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
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