Bloodborne - A Retrospective
It is currently the hottest weekend of the year and I am sat in our living room – with all the blinds closed and as few clothes on as socially acceptable. Stocked up on ice lollies? Crack out the tinnies? In classic Tom F-H fashion, I have instead opted to avoid the heatwave completely by praising the…moon? If you’ve heard of Bloodborne you will likely know what I mean by this, but if not allow me to briefly enlighten you.
Bloodborne is a ‘souls-like’ game, which means it falls under a category of titles that use similar mechanics to that of the infamous Dark Souls franchise. Bloodborne is different to most ‘souls-like’ games as it is actually developed by From Software and is widely regarded as being a member of the Dark Souls series, despite not having any canonical relation (actually this is heavily debated but that’s a whole different can of worms). The Souls games are renowned for being extremely tough to beat. The general premise of the games revolving around giving the player’s character an impossible task of rising from defeat and disgrace in order to save the world from complete destruction. Fighting completely against the odds as a knight, thief or a choice of other typical RPG classes, the player must battle through hordes of undead warriors, giant bull-demons and lots of other weird and wonderful creations from the mad mind of Hidetaka Miyazaki. Bloodborne takes this one step further, however, combining a classic Japanese take on 1800s British gothic culture with H.P. Lovecraft horror.
Having played the other games at varying length, I was excited to jump into Bloodborne as its exclusivity to the PS4 console meant I hadn’t previously had access to it. In my new house I am surrounded by Dark Souls fanatics and the franchise is everywhere I look, so naturally this is as good a time as ever to give the game a bash. Or, spoiler alert, the whole franchise as I have loved every moment of this teeth-grinding , ass-clenching, blood-pumping goth-fest that all I can think about is beating the final bosses so I can get to sun-praising in the remastered edition of Dark Souls (1). But beating the final bosses is no easy feat…
A Dark Souls Clone? Or The Best Souls Game To Date?
For fans of the souls series, let me just say right off the bat/threaded cane [Tom, please stop] that Bloodborne is definitely worth playing, and is easily as good as any of the other titles in the franchise. While outsiders might look at Bloodborne as simply being a Dark Souls game with a shadowy reskin and a higher budget, there are a number of changes to the way the game plays and feels that will massively impact your experience of it in comparison. Something that I am going to struggle to forget is the speed of Bloodborne’s combat. Unfortunately, if you like playing heavier, ‘tankier’ characters you might have to adapt your style as there is simply no such thing in Bloodborne. The beast-hunters of Yharnam revel in their ability to out-speed their typically larger foes, so you can forget about that heavy armour, it’s waistcoats and top hats for you, milady. There are also all of about two (DLC included) shields in the game, so the new player strategy of ‘block and reposte’ is also out the window. No, instead of a shield you have - wait for it – a gun.
"A gun? So I can simply shoot everything from far away and waltz my way through?"
Unfortunately not, as for some reason your character has an unspoken curse laid upon them which dictates that your gun will do only a fraction of the damage that your main-hand weapon does. No, in typical unspoken-Japanese-developer-style your gun is used to parry enemies – a motion that is dangerous and tough to master, but that can provide the player with massive damage opportunities. Despite spending exactly 91 words on this segment, I barely used this feature and instead opted to skip around my foes with Bloodborne’s dodge-roll replacement: the longest and most rapid quickstep dodge in anime history.
It would be inaccurate to say that I hadn’t struggled with the game on this playthrough, with our whole house watching me clear the first few areas and bosses there was definitely an air of pressure to perform well and to entertain my superiors, however I have found my journey through Bloodborne far more relaxing and, ultimately, more enjoyable than when I’ve played Souls games in the past. It would be too easy to assume that this was because of the game itself as there are more variables at play here. When attempting runs of Dark Souls 1 and 3 I have rushed through the games with an objective in mind – whether that is finishing it, creating a character build or simply wanting something to play out of boredom. Alternatively, this time around I found myself exploring every area thoroughly trying to find every item and enemy to fight. When I lost to bosses I would rarely get angry or frustrated, instead taking the time to reflect on where I slipped up, helping me to distinguish their movements, attacks and weak points, or ‘learning the boss’ as it is often referred to, and something that I am usually too lazy to do. Although, we will have to see if this dedication continues as I grind my way through the endgame bosses.
A Spatter Of Blood Here, A Clatter Of Steel There...
I can’t write about Bloodborne without talking about the atmosphere that Miyazaki did such a fantastic, chilling job of creating on this title. Yes, I am aware that I have briefly mentioned it but to gloss over such a large part of what makes Bloodborne, well, ‘Bloodborne’ would be a crime. I am a wide advocator of the opinion that a game’s graphics should not determine its worth, yet here we have one of the prettiest but most haunting settings in video game history. While the previous Dark Souls titles are often praised for their atmospheres, more often than not I have found them to be too dark, or too depressing, or too drab. Bloodborne is an exception here, as Miyazaki does an unparalleled job of bringing Lovecraft’s original themes from novel to widescreen television. Bloodborne is dark, but it succeeds at building tension. Bloodborne is depressing, but it paints a vision of a hopeless world. Bloodborne isn’t drab, it’s shiny and glossy with pools of blood, reflecting the moon and the glowing eyes of the beasts that track your movements from every street corner. The streets of Yharnam are painted with silver-bullet-moonlight, not to make you feel safe, to make you feel exposed. This is how to properly do lighting.
I can easily pin it on my imaginary wall of ‘Games That Do Atmosphere Well’, alongside Halo: Combat Evolved (original graphics), Call Of Duty 4 and, controversially, Fable 3. I hate to end this positive paragraph on a negative, but this game was [figuratively] not designed for the Playstation 4 system. I suffered frequent framerate drops at critical points in combat or during a wide camera pan to show off a gorgeous vista or, ironically, when there was a lot of blood on-screen. This is not something that impacts my opinion on the game, it didn’t damage my experience, I am just once again praying that we eventually get to experience Bloodborne on PC in all its glory.
But Seriously, When Will We Awaken From This Nightmare?
Being given the time that I have with the lockdown and everything else, it has removed a lot of worldly distractions and has allowed me to really focus on the more important aspects of life, such as acute details of the games I have played recently with a less anxious attitude, enjoying everything that the titles offer. While this is partially a joke, it has multiplied my enjoyment of the past few games by a million and has boosted my appreciation for the attention to detail that some developers go to crazy lengths to display. Even if 90% of players won’t find the music box that can be used to weaken Father Gascoigne, the ones who do will be ripping at their heartstrings as they learn the awful fate that befell his wife and child on the night of the hunt.
Thanks for the photo, Mark.
Another thing I have started to do is play games on the highest difficulty settings (where applicable). Playing Bloodborne in my laid-back manner has taught me not to gloss over the fine details, instead using all of the mechanics and tools that are available to me. Maximum difficulty is a solid way of ensuring that I do this as, in some titles, skipping over optional quests or half-arsing skill trees is not an option. My time with Mass Effect reinforced this, and the games that I am currently running through in preparation for my future YouTube content also play a large part. Oh, did I mention that I am planning to do more retrospective videos like that? Probably.
Peak this wonderfully terrifying fanart by Kyle Hall, who very generously let me feature it on the blog, please support artists, you can find his work here
Some time ago I wrote a brief summary of my thoughts about Watchdogs on my personal Instagram. Watchdogs; a game that has one of the my favourite single-player stories of all time, made even better having to think about every stealth manoeuvre, crafted item and CCTV camera puzzle as though every decision is vital to your unlikely success. Which in a lot of games, it really is vital. I could write an entire essay on why difficulty in video games is important, and what makes a good difficulty incline compared to what doesn’t, but I think I will save that for another time as this piece has already gone on too long.
Thank you again for checking in on the ravings of a madman (me), I have plenty of ideas and experiences that I want to talk about and share, but get in touch and tell me what you would like me to discuss my thoughts on. Your feedback always makes me more motivated to put time into this blog as it reaffirms me that I’m not simply screaming into the void. If you would like me to write more things like this let me know on Instagram, Facebook, or throw a brick through my window and yell curses at me. Actually, please don’t do that, I have too many other challenges to think about right now, like how the hell I’m supposed to beat The Orphan of Kos on a diet that limits my intake of caffein.
Seriously, how cool is this? Also by Kyle Hall
"These small creatures have crept out of a nightmare, and while they may not look too friendly, they accompany hunters, follow their orders, and take care of messages left for others." - The Messengers
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