Game Reviews : Bloodborne

Bloodborne- A modern take on 80’s nostalgia.  

From Software is synonymous with their tough as nails Souls series games.  Bloodborne is their first step into the new console generation and in my opinion one of the PS4’s best offerings.  I hadn’t dabbled too much with their previous entries.  Put a few hours into Dark Souls and was punished by the first boss and lack of save points, put it down without looking back.  I had too many other games on my plate at the time and didn’t have the patience to persevere. 

So fast forward a couple of years.  Spring was upon us and there really hadn’t been many notable PS4 releases since the prior holiday season.  Bloodborne was getting hyped like crazy from pretty much every gaming blog and magazine.  Not seeing much that interested me on the horizon, I decided to take the plunge and I’m glad I did.  It has quickly become one of my favorite PS4 games and made up for some of the issues I had with Dark Souls.  My main issue with DS wasn’t necessarily the difficulty, but the slowness of the combat.  I knew patience paid off in DS, but combat was just too slow for my liking.  Bloodborne alleviates that in spades.  I know many have complained that they downsized the number of available weapons offered, but each weapon now has two different forms and multiple ways of attacking.  I’m not quite sure what I think about the removal of the shield, but can see it being far less valuable due to the increase in the speed of combat. 

I’m not going to sugar coat anything here.  The game is hard.  Think 80’s NES hard ala Ninja Gaiden, Battletoads, and the like.  The main difference to me is that this game is fair.  Sure you have to repeat some sections ad nauseum to get by, but I didn’t feel that the game was ever cheap.  If I died it was my own fault, maybe my low level character shouldn’t have tried taking on a mob of 6 guys at once.  Maybe that werewolf is a little stronger than I originally expected.  Through the trials and tribulations of the game I was learning.  I was able to hone my handling of the weapons, the timing of the enemy, and exactly how many hits I could get in before parrying.  That’s really what kept me coming back for more.  Learning and progressing through your new found discoveries.

I’m  a huge fan of RPGs and this game doesn’t completely scratch that itch due to the fact that the focus is primarily on the combat and the gargantuan bosses that you encounter.  The bosses are really the focal point of the game.  Everything else is there to prepare you to face the up to 15 different boss encounters in the game.  I didn’t end up facing all optional bosses, but felt that the challenge wasn’t as difficult as I was expecting.  I know I’ve heard and read it countless times, but the first 2 bosses are some of the most difficult in the game.  Especially since I am relative noob to the souls series.  If you put your time in to understand the mechanics and find some of the shortcuts it greatly reduces the frustration level.  Once properly acclimated with the game I was able to slowly but surely make my way through the remainder of the game.  I definitely felt a sense of pride watching the credits roll, although I got the worst of three endings.  I will definitely be jumping back into a NG+ to go for the other endings.

One thing that kept the frustration level on the low end was the ability to play online.  This isn’t a typical co-op campaign in the traditional sense.  Instead you need to reach a certain level and then invite online players into your game.  I really enjoyed how the online aspect was integrated.  Not only can you summon a player, but you can be invaded.  In addition, players are also able to leave notes on the ground throughout the world to warn you or sometimes trick you in regards to upcoming scenes or foes.  Fought the same boss 10 times to no avail?  Don’t throw the controller.  Ring your summoning bell and shortly an anonymous player will join you to assist.  Initially there were problems with the online components working, but patches have luckily rolled out to alleviate these issues.

Now I know I’ve praised the game for the most part, but there were a few things that we’re a little disappointing.  First being the story.  I’m not looking for a hold your hand, cut scene after cut scene adventure, but the story and the way it’s presented is incredibly obtuse.  I know I missed side quests and even optional bosses due to not knowing where  to go or how to activate certain portions of the game.  I hate playing games with walk throughs handy, but I may need to resort to those measures for my subsequent play through.  The only other thing that was a slight negative to me was the general darkness and drabness to almost all of the settings.  There are many beautiful visuals and gothic architecture to be seen through your journey, but most of the areas consisted of a similar color palate.  It definitely suited the theme of the game, but I would have liked a little bit more color and variation thrown in.

Overall I feel that Bloodborne is a must own game for the PS4 and I’m very glad that I took the plunge.  I don’t regret paying full asking price for once.  I’ve been burned many times before, but in my opinion this game lives up to the hype and then some.  As long as you know what you are getting into and are prepared to invest a little time you will reap many rewards.

-Gerald Thomas