Bloodborne - First Impressions

Admittedly, I was never a big fan of the “Souls” series by From Software. I never had a PlayStation 3, so I was never able to try Demon’s Souls. I did try getting into Dark Souls on Xbox 360 because I had heard so much about the series and had a friend who was a huge fan talk it up to me. But after playing for several hours, I wasn’t impressed. The ambiguity and intentional obscurity in the design and presentation, mixed with the immediate and steep learning curve really turned me off and I barely made a dent in Dark Souls. When Dark Souls 2 came out, I contemplated giving the series another chance but decided against it.

Considering all that, I was surprised when I found myself so intrigued by From Software’s latest title, “Bloodborne,” a PlayStation 4 exclusive. Not only that but I was even more surprised when I found myself really enjoying Bloodborne.

Set in the strange, forgotten town of Yharnham, you take on the role of a hunter seeking an ancient medicine rumored to be held somewhere in the cursed city. Incorporating an exaggerated gothic style, Bloodborne is like a horror movie come to life as Yharnham is inhabited by all manner of outlandish and vicious beasts.

If you’ve played any of the Souls games before, you’ll have a good headstart on how Bloodborne works, though there are some key differences. Careful and considered play is your best course of action since the lowest level enemy can kill you in a moment’s notice and the towering boss monsters can dispatch you even quicker. Unlike the Souls games, there is no blocking in Bloodborne, only dodging and evading. Due to the lack of blocking, the stamina meter is much more quick to recharge in Bloodborne.

There is also another big difference in the combat between the Souls games and Bloodborne. A new mechanic called the “regain system” allows you to regenerate a portion of life lost but it is a risky proposition to make the most of regain. After you’ve taken damage, your health bar drains with a white mark noting how much health you have left but to the right of the mark, a lighter shade of red remains for a few seconds. If you can deal damage while this portion of the bar remains, you will regenerate some lost health. Obviously, therein lies the risk – attacking the creature that just damaged you to regain some lost health could result in even more damage or death. It’s a risk but the quick combat in Bloodborne makes it a possibility.

Also like the Souls games, you earn “blood echoes” which can be spent on purchasing gear or leveling up your character. Though if you die, you lose all that earned XP creating a risk-reward dilemma between grinding for blood echoes and risking losing them all.

Overall, I’ve been having way more fun with Bloodborne than any of the Souls games and I think it’s because Bloodborne isn’t as intentionally obscure and confusing as the Souls games, making it more accessible to people who don’t want to spend time experimenting with every item or stat trying to figure out what it does or affects. Similarly, while the combat and difficulty are intense, I feel like Bloodborne has more in common with hack-and-slash games than the Souls series. Now, that isn’t to say that Bloodborne is hack-and-slash because it most definitely is not. But the emphasis on staying quick while dealing damage reminds me more of standard action/adventure games than the time I spent playing Dark Souls. Also, the atmosphere and aesthetics of Bloodborne are much, much cooler (in my opinion) than the Souls games. The easiest way I can explain it is if the Souls games are fantasy movies, Bloodborne is a horror film.

I’m planning on doing a full review for Bloodborne but I want to get a little deeper into it before I do but that could take some time. (I’m several hours in but only just recently beat the Cleric Beast and found the second boss. Right now I’m trying to grind for more XP to level up before trying to fight the next boss again while looking through Central Yharnham for any secret areas I surely missed.)

If you were a fan of From Software’s earlier games or are looking for a game that offers a serious challenge, definitely look into Bloodborne.