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.

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.

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...

Pro:
-The soundtrack is perfection
-Lady Maria
-The First Hunter
-Atmosphere
-i think i died on ludwig the most in all of souls (second phase)

Cons:
-i prefer humanoid bosses and most bosses are beast
-30fps
-can't buy the dlc soundtrack

I've replayed it recently, got the dlc (i can't buy online so i bought the Goty edition, now i have two copies of this thing), and beat every single optional boss and area i missed in my original first blind playthrough.

It's ok, i don't dislike it anymore but i don't think it's great either.
My first playthrough was awful, i was having fun and then once i got to the shadow forest i hated everything, i was constantly disappointed by everything and was super bored. Now that i replayed it knowing what to expect i didn't have a bad time. It's just a very ok game.

With the exception of a few bosses i feel most of them are mediocre or bad, too many of them are too samey. None of the optional stuff i missed was that good either except for Logarius, that was one of the few cool fights in the game.

The dlc was a mixed bag, the hunter's nightmare was super fun, but it's bosses were just a bit above the average beast bosses in the game. More of the same, but EXTREME.

The research hall sucked ass, the first boss also sucked but at least the second one was pretty good.

Fishing Hamlet looked cool but the giant sharks were annoying. At least the final boss was fun.

I gave it a second chance because i wanted to love it like everyone else, now i think it's fine. Mission accomplished i guess?

I don't really feel like it's worth replaying, some weapons are kinda cool and i want to try them (i have to make a new playthrough for that because there's no respec for some reason so i'm locked out of like 90% of the fucking weapons and i didn't find any str weapons aside from the Kirk until the goddamn dlc) but i just don't give a damn about most of the bosses, they do nothing for me, and none of the areas are super fun either. I can count with my hands how many bosses i enjoyed.
And no, it' not because of a a skill issue, i beat most of them first try, and even those that were super hyped as hyper hard by the community like Maria or the Orphan went down fast (second and third try respectively). I don't believe difficulty makes a boss more or less fun by default, i really liked those two, i just felt like most bosses in the game are really fucking boring.

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

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.

Bloodborne is one of those games where you feel the urge to replay probably like twice a year. Its atmosphere and combat is just so singular in many ways, I've yet to find something that scratches the itch quite like this one.

Elden Ring is FromSoftware's magnum opus, but this is probably their most perfect game. It basically has no frills or bullshit, just straight up spellbinding for its entire runthrough.

Everyone knows the performance kinda sucks these days as it can really chug sometimes, but its not nearly enough where it sways me.

Goes on sale all the time, pick up the GOTY edition and it will be some of the best money you'll ever spend on games.