User Review : Bloodborne

Once in a Red Moon

Bloodborne isn’t just a fantastic action game, it’s an antidote to an increasingly complacent gaming industry. Much like the the endless amounts of blood vials necessarily used throughout, Bloodborne acts as a blood transfusion of classic gaming values seemingly lost in many contemporary high-profile games: fun, depth, difficulty. It doesn’t hold your hand through a 30-minute tutorial, insulting your intelligence as if you’ve never played a game before. You’re thrown in the deep end with nary any direction except optional hints strewn across the environment. You have to earn your instruction, whether it be through text or the hard way: dying and consequently learning from your mistakes. I can’t help but feel as though the game harkens back to a time before the internet, where your most convenient resource was a small, 15 page manual along with the back of the box and your greatest resource was your resilience to death and defeat. But unlike some of those games of the past, Bloodborne isn’t punishing for the sake of being an impossible challenge. Very few times will you feel as though your death was unjust, that you’re incapable of realizing your mistakes and where you need to improve. It’s a characteristic that I find especially endearing, considering the bleak tone throughout and the backbreaking reputation the Souls series has as a whole.

So what makes Bloodborne so special? One thing I’ve noticed scouring various discussions and analyses of the game is the sheer variety of qualities that have sunk their figurative teeth into gamers around the world. Some boast the game’s brilliantly softspoken story and the sheer depth to the world’s characters and lore. Some are quick to point out the obvious and not-so-obvious inspirations, such as H.P. Lovecraft and H.R. Giger, executed in ways that respect and build upon their ideas almost flawlessly. Some simply love the combination of action and gothic Victorian horror, a rare combination in gaming. I, however, have a far more personal reason (in addition to those professed above) and it stemmed from a small window of time early last December in Las Vegas, Nevada. As many of you are aware, this was the location of PSX, or the PlayStation Experience, in which fans were granted access to early builds of games (then) in development. Among the likes of The Order, Destiny DLC and Until Dawn was a small demo area featuring Bloodborne. The line to give it a try was substantial and once it became my turn, I was presented a controller with zero instruction. Sans a trailer or two, I was going into this game completely blind. What happened next will surprise no one...I got my ass handed to me. Over the course of the entire day (yes, I spent nearly all day rotating in and out of that line) I died over and over almost always in the same spot against the same ogre-like enemy. But instead of feeling frustration or confusion, I felt something I hadn’t felt since I had played the likes of Lunar 2 or Legend of Dragoon as a kid; that inexplicable feeling of having passion for something. Wading through countless Assassin’s Creeds and Call of Duty’s, I had grown jaded for what had become a relatively uncreative gaming industry. Bloodborne changed that with a short demo so well-executed that I couldn’t help but feel as though the final product could help renew my love for games. Months later, it did just that.

From start to finish, Bloodborne executes its unique identity exceedingly well. No enemy or environment feels out of place, no orchestral theme feels anything less than outstandingly fitting and no boss feels as though it's a rehash of any other. For all intents and purposes, the game presents you with a character creator to apply a subtle way of making you feel as though you are the one getting wrapped up in this horrifying plague of death, disease, beasts and celestial beings. You are the one exploring an uncanny Victorian town not-so-slowly falling to pieces, complete with a progressively stunning view of the night sky. It implores you to experience all the game has to offer, including branching side-quests and multiple endings. Luckily, the game offers a New Game+ mode which provides an extra challenge and a means to go through the game again in a different way without losing your hard-earned progress.

All said, the game isn’t without it’s faults, but what game is? Loading times are grinding, texture pop-in is rare but noticeable and the frame rate occasionally struggles to keep up. Personally though, my biggest qualm with the game is its archaic and needlessly complicated co-op system. Much time was wasted attempting to connect to friends, with little to no success and little to no explanation as to why. From Software has since made multiple patches available solving some of these issues and they go much appreciated. The new loading screens educate players about items and lore in small, few-second intervals and co-op now allows for friends to connect regardless of level ranges. Bravo, From, bravo.

Bloodborne isn’t a game for everyone. It’s excessively violent, bleak in tone and sometimes punishingly difficult. Casual fare this is not. But if Bloodborne is one thing, it’s an experience you won't forget long after the credits roll, for countless reasons that may or may not become obvious to you. The world, the epic battles, the characters and the lore will stick with you months after the case begins to collect dust. Bloodborne is a shining beacon of hope for the industry and a prime example of what videogames are capable of that all other forms of entertainment are not. Enjoy every minute of it, because after the recently-announced DLC hits, we may never get anything like it ever again.