I... didn't expect to like this game as much as I did.
A couple of years ago I had a phase, where I wanted to know everything about its lore, even though I had never played it and actually dreaded ever doing so. The whole discourse about Soulslikes and how hard they are, really turned me of gameplay-wise. But all the video essay explaining the lore, discussing its themes, analyzing it's endings as well as the general aesthetic and gothic, victorian vibes and the eldritch horror always occupied a space in the back of my head.
Having now actually played and finished it as well as the DLC I just gotta say, this is probably one of my favourites.
I spend the first three hours trying to get to the Cleric Beast (fuck those werewolves, I still think they are way to hard for a newcomer and would encourage every newbie to cheese the shit out of them) and even de-installed the game angrily only to come back the next day. This time I reached the Cleric Beast and was even able to kill it after a couple of tries. From that point on, I really enjoyed Bloodborne.
Maybe it's because it's my first Soulsgame, but I think the tense difficulty paired with the very precise combat that discourages button mashing makes this a great horror experience. Whenever you walk down a path you haven't walked before you're really tense, cause there might be (a) new (combination of) enemies that is gonna fuck you up.
The esoteric story-telling and general atmosphere only enhanced this horror feeling.
I don't think I really need to add anything to the whole discussion around how this game puts Lovecraftian horror perfectly into a video game: Insight, knowledge beyond human comprehension, uncaring Gods/ Old Ones, dreams and nightmares as surreal yet powerful places that can actually manifest things in reality - you know the deal. There is maybe an aspect that isn't mentioned as much though: It kinda took the racism out of Lovecraft. The evil cults aren't black people doing some "voodoo" magic (I'm no expert but voodoo is apparently a amalgamation of various African religious influences, in which the enslaved came together) to summon Cthulhu or "mad Arabs" that translated ancient texts and thus put evil magic into the world. No, this game takes place in Fantasy London, and the evil cult is actually a complex mixture of the (christian) church and a seemingly European medieval university. This time it's the colonizers fault and yet they blame the "outsiders", the hunters that are hired from different lands to kill the beasts that are increasingly plaguing the city, in exchange for which they can also benefit from the blood healing Yharnam is famous for. I'm not gonna pretend that Bloodborne is a anti-colonial master piece, it's much to dedicated to it's narrative about ancient unknowable horrors for that, but I appreciate that it does clean that up a bit.
Lastly, while playing this I wondered why I like the gameplay so much, it really reminded me of design philosophy left behind in the era of the PS2. Design philosophies and gameplay I've dearly missed.
No open world, but instead a rather linear experience with interlaced, convoluted pathways that will always be worth exploring. Be it for new items, interesting bits of lore/ environmental storytelling or just a shortcut so you don't have to do a harrowing passage again.
The combat design is also really good. Everything reacts to your hits, you can counter bosses or other enemies if you're dexterous enough. The parry system as well as the dodging is super precise making anything you pull of general delight. I would still advocate for an easy mode/ accessibility options (people with not as much free time, stressfull jobs as well as disabled people might still enjoy this game for one reason or another). Only being able to play this when you're able to highly concentrate could be a bit frustrating if you wanted to play a little after a hard day at work for example.
Still, I enjoyed as a gameplay continuation - and maybe that's a bit of a hot take - of the original Kingdom Hearts.
...I mean that. Many people say the original Kingdom Hearts is a bit antiquated, but it actually shares a lot of qualities with this game. It's level structure is rather linear, but you can find convoluted pathways and secrets in every major area and you can also parry enemies to your advantage. The last thing is not necessarily needed to beat Kingdom Hearts, but it makes the combat so much more fun. (both games also share an atrocious camera, but I don't think that's something that is willingly designed that way).
Bloodborne's story is not as unhinged though. Yeah, I might check out some more Fromsoft games
A couple of years ago I had a phase, where I wanted to know everything about its lore, even though I had never played it and actually dreaded ever doing so. The whole discourse about Soulslikes and how hard they are, really turned me of gameplay-wise. But all the video essay explaining the lore, discussing its themes, analyzing it's endings as well as the general aesthetic and gothic, victorian vibes and the eldritch horror always occupied a space in the back of my head.
Having now actually played and finished it as well as the DLC I just gotta say, this is probably one of my favourites.
I spend the first three hours trying to get to the Cleric Beast (fuck those werewolves, I still think they are way to hard for a newcomer and would encourage every newbie to cheese the shit out of them) and even de-installed the game angrily only to come back the next day. This time I reached the Cleric Beast and was even able to kill it after a couple of tries. From that point on, I really enjoyed Bloodborne.
Maybe it's because it's my first Soulsgame, but I think the tense difficulty paired with the very precise combat that discourages button mashing makes this a great horror experience. Whenever you walk down a path you haven't walked before you're really tense, cause there might be (a) new (combination of) enemies that is gonna fuck you up.
The esoteric story-telling and general atmosphere only enhanced this horror feeling.
I don't think I really need to add anything to the whole discussion around how this game puts Lovecraftian horror perfectly into a video game: Insight, knowledge beyond human comprehension, uncaring Gods/ Old Ones, dreams and nightmares as surreal yet powerful places that can actually manifest things in reality - you know the deal. There is maybe an aspect that isn't mentioned as much though: It kinda took the racism out of Lovecraft. The evil cults aren't black people doing some "voodoo" magic (I'm no expert but voodoo is apparently a amalgamation of various African religious influences, in which the enslaved came together) to summon Cthulhu or "mad Arabs" that translated ancient texts and thus put evil magic into the world. No, this game takes place in Fantasy London, and the evil cult is actually a complex mixture of the (christian) church and a seemingly European medieval university. This time it's the colonizers fault and yet they blame the "outsiders", the hunters that are hired from different lands to kill the beasts that are increasingly plaguing the city, in exchange for which they can also benefit from the blood healing Yharnam is famous for. I'm not gonna pretend that Bloodborne is a anti-colonial master piece, it's much to dedicated to it's narrative about ancient unknowable horrors for that, but I appreciate that it does clean that up a bit.
Lastly, while playing this I wondered why I like the gameplay so much, it really reminded me of design philosophy left behind in the era of the PS2. Design philosophies and gameplay I've dearly missed.
No open world, but instead a rather linear experience with interlaced, convoluted pathways that will always be worth exploring. Be it for new items, interesting bits of lore/ environmental storytelling or just a shortcut so you don't have to do a harrowing passage again.
The combat design is also really good. Everything reacts to your hits, you can counter bosses or other enemies if you're dexterous enough. The parry system as well as the dodging is super precise making anything you pull of general delight. I would still advocate for an easy mode/ accessibility options (people with not as much free time, stressfull jobs as well as disabled people might still enjoy this game for one reason or another). Only being able to play this when you're able to highly concentrate could be a bit frustrating if you wanted to play a little after a hard day at work for example.
Still, I enjoyed as a gameplay continuation - and maybe that's a bit of a hot take - of the original Kingdom Hearts.
...I mean that. Many people say the original Kingdom Hearts is a bit antiquated, but it actually shares a lot of qualities with this game. It's level structure is rather linear, but you can find convoluted pathways and secrets in every major area and you can also parry enemies to your advantage. The last thing is not necessarily needed to beat Kingdom Hearts, but it makes the combat so much more fun. (both games also share an atrocious camera, but I don't think that's something that is willingly designed that way).
Bloodborne's story is not as unhinged though. Yeah, I might check out some more Fromsoft games
2 Comments
Awesome review.
SandwichSammy
8 months ago
Possibly the most important video game review in the history of mankind