Games for Epic Gamers
Bloodborne: A Game For True Gamers
Are you tired of boring and easy video games? Are you sick of watching your sims live better lives than you? Are boss fights just not fun anymore?
If you consider yourself a true gamer who thirsts for both action and horror, then Bloodborne is a game you should consider playing. Bloodborne is an action role playing game that was released in 2015. Its developer is FromSoftware, a famous Japanese development company known for the Dark Souls games, Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, and a new upcoming one called Elden Ring, which features lore created by George R. R. Martin (author of Game of Thrones).
Bloodborne takes place in the rundown, Gothic city of Yharnam. The city contains very beautiful, Victorian-era architecture and also has some steampunk influences. It’s design was inspired by real life places, such as Romania, The Czech Republic, and Scotland. Bloodborne’s story in general uses inspiration from Bram Stoker and H.P. Lovecraft, famed horror authors (you can see where this is going).
*Concept Art of Yharnam
*Yharnam Graphics
Although I was hesitant about the character creation, it's actually really detailed, somewhat reminiscent of Bethesda’s Fallout and Skyrim. Another interesting thing is that you can choose an ‘Origin’ as well, which is basically your backstory. It’s similar to creating a character in Dungeons and Dragons.
*Character creation options
In the beginning of the game, the player is being experimented on by a strange scientist, who performs a type of blood transfusion that is explained later in the game. The player is then transported into Yharnam, and they are now known as the Hunter. They wake up in a laboratory, and the first boss fight is with a werewolf. The player is not supposed to survive the first boss fight. In fact, once the player dies, they respawn at a checkpoint in a place known as The Hunter’s Dream, which is the only safe place in Yharnam. It’s not populated with monsters, thank god.
When it comes to checkpoints, they appear in the form of a headstone. Whenever you die, you respawn next to the last headstone you passed by. Another important thing is the Messengers. They are small, white skeletons that offer helpful hints, sell you supplies, and in general I think they’re just adorable.
*The Messengers
Bloodborne is a very difficult game because it DOES NOT SAVE YOUR PROGRESS. I found this out the hard way. When your character dies, you also lose Blood Echoes, which can double as your currency and experience points. You can use Blood Echoes to buy potions, weapons, armor, and other miscellaneous objects. Most games usually have an autosave function or the ability to quick save, especially if the game is a role playing game and has an in depth story with a lot of lore. Bloodborne is more of a hack and slash type of game, but it also features a reward system.
Although Bloodborne has very good action sequences and allows the player to try different combat styles, it also has a bit of horror included in it. If you’re easily scared and react to a lot of horror movie jump scares, you might have a hard time playing Bloodborne. Some of the monsters literally seem to materialize out of nowhere and never come up in your radar unless they try to slash your head off. Another rather troublesome thing is that you can’t really pause the game either. Well, you can, but you have to go to ‘settings’ in order to take a break from screaming. If you press ‘options’ thinking you will be able to gather your thoughts during an onslaught of monsters, think again.
Although I have played many video games, Bloodborne was unlike any of the games I’ve encountered. Due to it not saving my progress, I spent about an hour wandering in Yharnam, searching for a checkpoint, but ended up dying and losing all of my progress and currency.
So, if you are a fan of role playing games, open worlds, challenging enemies, and no saves, Bloodborne is your top recommendation. It’s very popular and in general a good game, just not my type. I give it a six out of ten.