Bloodborne Review – Deadly Satisfaction

Developed By: From Software
Published By: Sony Computer Entertainment, SCE Japan Studio
Release Date: March 24th, 2015
Available On: PS4

As I pushed the giant doors open, I wasn’t sure what I had in-store for me. What kind of monster would be waiting for me on the other side? The health bar appears and I get nervous, “How am I going to beat that?”, “There’s no way I’m winning this”, “There goes all my Blood Echos”, and in a short amount of time, I die. That’s ok because I come back and I die again. I think “ok, this is how he wants to play?” and I decide to level up a little bit more, maybe upgrade my weapons and head back to the Nightmare Fog. After a hard fought 5 minute battle, the words “Prey Slaughtered” is shown on the screen, I give out a sigh of relief and the feeling that’s taken over me is honestly indescribable. The best way I can put it is that I feel like no one can touch me, I’m the champion, the King of Kings has arrived and everyone who dares stand in my way should fear me. This is just one kind of moment Bloodborne can give you but it’s a moment like no other. Unfortunately, some minor technical hiccups hold back an otherwise incredible experience.

From Software is back with its classic action-RPG roots, however, this time around they’ve ditched the dragons and medieval-like setting for a more Victorian one. The game also has a much darker, horror like tone which ends up suiting it a lot more than I would have figured. Walking the fictional city of Yharnam I never felt safe, and in traditional From fashion, you never know what could be waiting around the corner. However, its beauty and awe makes you want to explore the many areas it has to offer, not only for its secrets, (which are plentiful), but because the urge not to just doesn’t exist. It’s a good thing that Bloodborne rewards you for doing this, chances are you’ll find a shortcut making the time to the boss a lot shorter. I would be wandering the tight street of Yharnam inching further and further while this anxiety filled me up. Finally arriving at a switch, it opened a door which connected to the Lamp that I would spawn at if I met myself with death. Yet again, I’m taken back by a sigh of joy knowing that I no longer have to tread through so many enemies to get to the boss. These sensations it gives you are some of the best in modern videogames. Though this time around, the enemies seem to be much smarter and menacing them games before them.

I’m not sure where From gets their inspiration for creating enemies and bosses and I don’t think I’d like to find out. Going to the game I fought the likes of angry mobs with pitchforks, giant crows with the inability to really fly, men holding bloody bags with force-like  powers, and least not I forget those annoying undead dogs. This is where that horror element I mentioned earlier comes into play. These creatures and how they are presented can seriously creep some people out. Not to mention that multiple times they try and give you jump scares just to make sure you’re being kept on your toes. They’re also smarter than I remember from previous From games, they react quicker and will even dodge you if necessary making you always at the edge of your seat. When it comes to the boss fights, Bloodborne delivers some truly amazing boss fights the likes from encounter the Flamelurker in Demon’s Souls for the first time, or even The Tower Knight who you thought you’d never defeat due to his enormous size. Beating these bosses is a feat of its own and no matter the veteran Souls player or brand new into the series, defeating them brings you such joy, triumph and makes you feel unstoppable. What I really enjoyed about Bloodborne’s enemy decision is whenever I entered a new area it didn’t feel as if I was fighting the same enemies over and over. While it could have been easy to just throw three or four of the same looking enemy at once, there’s a good variety of enemies that it keeps it fresh and I enjoyed that a lot.

This time around From Software has decided to ditch shields and heavy armor in favor of a faster and streamlined combat that took me a bit to settle into, but once I did I loved every second of it. One of the key factors in a Souls game is its rich and intricate combat system. You cannot run into enemies hacking & slashing hoping to gain the kills, you have to be patient, understand how the enemy works, what kind of combos they do and ultimately when your best chance for a counterattack is. Without shields and heavy armor, battles are quicker and have you reacting faster. Bloodborne also adds a few new tactics into the mix such as the ability to regain part of the health lost if you can connect your attacks in due time. Even though, that one enemy might have got a few lucky shots, if you can swing back you’ll get that health back. Without the ability to take hits based on heavy armor, you’re agiler and forced to keep moving and dodging your way around the enemies. Battles are always intense and rarely did I feel the game cheated me, I knew that if I died if was being of my foolish actions and not the game. However, the newest addition to the great mechanics From has built is the inclusion of guns. While I thought these wouldn’t make much sense in the game, the way they are approached is genius. Not used for mere damage, these guns can cause the enemy and even bosses to be stunned allowing you to get in for a devastating attack.

The weapons in Bloodborne are some of my favorite parts about the game. Each main weapon has two forms, where in the previous game you could hold it in both hands, this time around the weapon literally transforms into another. For my playthrough, I stuck with a longsword that would transfer into a greatsword. Another one of my favorites was an Axe that transforms and extended into a long axe, giving me a bigger reach and allowing me to play it safe. Seeing the unique weapons was always interesting, whether I planned to use the weapon or not, I had to see what the two forms were. This time around there are fewer weapons in the game, but they each seem more meaningful than previous games. One of my biggest gripes with previous titles was the amount of pointless weapons that serve no purpose whatsoever. Bloodborne has enough weapons that are meaningful that you could either beat the game with your starting weapon or decide to make an entire build off of just one weapon you really enjoy.

One of biggest annoyances with Bloodborne is the questionable load times. Deaths take an approximate 40 seconds to load and traveling between different areas and the central hub can last anywhere between 20-30 seconds. It also doesn’t help that all you get to stare at is a black screen with the name of the game staring you in the face. No description of random items in the game, no images of different characters from the game, just a boring black screen. On top of that, I had minor framerate issues in certain areas. While they weren’t game breaking or something that happened often throughout my playthrough it was noticeable. These were annoying, but by no means game changing in a way that impacting my overall enjoyment with the game.

The other thing I wasn’t a big fan of was the Chalice Dungeons. These are dungeons that are procedurally generated and have you going through multiple “levels” before ending it with a final boss. The beauty of these is that even if you beat the game, there’s always something for you to do in the form of these dungeons. Because you don’t know what enemies you’re going to face, or the boss that’s waiting for you at the end it can be a nice surprise after you’ve explored what the game has to offer. My problem is that the dungeons don’t feel that special and completing them didn’t give me the same sense of joy like when I beat one of the bosses in my playthrough. The other issue is that the main game and it’s levels are so intricately designed with shortcuts, enemy placement and secrets. Where the dungeons seem to take all that away because each is different and because each has it’s own boss. There were times where I made three different dungeons and had the same final boss each time. While it’s a nice addition to the game, I found it to be just that, a bonus.

I cannot recommend Bloodborne enough, not just to people who love the series but even people who might have been nervous to jump in from what they heard others say. The combat is faster and keeps you on your toes. The world is simply beautiful and will have you stopping multiple times just to look around and take it all in, while the satisfaction of defeating that one boss who has been giving you trouble is like nothing you’ve ever felt while playing a game. Sure, the annoying load times can be a pain sometimes, but it shouldn’t take away from the incredible experience Bloodborne gives you.