Game: Bloodborne
Platform: PS4 (Exclusive)
Developer: FromSoftware
Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment
Release: March 24th,2015 (NA)
We are born of the blood, made men by the blood, undone by the blood.
STORY
The story of Bloodborne is very complicated and somewhat convoluted so I wont go into it much here, but basically you are a new hunter in the city of Yharnam and you are sent by Gehrman, a wheelchair bound man who resides in the hunters dream, to kill the beasts that plague the land.
Unlike most games Bloodborne not give you the story upfront. Like other Souls games, you have to search for it. The story is given to the player through NPC dialogue, notes, and cut-scenes. Most of the few NPCs in this game may seem insignificant and unimportant, but that is not the case. Almost every NPC you come across has a role in the main overarching story.
The story is extremely interesting and well thought out, although I was forced to use websites like the Bloodborne wiki in order to truly understand it entirely. On my first play-through I thought every character I came across had no substance but after doing some research i was shocked and impressed at how important some of them are. My only problems with the games story was that there was little to no character progression and that the story is extremely difficult to follow.
GAMEPLAY
Bloodbornes game play is where it truly shines. Bloodborne is without a doubt a Souls game. But unlike other Souls games, Bloodborne increases the speed of combat. It focuses more on speed, well timed dodges, and parrying rather then blocking. There is only 1 shield in the game and it is virtually useless. Enemies are faster as well, especially enemy hunters.
The boss fights are extremely well executed obviously, since they are the selling point of the Souls games. They aren’t the kind of bosses that you can trap in a corner and have your way with. Many of them adapt and switch their moves up depending on the amount of health they have left. A lot of them even have attacks that will instantly bring your health down to 1 and some attacks will kill you as soon as they hit.
The game forces you to adapt and learn your enemies attacks before you’re able to defeat them, which is a common reason as to why plenty of people quit the game early on. You will die. A lot. But that is what makes the game so appealing to its dedicated fan base. There is always that boss that will kill you 5, 10, or even 20 times over, but once you finally defeat them you get a sense of satisfaction that comes with a hard earner victory. That sense of satisfaction when playing a game is something many games today lack.
VISUALS
Bloodborne is a gorgeous game. The art style is perfect for the setting, and most of the textures have a great amount of detailing. The game ran at a smooth 1080p 60fps, with minimal frame drops. I only experienced consistent frame drops while going through the back end of the optional chalice dungeons.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SpUppHDZHLE
REPLAY VALUE
This game has a great amount of replay value. You can miss a lot of things on your first play-through, in fact there is an entire section of the game that is optional and can be missed. Not to mention that there are plenty of optional bosses that can also be missed. There are also the chalice dungeons that require certain materials to enter. I personally found these dungeons more difficult than the actual main portion of the game. The defiled chalice dungeon increases the enemy difficulty while cutting your health in half. At the time that I am writing this article I have yet to finish that dungeon.
There is also new game plus mode that lets you keep everything you’ve acquired in your first play-through, and lets you go through the game again with the enemies difficulties increased. There is so much to discover and learn about in this game that I would have to recommend 2 play-throughs at least.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DT72jxjdUYo
CONCLUSION
Many people say that the Souls games like Demons Souls, Dark Souls, and Bloodborne are too hard. In my opinion, these games are not hard. They just provide you with challenges that you wont be able to beat on your first try. Many games today lack any sort of challenge and many people are accustomed to that so they probably wont like Bloodborne. But for those of us that like a challenge every once in a while, Bloodborne is an amazing game. Personally its my favorite Playstation exclusive yet, and my 2015 GOTY.
