January 15th - Spiderman (PS4)
January 17th - Labo VR goggles and camera (Switch)
March 19th - Labo VR blaster (Switch)
March 19th - Bowser’s Fury (Switch)
April 12th - Bloodborne + Old Hunters DLC (PS4)
I’d been building up the energy reserves to tackle this since I bought my PS4 last year. See I very much get the appeal and adoration of Dark Souls, having beaten it a year or two back, but it took a lot out of me to do so. And whilst that games opening half and DLC is fantastic, I thought the back half largely stank.
But Bloodborne had its claws in me from the off. The music, the art direction and the more front footed combat all are right up my street and I knew within a few hours that this would be a game I’d enjoy more.
And boy did I. I see why it’s regarded as a must play PS4 experience. I’d comfortably put it in a list of my favourite games ever and never felt the same drudgery or anger I felt when playing Dark Souls.
I played the game largely blind at first, resorting in using the odd walkthrough if I was repeatedly getting stuck or not making sense of the in game messages, and used the Dark Souls thread on here (thanks team!) to ask questions about what items do and where to go next. They in turn gave me great pointers to ‘maybe go see that person now’ or ‘consider consuming that item at this point’, which was immensely helpful. I still can’t quite decide if it’s great game design to have a playthrough only make sense through consulting others, and I would have definitely missed some of the best content in the game without their advice, but equally it does make the game very special and addictive. Just a bit of a barrier to entry and off putting at first.
But I love so much about Bloodborne. The combat was exhilarating. I ended many evenings with sweaty palms and unable to go to bed for an hour due to coursing adrenalin.
I had fights that will stay with me forever, particularly those with (I’ll use initials for spoilers) CB, WOH, GEH, RTV and MTWM. I had fights I surprised myself in and did first or second time (BSB, FG, MP). Fights that took me several days but, upon completion, were the most thrilling experiences I’ve had in gaming (VA, ML, OOK). And fights I bonded with other players over (LU, SOY, LM).
And the sections and areas around those bosses are so, so good. Bar some bullshit frenzy areas and a small area of the DLC I loved every single environment I fought (or in a few cases sprinted) my way through.
And bar a few hours where ML nailed me repeatedly, I also never really had issues with difficulty imbalance. I always felt like my capabilities, weapons, levels and enemies broadly aligned. The only point where I felt a notable step up was probably starting the DLC at level 65 or so, and needing to go away for a bit and do some of it co-op, due to the punishment I was taking. But I levelled up to 95 by its end and was proud to take LF and OOK down solo.
I am now in the process of hoovering up all the Bonfireside Chat lore and YouTube videos to make sense of the story and can we’ll see myself replaying it down the line.
So all in all, I see why people call Bloodborne a masterpiece. It felt enjoyable to play in a way that Dark Souls didn’t always, to me anyhow, and it just feels a more consistent, even and finished title.
I think I’ll return to Yarnham again one day to prolong the hunt.
