There is no doubt that the Soul’s series (Demon’s Souls, Dark Souls 1 and 2) has a huge fan following. I recently just became involved in the series and it really blew me out of the water. The games are known for being ridiculously tough, which turns some people off to the content, and they are very challenging indeed. However, they are extremely rewarding and can easily become addicting while never really being unfair to the player.
Bloodborne is a new title from the same developer (From Software) and looks extremely promising. It looks to keep the same old school, challenging gameplay, inability to pause, and big open worlds to explore, similar to the Soul’s games with a bit of tweaks. For example, in the Soul’s games, the combat is very slow. You really have to plan out your attacks in order to survive. You only have so much stamina so you can’t expect to just hack and slash your way to victory. Animations are slow, and can be slower depending on the equipment you have equipped. Bloodborne changes this.
While you still have a stamina bar, and timing attacks and dodges will still be a key part to get the glorious “Victory Achieved” to pop up on your screen after defeating an iconic boss, the combat appears to have much more fluidity. Combat is much faster and smoother, your character moves quicker, and guns are an option to equip, which was never done in a Soul’s game before. You can not only have a primary weapon in one hand, but a gun in the other hand, which can really be effective in keeping enemies at bay.
The biggest thing I have heard so far in the realm of complaints from fans is that the game looks much easier. From Software is known for creating very challenging games, but I can assure these fans that is not the case. While combat may look easier and more fluid, it appears there are more enemies to kill in areas. In the Soul’s games, there usually were not a horde of enemies all in one spot. However, in Bloodborne, it appears that there are quite a lot of enemies gathered in the same area and some massive ones at that.
Yeah, because this looks easy
Other than the improvement of combat, I think Bloodborne could be better than the Soul’s series because it looks as if there may be more story content in this new title. While the atmosphere of the Soul’s games is truly remarkable and probably my favorite part of those titles, the story content really does lack.
You never really know what is going on in the world, and the only sort of story elements come from talking to NPC’s, which are sparse, and through some item descriptions, which can put the world into more context. Bloodborne has released a story trailer and it already looks to have more of a focus on the story than the Soul’s games. Whether that is true or not, we will find out.
The atmosphere in Bloodborne looks absolutely fantastic, and I can hope it can rival the Soul’s games in that aspect. Looking at what I have seen from Bloodborne though, the weapons look much cooler than that of the Soul’s games. You can have a huge maul in one hand, and a sawed-off shotgun in the other. There is much more blood, as that basically replaces the Soul’s system of currency in the game. And the visuals look downright gorgeous. Like the Soul’s games, which were very dark, this game continues that trend but changes the aesthetic of the look. The lighting looks incredible, as the shadows manipulate light in an absolute real way. The Soul’s games never focused on visuals, and to be fair, that was never an issue. But it is nice to get an overhaul in that department.
Bloodborne is shaping up to an absolute masterpiece, and in my opinion, the first great exclusive for the PlayStation 4 if it can live up to the hype. Bloodborne is available March 24th and I will not leave my room that day. If you have any other opinions on the game, let us know in the comments below.
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