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Games of the Decade: Expansion Pass #3/Blog a Day #28

Hello everyone, how are you?

There are many games out there for every type of gamer of every skill level. You have Kirby which is easily accessible to everyone, the ideology behind Kirby, according to creator Masahiro Sakurai, is that he wanted a game that anyone could enjoy no matter the skill level. But then there are games that aren't exactly meant for everyone. These games sometimes involve a lot of trial and error against enemies and these games are known as the Souls games. Except these games have never really appealed to me at all. That is till a Playstation exclusive came along. For our #3 game we are going to join the Hunt in the dead of night in Bloodborne.

                                    The music in this game is hauntingly beautiful

I remember hearing about this game, but not knowing much about it to be honest. One thing that has always appealed to me was its gothic Victorian like setting. It wasn't till 2019 that I finally grabbed it, Sony was having this sale for their games both physical and digital and it's a one time sale per year. I forget what's the name of that sale, but I saw that Bloodborne was going for $10 and I knew I had to buy it. Except that it sold out at Amazon, so I opted for Target instead. I had to pick it up at a store and I did just that, along with another game. It wasn't till 2020 out of all years that I finally decided to give it a go. So how is this game?

Like with any on the Souls games as they call them, in Bloodborne you are tasked with creating a character. Your character, is known as the Hunter, and while creating your character you can pretty much do whatever you want here. You can determine their age, their gender, skin color, and more like you would in any character creator. However here is where you can set an Origin for your character, which is essentially your starting class, a backstory, and what will determine your stats.

The game starts off with you, the Hunter, traveling to the city of Yharnam seeking a cure for an affliction known as Paleblood. Yharnam is known for its medical advancements and many people travel there seeking a cure for their ailments. But unfortunately you pick the right/wrong time to go there as you'll find that the city has been plagued by an illness that has turned most of its citizens into monsters. Those that haven't become monsters have become violently deranged. It's up to you to uncover the mystery of what's going on here during the night of the Hunt as well as escape from this nightmare.

 

               Isn't it a bit early in the day to start talking about Gothic architecture?

The city of Yharnam is pretty ugly, yet cool at the same time, as well as really dangerous as it is filled with different types of enemies ranging from humans to monsters and they all want to kill you. Defeating enemies grant you Blood Echoes, currency in the game as well as your method to level up. If you die you'll lose your Blood Echoes but you can go back to the area you died at and collect them back, sometimes an enemies pick them up and you have to kill it to get your Blood Echoes back. However they are lost forever if you die before getting them back.

There are also lanterns that you'll find throughout the game. They serve as checkpoints and where you'll respawn if you die. You can also enter the Hunter's Dream, a safe area that has no enemies and here you can heal as well as shop for various things like weapons and more as well as level up. However the enemies you've slain will respawn if you decide to enter the Hunter's Dream. There are many interconnected areas in Yharnam that you can access by finding a lever that opens a gate, however you really have to go out of your way to find it, sometimes in really dangerous areas. But it feels great once you unlock a new area as you progress through the game.

"But Captain N, where can I play this game?" Well only on PS4 since it is a Playstation exclusive. The game is really cheap now, it's $20 and it sometimes goes on sale for less than that. The game has add-on dlc that adds even more content to the game. There's a digital edition that comes with everything and it sometimes goes on sale as well. The game is also backwards compatible on the PS5 but the game is still locked to 30 fps for some reason. But regardless of that, you should definitely check the game out.

 

                               Fighting and defeating a boss always gives you a rush

Final Thoughts: Bloodborne just might be my favorite PS4 exclusive. It's just that good. I loved Yharnam and really loved how it had interconnected areas. It also rewards exploration since you can sometimes find items as well as new path that take you to new locations. One thing I loved is the weapons, I love how there are a good varierty of melee weapons to choose from and I love that they have 2 forms. Each form serves a purpose, like you can transform your weapon onto a bigger weapon that is much slower but in turn deals more damage as well as a smaller weapon that is much more faster but deals less damage. You also have a secondary weapon like a firearm.

The lore in this game is fantastic, like every area has its npcs as well as lore that you can find and as you explore you uncover secrets about the history of Yharnam and what is going on. I love the Lovecraftian horror-themed story it had, the atmosphere and look of the game is amazing and really well done. The music really matches what they were going for, it's just so good and it's sort of haunting but beautiful at the same time that just draws you in. It's magnificent and definitely one of the best soundtracks that I've ever heard. Bloodborne might be the best horror rpg ever as well, no, it's the best one without a doubt.

The Souls games have never really appealed to me for some reason, I'm sure they are fun but I didn't like the idea of potentially dying repeatedly to the same boss or enemies over and over. I imagine it would involve a lot of trial and error but in Bloodborne that really wasn't the case.  Yes the same gameplay still applies here. And sure I died a number of times but it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. When it comes to fighting enemies or in this case bosses, I always assess the situation and try to test out what works best rather than going all Rambo on something. Even when I died here I never thought it was cheap or unfair, since it was sometimes due to a stupid mistake on my part. But when I died I just wanted to have another round and try again. And trust me, you get such a rush when fighting a boss and there is no greater feeling than defeating a boss after such a long and challenging fight.

It was quite interesting playing this game last year I can tell you that much due to the plot of the game and with what was going on in the world. I would love a Bloodborne 2 in the future and many would too. But unfortunately that dream is on hold since Masaaki Yamagiwa, the producer of Bloodborne is leaving SIE Japan due to Sony scaling back game development. That really sucks, like it does kinda shoot down the possibility of a new Bloodborne game if it was ever on the cards. But hopefully one day we do get another game at one point in the future. But the question is, would I try any of the other Souls games? Maybe. It depends on on the setting I suppose and there are many Souls-like games now with different settings, asthetics, and more. But yeah I would definitely would love to take a crack at them in the future. All in all, Bloodborne is a fantastic game and if you're feeling bold, give it a go, brave Hunter.

 

                                                     That's one way of putting it

Sometimes it feels like you are stuck in a never-ending nightmare and you feel like you can't wake up. However you can wake up and don't let the nightmares consume you.

That's it for this one and this is officially the last BaD post for Blog a Day. However that doesn't mean that it's the end of these posts as there's still 2 games left. So I will continue to work hard and they won't e delayed or anything, so expect them soon. I also hope you had fun reading through all of these. But for now, the Expansion Pass still continues. For #2 we have joined the UAC. I can't wait for my first day on the job on Mars. What could possibly go wrong? Thanks for reading and...

 

 

*All images were taken by my PS4 and my copy of the game*