Back in Junior High, I had this duo of friends who would not stop talking about Dark Souls whenever we were at our table at lunch. Dark Souls 2 had just come out and they were obsessed with it. This is the first time I ever even heard of Dark Souls, and with them always nerding out about it, it did intrigue me a bit. Fast forward to March 2017, I had just gotten a PS4 a couple months prior and I was itching to get into all these types of games I never did before. On a whim I decided to pickup both Dark Souls III and Bloodborne. Boy was that timing perfect, because the next day it snowed big time and it wouldn't let up for like an entire week so I was playing Dark Souls III nonstop. A couple weeks later I then moved on to Bloodborne. I love Dark Souls III, as you know from my reviews of that, but Bloodborne especially really captivated me. I ended up beating it months later during my thanksgiving break I think (sadly getting the bad ending and missing out on the final boss) and thought it was really great. Fast forward again to like March 2019 I think? I on a whim felt like playing Bloodborne again. I really sucked at first, struggling immensely with Gascoigne, but once I got the hang of it again, I honestly had an absolute blast and knew it would be one of my favorite games ever. The platinum and several playthroughs later, here we are and yeah it's back in my top 5 again.

The very first thing the drew me into the game, and I honestly think it's hands down the best aspect, is the Gothic-Horror Lovecraftian aesthetic and the art design as a whole. It's my absolute favorite aesthetic in any game next to Automata's post-apocalyptic world. That's like one of the main reason's I rate this game so highly tbh, it carry's so hard imo. From Central Yharnam, to Cathedral Ward and even something like Nightmare Frontier, I don't dislike any area's aesthetic. Cainhurst is the absolute highlight, just exploring a creepy gothic castle while it's snowing outside...hoo baby. Like even something like Byrgenwerth, which is absolutely tiny, is an area I like going to everytime because of the seaside aesthetics. Plus it's really lore important which is rad.

Speaking of lore and the story of the game, it's the absolute best in the Soulsborne series imo. It just makes the whole world feel so alive, first starting off with basic stuff like the hunt and then eventually delving into cosmic horror by the end. I was never too into Dark Souls lore ever but this game? Yeah I'm totally into it, the horror aspect just intrigues me way more.

Next in the combat and yeah it's a total blast. Instead of hiding behind a shield like in Dark Souls, you're totally defenseless and can only rely on your dodging skills. That may seem like it's tougher, and yeah it is but it rewards you for being super aggressive. The rally system allows you to get some HP back for a short time after being hit which means you can be more risky when fighting enemies. I just find this combat system way more fun than the souls games personally and is another reason why this is my favorite. To go along with the combat, you of course have the weapons. Unlike the souls games, Bloodborne has a much smaller batch of them but I think that's much in the games favor. Every weapon is viable and every weapon is memorable. That paired with the transformation mechanic, where if you press L1 you essentially have two weapons in one, just make these weapons the best ever imo. I usually use the kirk hammer, then Ludwig's Holy Blade and then maybe I switch it out for one of the DLC's weapons and yeah this playthrough was no different.

As I said, I really love the look of every area and that's not all, the actual areas are quite good for the most part. The beginning areas like Central Yharnam or Cathedral Ward are simply some of the best level-design wish because they're so interconnected with other areas. It's not quite Dark Souls 1 level of interconnectivity but it's really a nice change from something like Dark Souls 2 or even 3. By the end it does get more linear, but since the first half is well connected, I didn't have much of an issue with it. I think one of the most memorable moments is when you're all the way into the forbidden woods. You find this path down into a poison cave, you climb up a ladder and you end up at the very beginning of
central yharnam. You unlock the first gate you ever see when playing and I just think that's so cool. The game has several moments like this, like Yahar'Gul connecting to Old Yarhnam after you defeat Darkbeast Paarl, but no moment will be as good as the aformentioned Forbidden Woods interconnectivity.

Now on to the bosses, I think they're generally pretty great. Early game definitely has the more consistently good bosses, tho endgame definitely has some bangers like Gehrman and Martyr Logarius. The mid to end game definitely does have some not great bosses gameplay-wise, but some of them do have other aspects that make me not hate them. Witches of Hemwick is pathetically easy but the especially creepy atmosphere and semi-interesting way to defeat her, I really enjoyed. Plus she had one of my favorite songs in the game. Rom is somewhat annoying but at least has a beautiful area to fight her in. The one reborn is really easy too but I like the callback to Tower Knight. Celestial Emissary is um, yeah I can't really defend this one but it sure is a goofy boss. Micolash was probably my least favorite in the game before, and even tho I had a much better time with him this time, he still isn't great. What really makes up for it tho is he has hands down my favorite dialogue in the game, god it's so entertaining and goddamn whoever voiced him is amazing. The rest of the bosses I either like or love, and again even some of these I do like because of certain other aspects. I know a lot of the bosses aren't perfect but I'm surprised I never outright hated any of them, can't say the same for something like Bed of Chaos or Dragon God lole.

Don't really have much to say about the OST besides the fact it's great like most other souls games. My favorite tracks were the aforementioned Witches of Hemwick theme, the Cleric Beast theme, Micolash's theme, the hunter's dream theme and Gehrman's theme. Those were definitely the standout songs.

My take on the Chalice dungeons are they're a nice distraction from the base game but I probably won't play them again on future replay's. I only dived into them on that playthrough in 2019, and while they were cool they do get tedious if you're going for them all. It is nice how they have unique bosses in them, but yeah not super keen on them. Tho I never hated them like other people and I don't think they detract from the game because it feels more like a side thing which I'm fine with.

Before I end of my review, I just wanted to list off a couple issues with the game. Blood vials are obviously a big point of contention for some people and yeah it is annoying how you might have to eventually grind them if you run out, I never really had an issue with this personally. It's really easy to get them naturally and there's a really good early grinding spot right next to the first lamp in the game lol. Speaking of lamps, I guess people find it annoying how you have to warp back to the Hunter's Dream every time and then warp to another place from there? I guess it's a minor convenience but it never bothered me ever. Now this being 30 FPS is definitely jarring when going from games like Dark Souls III or Sekiro (I know I was taken aback when I came back to this after DS3) and while it would be so awesome if a remaster came out (please no remake dear god) I again never had a major issue with it. People saying it makes the game unplayable, I don't get you lol.

Anywho, this was another long ass review from me but I just absolutely adore this game despite some small flaws. It just gets even better with the DLC which I also beat this time around. Look out for that review very soon!

A potential masterpiece riddled with flawed systems. Trick weapons are genius, and FromSoftware should definitely revisit the concept in future games, but all of the ones I tried had a form I preferred to use almost exclusively in any given fight. The rally mechanic is a really good idea, but I still often felt it was optimal to back off and heal instead, given how much less health I regained from rallying than blood vials. Blood vials are a great healing system mechanically, ruined only by being a finite consumable for some reason (of all the things to bring back from Demon's Souls, why this). Lamps are easily the coolest looking variation of the Bonfire, but are also easily the worst implemented. A limb-break system sounds cool on paper, but basing it on damage dealt rather than implementing a posture system meant I wasn't able to play around stance-breaking enemies like I would in Elden Ring despite using the heaviest weapon available (first the Kirkhammer and later Ludwig's Holy Blade) and focusing on charged heavy attacks.

For me, one of the most important parts of a FromSoftware game is the boss roster. Having started with Dark Souls 3, which I personally feel has some of the worst regular enemy encounters and many of the best bosses, I expected Bloodborne to be similar. In some ways, it was. Many of the standard encounters in Bloodborne are frustrating to me in the same ways they are in DS3. Too many fast, aggressive enemies all bunched together in small rooms or wide open spaces with no good way to split them up. Call it a skill issue, but I just don't like playing through most of the levels in these two games. In DS3, the bosses counterbalance the frustrating levels by being pretty consistently excellent. I even like the Curse-Rotted Greatwood somehow, DS3 just understands what makes bosses fun. Bloodborne simply doesn't have a comparable boss lineup. The best of them are pretty good, but still not amazing. Father Gascoigne and Martyr Logarius were the only bosses I actually liked before playing the Old Hunters DLC. A lot of Bloodborne's bosses were just forgettable or annoying, but none came close to being as bad as Micolash, who sits solidly at the bottom of my FromSoft boss tierlist with only Bed of Chaos for company. I waited until after finishing the Old Hunters to fight the final three bosses, and that might be part of why I found them so lacking. Mergo's Wet Nurse looked very cool, but wasn't mechanically engaging. Gehrman I expect to enjoy more in future playthroughs, but his fight didn't click with me this time. The Moon Presence was a disappointing final boss, mechanically just another beast boss with a few spell attacks that I barely had to try to dodge and one arena-wide "you have 1 health now" spell that didn't really add anything to the fight.

Some of my problems with the game might have been less grating if its performance wasn't a hunter's nightmare. On PS4, where I played most of the base game, this was one of the worst performing games I've ever experienced. Load times were agonizingly long, so needing to sit through two loading screens to fast travel was very annoying. The framerate and smoothness of my PS4 experience can't all be blamed on the game, as I had it hooked up to a cheap TV that definitely hurt performance, but even on my PS5 and 165hz monitor, it's still noticeably choppy. Load times do seem much better on PS5 at least.

Despite how much I complain about this game, I do still think it's good. I don't think it's the masterpiece a lot of people say it is, but the bones that make the Old Hunters DLC so incredible are built here in the base game.

TLDR: I can't get gay married to Eileen the Crow, 0/10 fuck this game.

Why don't I get it?

It's a question I asked myself again and again when I played Bloodborne. At this point, I was two thirds of the way done with the game, and was frustrated. Frustrated with the sneak attacks, lacklustre boss fights, long boss runs, and swarms of enemies.

For me, enjoying Bloodborne was hard.

For Sekiro, it was the same. I didn't get it for a long time, at least until owl father. Attempt after attempt, days of slamming my head against the wall. How could someone possibly enjoy this?? But then something clicked. The fun from the boss fight wasn’t obtained from beating it. It came from the fight itself. It came from the ballad of swords clashing, swift dodging, and the ever so satisfying mikiri counter. Mastering the move-set of bosses and flowing through each attack effortlessly was the greatest feeling, more so than seeing “shinobi execution” flashing on your screen.
I couldn't for the life of me understand what wasn’t clicking when I was playing Bloodborne.
The game is not perfect. Far from it. It's littered with so many flaws, so many features that make so little sense. Oftentimes, it's an infuriating experience that’s lacking in fun, fairness, and riddled with obnoxious obstacles.

From my initial impressions, It was by far the weakest souls entry in terms of boss design, difficulty scaling, and grind.

But at the same time, when you slow down your pace, when you're less focused on the objective at hand, you're sucked into the world of Yharnam. And the game is so, so, beautiful, with a solid foundation of gameplay to boot.

I think Bloodborne has a lot to offer. It's not difficult, if anything, it's the second easiest souls game I've played. Despite this, the streets of Yharnam still demand a lot of patience, more so than any other game in the series. But if you can sift through the dirt and grime, I think you’ll be able to see why so many find this to be fromsoft’s magnum opus.

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The Good

One thing I immediately noticed about bloodborne was the brilliant art design. Not to spoil anything, but the clash of colour palette later on in the game left me in awe at the wondrous skybox. The levels too, yharnam in particular, it feels infected, riddled with disease. The bleak, sinister atmosphere seeps into every crevasse, every brick, every pore in your skin. The horror of living in a decrepit, haunted city filled with grotesque creatures, their terse groans interrupting the eerie whistle of the wind. The haunting yet prepossessing feel of each environment changes ever so slightly, with each area more beguiling than the last.

Combat in this game is also impeccable. Dashing from left to right, sidestepping as a new movement mechanic feels buttery smooth, and the gun parry feels chunky. The weapons too. Snapping a saw, clicking the sheath onto Ludwig's blade. The trick weapons are probably the best in the entire series, with every weapon feeling unique and powerful.
The rally system allows for much more aggressive play. Unlike most souls games. It's not a dance anymore. It's a hunt. You're a predator with an unwieldy pizza cutter, feasting on the blood of your prey. It's messy. It's filthy. As the blood coats your clothing, it shines in the dim flaxen glow of deteriorating streetlights. You claw and maim each other until one of you is a bloody pulp.

It feels great!

Although I personally enjoy the more fluid battles of sekiro and dark souls, I can understand the appeal of the back and forth bloody brawls that take place in this game. It fits the theme, and though not as fun for me personally, it's a fantastic combat system that deserves all the praise it gets.

The sound design and animation in this game, as per usual, is immaculate. You really feel your weapon cleave through the flesh of your enemies. It's visceral and bloody, the chunk chunk chunk of your hefty tool depriving your victim of their blood has never felt this good. The Foley artists of Fromsoft have done an impeccable job.
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The Bad

By far my favourite part of the series is the boss design. I think the feel and rhythm of all the souls games' bosses feel phenomenal. It's what I look forward to for every fromsoft title. And it's in this feature that the game is anemic.
This is by far my biggest gripe. Good boss encounters are few and far between, with the majority of them being in the fantastic DLC. In sekiro, every clash of blades feels like a dance. In Bloodborne, most bosses feel like you're fighting either an epileptic old animal with awfully telegraphed attacks, a lump of flesh that barely moves or just a bunch of guys throwing shit at you. Rom is the worst offender, with awful enemy spam and a boring moveset. All the boss runs are pretty painful as well, with logarius being by far the worst. Not to mention that much of the difficulty from the bosses stem from fighting the camera instead of the boss.

Another issue I have are the NPC fights. Being so incredibly unbalanced, they're probably the most difficult part of the game. Infinite stamina, insanely high damage, bullet spam and bottomless health pools make every single NPC fight a chore. And there are so. many.

This may be more of a subjective complaint, but I don't find the level layout in Bloodborne particularly intuitive in some cases. People sing the praises of the game's level design, and sure, before you reach the church, it's pretty great. But once you reach the cathedral, some areas in yharnam becomes so labarynthine, so infuriating to navigate, it becomes a chore. It takes such an inordinate amount of time to run from one place to the next even with shortcuts. The lost woods is the worst offender, with shortcuts that don't even save that much time.

I think interconnected levels are a great idea, and are particularly well done in dark souls 1, because it led to a plethora of unforgettable moments. When you think you're stuck, in the thick of a horrifying area, you take an elevator, not knowing where you'll end up. Then you hear the oh so comforting theme of firelink shrine. A wave of relief crashes over you. It feels incredibly satisfying. There is no such thing in Bloodborne. There are just shortcuts for the sake of shortcuts, with no payoff like in dark souls, just a fewer number of checkpoints, and some of the longest runbacks in the series.

One problem I feel that most people would agree on are how unfun consumable healing items are. Making blood vials and bullets consumables was probably the worst decision Fromsoft made in this game. This is an objectively stupid choice, and I know for a fact nobody likes farming for bullets in the middle of their playthrough.

Another subjective gripe I had with the game was the sheer amount of surprise attacks and gang fights. Difficulty in enemy variety and move set is great. I think sekiro does it best by peppering in minibosses and enemies that are tough to deflect, providing a tough, but fair challenge. Exploration is quite enjoyable, and every time you enter a new area, you're excited to see what challenges you encounter next. In Bloodborne, Miyazaki made it his life's goal to make the most torturous, Kafkaesque experience imaginable. Every corner, every turn, there is a group of enemies there to jump you. Down a certain staircase, ten guys and an amygdala. Down an alleyway. Ten guys and a jailer. I think the intention is to keep you on wits end, but I didn’t particularly enjoy this feature. Thankfully it happens much less in the dlc.

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The base game of Bloodborne sometimes struggles to find a good midpoint between too easy and unfair, and often ends up being both at the same time. It has many confusing design choices that muddy the otherwise crystal clear waters that would have made for a great and memorable game. I think there was a lot missing, and left much to be desired. It felt like it laid a solid foundation for a great game, but made a few missteps in the process. Despite this, it was thoroughly enjoyable, which goes to show the strength of the core gameplay loop, as well as the art direction.

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DLC

I don't feel very strongly towards the base game of Bloodborne, and I don't think it's a particularly strong entry in the souls series either.

But the old hunters is a different story.

If I could find an analogy, bloodbornes base game is like a chunk of wagyu beef. It's alright on its own, but has the potential to be something fantastic.

The old hunters DLC is like if you drenched it in crack.

It manages to fix every single issue that I had with the base game, with three of the best bosses in the entire series. If the base game was a foundation, the old hunters built a whole condominium on top of it. It has some of the most memorable areas in the entire series, and oozes style from every orifice. Its by far the best expansion Fromsoft has ever made.

If the entire game was at this quality, it would probably be my favourite souls title. By a long shot.
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Despite bloodborne floundering in its first half, It finds its footing in the second and does a triple double in the DLC. I don’t know if its their best game, but I think its objectively a fantastic one.

In 2019, my younger brother Paul tells me, "Hey brother, you should play Bloodborne. It's great, and I think you'd like it a lot." I don't play Bloodborne, for I am hopelessly addicted to Splatoon 2.

In 2020, Paul tells me, "Hey brother, you should get Bloodborne. It's $15." I don't get Bloodborne, for I am still hopelessly addicted to Splatoon 2.

In the summer of 2021, Paul tells me, "Hey brother, since you're here and you don't have anything else going on right now, you need to play Bloodborne right now. And then you should get it because it's $15. Also, I'm in a blood feud with Martyr Logarius." I try out Bloodborne, but have difficulty getting used to the controls due to Monster Hunter Rise-induced muscle memory and I keep healing myself instead of attacking. I do not get Bloodborne, despite it being $15, for I am still hopelessly addicted to Splatoon 2.

On Christmas day of 2021, after going to a local video game store, Paul gives me a neatly-wrapped video game-sized gift. I open it and see this box. Paul tells me, "Hey brother, you don't have an excuse anymore."

In 2022, Paul asks me, "Hey brother, you should play Bloodborne." I hadn't.

On Christmas day of 2022, Paul gifts me Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin. He tells me, "Hey brother, people are saying that this game is genuinely enjoyable because the combat is good, and the dialogue is so over-the-top bad that it goes full circle into hilarious. Enjoy! Also, play Bloodborne."

If my backloggd daily journals that I keep are accurate, I played Bloodborne exactly one time in 2022, in August, and then didn't try it again until May of 2023, where I also only played one day, online, with Paul.

On December 9th 2023, I boot up Bloodborne. I create a new character, and make a deliberate point of making it my "main game I am playing at the moment" until I beat it.

It is January 14th 2024, Bloodborne was an outstanding video game, and Paul is correct about Martyr Logarius.

Also, I am no longer addicted to Splatoon 2.

When looking at this game in its entirety: its gameplay, story, atmosphere, setting, lore, music, etc. I cannot help but consider Bloodborne as the best game From Software has ever created... and in a long line of amazing Souls games, that is quite the accomplishment.

The only downside of Bloodborne no longer exists, as it was only experienced for those folks who jumped in first upon its release back in the early days of the PS4... and those were the loading times. Thankfully, the patch came relatively quickly (but not quick enough before I ended up beating it) which cut down on the loading time significantly. The dreaded black screen of death with the words Bloodborne across it are still imprinted in my memory banks though... waiting to respawn for what seemed like a damn eternity. But now, with new consoles, and post-patch, this is no longer an issue.

Now I wait for the inevitable re-release for PS5 with some minor enhancements... it has to be coming eventually? Right guys? Riiightt!?!?

In summary, Bloodborne is a masterpiece through and through. And is deserving of a replay from me to finally get around to the DLC (The Old Hunters) that I have never played... I was waiting for a remaster, but depending on how much longer it takes, I might just dive in with my original copy of the game...

FromSoft at their very strongest. Atmosphere, design and gameplay come together in perfect thematic harmony, enthralling players with tight, tense combat and endorphin-loaded dodging against a horrific menagerie of brilliant creatures and iconic bosses. The crowning glory that is Bloodborne's soundtrack brings what is already near-perfect gameplay to heights never again achieved--even in the likes of Sekiro and Elden Ring.

The farming of Blood Vials and the downright awful rogue-like "Dungeon Chalice" system are good ideas--making players nervous about using their copious yet limited powerful heal and providing what is in essence an infinite amount of content sound like they would suit perfectly, but end up lackluster and annoying - the former especially sometimes going so far as to gatekeep people from enjoying the game as a whole.

Sometimes it's daunting to go into such a beloved, iconic game with astronomical hype and expectations behind it. It can feel like if you're even marginally not enjoying it as much as you're supposed to, you're insulting scores of people who have dedicated themselves to loving this game.

Well, I'm happy to confirm that Bloodborne really is as good as everyone always says it is.

Even though I always understood the impulse to want a next-gen remaster of this game, having finished it myself, I conclude that it's very much needed. One of the biggest issues with Bloodborne is the ~30fps framerate and the fact that it's stuck at 1080p. I admit, that sounds very snobby, and it's still very playable, don't get me wrong. However, this game has such a gorgeous world that it truly deserves to be displayed in all its glory with the highest fidelity possible. As it stands, though, it gets in its own way with this. At times, the game's aliasing made some of the bosses, particularly those heavy with hair and fur, tough to read attacks from, especially with how fast some of their attacks are.

But of course, the real stars of Bloodborne are its gameplay and particularly its world, both of which prove to impress at every level, in every sense of the word. Initially, it can be jarring to find that, unlike previous Souls games, Bloodborne has little to no defensive options due to the fact that it was built from the ground up to promote a more 'push-forward combat' style than ever before. It definitely takes training, but once you have the rhythms down, particularly when you use your firearm at the perfect moment to make a visceral attack, it's incredibly satisfying.

As I've mentioned before, something I've always appreciated about Souls games is that, despite the reputation they receive as hardcore ‘git gud’ gauntlets, the difficulty is never arbitrary. Of course, this is obvious to veterans, but it always comes down to discovering what you're good at and having enough patience to strategize each battle and not just charge foolhardy into every encounter. Every fight, from minor enemies to boss battles, feels rewarding and compelling, particularly with how brazen this game encourages you to be with your arsenal.

The city of Yharnam is a perfect setting for this game, filled with spooky vistas and tomes upon tomes of lore and details surrounding the game's present events that, in true From fashion, are kind of required reading to get a decent grasp of the wider implications of what's happening surrounding the surface-level gameplay stuff. That being said, to the unfamiliar on a first playthrough, the surface-level narrative and changes to the setting as you proceed remain decent enough to suffice. As always, they could be a bit less vague with how they go about this, but I understand that's part of the charm of their games.

Really, there's not much else to say about Bloodborne that hasn't been said at length already. It holds up as a spectacular experience that falls short of full marks thanks to the image quality, shoddy framerate, and, to a lesser extent, the delivery of its central narrative. Despite that, though, its frenetic action gameplay, Lovecraft-inspired setting, stellar art direction, enemy variety, and boss design are truly worthy of the unconditional praise that gets heaped upon this game to this day.

9/10

a game that feels severely less than the sum of its parts.

it's strange that i would feel this way about any game - games more often than not than any other piece of media are able to have fundamental flaws looked over because of how easily enjoyment can be gauged from just one aspect of the experience. whether this be the story, the gameplay loop, atmosphere, sound, or rewarding progression, it's of no surprise to anyone on this website that bloodborne excels at all of these individually.

with all of that being said, this game strangely fails to evoke any emotion from me at all. as well thought out a lot of the lovecraftian, gothic, and victorian horror ideas are to diversify the setting from prior fromsoftware games, i think this is hidetaka miyazaki's most lacking project as director to an abnormally strong degree.

i certainly wouldn't have felt this way at the start of my first playthrough. central yharnam as an introductory point is gorgeously realised and dense with captivating level design scenarios that provoke unique ways of thinking for any player regardless of their experience in the genre. this catalyst of engaging design also seamlessly allures the player to the game's subtle yet ultimately impactful slices of lore and rewards heavily in added emotional stakes for those who put in the effort to piece it together. this is capped off by two of the best initial boss encounters fromsoftware had created to that point - although i think it's been surpassed since within elden ring's opening hours, i am fully supportive in commending the opening of this game as one of the finest ways the medium has been utilised to immerse and appeal to players of any kind heading into it.

i cannot say this about the rest of the game. what followed from central yharnam felt like a shallow evolution of ideas and design that feels so intent on delivering a worldly counterpart to its small lore elements that i genuinely believe a better game could have been constructed without them.

i understand this is a confusing perspective but i'd want to justify this in probably the most understandable way first to anyone reading, i promise there's a cohesive point behind this. blood vials for example - wonderfully thought out, an idea of a healing mechanic completely in tone with the body horror elements of the game and a constant representation to the player of the negative to positive dichotomy blood holds in the lore. does this make for a better gameplay loop synonymous with the design though? absolutely not. it's ridiculous grinding for consumable healing was revisited after the initial stint with demons souls when estus flasks completely mitigated this design choice 4 years prior when dark souls was released.

odd yet understandable choices like these are at the heart of why this game fails to deliver as a project for me. the beast bosses are thematically and sonically excellent but suffer from all having the same move set because of their similarity and relation in the lore. the hunter bosses are a mechanically refreshing change of pace and encourage an aggressive style of play unlike any souls game before it but lack visual diversity or any genuinely engaging red herrings to their fights because of the lore. worst of all, the level design post central yharnam is for lack of a better word, uninteresting, to fit the condensed locale of the lore. not to be confused with underbaked, because i do believe the vision to create this world was achieved and delivered on an exceptional front to most players. however, a baffling lack of enemy variety, a weirdly intense focus on verticality and platforming, and the visual setpieces being compromised to the point of just being a different light filter because of the ps4's limited technology subverted what should have been immersive worldbuilding to me than little more than tedium. sometimes i'd find this tedium was occasionally broken up by the sudden thrill of an enemy standing by in the dark and a gatling gun positioned at you which was devastating for all the right reasons on my first encounter with them. in the 2nd half of the game these cheap jumpscare thrills exist in every room you explore and are never once implemented again in a different way.

but a lot of these viewpoints are overly sentimental and critical of the game in relation to its reception, especially when a lot of my favourite games are just as guilty of feeding the same gameplay encounters wrapped up in a slightly different visual package to you. what is the real loose end from this game that makes the various painstakingly crafted facets of this experience completely fall apart for me?

i don't like london :(

Bloodborne is an excellent game in many ways - especially combat and atmosphere.

No other Souls game forces you to be so aggressive and it's honestly a very refreshing take on the already established formula. The various levels are amazing in structure and nail the gothic aesthetic, also I love how they used the connected level design instead of linear progression, really makes unlocking shortcuts feel satisfying. The weapons have some really unique gimmicks and definitely offer a playstyle for each individual player.

Something I really liked about Bloodborne is how I actually could piece together the story after just one playthrough - I was never able to do this in a Souls game before! And the background lore is actually great, Fromsoft did a fantastic job with the worldbuilding here.

Now, my only flaws with this game would be the vial system and some bosses. While the latter point is somewhat subjective, vial farming can be an absolute chore (without using chalice dungeons) if you're stuck on a part and definitely puts the pacing to a halt. Also it's very easy to just outheal bosses if you just spam some of the twenty vials you're given - not the most optimal solution, but it somehow works most of the time anyways.

My final verdict? This is a definitive must-play if you just so happen to own a Playstation. Hoping for everyone it will be freed from the PSN shackles one day. Until then, fear the old blood.

"Are you ready for your From Software tutorial boss lessons?"

Phalanx left.

Asylum Demon nodded.

The Last Giant gulped.

Iudex Gundyr shivered.

Margit, the Fell Omen, blinked nervously.

Gyoubu Masataka Oniwa collapsed.

"Yes, Father Gascoigne."

Seriously though, this replay gave me a much greater appreciation for him. Everything about the buildup to him, his related sidequest with his family, his arena, his design, his music. The pacing, spectacle, difficulty and teaching tools of his fight. It's all so beautiful and tragic but exhilirating and cool at the same time. There isn't quite another first/tutorial boss in video games that captures so many things like Father Gascoigne does to me (who cares about Camera Beast I'm not counting him). He's also got some of the most memorable entrance cutscenes, paired with some of the most memorable quotes, among any boss From Soft has made.

He's also just one of the most interesting stories within Bloodborne before the Lovecraft twist. Like nothing else in the early stages of the game elicits much of a reaction compared to him.

Before this replay I liked him a fair bit but seriously? I think he's one of my favourite bosses in video games now.

Enjoyment - 10/10
Difficulty - 7/10

How stupid was I to think that Bloodborne was not a game for me. Past me was very silly. Coming from the perspective of a non-fan of the Souls games, Bloodborne had some initial growing pains. At first, I did not get it. The first couple of deaths were especially off putting. It was like catching a whiff of spoiled milk. However, as I inched closer to a new area around a different corner, not knowing what was ahead of me and getting excited for what challenges lurked beyond my reach, I finally got it.

The world of Bloodborne is truly wondrous. A feast in all senses. Bloodborne is a feeling you can't shake off. It is the linkage of video games, like a shadow for not yet realised imagined worlds.
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Yep, as everybody and their mom knows, Bloodborne is that guy. I've tried getting into it multiple times in the past but it never clicked like it did this time. So, I finally get it. Bloodborne is a masterfully crafted experience from top to bottom. The stunning world and level design, the visceral combat including that immensely satisfying pistol stun mechanic. The excellent DLC, adding some of the best bosses in the game is an absolute must too. Overall, it is such an enthralling and well paced journey, yet it still left me wanting even more by the end...

wanted to wait until i cleared all of the base game and dlc before making a review, so this covers both of them.

bloodborne was the last souls game that i had left after clearing all of them over the past 6 months or so. maybe my view of this game is tainted by the very high expectations set by others who had played this game early on in their souls game life cycle, so perhaps that has some impact on my view of this game.

i didn't love this game, but i definitely didn't hate it; it's weird. the aesthetic and theme of this game is very unique and i see the appeal. the enemies in this game are absolutely fucking disgusting and it fits perfectly thematically. the combat is certainly unique and the parry aspect is really fucking sick, but doesn't feel as polished as some of the newer games which makes sense given this is nearly a decade old. then again, so are the other souls games, so i'm not sure if that's a valid excuse.

all of these games usually have that point where they click and you're like "ah, that's what everyone means." i really wanted that from bloodborne but it didn't happen until i was essentially done with the game. the base game bosses felt rather underwhelming which was my expectation based on my friends comments; the lows were very low and the "highs" were really only slightly above average.

the dlc was definitely a lot more challenging and rewarding. i now understand the pain of laurence and orphan of kos (what the fuck is that second phase btw), and beating both of them felt like a mammoth task. i really enjoy that and craved that feeling for most of the game. lady maria fight was super enjoyable and just straight up face to face combat which i love. i usually hate big bosses that go off my screen, so perhaps that's why i preferred fights like lady maria and orphan over ludwig and laurence.

it doesn't feel right to shit on this game because i don't think it deserves it at all. it's a good game, i just don't love it as much as everyone else does, and that's okay. i think that in some distant future if the world is lucky enough to get a remaster with 60+ fps and a couple tweaks i'd love to give this another chance.

Bloodborne DOES have some issues, I will probably say that about any game. The difference is that any type of remaster or remake would absolutely kill any and all problems with this game.

The problems this game has are very small and nitpicky, 30 fps, some deaths not feeling earned in any way, blood vials and bullets becoming scarce and having to grind for them, chalice dungeons feeling a bit samey the more and more you do them, and hunters dream being a bit tedious to fast travel to places

Any update to Bloodborne would kill these problems, which is why I now realize why people want it so badly.

This game gets EVERYTHING right, the combat alone would give it five stars because it is some of the most engaging combat i will ever play in my life, and the bosses compliment the combat by making them faster, more aggressive, and harder hitting, urging you to do the same. The rally system is one of the best mechanics ever made and is a stroke of absolute genius.
The vibe and environments in this game are absolutely breathtaking and have just BARELY started to show their age.

This game would be the best game ever made with some small tweaks, but even as it stands right now it is one of the best games of all time. A must play for anyone who even remotely likes videogames.

Perfection.

Bloodborne é um jogo incrivel que possui uma estética gótica muito bem feita além de passar realmente um sentimento de medo, a escuridão é realmente desconfortável de um jeito bom e você se sente afoito nesse mundo sombrio, além de ser um ótimo jogo de porta de entrada para os outros jogos da saga souls, sendo o mais fácil de entender a história, e o melhor para se adaptar ao estilo souls like. Sem contar seu mundo repleto de monstros e bosses extremamentes assustadores e bem construídos que cada um deles passam um ar de imponência que acompanham uma trilha sonora que só tornam a experiência de jogar esse jogo mais incrível, quem possui Playstations recomendo darem uma chance pra esse jogo

My absolute favorite FromSoftware game, and the first I completed. I tried this when it originally came out, found it too challenging, and gave up. Years later, I picked it up again, determined to learn the Soulslike formula. I did, and absolutely loved it. The world of Bloodborne is so interesting, and the Gothic, dark fantasy vibes kept me wanting more of this universe. The bosses and enemies are amazing, the level design is immaculate, the music is incredible, the trick weapons are a lot of fun, and this game has one of the best DLCs ever made. 5/5. Would recommend.