By Kermath Davies
Death and insanity are clichés of the horror genre, but Bloodborne is anything but just another horror game.
Your journey through Bloodborne is developer From Software's nightmare, of which you are a traveller on a course to make the madness your own; but as soon as you think you've gained control, you realise how little you know.
Bloodborne is an intricate mind-maze created by Hidetaka Miyazaki, and if you've played anything from the Souls franchise, you'll immediately recognize his unique style.
The game opens with a character creation segment and the amount of options is overwhelming. I spent close to an hour designing my character's face, just because the game let me be so liberal.
With pasty white skin, the reddist of lipstick and some heavy eye shadow, my dude was ready to enter Bloodborne.
The story takes place in Yharnam, a city of filth, grime and immorality. It's paradise for the likes of Jack The Ripper, with splattered walls that tell the stories of bloody fights, and portly crows that look straight out of Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds.
The atmosphere at first is sad, but stick with it for a bit and the mood changes drastically. The story unfolds, layer after layer, taking you through the traditional horror tropes in its first few hours with twisted corpses and werewolves, before the game opens up to more complex and disturbing places that have only been lightly touched upon in previous From Software titles.
Combat is all about being upfront and personal, with long-range saws and no shields. The focus is mainly set on running like hell, or getting right in there and cutting throats.
Having no shield definitely leaves me feeling more vulnerable and mostly means a lot of dying. You will die many, many times, until you get the attack just right.
Every time you respawn, the game will let you obtain a small hint that can be used to avoid meeting the same fate on your next try.
Defence mechanisms are rooted in the agility of your character, going in for the kill as soon as possible - and you best be on your toes. These enemies are one-track-minded, bloodthirsty terrors. Once they have their eyes set on you, your arms better be at the ready.
You've got two choices when it comes to artillery. Your primary weapon can extend and retract like a switchblade. Its short version will allow for quick, short bursts of attack, where the extended form will be slower, but much more powerful and allow for greater range.
Later in the game, you'll be able to strengthen your weapon by adding gems, or elemental effects to it, adding functions like being able to set your enemy alight.
Your second weapon should also be treated more like a crisis-management tool as opposed to a go-to when approached by larger enemies. Pistols or shotguns are excellent at maiming big targets, giving you a moment to get to that critical position and bring them down.
There's also a 'regain' system that focuses on how much strength you use per attack, measured on a green bar just under your health. It keeps the battles intense, and rewards you for fighting rather than fleeing.
As enemies take parts of your life, it provides a window of opportunity where you can gain back many of the lost hit points by returning with a few quick blows in a short amount of time.
The gameplay is merciless, and don't expect your hand to be held at any point. As with the rest of the Souls franchise, you're thrown into Bloodborne with little knowledge on what you're actually doing and find yourself flying blind for the first couple of hours.
Once you actually know what you're doing, the sense of achievement is overwhelming, though short-lived, as new obstacles in the story constantly push you outside the comfort of what you've just gotten used to.
One way of getting through where some seemingly impossible bosses is to make good use of the multiplayer that Bloodborne provides.
There are three types of multiplayer within Bloodborne: Asynchronous, co-op and PvP. The first type is connected to the 'Notebook' that the character picks up in the first few moments of the game.
You can use it to leave notes in some areas to assist other players; some are even written by the developers themselves. Co-op is where you'll be able to find other players to help you bring down unforgiving bosses. All you need to do is ring the 'Beckoning Bell' and the game will automatically pair you with up to three players.
PvP is the competitive multiplayer mode can be similarly accessed through the 'Sinister Resonant Bell'. The bell transport you into another player's gam, where you'll be able to invade and try to defeat that player. You'll need to have an Insight Level of around 30 or more to access this.
Another application of multiplayer in Bloodborne can be found in the hidden Chalice Dungeons. These are a network of ruins and dungeons that lie beneath the City of Yharnam and act like a bonus level.
A set of up to three players can team up to defeat enormous bosses and claim special rewards in these ruins by combining a Chalice and other items to open a portal to access the dungeon. I highly recommend you gear-up and visit a local Blood Echo vendor before even going near this area.
Blood Echoes is the currency in Bloodborne and can be harvested from foes and spent on increasing your character's abilities, buying new clothes, weapons and items from a cluster of ghostly gremlins that sit in a cauldron in the hub area known as Hunter's Dream. Each time you die, you'll lose all the Blood Echoes you've gained and haven't cashed in.
They'll drop at the place you were slain, or eaten by the beast that may have defeated you. When you've respawned, your number one mission is to get back to the place you died to pick up everything you dropped. Failing to do so, or dying on the way, will result in those hard-earned Blood Echoes being lost forever.
As the amount of Blood Echoes increase in your possession, so does your heartbeat, and the chances of reaching a new lamp; one of the rare places Bloodborne provides as a point of safety, which will offer you a new access point into Yharnam. It's a constant gamble of wanting to turn back and bank your winnings, or press on through the plot and risk losing it all.
Miyazaki's storytelling shines as the most outstanding part of this game. It's an intricately put together world that rewards you proportionately for however much effort you put into it.
Start Bloodborne headstrong and don't put down the controller until you're satisfied with your progress.
The pain will be well worth the fight. Bloodborne is truly a unique gaming experience that carefully balances horror, story and gameplay; something that most other horror games struggle with. You will not leave Bloodborne dissatisfied.
At the time of writing, loading times were very slow. From Software says it has noted the problems and is exploring another patch for Bloodborne.
That frustration aside, this is still a five star game.
3 News
Bloodborne
:: Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment
:: Developer: From Software
:: Format: PlayStation 4
:: Rating: R16
source: newshub archive
