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.