Your Days Are Numbered

It’s not hard to spot the resemblance of From Software’s upcoming PlayStation 4 title, Bloodborne to their previous Souls games. It shares the same DNA and is still absolutely hard, which is the highlight of the Souls series. While the Souls series sees players outmatched and often played defensively – Bloodborne is a little more combat aggressive.

First of all, From Software has taken away your shield so being defensive will see you pummeled into the ground, so combat has shifted in a way where you must be pro-actively attacking. When you deal damage to the enemy, your health regenerates so being on the attack is the ideal course of action when in combat.

You have been given a gun – well for the class I chose which provides some exhilarating gun and duel-wielding sword combat. There were full melee combat classes as well but nothing beats a gun right? Players will need to assess the situations accordingly because if you get caught out with more than 2 enemies, you’re instantly dead. I often approach combat with a few shots to the target before coming in and lashing a few strikes with the blade, but if you find yourself in a difficult situation you can barrel roll out and come in again (if you’re lucky that is)

The one I thing I did notice about Bloodborne was the fluidity of the game and combat itself. Sometimes I feel the Souls series to be quite not user friendly and rough around the edges. Bloodborne however, from the demo, seems quite brilliantly built. The game ran smoothly without any hiccups and the UI seems to be much easier to navigate, maybe because I played the previous two Souls games on PC which were the worst ports ever but still worth playing. Aside from functionality, the game looks gorgeous with its brilliant lighting and effects moulded onto the Victorian themed setting. From the swinging cloak on the back of your character to the vile looking enemies as they jump at you – the visuals of Bloodborne impressed myself and many.

The demo was quite minimal and offers no straight answer on what the actual game was about. I just know everyone was bad and sick with the plague so I must… kill them? The character I chose was wearing the plague mask which gave off hints the story revolves around this sickness. From what I’ve played however, Bloodborne is shaping up to be a killer PS4 title. It has taken bits of what made the Souls series great and created a more evolved and advanced version of that game. There’s much more to be revealed especially From Software’s online plans for the game, so I really can’t wait to see what comes out of it.

Bloodborne was played in a private session during the Tokyo Game Show 2014.