey Bat notes in her video essay "Viscerally Feminine." Concepts related to birth are not often touched upon in games, and it is rare to see otherwise non-feminist stories handle the discourse in a manner grotesque yet gentle. Overall, Bloodborne presents a macabre masterpiece worth pushing through.

Reminiscing over this game has developed a desire to replay, yet the strength of title's place in the PS4 library is also its major weakness; the game struggles to meet its full potential on the console at its current iteration. The game simply runs bad. Not unplayable, and I do not remember the game suffering as much of PS3 Blight town did, but we cannot pretend the game is not hindered by its inconsistent frame rate and choppy visuals. Which leads to a question previously mentioned; why is there no updated port of this game? It is not inaccessible, so I am not worried as a preservationist about the game's future. But I am worried that this game won't receive the love it deserves through performance patches. I do not understand the PS4's technology, but I am sure the PS5 and most modern PCs can better handle the game. If not, fan modders will easily develop their own fixes as they have with other From titles (there is already an 60 fps fan patch for those brave enough to homebrew their system, so think of the possibilities of a PC community for the game). Microsoft struggles to be as relevant as Sony in terms of sales, but the company does take care to faithfully update and upscale older titles for their current hardware. I do not see why Sony is so opposed to doing so, as the existence of Dark Souls Remastered and other ports indicate From is fine with expanding their player base. I doubt this game will become obscure or forgotten, but time will tell if the game is treated as royally as some of Sony's other titles.

Bloodborne is a game I will revisit and I hope any readers are willing to attempt the game despite its difficulty which I recognize can be a deterrent. The game is not perfect: some encounters are not as well thought out as others, the game has an interesting but rough bonus dungeon system which underwhelms more than it excites, and mechanics like the blood gem system feel out of place with the otherwise solid weapon system. However, these are minor mistakes to me. The game, at its heart, hits every goal of a Souls game. It challenges but does not feel unfair. It presents lore strange enough to pursue. Finally, despite technical flaws the game just plays well. Bloodborne is a triumph of gaming. I hope Sony realizes that sooner than later.

What is there to say about Bloodborne that hasn't already been said? So much has been said about this game I feel like I agree with nearly all of it. It's a game where the modern FromSoft formula had been solidified but they still wanted to experiment with it and see what they could play with while still holding onto what makes a FromSoft game a FromSoft game.

A couple of notes before I get into it: my previous 'Souls-like' experience is the Dark Souls trilogy and Code Vein but not much else. I made sure to get the secret ending. I beat all the base game bosses and three of the five DLC bosses. This review doesn't have much coherent flow to it as it's just a rambling series of thoughts on various bits and pieces of the game. Please enjoy.

One thing I feel like I should note, is that I feel like the difficulty of the game has been somewhat overstated. Or, at the very least, like the talk around it is a bit misleading. This isn't some "oh this game is so easy" proclamation, not at all. Before playing this game, I had been lead to believe that this game was centered around using the gun to parry which, would've been a miserable time for me because I am absolutely terrible at parry timing in every game that has it. But, outside of a few select enemies, you can cruise through the game without ever bothering with parrying. I mostly used the gun for pulling enemies or getting a cheeky 20 extra damage in here or there. So while I thought this game was going to be ludicrously hard for me, it ended up being comparable to any of the Souls games.

One of my favorite parts of modern FromSoft games, and the 'Souls-like' genre as a whole, is the very special sense of exploration I get with these games. It's not just about visiting a new place and seeing what's there, but the specific feeling I get when I can look back and see how an area wraps around on itself or connects to other areas. I build this map in my mind of what it all looks like and how one area connects to another and the moment of realization when I open a new shortcut and figure out where I've just gone back to is unparalleled. It's one of my favorite feelings in games and is one of the biggest reasons I enjoy FromSoft's Souls games. Bloodborne absolutely continues that and while some of the areas felt relatively small, it still delivered time after time.

Something that perplexes me about Bloodborne, though, is how FromSoft looked at their games and decided to un-solve some problems. The first of these things is Blood Vials. I feel like with Dark Souls 2 they had kind of nailed the way limited healing worked. You had your Estus Flask changes that refill endlessly whenever you rest plus consumable healing. It was a good balance. Bloodborne is that but minus the Flask aspect of it so if you ever ended up in a position where you ran out of Blood Vials, then you had to either risk pushing on with no healing or backtrack and farm. And, to me, this sort of FromSoft game isn't about farming. Farming is never the solution. It may be beneficial and you could use it to get a leg up here or there but there never comes a time when you need to go farm something. It was a problem with the various healing grasses in Demon's Souls that they figured out better options for in the Dark Souls games and yet with Bloodborne they went back again. Normally I can look at something like this and see some reason why a developer might make this sort of change even if I disagree with it but in this case it feels like a step backwards for no benefit at all. It doesn't make for any interesting tension and just adds the potential for frustration. Just make the stash in the Hunter's Dream have infinite vials, problem solved. You maintain the limited healing but are never going to force someone to farm for more. A bizarre problem to re-add to the game.

On a related note, the way fast travel works is also a strange step backwards. It's a relatively minor thing, but having to travel to the Hunter's Dream and then to the lantern you want instead of directly from lantern to lantern is a bit tedious. And if you accidentally travel to the wrong place? May god have mercy on your soul.

On another, different, related note, I think there's a particular elegance to the flow of a FromSoft game. You know how I said you never really need to farm? I think it's pretty crucial to the way their games work. As long as you clear an area without losing too many Souls (or Blood Echoes or whatever) then you can probably level up and upgrade your equipment enough to safely move on to the next area without too much trouble. It's an important bit of design work that goes mostly unnoticed until you stop and think about it more.

The way Bloodborne encourages aggression is really fascinating. There's the obvious things they do such as the 'rally' mechanic of regaining a portion of your lost health by attacking after you've been hit or the lack of shields or heavy armor (and the one time you do get a shield, the description is a jab at the idea of blocking). But there are some other, more subtle ways they do it as well. What I found is that with quite a few of the bosses, there are attacks that it's better to move towards the boss rather than to try and back away or dodge out of danger. It's a minor thing but it's a very clever bit of design. They want you to push the attack and to be on the offensive and are looking at each aspect of the game and saying "how can we encourage this particular play style while still allowing people options?" It's very smart game design on their part.

Chalice Dungeons are an interesting idea that I found to be dreadfully boring. I like exploring areas. I like figuring out the weird lore. I like seeing interesting sights. So having a series of dungeons that are the same handful of tiles repeated over and over with little to no reward to them beyond more Blood Echoes is perhaps the most tedious thing they could've done. So even though I only did a few before I tapped out on those, I do hope they iterate on the ideas here in some way in a future game. I will say that I was surprised at how much unique asset work there was in those areas. The enemies, the areas themselves, and the bosses were entirely new from the base game. I was expecting it to be similar to the Depths from Code Vein where it was content from the main path of the game being recycled and remixed into little dungeons. So that at least was a welcome surprise.

Something that I was a bit surprised by was how, about halfway through my playthrough, I felt disappointed by the amount of items in the game and, more specifically, looting items off of enemies. In the Dark Souls games, getting an item drop from an enemy is always interesting. Maybe it's a weapon buff item or maybe it an upgrade material! Maybe it's a consumable item to heal a status ailment or maybe it's a new kind of hat! Sure, most of that stuff just gets thrown in a stash or sold for souls but a thing I like in RPGs is getting loot from stuff. Bloodborne feels like it really pared down the amount and variety of items in a way that makes a lot of logical sense, there is still an illogical part of me that is like "yeah but I like getting two dozen worthless swords".

A note about the DLC: Lady Maria is my wife and we were married atop the Astral Clocktower after she romantically ran me through with her sword and spilled my blood across the floorboards and left me there, bleeding to death.

More seriously, I really enjoyed how the DLC started off with an area that is familiar but also changed and how it plays with your knowledge of the area. My favorite specific example of this is at one point in that opening area, you find the building that is relatively early in the game that has an item on the ground and an old man in a chair that, when you pick up the item, he attacks you. You probably know the one I'm talking about. In the base game, you can go from that building to find a shortcut to a lantern. So when you get there in the DLC, you might think "oh, maybe there's a lantern near here, neat." And the thing is, there is a lantern nearby. But if you take the path that the you would in the base game, there isn't a lantern but instead there's a hunter who really wants to fuck you up. It's a great moment that only comes about because of how memorable the first area is and how the DLC plays with your memories of it.

The DLC definitely had one of my top moments. I got to the Living Failures fight and barely beat them on the first go in a very close fight. So to ride that high into the Lady Maria fight immediately after that felt great. I didn't care about how much she murdered me because it was such a stellar session of gaming to have those fights back to back like that. Incredibly fun pair of fights.

So, that's it. I'm happy to have finally checked this one off my backlog of games after staring at it sitting on my shelf for three or four years now. I'm not sure if I'll ever play it again (I rarely replay games these days) but I'm more than content with my time spent in the world of Yharnam and beyond.

I think this one is a four star game? It's damn close to five, though. Maybe my opinion will change with time as I think back on the game.

my very first ps4 game as it came with the box, i wasn't expecting anything from this as i thought this was actually an indie game. when i played this, i thought it had really good graphics then it turns out this was a souls game made by Fromsoft. the game actually scared me, i couldn't go past the plaza for about hours cuz i was over-leveling myself. then i came to love the game after beating Father Gascoigne to which I beat the game up to NG+3. this game is very unique, it has great material with Lovecraftian references and Victorian architecture which made the experience very fun and mesmerizing.

I got to say, as someone who didn't play any Souls games properly before, I was excited to play Bloodborne.
Just like in the Dark Souls games, Bloodborne's lore is told via environmental storytelling. Environmental storytelling might not be as engaging as linear storytelling but it enriches the game's world significantly. Thankfully enough, Bloodborne's lore is compelling even if it's ambiguous for the most part.
The gameplay surprised me a lot; it's faster than I expected, it feels very satisfying, the mechanics are great, there's a nice amount of unique items and the trick weapons are so goddamn badass, they're one of the coolest things in the entire game for me.
My favorite part of the game isn't the gameplay though, it's the haunting and frightening setting; Bloodborne's world is probably the best world I've seen in a videogame. It starts out as a gothic horror and it slowly transcends into a nightmarish cosmic horror, and on top of that, the level design and the music are just perfect.
The visuals are not necessarily impressive but they're very good nonetheless.
The bosses are challenging and rewarding, however, many of the bosses in the main game are somewhat easy and underwhelming in my opinion, but fortunately, the DLC makes up for it; The Old Hunters is essential to own if you enjoy playing Bloodborne because it features the best bosses in the entire game.
Now, while the gameplay is very enjoyable, the camera and the lock-on system feel a bit awkward, and farming for Blood Vials can be tedious at times.
Also, the frame rate is pretty inconsistent for the most part.

Pros:
+ Intriguing lore
+ Aggressive & diverse gameplay
+ Superb setting
+ Threatening and challenging bosses
+ Incredible level design and music
+ Amazing DLC

Cons:
- Flawed camera and lock-on system
- Blood Vial system
- Performance issues

Gameplay: 9/10
Content: 9/10
Music: 10/10
Graphics/Audio: 8/10

Final Rating: 10/10
- Masterpiece -
Bloodborne is fascinating, gorgeous and enjoyable yet terrifying, and that's why I fell in love with it!

Do I recommend it?:
Yes, but keep in mind, the DLC is must-own in my opinion.

I've heard tell of this being one of "the greatest PS4" exclusives for years so nothing like giving it a run through to confirm the hype surrounding it... loved this game, coming from DS1 there were a smorgasbord of fundamental gameplay changes between the two so the game easing you into the style of action/offensive oriented gameplay over DS1's more subdued defensive vibe w Father Gascoigne had me hooked from beginning to end

Old Hunters DLC was neat as hell too, Orphan of Kos and Lady Maria gotta be the two isolated best fights in the game to me

OO VENATOOOR
Beatus Sanctus
Bonum fati par dia.
Domus aeternus fiat morte
Erit sanguinem opulentuuum

This is Bloodborne, the best PlayStation exclusive in my opinion.
So, it was my first FromSoftware game and man, i loved it!
FromSoftware really nailed the atmosphere in this one, a combo of Gothic ,Victorian and Lovecraftian horror.
The soundtrack.. my God what a soundtrack.. its art, nothing else.
I gotta be honest though, The Old Hunters dlc is what makes this game a complete masterpiece. Its definitely one of the best DLCs ever.
Without this DLC this would still be a great game but it wouldn't be on this level.
The game itself was very easy, the easiest in the series (alongside Demon's Souls), no boss fight took me more than 5 tries, and it was my first FromSoftware game like i said.
Personally i dont want a remaster/remake, i'd rather have Bloodborne II but maybe we can have them both at some point.

really great game and dlc. i think it has my favorite lore of any fromsoft game and it has some of my favorite boss fights and locations.
i think there are a few minor issues though. chalice dungeons, while optional, are genuinely terrible and blood vials as a whole could've used a rework with more thought put into it. the not great character creation is a bummer and clothing options also left a bit to be desired compared to other fromsoft stuff, i found myself wearing the same armor the entire game because i didn't like the full sets of other stuff as much and most of the pieces don't really work great with others which is admittedly as minor of a complaint as you can get but it still bothered me.
otherwise though i really enjoyed my time with bloodborne and while i don't think it's the best game ever made i certainly understand the praise it gets, and it's a damn shame it's locked to the ps4. i can't imagine there are that many more people buying a ps4 to get bloodborne as there would be people who would buy bloodborne on pc, but who knows.

Bloodborne may be the best work Fromsoft has ever done. Tricky weapons, guns, atmosphere, locations, lore, cool outfits, great osts and many other elements make this game great in my eyes. This game, which I had the chance to play for the first time since its release, is like Fromsoft's unwanted child in my eyes. It is also painful that there is no remaster or at least an official 60 fps patch in the game, which has not received any updates since its release year and still has many bugs that working even today. The GotY version with Old Hunters DLC takes the game to a much better place. Fromsoft's DLCs have often been better than the main game, and Old Hunters is no exception. The DLC does a tremendous job as a DLC, with much better bosses than the main game bosses, great weapons, osts, and details that close many gaps in terms of lore, and it personally closes the short structure of the main game wonderfully. I have a hard time not deducting points from the game just because of the chalice dungeons, because you may have to play as many as 26 dungeons in identical locations to get just one achievement. In terms of difficulty, there are also dungeons where you have to play with increasing difficulty and even with a very low health bar in cursed dungeons. These parts are optional for achievement, but instead of doing these parts, there could be 1-2 quality locations in the main game and better quality bosses could be made. But these dungeons are important in terms of lore, so I guess they're not exactly unnecessary. In conclusion, Bloodborne is an excellent game due to many of the elements I mentioned at the beginning and may be the most valuable game as a PS Exclusive. Fromsoft needs to show some more love to this game, which has been completely forgotten and thrown aside since its release. I think we will continue to copium for the PC port and the next generation 4K 60 FPS patch for a while.

Coming back to Bloodborne after sinking a ton of time into Elden Ring completely cemented this as one of my favorite games of all time. Elden Ring is this maximalist take on a Souls game that jams just about everything you could ever want in one of those into it without a care for balance or progression, which is great in it's own right. However, Bloodborne's focus on tight, multi-layered level design mixed with the more action oriented mechanics (gun parries, rallying, trick weapons) makes my brain gush serotonin at a rate that very few other games can come close to. A primal urge to beat my chest like an ape rises up from the depths every time I parry a boss with my blunderbuss and rip their guts out - you can't get that feeling anywhere else.

When people talk about video games as an art form, and as a general storytelling medium, Bloodborne is the shining example of the potential for video games to exceed even the most critically acclaimed works of art in other mediums. In all the things I've ever seen, played, read or watched, I don't think I've ever felt so strongly about something that so heavily emphasises a "show, don't tell" angle. Not only one of the best games ever purely mechanically, but possibly the best world ever created in the medium. So dense, richly atmospheric and endlessly captivating that it becomes intoxicating. Years since I've beat this and it still never leaves my mind, Bloodborne is the thoughts of a genius stylised with Miyazaki's blood, sweat and tears. Perfection.

The Game of the Year Edition offers the definitive Bloodborne experience, The Old Hunters Expansion is a must-play if you own Bloodborne, and it elevates the game to new heights.

Bloodborne was my very first FromSoftware game, and having no prior experience from their past games I expected to have a hard time with it.

So did it live up to the hype? Yeah, I really enjoyed it, in fact at times I wanted it to be more difficult, but overall I think that it's fairly challenging, it knows when to punish you and it knows when to reward you.

I loved the gameplay, it's extremely fun with some creative mechanics, and the amazing trick weapons. The first area is quite rough but once you manage to understand how some of the mechanics work, then it's just a joy to play.

The worldbuilding is breathtaking, and the way the world changes when you have more insight is absolutely genius. There's a lot of content, exploring the different areas, uncovering secrets, finding shortcuts, interacting with the characters, completing side stories and taking your time with the game feels very rewarding.

The atmosphere is unrivaled, it's scary and haunting but also beautiful in a very dark way. I absolutely adore the Gothic-Cosmic Horror theme and the Victorian-era inspired architecture, possibly my favorite setting in any videogame.

The monsters look terrifying, some very interesting designs and nice symbolisms, I personally got to kill every single boss - even the optional bosses - and I really liked most of them, they require strategy and quick reflexes.

The Blood Vial farming is very obnoxious in the beginning, but it's not a big issue once you progress halfway through the game. Having to manage your resources becomes more of a secondary distraction, and the rally mechanic allows you to heal while playing aggressively.

Now, where the game disappointed me is the second half of the main campaign, the boss fights not only get progressively easier, but the quality of the game falls a little bit.

Also I want to point out that the lore is very intriguing and rich, full of mini stories, the way everything connects together is what makes it truly special.

Overall I genuinely enjoyed this game, it really is an exceptional experience, especially if you're a fan of the genre, it's pretty close to perfection.

Final Rating: "Excellent" ~ 9.5/10.

one of my favorite games of all time. Simply put this game is a masterpiece. No game or movie has been able to pull off cosmic horror close to how well bloodborne masterfully explores the genre. Gameplay is spectacularly designed to promote aggression which plays perfectly into the themes of the game. The way the world evolves as you gain insight and progress through the game is amazing. I could keep singing this games praises all day, if you haven't played this game yet a.) I'm jealous, wish I could play it for the first time again. and b.) what are you waiting for?

So, I like the Dark Souls games. However, I've also always been more of an aggro player in action games. I play anime fighters rather than Street Fighter. Dark Souls, for all of its strength, rewards a certain type of tactical carefulness in every encounter. If you see a new type of enemy then you generally want to keep your distance, circle strafe and hold up a shield to see what they can do first. None of this is bad, mind you, but it doesn't necessarily align with how I like to play these games.

In comes Bloodborne and says "Hey, that carefulness that you had before? SCREW THAT! RUN IN THERE AND KILL THEM! IF YOU GET HIT, HIT THEM BACK!" This is a style of play that I fundamentally enjoy more. Bloodborne encourages you to see a new kind of threat and respond to it by running in there immediately to start cutting them up. Right up in your opponent's face is often the safest place to be and this makes the game feel so dang good when you are doing well.

So, this was the purely subjective aspect of my love for the game. Some people prefer the slower, more deliberate, more careful style of play from Dark Souls but that isn't me!

On top of this, the worldbuilding continues the meta-narratives of Dark Souls by leaning fully into these themes of inversion. Where Dark Souls has its hero's journey, Bloodborne follows the steps but each step has its meaning inverted. The story makes it clear from the start that you are no hero. "Don't think too hard about all of this. Just get out there and kill some monsters. It's for your own good!"

The cosmic horror theming makes perfect sense for this conceit, meaning that even when you start to feel like you understand your role in it all, you are never completely sure. There's absolutely consistent elements and plot resolutions in there but they're rarely quite what you'd think that they'd be.

Overall, love it or hate it, Bloodborne is a game that sticks with you. Often times I'll find myself thinking back to some aspect of the game and find myself realising some new insight about that makes me like it even more, How appropriate...