Bloodborne

Welcome To Yharnam 

Bloodborne, the spiritual successor to Dark Souls, is by no small margin similar. The two games have very similar introductions and settings, oh and they like to kick the S*** out of you as well. Nice. The premise of Bloodborne is that the main character, you, has come to Yharnam in search of a way to cure a disease he's/ she's been afflicted with. When you begin the game a man in a wheelchair approaches and gives you a blood transfusion with Yharnam blood. Thats when things get weird. Once your out cold a lycan appears from a puddle of blood and tries to end you only to be set on fire by someone off screen. Did I hear someone say convenient plot point overlooked? No. Alright. Anyway, once the bloody creature is dead a group of pale creatures surrounds you and a female voice says "Oh I see you've found a hunter"

Bloodborne, like Dark Souls, doesn't give you much to go on. It can be frustratingly cryptic when it needs to be. It's like a person who goes out of their way to remain inherently mysterious. But thats part of the appeal of it, when you actually find out whats going on and dig deeper there is a lot to Bloodborne. The basic message of the game is, to hunt those that have fallen to beast hood and to seek pale blood in an attempt to escape the nightmare. 

Yharnam itself is very bleak, the setting of the sun in game adds more to the story as in the darker it gets the more serious stuff gets. It's a beautiful place though, with its victorian gothic look it really exemplifies what a city turned to madness would look like. Also Yharnam feels threatening, not only with all of its inhabitants but also with how grim and dark everything is, it just feels like its out to get you.

Seek Pale Blood To Transcend The Nightmare

So Bloodborne. How is it different from Dark Souls? Well on a passing observation they are almost exactly the same. Same bleak everyone has given up attitude, same enemies that will wreck your shit, same cryptic story, same bosses that look like Satan's leavings. But its only when you play Bloodborne that you get a sense of how different the games truly are. Bloodborne is different from its predecessor for a couple of things the first is the regain system which allows you to recover a portion of your health in the 5 second window after losing it. Its a handy system especially when your getting mobbed by a bunch of enemies of course it doesn't always help when in a pinch or if your against a boss, could be intimidating to just charge in and whale on a boss knowing full well it will murder you. The second thing is Bloodborne's evasion move's when locked on to an enemy you can quickly side step to avoid a butt load of damage, it makes combat much easier knowing you can get some distance between you and certain doom. But that doesn't mean its faultless you have to be aware of your surroundings when avoiding attacks. Finally we come to parrying by far the most useful element of the game, a well timed parry can open up enemies to a visceral strike which not only restores a lot of health if you've lost some but also awards you with more blood echoes as well and since you'll be dying a lot in Bloodborne then you can learn all of the common enemy attacks to know exactly when to parry them. Its the most rewarding feeling to parry a boss and get a visceral strike on them. But it takes a great amount of skill to parry every attack someone throws at you. 

The other thing about Bloodborne is that it gives you the necessary healing items about sixty percent of the time which means you won't be running out of blood vials and quicksilver bullets to quickly. The rewarding way in which Bloodborne plays out is what makes it better than Dark Souls, in my opinion anyway. Dark souls punishes its players when you die taking off a portion of your health and robbing you of the souls you have collected. While Bloodborne is similar it doesn't cut your health which makes the rage quit aspect of it a lot better. So while the game isn't as punishing as Dark Souls it can still get frustrating in some areas, especially later into the game.

One of the best parts of Bloodborne is its weaponry. At the beginning of the game you have the option to pick between three different "Trick weapons" which are weapons that transform into different variants with the press of a button. The saw cleaver starts out as a saw but when transformed becomes a longer scythe like weapon giving you longer reach, The hunters axe starts out as an axe but can be elongated to become a halberd and finally the threaded cane is a duelling cane to begin with and then becomes a chain whip when transforms à la Ivy from Soul Calibur. These are you're starting weapons and while rudimentary they become an incredible asset later on as you continue to use them. When attacking enemies you can switch to their alternate forms mid combo changing the flow of battle like the weapon. Not all trick weapons elongate, some have added effects when "transformed" such as the Tonitrus which is coated in lightning when transformed. 

The creativity behind the weapons is one of the best parts of Bloodborne to deal with a strange plague you need strange weapons. 


Facing The Fear

What sets Bloodborne apart from Dark Souls is that it seems very…well real. The creatures that you encounter in the game are all believable…..to a certain extent. The forbidden forest for example has snake type enemies and one of the last areas you visit has spiders crawling along the walls. The point is that its very terrifying to face off against some of the enemies of the game as they are literally the stuff of nightmares made real, the worst things a person can make in their mind made reality. This is where Bloodborne thrives though with its enemies that are both frightening and incredible at the same time. 

Whats interesting is that the NPC's of the game are all survivors of the plague and are just trying to get by. You even encounter fellow hunters such as Alfred of the Executioners, Eileen of the hunter of hunters and Farther Gascoigne. But whats even more interesting is that most of the hunters you meet are fairly doomed, Gascoigne can be summoned to help you against the first boss but later on becomes a boss himself, you help Eileen to hunt a hunter that threatened her but later she falls against a stronger one and Alfred talks of his master Martyr Logarius and he ends up becoming a Martyr himself. These NPC's are important figures during the game and its fascinating learning their backstory and reasons for doing what they do.

The NPC hunters you find are also all hostile and if their are a bunch of them they will all crowd in and attack you at once, they really showcase how different weapon and skill builds can be done in Bloodborne and if your not too enthralled by how they play you can stop them.

So lets talk difficulty. Originally I had qualms about playing Bloodborne because I remember how badly screwed I got while playing Dark Souls 2, and I have to say Bloodborne is far more accessible a title than Dark Souls, its telling that From Software decided to release Dark Souls 2 on next gen consoles as well means they are gearing up for something, more on that later. The difficulty of the game though comes through experience and actually thats how both series work. They require experience you have to get knocked down before getting back up, Bloodborne teaches you that lesson at the very beginning of the game when your forced to die by the hands of an enemy before you can reach the hub of the game. Perseverance is the key, learning the patterns of enemies, expecting blows you can't evade and then healing when necessary, parrying attacks to open up chances for visceral strikes it all takes practice. 


Farewell Good Hunter. May You Find Your Worth In The Waking World.

Overall I loved Bloodborne. Even when I found myself beaten down by it, I refused to let it get the better of me. It was a good experience and the way its presented and done is really effective. I found myself getting tense at boss encounters because I didn't know what to expect and that made me excited when I was victorious. One of the most satisfying things in Bloodborne is seeing the message after you beat a boss "Prey Slaughtered" such a good statement to bring your hard earned accomplishment into perspective. 

The enticing nature of Bloodborne and the feeling I got from it made every second of it unique. There isn't a single thing about it that I felt needed to be changed, it was a unique challenge keeping you on your toes while also being rewarding. The theme of blood is prominent, I mean it would have to be what with the title having the word blood in it, it plays a big role in the story and also on the character as you can become covered in the blood of your former enemies. 

Perhaps the one thing Bloodborne needs to develop on is its backstory and lore. Like Dark Souls it is awfully cryptic and a lot of the necessary info you need is left in item descriptions and by NPC's. Trying to glean anything from it is difficult but at the same time its enticing and makes you want to know more about the game. 

Bloodborne is a fantastic game and truly an essential title for any fan of Sony or of From Software. If your looking for a challenge then I would look no further than this. 




Afterthought 

Like I said earlier, its telling that From Software have decided to port DS2 to PS4 and Xbox one. I interrupt that as a clear sign that From Software are testing their previous titles to get an idea of how they will run on next gen. Their intention seems obvious, Dark Souls 3 is a very real possibility at this point. And hopefully later on down the line we will see Bloodborne 2 or DLC. Either way I can't wait to see what comes next. 

Thanks for reading!