Given the success of Dark Souls II this past year, Sony landing the next From Software game is a big boost to its exclusivity lineup. Bloodborne is a slick, stylish Victorian gothichorror action/RPG with mechanics that appear firmly rooted in From Software's previous series.
Demon's Souls and Dark Souls director Hidetaka Miyazaki returns to orchestrate the grand design behind this dark fantasy. Players must seek out the cure for a horrible curse that has turned the city of Yharnam into a breeding ground of transformed citizens and monsters from nightmares.
From what we've seen, Bloodborne takes an aggressive angle on Souls-style combat. The difficulty level and precision that players may be familiar with from the Souls games are preserved. Evasion and timing are still critical aspects, but there appears to be less of an emphasis on blocking and more focus on aggressive assaults and encounters featuring multiple enemies.
Gone are the days of timidly entering a boss room and holding up your shield to analyze the opponent; life and death decisions must now be made in the heat of combat. Magic spells seem absent in what we've seen so far, with their functionality being added to a host of weapons. The signature, extendable saw blade serves as a close-range melee option alongside the crowd-controlling blunderbuss, and we're told that there is a considerable range of options beyond these to discover and choose from.
It wasn't explicitly stated that players would be collecting resources from killing monsters, but the swirl of energy and accompanying sound made it seem like resource collection is similar to soul acquisition from the Souls titles. Players can also stop and heal, reminiscent of Estus Flask quaffing, to restore life. We don't know if this is tied to a limited use item or is some player ability. After a few kills, the player's outfit is drenched in the blood of enemies, showing the title isn't afraid to embrace a gory vision that goes far beyond what we've come to expect from Souls games.
Those that remember the lighting fiasco from Dark Souls II will be pleased to hear that dramatic lighting effects are present and seem to be the focal point of interior area exploration. Players swap out their offhand weapon for a torch to explore pitch-black areas to discover danger and treasure, and can also use the torch as a weapon to light opponents aflame.
Fog gates, enemy swing chains, rampant rolling, and many of the other Souls staples form an underlying framework for a beautiful new setting that seems to be story-driven rather than an open-world construct where the story is formed via item descriptions and detail-driven minutia. We witness torch-wielding townsfolk marching through the streets, burning a massive beast in the square. Should we wander into the horde or search for another solution? Players interact with the environment in a number of ways to trigger events, such as ringing a bell to clear out a throng of townsfolk to open
up a path ahead.
Some aspects of the Souls games, such as calling in an NPC to help through a summoning sigil, appear to have been moved to a new method based on the live gameplay demo we saw at E3. In it, the player encounters another hunter facing down two huge beasts – helping the NPC out is your choice, but if you do, he or she will appear during the area's boss battle and assist with dispatching the enemy.
The demo highlighted all kinds of twisted creatures from corrupted, bloated crows, turned townsfolk, plague dogs, an abomination banging on a door, and an enormous area boss fought on a bridge. The encounter, accompanied by Souls-style boss music, is reminiscent of the Taurus Demon boss battle from Dark Souls with darker undertones.
Bloodborne may have many of the systems that make the Souls games amazing experiences underneath the hood, but on the surface there's a slick coat of blood that makes this PS4 exclusive look like a tantalizing treat when it arrives next year.
Platform: PlayStation 4
Style: 1-Player Action/Role-Playing
Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment
Developer: From Software, SCE Japan
Release: 2015
