A bloody endless hunt
Bloodborne has become bigger than life in the gaming circles as one of the most revered action role playing title in recent time due to From's pedigree progressing as the Souls franchises kept growing forward and recently peaking with Elden Ring, one of From's most ambitious games yet. Sadly after playing Elden Ring and the past Souls games barring Demon Souls before it is when I felt like I had fatigue with the series due to the same format the games usually carry. I had this fear going into Bloodborne and to my complete surprise, this truly feels like From's magnum opus in terms of almost every facet of what this game. The lore and the atmospheric visual world design can probably talked about for days by people way more qualified than me, the gameplay is fun and rewarding leaning on the easy side for a bit, the music is epic and tormenting as you fight literal deranged nightmares from the abyss of what feels like some dark minded individuals. There's a lot to love even with few things barring it from being one of my all time personal greats.
The storytelling in FromSoft's recent affairs have been more told in item descriptions and vague accounts from the few inhabitants left in the world rather than directly telling the player itself. That said, I think the premise can be simplified and yet given a lot more depth. You, the character essentially go to Yharnam to get a cure for some illness via the usage of blood. Sadly things are never easy as you wake up during the night of the hunt and horrific beastly creatures roam the streets as you try to make you way out of this nightmare. The characters will not being deep or engaging have been more visually interesting to say the least here as well.
Gameplay in Bloodborne makes you go for overall agility over raw defense in this version of FromSoft's iconic methodical action combat. You have your standard roll but you also have quick dodges when locked on single enemies which helps some boss fights as they give off this intense and fast duel feeling compared to Souls usual bigger than life bosses that make you feel like you're trying to overcome a huge mountain rather than a true equal. The dash and rolls have some differences built in but i-frames are the same so something to keep in mind as well. Only notable "flaw" in the overall gameplay design would be a couple of the bosses and the sheer lack of variety of weapons but I never minded the lack of weapons as much considering how the trick weapons work in this game. Trick weapons are essentially your main weapon throughout the game and you have your standard affair of swords, spears and cleavers but what makes them special is the ability to swap between different versions or usually a bigger and heavier weapon. The Kirkhammer for example with one handed regular version being a simple silver sword but being able to transform it until this huge stone hammer is extremely satisfying as well. Each weapons really feels like two weapons each honestly thus never minding the lack of weapons overall. Some bosses were kind of annoying including one that's literally just a chase sequence more than an actual fight more than anything with some of them leaning to the easy side a little bit but still really fun nonetheless. The other hand usually carries a firearm of sorts. There's a lot of variety in the firearms you use and using a shield seems counterintuitive in this game at least. The standard pistol is what I ended up using being the quickest response to an attack while the blunderbuss/shotgun types use a wide cone to make sure it hits the mark with a slower response time. Guns are mostly used as a form of parrying in this game and I mostly think it works well with the new agile and faster gameplay style Bloodborne tries to introduce here especially during the human enemies where you can just punish them completely once you figure them out.
The lovecraftian world inspired by gothic victorian styles with some extra horrors beyond a human comprehension make this entire experience stand out completely on its own two feet. Almost every location felt unique and surreal, the enemy design is outstanding, even the overall armor design and the weapons are superb. The game tried to nail a theme and hits it bullseye perfect in my honest opinion. For an early PlayStation 4 title blown up to a 4K television, the game still looks immaculate as well with so much detail in the levels themselves and how they're designed too. Bloodborne is probably up there one of the most realized video game worlds out there and for very good reason.
Something I also wanted to talk about is the soundtrack and sound design too. Footsteps in the distance sound extremely unsettling for a bit along with the loud howling screams of the beasts as they attack and get attacked as well. Weapons clashing against the hard stone or a stone hammer making a mini earthquake with each smack into the earth itself makes these actions feel really satisfying. The soundtrack perfectly matches the whole experience too such as one of my favorite tracks from an early boss fight that manages to amp up the whole cadence at the right moment which really represents the fight this track plays on. Even while leaving the main menu theme for a bit to take care of something left me with an eerie feeling the choir and vocals that reminded me of the Medal of Honor: Frontline main menu theme but less tense and more quiet.
I find it hard to say what hasn't already been said for titles like these that are already considered classics in the eyes of many and rightly so. The world realized its own potential, each fight is a dance between life and death, the soundtrack makes it feel like this dream will never end. It's been said a million times in the online space at this point but they really need to bring this game to any other form of media that isn't the PlayStation 4 at this point. Being stuck at this state is really sad considering I'm sure the people that run Sony already know how popular this title is. A horrific filled journey through an even more dystopian Prague that'll leave everything and yourself in a bloody mess by the end.
Bloodborne has become bigger than life in the gaming circles as one of the most revered action role playing title in recent time due to From's pedigree progressing as the Souls franchises kept growing forward and recently peaking with Elden Ring, one of From's most ambitious games yet. Sadly after playing Elden Ring and the past Souls games barring Demon Souls before it is when I felt like I had fatigue with the series due to the same format the games usually carry. I had this fear going into Bloodborne and to my complete surprise, this truly feels like From's magnum opus in terms of almost every facet of what this game. The lore and the atmospheric visual world design can probably talked about for days by people way more qualified than me, the gameplay is fun and rewarding leaning on the easy side for a bit, the music is epic and tormenting as you fight literal deranged nightmares from the abyss of what feels like some dark minded individuals. There's a lot to love even with few things barring it from being one of my all time personal greats.
The storytelling in FromSoft's recent affairs have been more told in item descriptions and vague accounts from the few inhabitants left in the world rather than directly telling the player itself. That said, I think the premise can be simplified and yet given a lot more depth. You, the character essentially go to Yharnam to get a cure for some illness via the usage of blood. Sadly things are never easy as you wake up during the night of the hunt and horrific beastly creatures roam the streets as you try to make you way out of this nightmare. The characters will not being deep or engaging have been more visually interesting to say the least here as well.
Gameplay in Bloodborne makes you go for overall agility over raw defense in this version of FromSoft's iconic methodical action combat. You have your standard roll but you also have quick dodges when locked on single enemies which helps some boss fights as they give off this intense and fast duel feeling compared to Souls usual bigger than life bosses that make you feel like you're trying to overcome a huge mountain rather than a true equal. The dash and rolls have some differences built in but i-frames are the same so something to keep in mind as well. Only notable "flaw" in the overall gameplay design would be a couple of the bosses and the sheer lack of variety of weapons but I never minded the lack of weapons as much considering how the trick weapons work in this game. Trick weapons are essentially your main weapon throughout the game and you have your standard affair of swords, spears and cleavers but what makes them special is the ability to swap between different versions or usually a bigger and heavier weapon. The Kirkhammer for example with one handed regular version being a simple silver sword but being able to transform it until this huge stone hammer is extremely satisfying as well. Each weapons really feels like two weapons each honestly thus never minding the lack of weapons overall. Some bosses were kind of annoying including one that's literally just a chase sequence more than an actual fight more than anything with some of them leaning to the easy side a little bit but still really fun nonetheless. The other hand usually carries a firearm of sorts. There's a lot of variety in the firearms you use and using a shield seems counterintuitive in this game at least. The standard pistol is what I ended up using being the quickest response to an attack while the blunderbuss/shotgun types use a wide cone to make sure it hits the mark with a slower response time. Guns are mostly used as a form of parrying in this game and I mostly think it works well with the new agile and faster gameplay style Bloodborne tries to introduce here especially during the human enemies where you can just punish them completely once you figure them out.
The lovecraftian world inspired by gothic victorian styles with some extra horrors beyond a human comprehension make this entire experience stand out completely on its own two feet. Almost every location felt unique and surreal, the enemy design is outstanding, even the overall armor design and the weapons are superb. The game tried to nail a theme and hits it bullseye perfect in my honest opinion. For an early PlayStation 4 title blown up to a 4K television, the game still looks immaculate as well with so much detail in the levels themselves and how they're designed too. Bloodborne is probably up there one of the most realized video game worlds out there and for very good reason.
Something I also wanted to talk about is the soundtrack and sound design too. Footsteps in the distance sound extremely unsettling for a bit along with the loud howling screams of the beasts as they attack and get attacked as well. Weapons clashing against the hard stone or a stone hammer making a mini earthquake with each smack into the earth itself makes these actions feel really satisfying. The soundtrack perfectly matches the whole experience too such as one of my favorite tracks from an early boss fight that manages to amp up the whole cadence at the right moment which really represents the fight this track plays on. Even while leaving the main menu theme for a bit to take care of something left me with an eerie feeling the choir and vocals that reminded me of the Medal of Honor: Frontline main menu theme but less tense and more quiet.
I find it hard to say what hasn't already been said for titles like these that are already considered classics in the eyes of many and rightly so. The world realized its own potential, each fight is a dance between life and death, the soundtrack makes it feel like this dream will never end. It's been said a million times in the online space at this point but they really need to bring this game to any other form of media that isn't the PlayStation 4 at this point. Being stuck at this state is really sad considering I'm sure the people that run Sony already know how popular this title is. A horrific filled journey through an even more dystopian Prague that'll leave everything and yourself in a bloody mess by the end.