Bloodborne may have the hardest early game difficulty than any FromSoftware Soulsborne games. Central Yahrnam may come as a confusing labyrinth of multiple layers for first time players, and the two bosses that inhabit it are some of the hardest bosses in terms of early game (the boss arena for both being particularly unfavourable to the players doesn't help either). But it doesn't feel "unfair." It is very punishing, yes, due to vials and bullets being consumables that don't recharge, but it is a hurdle that can be overcome. Unlike Dark Souls 2 where both the character growth system and the early level design actively forces the player to have more difficult time than they should, Bloodborne instead is expecting the players to catch up to it.

And when the players do catch up, it's a marvelous experience. The action is fast, tight and balanced just right to constantly reward the aggressiveness, but also punish going too far. That may be the general way of things in other Souls games too, but what Bloodborne does is that it allows the player to dance on that fine line between in a tighter sense. It expects a lot from the players, but it also rewards a lot. And there are plethora of smaller ways that the game offers to knock down the difficulty without making it seem like it takes away the agency from the player. It is a meticulously balanced game, and its level design takes the best of Dark Souls and Dark Souls 2 DLCs.