After years of procrastinating on playing this game, I finally bit the bullet, played it, and platinumed it. Before beating this game, I've only completed Elden Ring and Sekiro. Since I went out of my way to 100% Bloodborne, I think it's fair to say that Bloodborne is my favorite of the bunch and I wanna talk about it.

But first my complaints.

The framerate blows ass. Why is a PS5 struggling to keep a stable 30 fps on this 8 year old game, that makes no sense. I understand that there's some underlying engine optimization issues but cmon man, just patch this shit. This game would benefit heavily from a stable fps fix. I don't even necessarily need 60 fps just a stable experience.

The chalice dungeons are so bad. I wanted to gouge my eyes out clearing out the dungeons to get to Queen Yharnam oh my god. When you have such stellar level design, you can't help but feel whiplash when encountering the stupid ass put together chalice dungeons. It's not even like I can't see the potential. There are some genuine cool bosses in the chalice dungeons but they're so limited by clearly unfinished/unbaked attempts at incorporating them in the game. I'm so glad they're optional because in my future playthroughs I am not doing that shit again.

Fast travel fucking blows and having to grind for blood vials and bullets kinda dampens the gameplay. I understand that for vials and bullets, a hunter would need to like gather materials and create their arsenal of tools and be prepared for battle but I don't like having to go grind for vials and bullets when I run out when I fight a boss. I know I need to git gud but I'd argue that the quality of life improvement that is the estus flask system is something I miss.

Buuuut I'm willing to overlook these things because the positives are so incredibly good that it overshadows these negatives for me.

The gameplay fucking rocks. It's typical Fromsoftware affair aside from the rally system and the dash instead of a dodge. Holy shit this game feels so fast and the promotion of an aggressive playstyle is awesome. Not to mention the weapons are incredible in this game. All the weapons are so unique and play almost completely differently from one another, with varying movesets, trick switches, and weapon properties. There's so much room for replayability.

I love that you are promoted to use items to best match the enemy you're facing against. It really sells the hunter role that your character is playing as you need to identify your enemy's weaknesses and plan accordingly. Ex: Using molotovs or fire paper for beast enemies.

The gameplay alone just fucking rocks and is incredibly fun to play but the way they're integrated into the narrative and story really just sells this game to me. The story is also typical FromSoftware formula of giving much of the lore and story through item descriptions and world design. The fact that the rally system works because the blood you splatter invigorates you (whether it's from actually healing you or you becoming blood drunk) to keep fighting is metal as fuck.

The story of the Yharnamites, the Healing Church, and the Great Ones and the way it’s presented is nothing short of incredible. The story is unfolded with drips of information you get slowly illuminating the mysteries that you encounter hunting increasingly gruesome monsters that you encounter through the night. It’s incredible how much story you can get from enemy and world designs and it’s something I can’t wait to see from the rest of FromSoftware games (and replaying the ones I’ve played before).

I could gush about this game all day. It’s incredible. It’s a work of art. FromSoftware and Miyazaki have done nothing but captivate me in their masterpieces and I can’t wait to experience the rest of their games.

TLDR: This game fucks but you already knew that.