There’s incredible power to Bloodborne

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Its unconventional approach to action-RPG gameplay walks a fine line between utter elation and despair as it takes us on an awe-inspiring journey through the highest peaks of satisfaction and the deepest, blackest pits of exhausted desperation. Developer From Software chooses to tell us little about how to survive its gauntlet, and yet expects feats of intelligence and perseverance in the face of its brutal, unrelenting difficulty. That balance is slightly upset by painfully long loading screens upon death or travel to different zones, but the highs of taking down one of the many intimidating bosses make up for those chunks of downtime.

Bloodborne’s semi-open world structure and hard-earned progression draw heavily from the Dark Souls and Demon's Souls games that made From famous, though the aggressive new pace of combat is all its own. These diving, rolling melee battles with an awesome arsenal of transforming melee weapons and tactical sidearms chiseled away my calluses and made me form new ones, even as a hardened Dark Souls veteran. Switching weapons between their light and heavy modes on the fly to string together combo-like attack chains in an engaging way injects a newfound versatility, even if it’s a less calculating kind of battle than we see in From’s earlier games.

That doesn’t make it any easier, though. Being overwhelmed by enemies is commonplace, but thanks to your ability to leech back lost health with quick counterattacks and to stun opponents with secondary weapons, I found it’s possible to sustain a constant onslaught when I’d built up enough skill.

And these tools are absolutely needed, as Bloodborne’s horrifying beasts span an imaginative range, from pedestrian insane village folk to cosmic horrors and patchwork fiends. Creature design strikes terror in many ways – enormous axe-swinging skeletons, peculiar semi-transparent childlike creatures, and subtle creepiness, like a coven of wailing, cleaver wielding hags – but each entity is well-crafted and triumphantly threatening. That’s best exemplified by the bosses, which have the power to mystify, terrify, and infuriate. I ultimately found many of those big fights much simpler than getting past the trial-and-error battles with dozens of smaller enemies I fought to reach them, but the satisfaction in each and every victory was huge.

The progression that follows those hard-fought wins is a carefully doled-out treat in Bloodborne. For one thing, the glowing pale purple lamps that serve as its version of checkpoints are scarce. Surviving long enough to reach the next point is rarely an option you can count on, but delving out of your comfort zone to find a secret shortcut back to safety brings a wave of comfort. Unfortunately, the inability to warp between these lamps without a layover back to the Hunter’s Dream (your ethereal-feeling home base) is a needless annoyance that exacerbates the issue with the extended load times.

After arriving at a destination, nearly every careful, blood-soaked step through the consistently stunning environments reveals something new about Bloodborne’s vague and cryptic lore. Whispers and clues are everywhere, begging to be interpreted. Despite a frame rate that all too often buckles under the strain of loading new areas or heavy action, the atmosphere retains its full effect. There’s a sense that this strange and dark place is alive. You could find a subtext of criticisms on real-world concepts like faith and worship in the understated dialogue, but taking each outrageously odd story point at face value is the more enjoyable path. Loading

Yet your personal story will be created on your own terms, as you explore the spiderweb of paths and secrets that crisscross Bloodborne’s potent world. Everything is packed with hidden meaning, and spending time speaking with the forgotten citizens of the eerily rotting city of Yharnam yields new ways to interact with the world. At one point, I spoke with a victim of these dark circumstances who gifted me a family heirloom that seemed inconsequential at the time; it wasn’t until I took the time to read its description that it suddenly became a vital tool in a battle to come. Rewards in Bloodborne come with careful examination and curious effort, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

There’s so much to do and see and try here that I obsessed over finding every secret, which greatly extends Bloodborne’s already lengthy playtime – though that number can easily be extended in a New Game Plus, or the refreshing procedurally generated Chalice Dungeons. These areas aren’t just more of the same – they’re loaded with items that can be carried back into the main story, exclusive weapons and bosses, and the player-versus-environment replayability that the Souls series was always missing. Loading

And though Bloodborne is mostly an isolating and solitary experience, subtle cooperative elements enhance that in fascinating ways. Spotting (non-interactive) ghostly shades of other players passing through your area, reading warnings and tips left by people who have come before, and studying reenactments of player deaths by activating prompts on the ground all serve as cautionary tales – immensely helpful in avoiding surprises that would otherwise leap out and kill you.

Though these features are all mostly identical to their earlier iterations in Dark Souls, some things have improved. The best addition to the messaging system is the inclusion of emotes that spring to life like a hologram when someone reads the message. On the lowest rung of Old Yharnam, in a grimey alleyway corner, I used the available pick-and-choose word selection to lay down the message: “item waits ahead, but beware ambush,” then aimed and added the ‘point’ emote for a visual indicator to point to where a killer waited in the shadows. According to the rating system, it’s been very helpful to others, and that’s a great feeling. I saved lives. Loading

As far as cooperative multiplayer, Bloodborne is every bit as obtuse as Dark Souls ever was. It allows you to call for help from another player when you need it most, such as a boss fight that feels like a brick wall or a group of enemies you don’t feel confident in taking on alone, by ringing a Beckoning Bell; any players ringing a response bell in the area will warp into your world. The catch (since there’s always a catch in Bloodborne) is that at the same time, you open yourself up to invasion from hostile players that are actively seeking to hunt and kill other hunters. In a rare move of compassion, this time around From has wisely included a password-protected game feature so that you and a friend can connect deliberately, removing some of the ambiguity of anonymous cooperation.