5/5 ★ – pinksteady's review of Bloodborne.

Well that was unexpected For most of my gaming life, I’ve been, at best, mildly aware of games like Bloodborne. ‘Soulsborne’ games. I vaguely knew there were punishingly hard, very dark in theme, and didn’t understand why people would put themselves through it. Without giving it any thought, I subconsciously avoided these games for most of my life. Until recently! What happened? I had a string of disappointing gaming experiences (Jett: The Far Shore, Hitman 2, Psychonauts 2), and perhaps I just felt like I wanted to try something different. I browsed through my PS+ back catalogue and for some strange reason I decided to try Bloodborne. I knew I’d get some raised eyebrows from my online gaming group - it would give us something to chat about at least - so I downloaded it. 4 weeks later I have completed the main story twice, platinum’d the game and am half way through the DLC. That.... was unexpected! Bloodborne is an incredible game. A really incredible game. Everyone says that, and I have ultimately found myself feeling the same way. This feeling has arisen subtely. I never had a Big Bang ‘omg this game is amazing’ moment, like I did with the big games like Uncharted 4 and Horizon Zero Dawn, but I became slowly engrossed in it. I couldn’t put it down. It attached itself to me somehow, and brought out a level of determination in me I don’t witness in myself very often at all. It takes you on a very unpredictable journey. You start off dying, a LOT. You feel like the game is impossibly hard and wonder whether this is some sort of joke or if you are missing something obvious. You spend ages in the first few areas of the game trying to figure out what on earth you are meant to do, and each time you make a bit of progress, you die and have to do it all over again. For a while, it is a bit of a head scratcher. But then you get a bit further, and you learn a few things, and so you keep going. Each time you make a bit more progress, learn a bit more about how to defeat certain enemies and how to survive a bit longer. And the whole time your skill is improving, often more than you realise. On my second playthrough, starting from scratch again, the first areas were so easy, even the first few bosses didn’t give me any trouble, whereas the first time around I would have spent days and days trying to overcome these hurdles. The only thing that had changed was my skill. And to observe that progression does make you feel good. It gives a sense of accomplishment. The game is deep in lore, with so much to learn about what is going on in this dark, twisted gothic horror setting. The game pulls no punches with its macabre setting, with people turning into all manner of beasts, towering cathedrals and a sprawling ravaged city to explore. Gameplay-wise it is extraordinarily finely tuned. Exploration is rewarded with just the right amount of items to find - you never feel like you’re ‘thrown a bone’ - even the most brave exploration into some dark dungeon you’ve found will only reward you so much, but that reward will be necessary for you to progress. Instead of jump scares and predictable fight sequences, enemies are ludicrously tough, so the emphasis becomes on approaching your battles with a balance of planning and bravery. No matter what level you get to, you can still be killed by making a one or two wrong steps. The game ruthlessly punishes you for not playing almost perfectly, and in return offers unmatched feelings of accomplishment when you do prevail. And there is very little in the way of defence; to progress through the game you have to meet every enemy face-on. There are precious few ways of applying stealth, and you don’t get a shield or anything, so the combat is fast, frantic and exhilarating. You find yourself instinctively learning each and every move that every enemy can make, and how and when to best to counter, avoid or attack. It creates this crazy blend of sheer concentration and method with a feeling of seat-of-the-pants chaos. Bloodborne is the third game I’ve ever played where I restarted and played it again the moment I finished it (the others being The Last of Us and Everybody’s Gone To The Rapture). I didn’t want to leave that world. It is a tough game to recommend as it deliberately makes pretty much everything difficult, but it rewards commitment in a way unlike any game I’ve ever played.