kurapivka
2 reviews liked by kurapivka
One of the most gripping, emotional and simultaneously ambitious narratives told in the medium. While there are definitely narrative missteps throughout and a few things that could be better, the world, cast and story of Mass Effect continued to engage me everytime I played, and towards the end of the final game it dawned on me how much everything in the game has grown on me, and man did it make the finale of the trilogy seriously hit hard. By no means perfect, but I’m not only surprised but overjoyed by the quality of the Mass Effect trilogy and it’s been one hell of a ride. A fucking stellar series in every way.
Bloodborne
2015
The Road to Elden Ring #4: Bloodborne
I’ve played Bloodborne probably the least of all the Soulsborne games, but I can really see why it’s gotten as popular as it has. In short, Bloodborne is the best game on the Playstation 4, with intense fast-paced combat, an impeccable sense of style and art direction, and several interesting game mechanics that help it stand out from its Dark Souls brethren. The worst things I can say about Bloodborne are mostly technical issues and even those hardly drag the experience down.
I think the biggest changes from the previous games are the new weapons and revamped combat system. Rather than choosing from hundreds of swords, axes, hammers, and shields, Bloodborne keeps the weapon selection to the double digits. However, each weapon feels completely unique to use and features a special transformation ability, allowing it to swap forms for a different moveset, essentially making each weapon a 2-in-1. Combined with the game’s massive emphasis on dodging and parrying over blocking and the overall faster pace of both you and the enemies, this reworked combat system makes Bloodborne feel a lot different to play despite being fundamentally the same as the Souls games. In addition, the game’s awesome Rally system, where the player can quickly regain lost HP by smacking the enemy around, encourages the player to play much more aggressively rather than Dark Souls’s more passive, defensive combat. Souls veterans may find they need to re-train their brains away from the slower methodical combat of the past three games to deal with the more intense (and maybe more difficult) combat of Bloodborne.
While we explored ancient fallen civilizations in the previous games, like Lordran and Drangleic, Bloodborne puts us right in the middle of the fall itself. Yharnam is in chaos as we scour streets full of burning corpses, mobs of terrified infected townspeople, twisted experiments, and visitors from another world. Hardly a secret 7 years later, but the mid-game twist from “traditional” horror like werewolves and giant snakes into genuine cosmic Lovecraftian beings is still one of my favorite twists in gaming history. The art direction reflects this, with early game areas using a gothic Victorian inspired look in the dingiest and dirtiest parts of Yharnam, and the late-game exploring fantastical Nightmare realms and high-class areas like the Cainhurst Castle. As the protagonist gains more “insight” from the horrific events unfolding before them, the world becomes more twisted and nightmarish. Even going back to starting zones reveals giant Amygdala demons that have always been there, you just didn’t have the ability to see them, an absolutely amazing touch typical of Miyazaki. From start to finish, Bloodborne just looks cool.
Bloodborne is more linear than its Souls predecessors but I think that this limitation allows the level design to be more intricate and interesting. Bloodborne’s levels are large, sprawling, and full to the brim with enemies, treasures, and secrets to find. The game’s introductory zone, Central Yharnam, is perhaps the strongest opening area of any of the Souls games, and arguably one of the greatest in the entire game itself. Though not that big in actuality, the area feels absolutely massive and does a great job of slowly introducing the player to the game’s various mechanics in a natural feeling way. Central Yharnam even makes a reappearance later in the game in one of my favorite unlockable shortcuts in the franchise.
Other areas, like Upper Cathedral Ward, are smaller with less to explore and uncover, but are super memorable for their unique set pieces or gimmicks. The Old Workshop and Hemwick Channel Lane also come to mind for smaller areas that are also super memorable. Honestly, I don’t think any area in Bloodborne is a miss, except for maybe the Unseen Village, but even that can be quickly ran through if the player finds it too unenjoyable.
As most everyone has heard by now, Bloodborne struggles on PS4 with frame rate issues and load times. Thankfully, the load times are much, much better than at launch, but the game still struggles to maintain a constant 30 FPS at times. Having replayed it very recently, it’s not as bad as it was in my memory, but it’s still unfortunate that at this point in time, we are unlikely to get a port to PS5 or PC that improves on this.
My only other issue with Bloodborne is a minor one with the healing system. Taking a cue from Demon’s Souls, Bloodborne uses limited use farmable Blood Vials to heal the player instead of a renewable source like the Estus Flask. While I really enjoy using the Blood Vials themselves, as the animation is quickest in the franchise and feels really snappy and satisfying to use, it kind of kills the pace if you’re doing particularly poorly in an area, and need to backtrack to farm up some vials or the cash to buy them. Not the end of the world but I find it a slight blemish on the overall experience.
You may have noticed I haven’t mentioned the Chalice Dungeons, and that’s because I don’t find them particularly interesting to discuss or to play. They’re randomly generated dungeons the player can build and then explore for loot and upgrade material. They’re neat in concept but I think are fairly dull to actually play through. All of them look nearly identical and while the later ones can provide insanely good treasure, it feels like too much of a grind to get up to them. Bloodborne gameplay is still great but feels lacking in levels not hand-designed by FromSoft like the main game. That being said, players have experimented with Chalice Dungeons in the seven years since release, and have found some absolutely amazing discoveries, including a dungeon featuring a cut boss from the game in an unfinished state. The fact we’re still finding new things in Bloodborne so many years on is a testament to the love and energy that goes into creating these games.
So to summarize, Bloodborne is not my favorite of the Souls games, but probably has my fewest complaints out of all of them. It is expertly designed and feels great to play. It’s got an amazing art direction and looks super cool basically the entire time you’re playing. Gameplay is perhaps the best of the series and makes you feel like a proper monster hunter rather than the scared knight you sometimes feel like in Dark Souls. It’s a shame it’s only on PS4, because I think more people definitely need to play this. For anyone with a PS4 or 5, Bloodborne is an absolute must-play.
I’ve played Bloodborne probably the least of all the Soulsborne games, but I can really see why it’s gotten as popular as it has. In short, Bloodborne is the best game on the Playstation 4, with intense fast-paced combat, an impeccable sense of style and art direction, and several interesting game mechanics that help it stand out from its Dark Souls brethren. The worst things I can say about Bloodborne are mostly technical issues and even those hardly drag the experience down.
I think the biggest changes from the previous games are the new weapons and revamped combat system. Rather than choosing from hundreds of swords, axes, hammers, and shields, Bloodborne keeps the weapon selection to the double digits. However, each weapon feels completely unique to use and features a special transformation ability, allowing it to swap forms for a different moveset, essentially making each weapon a 2-in-1. Combined with the game’s massive emphasis on dodging and parrying over blocking and the overall faster pace of both you and the enemies, this reworked combat system makes Bloodborne feel a lot different to play despite being fundamentally the same as the Souls games. In addition, the game’s awesome Rally system, where the player can quickly regain lost HP by smacking the enemy around, encourages the player to play much more aggressively rather than Dark Souls’s more passive, defensive combat. Souls veterans may find they need to re-train their brains away from the slower methodical combat of the past three games to deal with the more intense (and maybe more difficult) combat of Bloodborne.
While we explored ancient fallen civilizations in the previous games, like Lordran and Drangleic, Bloodborne puts us right in the middle of the fall itself. Yharnam is in chaos as we scour streets full of burning corpses, mobs of terrified infected townspeople, twisted experiments, and visitors from another world. Hardly a secret 7 years later, but the mid-game twist from “traditional” horror like werewolves and giant snakes into genuine cosmic Lovecraftian beings is still one of my favorite twists in gaming history. The art direction reflects this, with early game areas using a gothic Victorian inspired look in the dingiest and dirtiest parts of Yharnam, and the late-game exploring fantastical Nightmare realms and high-class areas like the Cainhurst Castle. As the protagonist gains more “insight” from the horrific events unfolding before them, the world becomes more twisted and nightmarish. Even going back to starting zones reveals giant Amygdala demons that have always been there, you just didn’t have the ability to see them, an absolutely amazing touch typical of Miyazaki. From start to finish, Bloodborne just looks cool.
Bloodborne is more linear than its Souls predecessors but I think that this limitation allows the level design to be more intricate and interesting. Bloodborne’s levels are large, sprawling, and full to the brim with enemies, treasures, and secrets to find. The game’s introductory zone, Central Yharnam, is perhaps the strongest opening area of any of the Souls games, and arguably one of the greatest in the entire game itself. Though not that big in actuality, the area feels absolutely massive and does a great job of slowly introducing the player to the game’s various mechanics in a natural feeling way. Central Yharnam even makes a reappearance later in the game in one of my favorite unlockable shortcuts in the franchise.
Other areas, like Upper Cathedral Ward, are smaller with less to explore and uncover, but are super memorable for their unique set pieces or gimmicks. The Old Workshop and Hemwick Channel Lane also come to mind for smaller areas that are also super memorable. Honestly, I don’t think any area in Bloodborne is a miss, except for maybe the Unseen Village, but even that can be quickly ran through if the player finds it too unenjoyable.
As most everyone has heard by now, Bloodborne struggles on PS4 with frame rate issues and load times. Thankfully, the load times are much, much better than at launch, but the game still struggles to maintain a constant 30 FPS at times. Having replayed it very recently, it’s not as bad as it was in my memory, but it’s still unfortunate that at this point in time, we are unlikely to get a port to PS5 or PC that improves on this.
My only other issue with Bloodborne is a minor one with the healing system. Taking a cue from Demon’s Souls, Bloodborne uses limited use farmable Blood Vials to heal the player instead of a renewable source like the Estus Flask. While I really enjoy using the Blood Vials themselves, as the animation is quickest in the franchise and feels really snappy and satisfying to use, it kind of kills the pace if you’re doing particularly poorly in an area, and need to backtrack to farm up some vials or the cash to buy them. Not the end of the world but I find it a slight blemish on the overall experience.
You may have noticed I haven’t mentioned the Chalice Dungeons, and that’s because I don’t find them particularly interesting to discuss or to play. They’re randomly generated dungeons the player can build and then explore for loot and upgrade material. They’re neat in concept but I think are fairly dull to actually play through. All of them look nearly identical and while the later ones can provide insanely good treasure, it feels like too much of a grind to get up to them. Bloodborne gameplay is still great but feels lacking in levels not hand-designed by FromSoft like the main game. That being said, players have experimented with Chalice Dungeons in the seven years since release, and have found some absolutely amazing discoveries, including a dungeon featuring a cut boss from the game in an unfinished state. The fact we’re still finding new things in Bloodborne so many years on is a testament to the love and energy that goes into creating these games.
So to summarize, Bloodborne is not my favorite of the Souls games, but probably has my fewest complaints out of all of them. It is expertly designed and feels great to play. It’s got an amazing art direction and looks super cool basically the entire time you’re playing. Gameplay is perhaps the best of the series and makes you feel like a proper monster hunter rather than the scared knight you sometimes feel like in Dark Souls. It’s a shame it’s only on PS4, because I think more people definitely need to play this. For anyone with a PS4 or 5, Bloodborne is an absolute must-play.