By Alayna Patterson
There’s been a decade’s worth of joy, woe, and all the in-between since action role-playing game Bloodborne hit store shelves. The game’s been kept so alive that it’s sparked many rumours of a remake, remaster or sequel.
March 25 marks the game’s birthday in Australia but Bloodborne’s official 10th birthday is March 24 so the worldwide community got off to an early start celebrating.
There’s been an everlasting influence, visible in its online community: PC emulation, spin-off parody games, and challenge runs abound.
Reflecting now on the majesty of this Gothic masterclass, I’d encourage every gamer out there to take the plunge and face their fears in Bloodborne’s deadly streets. But what’s in a game that’s kept an audience captivated for so long?
Where did it begin?
Leaks for Bloodborne began as early as May 2014, when mysterious screenshots of a “Project Beast” made the internet rounds.
The project was then announced as Bloodborne at Sony’s E3 Conference in 2014. It was to be co-developed by From Software and Sony Japan, with creator Hidetaka Miyazaki at the reins, and released exclusively for PlayStation 4.
In 2014, the PS4 had been out for only two years. It would create capabilities for the studio that weren’t possible previously.
WARNING: Horror themes.
What was the hype?
Since Bloodborne would be in some ways a spiritual successor to From Software’s Demon’s Souls and Dark Souls (games already beloved), this created much anticipation for the title.
The game would drift from the Medieval style that the previously mentioned Souls games were known for. For Project Beast, developers were inspired by 19th century Gothic horror elements, and encounters were created with aggressive enemy AI intently reacting to the player, encouraging them to be proactive.
Most of our focus during development has been on gameplay-related elements, including things like a deep sense of immersion, a great sense of achievement, and deadly combat
– Ryo Fujimaki, Lead Graphic Artist, From Software
From Software honoured Souls fans by keeping fundamental Souls-like mechanics but kept it fresh. Souls fans were faced with an entirely new combat style. Instead of the safe and familiar shield alongside their melee weapons was a firearm.
Developers had new players in mind too. While the game still had a similar design philosophy to the “difficult” mechanics of Demon’s and Dark Souls that From Software had built a reputation around, Bloodborne was a whole new beast entirely.
Booting up the game, after creating your character you learn only a few things: you’re in search of “Paleblood”, there’s a mysterious epidemic spreading through the city of Yharnam, and it’s turning citizens into creatures.
All right … What’s there to love about it?
Your purpose is to cleanse these foul streets: hunt this scourge of beasts.
The city of Yharnam stands as its own character. Every encounter with some malformed thing or alien-like entity made each combat session feel unique, having to adapt to how they’d move and attack. Each area of the game you entered had a distinct feel to it.
Each living and breathing area bought its own sense of nightmarish dread – which, I’d argue, made Bloodborne a horror title even though it’s normally regarded as an action RPG. It drifted from the typical survival horror aspects of other predecessors.
Regardless of its abject horror, everything’s beautiful to look at. Developers used lighting and textures in ways technology on previous consoles couldn’t allow. From the fabric on characters’ costumes, to the colouring of the sky to give a sense of time passing.
This atmosphere wasn’t created just by the difficult combat or aesthetics of the game alone, but from the inclusion of a bombastic soundtrack, complex boss fights, rich characters, unique weapons, and intricate lore.
The Old Hunters, Downloadable Content, released for the base game only enriched our experience further. It ties it all up nicely in a bloodstained bow.
While there is no traditional action RPG narrative, the player was rewarded whenever they’d read item descriptions, explored secret spots, or talked to non-player characters (and followed through their questlines).
Though discovery of these details was not necessary to complete the game, it was hard not to be entranced by the unknown. Players were able to piece together faction (religions, scholars, other organised groups) ideologies and character relationships through the few cut-scenes and lore provided.
In a world of cruel, cruel hardships was a softness.
Bloodborne was entrenched in Lovecraftian elements and set in a Gothic-Victorian world: it made sense that most questlines were tragic in nature, and were equally as brutal, if not more, than the battles the player engaged in.
Immersion was achieved. It was hard not to be immersed in such an intricately crafted world where the true fear, even while hunting beasts, was simply fear of the unknown.
This is a game where one is forced to consciously strategise; to avoid getting hit even once due to how unforgiving enemy hits were. At times it was difficult to complete boss fights, or finish the game due to how unforgiving it could be. But it kept me coming back.
I craved to learn more about the characters because of the kindness they show our characters, even if we knew their storylines may or may not end in despair. We hoped the best for them in a cruel world: they showed us a pinprick of light despite it all.
I craved to return to better myself as a player. To prove to myself that despite this learning curve, I can persist: learn the bosses’ tricks and turns, even if it’s just to see what the next area of the game looked like or for the sake of learning the boss better.
I craved to return to Yharnam because I remember how deeply this all resonated with me, and how it’s resonated with others.
There are communities designed around assisting people in co-op, or exploring the chalice dungeons; communities dedicated to doing challenge runs – where people will attempt to play the entire game hitless, or at an extremely low level. Individuals are still trying to find different and unique ways to complete the game.
No doubt there’s something special here. Every year, the Reddit community of Bloodborne engages in Return to Yharnam, where players return to the title between March 24 and April 7 to play as much co-op or Player v Player as humanly possible.
It’s the perfect time to begin playing the game, as the community aspect keeps this game thriving, regardless of whether there will ever be a sequel or remaster. It shouldn’t matter if there ever will be, because of what we already have.
It feels a little special this year, as it falls on its 10th anniversary.
To all who return, or decide to take the plunge: Welcome home, good hunter.
Featured Image: Taken from Bloodborne’s story trailer. Photo: YouTube
