If You Didn't Adore Dark Souls, Can Bloodborne Seduce You?
Dark Souls has amassed a cult of devotees who ardently declare it one of the defining series to grace the previous console generation. So if these mercilessly difficult action-RPGs didn't quite suit your tastes, perhaps it's best to keep quiet and nod diplomatically.
VIDEO: 10 Minutes of Bloodborne Gameplay - TGS 2014 [09:14]
That was my personal dilemma when faced with the job of playing Bloodborne and drafting together my thoughts. From Software has faithfully recreated a next-gen successor to Dark Souls in all but name, resplendent with more ornate and arresting architecture, yet only tweaked slightly in terms of gameplay. It essentially means I'm going to pass on this, still nodding politely, come release date.
For those who loved the perilous trudge against undead foes, or the inelegant slamming of blade animations, or the gamely trolling by series director Hidetaka Miyazaki, it's likely that Blooborne will not disappoint. Those who prefer their action games to be more fluid and empowering, despite Bloodborne trying to accommodate such tastes, will probably still not understand the appeal.
Perhaps the clearest difference, and indeed improvement, is how foes are no longer fixed in place on their own patch, but now a mobile threat. Cockney ogres, with rusty pitchforks in hand, shuffle like an undead mob through the rain-soaked town of Yharnam (a Victorian London with the "gothic" slider up).
Miyazaki is pointing out that he understands your attack patterns as much as you understand the AI's
Such an enemy design tweak means Souls veterans must re-educate themselves on how to approach the challenge. Bloodborne is not about chopping open paths of safety through enemy placements, as was the method of its predecessors, but instead surveying surroundings and seizing opportunities. In true Dark Souls fashion, one cannot ever be cavalier about this either. At one stage I recall quietly pursuing a group of enemies as they approached a gathering in front of a burning effigy. Yet, at the moment I began to measure the impact of a full-power spin of our hero's extended cleaver, only then did I notice an even larger mob of foes had followed me from behind.
Moments like these should reassure fans that Bloodborne retains what made Dark Souls such a unique, if blemished, action game. Just as you begin to exploit the flaws of your enemies, they will shock, delight, and enrage you with a sudden break from routine. Another painful memory comes from a protracted battle with a vast cloaked knight, where I chipped away at its health from safe distance like a student of Muhammad Ali, only to have all that hard work undone as the beast suddenly dashed through the air and connected with a Joe Frazier-like haymaker.
These are the treasured, signature memories of the series, where you can almost feel Miyazaki is pointing out that he understands your attack patterns as much as you understand the AI's. The development team at From Software say there are about ten areas like Yharnam to survive, one of which is called the Chalice Dungeon; an underground catacomb that procedurally generates its pathways. The idea is that no route to the boss levels will ever be the same, effectively negating the benefits of leaving messages for other heroes to find.
In a brief, non-playable demonstration of the Chalice Dungeon, Miyazaki indulges in his sadist side by dropping a boulder at one end of a long tunnel, Indiana Jones style. On the other side of the tunnel, of course, a trapping pit lies. What is found at the summit? Let's not spoil it.
Now months away from release, there's still not enough here to suggest that Bloodborne will entice newcomers or casuals. But that's hardly From Software's intention in the first place. This is a studio at the peak of its confidence, fully aware of who its fans are and what they want. For those blessed souls, Bloodborne is a gift from the gods.
Bloodborne is a PS4 exclusive, due for release on March 24 in North America and March 27 in the UK.
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