Now, in celebration of the 28th anniversary of the day of my birth, you might suspect I would be taking the day off. Y'know, like I do most days? But you would, in fact, be dead wrong! Instead, I'm taking the opportunity to review what would have to be my favorite of all the games I've finished so far this year. And I'm going so far as to fully indulge my tendency to digress. So, without further ado, let's ado it.
Title: Bloodborne
Original Release: March 24, 2015 (PS4)
Finished Release: North American PS4 Release (2015)
*There will be mild spoilers for Bloodborne in this review. I apologize profusely.*
Okay. So I've mentioned before how I have a history of becoming frustrated with difficult games. Before this year, the most difficult section I can ever remember overcoming in an action game was the Hades stage in the original God of War, which, according to internet myth, wasn't even playtested.
Over the years after that I dabbled here and there in the "hardcore" games. You know the ones, the ones that are so difficult that they become infamous for it? I tried them, if the story interested me, or the main character, or whatever. I rarely stuck with them. I gave up on Ninja Gaiden Black (XBOX). I couldn't finish Devil May Cry 3 until they released an easier version of it. I loved Viewtiful Joe, and I just kept throwing myself at it until it looked at me, tears in its eyes, and whispered, "Just stay down. Please." I stayed down.
Years would pass. I had begun to ignore anything that became (in)famous for its difficulty (although, for the record, I beat Infamous). That rule would briefly be broken for Bloodborne's oldest brother, Demon's Souls. I was interested in what I saw, gave it a try, and gave up almost immediately. And so I gave up completely on ever being the type of gamer that plays "hardcore" games. I originally overlooked Bloodborne because it came during this time.
2017 has been, for me, a great confluence of sorts. The original Mega Man aside, I had been slowly but surely taking down some fairly difficult classic and retro games. And then, earlier this year, I broke down and decided to try Nioh. I didn't come anywhere close to finishing it, but I did better than I expected. I probably could have continued, I just got distracted by something else. Little did I realize what all this was building up to.
See, I had finished Symphony of the Night, and I was still reading about Ravenloft. I had watched the first season of Netflix's Castlevania animated series. But I still wanted more Gothic horror. I wanted a newer game that had that sort of feeling. I remembered Bloodborne, but I was hesitant. Could I really do it? Was it really even worth trying? At the time it was $20 at the EB Games my wife used to be the assistant manager for. Twenty bucks isn't all that bad, I told myself, if I don't stick with it I didn't waste that much money. So I went for it. I wish I had paid more.
It happened slowly. I died against the first enemy, but that's okay because you're supposed to. I got a real weapon and carefully began to make my way through Central Yharnam, the game's first stage. I did pretty well. I died here and there, but I always managed to recover. I beat the first boss (Cleric Beast) first try. I began leveling up. I worked through the next section, which was more challenging, but I pressed on. Then I came to the second boss, Father Gascoigne.
I died. I died, and died, and died, and died, and died. Six or seven times I died, at least. This is it, I thought, the end of my Bloodborne experience. This will be the thing that stops me. Too bad. But that didn't happen. I went to have some dinner, and then, miraculously, I came back. I tried again. Maybe I died again, I can't remember. But I kept trying. And finally, I beat him. I had gotten better, and I beat him, killed him, took him down. I learned later that there's a trick to beating him, but I didn't use that trick. I didn't grind up levels, I didn't cheese the fight. I got better.
After that, I was hooked. I had finally felt the feeling everyone talked about. All it took was falling in love with the game's setting and atmosphere so much that it overcame any sense of frustration. From there, I continued. I would meet a challenge, I would overcome it, sometimes immediately, sometimes after a while. But I overcame everything. I bought the DLC expansion, The Old Hunters, which was even more difficult, and I overcame it. Eventually I would go on to get the Platinum trophy for Bloodborne, meaning I had completed every achievement in the game. I also completed every achievement in The Old Hunters. It wasn't my first Platinum (that was Game of Thrones, which you get just for finishing the game), but it was the first Platinum I had to put effort into. I worked for it, and I earned it. I did everything there was to do. And then, a couple months later, I started playing it again. I'm now on the cusp of beating it again, and writing about it is really making me want to play it.
So enough rambling, let's talk about the game itself. First of all, what's it about? Okay, so your character is a nameless (well, you choose a name) hunter from a foreign land. You've come to the city of Yharnam in search of something called "Paleblood," but it isn't going to be so easy. See, it's the night of the Hunt in Yharnam, and the streets are full of ravenous beasts out for blood. If you want to accomplish anything, you're going to have to fight for it, and kill for it. Assuming you don't get killed yourself.
There's not much more that I can say about the narrative without giving away more than I would like. The story is told in the style of the Souls series. That is to say, very little of the story is handed to you directly. Cutscenes and dialog exist, but they're all presented as if you live inside this world, and there's almost zero exposition. Instead, your understanding of the story comes from what you're able to glean from item descriptions, visual cues in the world, and sometimes even dialog non-sequiturs. And all of it is interesting, inventive, and intriguing. It throws things at you that you don't expect, and I want so badly to tell you about all of it, but I'm holding myself back. Suffice it to say, the world is bleak, the only way you'll make it out is by being the better killer, and what begins as Stoker may end as Lovecraft.
Some things I will definitely talk about are the visuals and atmosphere, because holy man. This game is dripping with atmosphere. Seriously, it's viscous. I wanted Gothic, and that's exactly what I got, and then some. The visuals, while not the most dynamic in the world, are gorgeous and understated... until things go absolutely bat guano, and the chains come off, sometimes literally. Everything is dark, lit only by dim streetlamps and flickering firelight. Anything could be hiding behind that corner, or in that shadow. And something probably is.
Bloodborne's setting has quickly become one of my favorites. And the attention to detail sometimes is just jaw-dropping. Yharnam is, to me, as real as Paris. That is to say, I've explored it thoroughly in a video game, but I assume it actually exists somewhere in the world. Also like Paris, it seems like a place that would be amazing to visit for real, but would probably wind up being a horrifying experience.
As far as the music goes, the guys at From Software pulled an ingenious move. See, Bloodborne is a game about atmosphere, and nothing, nothing is more atmospheric than silence. Most of the time, when you're just making your way through Yharnam, walking around, exploring, there's no music. You're left completely alone with your anxiety, nothing distracting you from the tension that you, yourself, are creating in your own mind. This is ultimately perfect, since you come to know that music is a really bad sign. Music means something is trying to kill you. It's unfortunate that, when the music actually hits, it's not really my kind of music. It's all good for what it is, it just didn't really stick with me personally. But maybe that's just because of the death that follows in its wake.
Sound effects, too, are there when they need to be, and most of the little incidental sounds just serve to heighten the tension. You'll be walking through a dark, cramped alleyway: step, step, step, step, step, there's a rattling or a rustling nearby. What is that? Stabbed in the face. Stabbing things yourself is satisfying, gunshots reverberate perfectly.
Speaking of stabbing and gunshots, how does the game play? Very well. The combat is rhythmic and fast-paced. Every action you take in battle has a consequence. Attack at the wrong time, or allow your combo to go on too long, and you open yourself up for reprisal. And the enemies will take advantage of that opening. It's not so bad that one mistake will cost you your life (usually), but too many bad moves will add up quickly, and you're on the floor before you know it.
At the same time, though, you're almost always left with the sense that you can do better. Say you're facing a particularly tough boss. Yeah, you'll most likely die the first time, but you'll learn from it. And each time you'll learn a little bit more, and a little bit more, until, before you know it you've got the rhythm down and it's just a matter of executing it perfectly. And hey, after a while you'll start to know the game so well that certain challenges won't be a problem, even the first time. You'll get a feel for how things are done, and that will inform how you approach later challenges.
Now, that's not to say that the game is perfect, or that it's never cheap, because that certainly isn't the case. Most of the time the game is fair, and any failure is on your part, or because you just haven't learned enough yet. Certain parts of the game bend that rule. Chalice Dungeons take it out into the street and shoot it in the face.
Chalice Dungeons are areas you can explore separate from the normal game progression. They sound pretty cool because they're randomly generated, but they're a bit of a disappointment. There's four different "styles" of dungeon, and they're all unique, I guess, but that uniqueness only really amounts to a palette swap and a change of enemies. And some of the bosses are absolutely ridiculous, to the point of throwing everything the game has taught you out the window and being completely unfair. Some can attack through solid pillars, some attack hitboxes stretch a ways beyond the visible point of contact, and some cause the camera to just give up and commit seppuku out of shame.
That said, though, the majority of the game is razor sharp. Combat against certain enemies, and especially certain bosses, feels like a dance of death, wherein the only way to win is to be the better dancer. After hours upon hours of play, I became so attuned to the control scheme that it was as if the controller was an extension of my will. There was no conscious thought-action sequence, rather I would think a thing and it would happen. I've played games that I've come to know really well, but I can't remember a single other time that I became the game, and it me.
I don't mean to harp on and on about how great this game is, but it honestly is that great. It may not be for everyone, but it was exactly what I needed it to be at the time I played it. It became my life for weeks, to the point that I had to force myself to play another game I was working on at the time, another game I was loving, all because Bloodborne was so engaging. And on top of all that, my Bloodborne player character has taken on a life of his own and become one of my own original fictional characters, Léon Reneaux. If I ever get around to publishing any of my fiction, you will be meeting him.
Yes, Bloodborne is a difficult game, especially if you've never played a game like it before. It will push you to your limits as a gamer and force you to stand up to its level. At the beginning of this year I assumed I must be entering the stage in my life where my skills would start to decline. Thanks to Bloodborne, I no longer feel that way. I'm a better gamer now, the best I've ever been, and I've proven it in other games since, which I'll talk about soon. Bloodborne is the best kind of teacher: one that leaves you better than it found you, when it has nothing more to teach you.
Until next time!
Current interests:
Listening - What We Saw From the Cheap Seats (Regina Spektor, 2012)
Playing - Azure Striker Gunvolt (2014)
Reading - Paperbacks From Hell (Grady Hendrix, 2017)
Watching - Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Return (2017)
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