“The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown”
- H.P. Lovecraft
Bloodborne is an action role-playing/horror game released in 2015. It was developed by FromSoftware and published by Sony Computer Entertainment exclusively for the PlayStation 4. Bloodborne tells the story of a hunter who travels to the city of Yharnam to cure his unknown illness, but inside this gothic/victorian-esque city, he finds people who have been infected with a blood-borne disease (hence the name), turning them into horrific creatures. The more you advance into killing the beasts, the more you unravel the misteries surrounding Yharnam.
Played from a third-person perspective, the player controls a customizable main character with a gameplay focused on an aggressive weapon-based combat and exploration. While you explore Yharnam and its surroundings you encounter a wide arrange of enemies, including lots of bosses. Throughout the story the player can use a variety of weapons such as swords, axes, pistols, etc., and level up in order to improve their skills. In addition, you have to use items to cure wounds and poisons and explore the different locations available while interacting with NPCs.
The plot is pretty cryptic and you get to know more about it by reading descriptions of objects and items, talking to NPCs, and the few cinematic scenes the game has. A brief summary of the story is as it follows: A traveler (you, the player) arrives into the city of Yharnam in order to cure an unknown disease your character has. In there, the traveler discovers that the cure is turning the people of Yharnam into despicable blood-thirsty creatures and has to survive the night by hunting them while uncovering the truth about the city.
Bloodborne is my first "Soulsborne" videogame, since I haven't played any of the other videogames created by Hidetaka Miyazaki (Demon's Souls, Dark Souls 1, 2 and 3, Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice), and I have had both good and frustating time, since I absolutely adore the videogame, but its high difficulty can make anyone get mad. You have to be aggressive, brutal, relentless in order to survive the night, and even the easiest enemies, if not playing properly can absolutely destroy you. Bloodborne is a really challenging game that forces you to improve or die trying (git gud). Moreover, the lack of maps makes you use all the resources available, since if you die in a specific area, you start from the last "checkpoint" which are magical lamps that lead you to the Hunter's Dream. The Hunter's Dream is the area in which you can level up, modify weapons, store goods, etc. and the only place in which no one can harm you, so, if you wish to take a break from the fight, you have to find a lamp and reach this area. As a reminder, I also have to mention that there is no pause in the game, so if you leave your character in a dangerous area, the probability of dying is high. In addition, if you die, and reach a previously explored area, enemies are alive and well again, so try not to die (much).
The game as a whole can be seen as a homage to the horror genre in general, since you begin fighting werewolves and crazy villagers, and then the more you advance we encounter aliens, vampires, chimeras, giants, zombies, gods and other indescribable horrors. We start with a gothic setting in the vein of Bram Stoker, and, at the same time, it reminded me of the beginning of Resident Evil 4, in which we are also a stranger who ends up in a disturbing place with insane and violent characters, but the tone shifts and we end up in a Lovecraftian nightmare in which we try to fight some eldritch horrors beyond human comprehension. The shift between the different branch of horrors doesn't feel inorganic though, it flows really well within the context and the narrative of the Bloodborne world. Despite the fact that it is mainly classified as an action role-playing game, the videogame gives many scares, and I felt really tense and anxious when I encountered certain beings. There is some really messed up stuff happening in Yharnam, and you are in the eye of the storm.
The plot is pretty cryptic and you get to know more about it by reading descriptions of objects and items, talking to NPCs, and the few cinematic scenes the game has. A brief summary of the story is as it follows: A traveler (you, the player) arrives into the city of Yharnam in order to cure an unknown disease your character has. In there, the traveler discovers that the cure is turning the people of Yharnam into despicable blood-thirsty creatures and has to survive the night by hunting them while uncovering the truth about the city.
Bloodborne is my first "Soulsborne" videogame, since I haven't played any of the other videogames created by Hidetaka Miyazaki (Demon's Souls, Dark Souls 1, 2 and 3, Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice), and I have had both good and frustating time, since I absolutely adore the videogame, but its high difficulty can make anyone get mad. You have to be aggressive, brutal, relentless in order to survive the night, and even the easiest enemies, if not playing properly can absolutely destroy you. Bloodborne is a really challenging game that forces you to improve or die trying (git gud). Moreover, the lack of maps makes you use all the resources available, since if you die in a specific area, you start from the last "checkpoint" which are magical lamps that lead you to the Hunter's Dream. The Hunter's Dream is the area in which you can level up, modify weapons, store goods, etc. and the only place in which no one can harm you, so, if you wish to take a break from the fight, you have to find a lamp and reach this area. As a reminder, I also have to mention that there is no pause in the game, so if you leave your character in a dangerous area, the probability of dying is high. In addition, if you die, and reach a previously explored area, enemies are alive and well again, so try not to die (much).
The game as a whole can be seen as a homage to the horror genre in general, since you begin fighting werewolves and crazy villagers, and then the more you advance we encounter aliens, vampires, chimeras, giants, zombies, gods and other indescribable horrors. We start with a gothic setting in the vein of Bram Stoker, and, at the same time, it reminded me of the beginning of Resident Evil 4, in which we are also a stranger who ends up in a disturbing place with insane and violent characters, but the tone shifts and we end up in a Lovecraftian nightmare in which we try to fight some eldritch horrors beyond human comprehension. The shift between the different branch of horrors doesn't feel inorganic though, it flows really well within the context and the narrative of the Bloodborne world. Despite the fact that it is mainly classified as an action role-playing game, the videogame gives many scares, and I felt really tense and anxious when I encountered certain beings. There is some really messed up stuff happening in Yharnam, and you are in the eye of the storm.
Thematically speaking (at least for me), Bloodborne is a game about depression. Some people might disagree, but I don't care really. I see the journey of this lone hunter fighting monsters in a nightmarish landscape as a person facing his demons in an uncaring world. The more you advance the uglier Yharnam gets, and nothing seems to change for the better, but our main character is still standing, being brought back from death over and over again, fighting and killing these beasts in order to finally conquer or at least survive the horrors they witness. Life is ugly, but as the hunter we can still stand against the creatures that dwell inside of us.
Moreover, the obvious references to the American horror author H.P. Lovecraft and cosmicism are really interesting to say the least. The Great Ones from Bloodborne (some examples being Ebrietas, the Daughter of the Cosmos or The Moon Presence) are direct reference to the Old Ones and the Cthulhu Mythos. Who are we, as humans, to the eyes of outer-wordly alien gods and eldritch horrors? We are merely ants, toys to be played with, puppets in the great scheme of things. In Lovecraft's stories, his characters, upon encountering some indescribable horror, either go insane or kill themselves, and in Bloodborne there is some similar theme going on. In the game, many characters mess with forces they do not fully understand, and are turned to monsters or go insane, because their minds cannot grasp what these so called forces may offer, which makes me ask again: What are we in the eyes of gods?
In Bloodborne, reality and dreams are interconnected and sometimes it is really difficult to discern which one is each. The hunter is in a living hell and there is -apparently- no escape. The player can only fight these horrors and gain knowledge, which the more you gain, the more this sense of dread and vulnerability is expanded.
The game has many characters such as:
- The Hunter: Our silent customizable character. We can choose a backstory and look for them, so, the only thing that we know for sure is that we are looking for a cure of an unkown disease.
- Gehrman, the First Hunter: A retired hunter who lives in the Hunter's Dream, and guides and helps hunters.
- The Plain Doll: A living doll. She is very kind and genuinely cares about the hunter. She is the one who helps us to level up.
The game has three different endings, so read a guide before you decide to unlock a specific one, because there are some rules to follow.
Regarding the bosses, they are horrifying. They are taken straight out of the most messed up and creative minds in the field. Most of them are really hard to beat, which makes the hunting even more of a challenge. The fights require the process of trial and error, which means finding weaknesses until you slay the boss.
The graphics are impressive, the landscapes and characters are very detailed, and the whole aesthetic of the scenarios are a beautiful and horrifying sight. There are some minor glitches though: The enemies are sometimes transparent or get stuck in areas that are not supposed to get stuck in. I remember one time I got attacked so hard that my character broke the ground and fell for a full minute until he reached the ground. I found it funny, but it happened once, so these issues do not ruin the gaming experience.
The music is also one of the strong points of Bloodborne, however music is only present in boss fights and some selected areas, but the score is amazing: Powerful orchestras to inspire you in an epic battle against the worst of the worst. Most of the time there is ambient sound, and it can really mess you up, since you hear the beasts growl, howl, screech, scream, babies crying, people laughing like crazy, and so on and so forth. Sounds created to play with your mind and make you feel tense in order to lose.
Another important point are the chalice dungeons, which are special areas. Chalice dungeons are randomly generated labyrinths in which you can level up and fight some previously seen bosses and new ones. They are optional, but I highly recommend them in order to become stronger.
P.S.: I have not played the DLC, but when/if I get my hands on it, I will review it as well.
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