Since I took on Dark Souls last October, I chose Bloodborne for this October. They’re built on the same template (in fact, many of the words in that review still apply) but Bloodborne makes several mechanical and stylistic changes, which result in a more streamlined and focused game.

Warning up-front: this game has a lot of blood. In fact, blood is not only in evidence via combat but is a key part of the game’s lore. While Dark Souls is about fire and darkness, Bloodborne is about blood and the moon. This ties in to themes of lycanthropy, motherhood, and madness and as expected out of From, nothing is spelled out. There’s a great sense of discovery as the player pieces together the history and circumstances of this world.

The theme being more focused is a strong choice for the game’s world and story. It’s all Gothic architecture and Gothic horror, a world full of steeples and corruption. The classic horror becomes body horror, then cosmic horror, with plenty of gross and bizarre designs. The unfolding of the various factions in the game was pleasing, with beasts, their hunters, the church, and the otherworldly Great Ones entangling with just nothing good happening for anybody, the morality is all black and very dark grey.

The other area of focus is the gameplay of course. Equipment has been simplified with no weight limits, just minor variations in defence weighting (this makes fashion a more viable criterion for picking your outfit). There are fewer available weapons, and shields are no longer a factor. Instead rapid dodging is the order of the day, and you’re encouraged to attack promptly to recover lost health. Health recovery items are plentiful and recoverable, unlike Dark Souls’s estus-fuelled struggle to the next bonfire. Combat is dynamic, with every weapon having a toggle mode that changes its playstyle on the fly, and your off-hand firearm makes parrying enemy attacks more central. It’s still precise and measured, just faster. Ultimately I found it very satisfying.

Oh yeah, it’s hard. Do I need to say that? I never experienced any moments of despair as I had in Dark Souls, but there were moments of many retries, especially in the DLC. I felt more confident and capable, whether due to the game’s design being slightly more straightforward or because I had gained in skillz, I know not. I should mention too the Chalice dungeons, instanced and variable mini-challenges that are there to extend the game experience and which are good for gaining some experience but ultimately repetitive and shallow. I suspect they were a repository for cut content in the main game. Anyway, Bloodborne is great!

Thanks to n8ofsp8ds for the screenshot.