Bloodborne Isn't The Kind Of Game I'd Normally Play, But Here's Why I Fell In Love With It Anyway

Summary Bloodborne is a horror-themed soulslike game with a unique trick weapon system set in a Victorian-style city.

The game gradually escalates horror elements, transitioning from a gothic to a cosmic horror narrative.

Bloodborne imposes fear on players, forcing them to confront and overcome dread to progress in the game.

The odds are that I would never play Bloodborne from a thematic standpoint, but that same theme is exactly what made me fall in love with it. The 2015 hit title by FromSoftware, designed exclusively for PlayStation 4 consoles, is a fan-favorite among soulslike players and a lot of it is due to its unique gameplay. While still a soulslike game, the title set in Yharnam has a remarkable trick weapon system that allows players to, essentially, wield two distinct weapons in a single slot, and alternate between them seamlessly.

Unlike many other games in the popular sub-genre, Bloodborne is not set in a dark medieval fantasy world and, instead, plays out on the streets of a gruesome Victorian-style city called Yharnam, which has been plagued by a mysterious blood cult that has been transforming regular denizens into monsters. With a much more somber approach, Bloodborne is more akin to a horror game than a regular adventure one, and that melds into the narrative. This is exactly why playing Bloodborne in the first place is such a surprise to me: I do not play horror games.

Related Why Bloodborne 2 Would Be So Much Better Than An Elden Ring Sequel Although many want the next soulsborne game to be a sequel to Elden Ring, Bloodborne 2 would be the better option for FromSoftware's next project.

I’d Never Play A Horror-Fueled Game Like Bloodborne, Yet It Grabbed Me

The Soulslike Title Became One Of My Top 10 Favorite Games

Close

Some sort of unresolved past trauma or never-developed fortitude to mentally withstand the pressures of horror as a genre is exactly what has kept me away from titles like Resident Evil and Silent Hill all my life. I know the types of stories and, often, masterpieces I miss out on, but there is a psychological trigger that impedes me from proceeding into a dark room where I know bloodthirsty danger lurks. The big difference with Bloodborne is that it was never marketed as a horror game, even if consistent fear is part of its guiding narrative.

Upon being ambushed by a Garden of Eyes in the most hideous jumpscare of my gaming experience and having my brains sucked out, I came to the realization that I was not playing a standard-issue soulslike game with a darker setting.

The fact that it was a soulslike was an attractive selling point, in fact. Diving into the world of Yharnam in search of memorable challenges and, of course, supreme world design and an exquisite soundtrack – all of which are recurrent in games created by FromSoftware – I started my adventure into what I originally perceived as a grittier soulslike than the Dark Souls series or Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice. The first gameplay hours felt like what I was expecting from any other soulslike; unique, but not enough that it would be set too far apart from other titles.

As a late soulslike bloomer, I ventured into Bloodborne after having played through Sekiro.

Having gone through nearly half of the campaign, I beat the Shadow of Yharnam and proceeded to the Byrgenwerth map. Surely, I had stumbled upon several mind-bending opponents and menaces throughout the oppressive maps, but entering Byrgenwerth was a shift in how I perceived the game.

Related Elden Ring DLC Can Bring Back Bloodborne’s Best Optional Feature Bloodborne has been a significant inspiration to all Soulslikes, including Elden Ring, but there's one feature that the DLC must take advantage of.

Upon being ambushed by a Garden of Eyes in the most hideous jumpscare of my gaming experience and having my brains sucked out, I came to the realization that I was not playing a standard-issue soulslike game with a darker setting. Instead, Bloodborne is a horror game with a soulslike gameplay approach.

Seeing that opponent’s design and how it behaved instantly reminded me of being persecuted by something in any type of survival horror game, and that alone made me realize everything else in the game is exactly the same. Not only are the opponents designed to look fearful, but they drastically get worse throughout your adventure.

In the first few hours in Yharnam, you face a few humans plagued by blood, which makes them develop lycanthropic features. There were a few other scary bosses in Bloodborne’s initial hours, but nothing strays too far away from what FromSoftware is known for.

Bloodborne’s Story Is About Fear And Overcoming It

FromSoftware’s Title Delves Into The Very Essence Of Horror

The realization that what I was playing was a horror game all along started to connect some previous design choices I had noticed. The maps are darker and narrower, the musical arrangement is more somber, and the story’s sinister development from a gothic horror tale into a cosmic horror story were all deliberate choices that molded Bloodborne into what it is: a game about fear and overcoming that very feeling. FromSoftware’s 2015 title gradually escalates the horror factor in its design as players progress through the campaign.

If players were initially frightened about being hunted by a mob of lycanthropic men in the first few minutes, a few hours later their main concern will be how to manage existential dread. Upon completing the Byrgenwerth map and defeating Rom, the Vacuous Spider boss, players see the collapse of the veil hiding the blood moon and the true horrors around them, and that is where Bloodborne really starts to openly embrace its cosmic horror narrative.

Related Bloodborne: 10 Most Dangerous Minor Enemies, Ranked Bloodborne features some of the toughest bosses in the Soulsborne series, but even these minor enemies can prove a challenge for series veterans.

After this, players see that the places they once felt somewhat comfortable in, such as Yharnam itself, are actually overrun by Lesser Amygdala hanging from buildings, just waiting for prey. Rom was protecting players from seeing everything horrible around them, and now, players have to overcome this newfound fear of being a squishable human among gargantuan space deities.

There truly is something awe-inspiring in feeling fear, the most primal of animal emotions.

The game’s entire ambiance and darker design on all fronts are about imposing fear on the player and forcing them to overcome that feeling in order to proceed. Once they do, they beat the once-menacing boss of that respective stage and venture forward. Then, Bloodborne escalates its horror once again, forcing players to leave their comfort zone and overcome a sense of dread only to continue onward on their adventure.

This is not a horror game in the traditional sense of the genre, since a lot of the classic survival horror mechanics are not there. It is, however, in its essence, a game about horror that inspires the same fear that other horror titles do – and it does so with extreme precision. The 2015 game was able to tell a horror story without limiting itself to regular staples in the genre and, instead, weave a remarkable and dread-inspired story through a soulslike perspective.

Related 10 Freakiest Bloodborne Enemies, Ranked FromSoftware's Lovecraftian masterpiece Bloodborne contains dozens of mind-melting monsters, and here are the game's ten freakiest enemies, ranked.

While I am still too frightful to play many horror games, the haunting world of Bloodborne easily became one of my favorites, and it helped me create a new appreciation and respect for the genre, so much so that I’ve started dipping my feet into some titles and movies that I otherwise would have actively avoided altogether. There truly is something awe-inspiring in feeling fear, the most primal of animal emotions. Now, we wait for a Bloodborne sequel or remake.