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lead=yes is a 2015 action role-playing game developed by FromSoftware and published by Sony Computer Entertainment for the PlayStation 4. The game follows a Hunter through the decrepit Gothic, Victorian-era in Europe inspired city of Yharnam, whose inhabitants are afflicted with a blood-borne disease which transforms the residents into horrific beasts. Attempting to find the source of the plague, the player's character unravels the city's mysteries while fighting a variety of enemies.
Bloodborne is played from a third-person perspective. Players control a customizable protagonist, and the gameplay is focused on strategic weapons-based combat and exploration. Players battle varied enemies while using items such as trick weapons and firearms, exploring different locations, interacting with non-player characters, and unraveling the city's mysteries. Bloodborne began development in 2012 under the working title of Project Beast. Bearing many similarities to FromSoftware's Dark Souls series, Bloodborne was inspired by the literary works of authors H. P. Lovecraft and Bram Stoker, as well as the architectural design of real-world locations in countries such as Romania and the Czech Republic.
Bloodborne has been cited as one of the greatest video games ever made, with praise directed at its gameplay, atmosphere, sound design, Lovecraftian themes and interconnected world design. Some criticism was directed at its technical performance at launch, which was improved with post-release updates. The downloadable content The Old Hunters was released in November 2015. The game had sold 7.46 million copies by February 2022. Some related media and adaptations have also been released, including a card game, board game and comic book series.
At the beginning of the game, the player creates their character, the Hunter. The player determines the basic details of the Hunter; gender, hairstyle, name, skin color, body shape, voice, and eye color are some of the options the player can customize. The player also chooses a starting Character class, known as an "Origin", which provides a basic backstory for the Hunter and sets the player's starting attributes. The origins, while describing the player character's past, do not have any effect on gameplay beyond altering starting stats. "Bloodborne guide: creating your character" (March 13, 2015). VG247. Retrieved June 22, 2015.Sliva, Marty (February 4, 2015). "Bloodborne: Exploring Its Vast Character Creator – IGN First" . IGN. Retrieved June 27, 2015. Another way the player defines their Hunter is by choosing what brotherhood they are a member of. These religious societies, known as "Covenants", each have their views on the world of Yharnam.Hillier, Brenna (March 23, 2015). "Bloodborne guide: finding and joining a covenant" . VG247. Retrieved June 22, 2015.McWhertor, Michael (March 23, 2015). "Welcome to Bloodborne: Here's what I wish I'd known from the start" . Polygon. Retrieved July 22, 2015.
The player can return to the Overworld, known as the "Hunter's Dream", by interacting with lanterns spread throughout the world of Yharnam. Doing so replenishes health, but respawns all enemies in the game world, with the exception of bosses and mini-bosses. Lanterns also serve as the game's checkpoints; the player will return to the last activated lantern when they die. Positioned separately from Yharnam, the Hunter's Dream delivers some of the game's basic features to the player. Players may purchase helpful items, such as weapons, clothing and consumables, from the Messengers using Blood Echoes or Insight, level up their character by talking to the Doll, or upgrade their weapons in the workshop, among other things. Unlike Yharnam and all other locations in the game, the Hunter's Dream is considered completely safe as it is the only location in the game not to feature enemies. However, the last two boss battles of the game are optional and take place in the Hunter's Dream.Phipps, Brett (March 26, 2015). "Bloodborne Guide – Hunter's Dream Walkthrough" . VideoGamer. Retrieved July 22, 2015.
Bloodborne world of Yharnam is an extensive map full of interconnected areas. Some areas of Yharnam are not connected to the main locations and require the player to teleport there via the gravestones in the Hunter's Dream. The player may be presented with multiple options when progressing through locations, but usually, there is the main path that the player uses to progress through the story. When traversing the main path, the player will encounter diverging paths that lead to entirely different locations that are optional. Each path eventually leads back to the central area the player started in; this provides the player with shortcuts, useful for when they die or need to backtrack.Dunsmore, Kevin (April 29, 2015). "Here's a Full Map of Bloodborne's World" . Hardcore gamer. Retrieved June 25, 2015.Saed, Sherif (April 29, 2015). "This is the full map of Bloodborne" . VG247. Retrieved June 25, 2015.
Most melee weapons, called Trick Weapons, can transform into an alternate state; each state encourages a different approach to combat. With most Trick Weapons, one state is usually a slower, larger weapon that deals heavier damage per hit, while the other state is smaller, faster, and deals its damage in hit streaks. Certain weapons are wielded in both hands after transforming, meaning the left hand secondary weapon cannot be used. For example, the Hunter Axe in its initial state is wielded with one hand and can be used to dispatch enemies in cramped areas quickly; when transformed into its secondary state, it becomes an extended two-handed weapon more suited for crowd control.Dawson, Bryan. "The Best Weapons in Bloodborne – First Playthrough" . Prima games. Retrieved July 3, 2015.
The player's main secondary weapon is a firearm; the firearm, usually a pistol, can be used in a traditional sense, as well as a way to stun enemies. When an enemy is stunned, the player can perform a Visceral attack; Visceral attacks cause a large amount of damage in one hit and can also be performed after the player strikes an enemy from behind with a charged attack.
Other secondary weapons include torches, cannons, and shields, while other main melee weapons include hammers, swords, two-handed gun spears or swords, which serve as melee and ranged weapons, a whip, a scythe, and a wheel.
Weapons may be altered or upgraded with Blood Gems.
The player can carry other offensive weapons, such as , throwing knives, and pebbles.
Insight is a secondary form of currency; it can be spent to purchase items, summon help for bosses, and depending on the player's Insight level, the world will change in many different ways. When the player reaches a specific Insight level, some NPCs or enemies might no longer be present, the sky and moon may change colour, the player may start hearing different sounds (such as a crying baby and mysterious whispering), or enemies' attack patterns may change.Saed, Sherif (March 27, 2015). "Bloodborne: this is what happens when you have 40 Insight" . VG247. Retrieved June 27, 2015. The world also changes as the player progresses through the main story. Insight can be gained by finding and defeating bosses, using items that grant Insight, helping another player via co-op defeat a boss, and successfully defeating another player in competitive multiplayer.(April 2, 2015). "9 expert level tips and tricks for Bloodborne" . GamesRadar. Retrieved July 22, 2015.
Useful items can also be found hidden in the environment, usually requiring the player to go on a different path than they were initially travelling. Items include various forms of Coldblood which grant the player Blood Echoes when consumed, Antidotes, used for curing poisoning, and Hunter Badges, used for purchasing items in the Hunter's Dream.
Blood Gems, which are mostly dropped but sometimes found, can be used to upgrade or modify the player's weapons.
Through the Healing Church's medical advances using the Old Blood, Yharnam grew into a powerful city. Unfortunately, as Willem predicted, the imbibed began to turn into the beasts over time. In response, the Church attempted to avoid mass panic by founding the Hunters Workshop, a military force composed of warriors called Hunters, to deal with them in secret. However, the beasts eventually spread too far, prompting the Church to go public by shutting the Workshop down and forming a militia, the Church Hunters, to fight them in the open, claiming they were the result of a mysterious illness.
Following the closing of the Hunters Workshop, its founder, Gehrman, lacked purpose and sought contact with the Great Ones, and one known only as the Moon Presence answered. It then granted his wish by making him the caretaker of a dream realm, the "Hunters Dream", where he would be forced to assist other hunters chosen by the Great One to complete tasks at its behest, who cannot die until said tasks are completed.
Rom's death allows the Hunter to perceive a vision of Queen Yharnam, her daughter Mergo, and a realm known as the Nightmare of Mensis. The Hunter ventures into the hidden village of Yahar'gul, where the Great Ones are researched and worshipped by the School of Mensis. After defeating a Great One's vessel called The One Reborn, the Hunter accesses the Nightmare of Mensis. There they defeat Micolash, head of the School, and Mergo's guardian the Wet Nurse. This results in the death of Mergo and an end to the Nightmare.
Afterwards, the Hunter returns to the Hunter's Dream where Gehrman offers to help them escape the dream. At this point, three different endings are possible, depending on the player's actions:
After defeating Maria, the Hunter discovers the secret she was protecting: the ruins of a fishing village whose inhabitants had been transformed into fish-like people due to their proximity to the corpse of Kos, a Great One. Here, the hunter learns that the nightmare is the result of a curse cast upon Byrgenwerth and its offshoots after they slaughtered and experimented on the villagers. Continuing through the village, the Hunter arrives at a beach where they discover the Nightmare's source: Kos’ Posthumous birth. After defeating the creature, its spirit returns to its mother's side, ending the Hunter's Nightmare.
The game's Victorian Gothic setting was partly inspired by the novel Dracula, and the architecture of locations in Romania and the Czech Republic. Miyazaki also enjoyed H. P. Lovecraft's Cthulhu Mythos series of surreal horror stories, and applied similar themes into the game. Miyazaki had wanted to create a game set in such an era as those novels, but he wanted everything to be as detailed as possible, and felt that such a game was only possible on eighth generation hardware. This need for high-end hardware, and the fact that the PlayStation 4 was presented to the company first, was the reason the game was a PS4 exclusive, rather than a cross-generation release. The developers' target frame rate for the title was 30 frames per second, due to their design choices made for the title.
Story details were more plentiful than in the Dark Souls games, though the team created a larger mystery at the heart of the story to compensate for this. The method through which the story is shown and developed to the player is also done in a similar style to Miyazaki's other games, especially the Souls series, in that the plot is revealed with item descriptions, interactions with various NPCs, visual storytelling, and from the player's own inferences and interpretation of the plot. The team did not want to raise the difficulty level higher than their previous games as they felt it would make the game "pretty much unplayable for anyone". To balance this out, the team created a more aggressive combat system focusing on both action and strategy. They also wanted to alter the penalties for death used in the Souls games as they did not want the game to be classified as being for hardcore gamers. One of the more difficult decisions the team faced was the introduction of guns as weapons. Because it would fit well into the game's setting, and that it would consequently be less accurate than modern models, guns were eventually included, taking the place of shields from the previous Souls titles.
Bloodbornes soundtrack was composed by a mix of Japanese and Western composers. The soundtrack contains over 80 minutes of original music by Tsukasa Saitoh, Yuka Kitamura, Nobuyoshi Suzuki, Ryan Amon, Cris Velasco and Michael Wandmacher and features performances by a 65-piece orchestra and a 32-member choir.Owen S. Good (April 4, 2015). "Bloodborne's haunting soundtrack gets a separate release April 21" . Polygon. Retrieved July 2, 2015.Sherif, Saed (April 6, 2015). "Bloodborne soundtrack coming April 21" . VG247. Retrieved July 2, 2015. The development of the soundtrack lasted for around two and a half years.
Screenshots and a gameplay trailer of the game were leaked on the Internet weeks before the official reveal, under the title of Project Beast. Many believed at the time that the leak could be connected to Demon's Souls. However, Miyazaki later stated that Bloodborne was never considered to be Demon's Souls II, due to Sony Computer Entertainment wanting a new intellectual property (IP) for the PlayStation 4.
A limited collector's edition was launched with the game. It includes a SteelBook case, a hard cover art book, and a digital copy of the game's soundtrack. The soundtrack was released separately on April 21, 2015. The European exclusive Nightmare Edition included physical items such as a quill and ink set, as well as all the items in the collector's edition. An Asian edition includes a letter opener modeled off of the in-game weapon, the Kirkhammer. A PlayStation 4 bundle is also available in Asian regions. A song to promote Bloodborne was recorded by the Hit House featuring Ruby Friedman for a trailer and TV spot of the game, titled "Hunt You Down", written by Scott Miller and William Hunt, and recorded by Wyn Davis in Los Angeles and at Word of Mouth Recording Studios in New Orleans.
Sony Denmark teamed up with Danish organization GivBlod in order to encourage blood donations through a program where donators who donated on March 23, 2015, would receive a chance to win Bloodborne as a gift.Farokhmanesh, Megan (March 20, 2015). "Donate blood, get a free copy of Bloodborne in Denmark" . Polygon. Retrieved June 27, 2015. An officially licensed card game, based on the game's Chalice Dungeons, was published by CoolMiniOrNot and released in November 2016. In February 2018, a tie-in comic book series written by Ales Kot and published by Titan Comics was released. It ran for four volumes, with each volume being a standalone story. A fifth volume launched in July 2022, written by Cullen Bunn.
Edge wrote that it was a "dazzling work of dark, abject horror that cements Miyazaki as one of the all-time greats." Electronic Gaming Monthly wrote "Though built on the same core as the Souls games, Bloodborne marks the largest departure from the status quo to date. The numerous changes, many in service of a faster and more aggressive playstyle, might not be for everyone, but if you embrace that shift, you might well have a new favorite in the From Software canon." Kevin VanOrd of GameSpot praised its Lovecraftian horror-themed storyline, energetic boss battles, precise combat for making encounters with enemies fun, as well as its unique artistry and varied environments. He also praised the sound design of the enemies, the difficulty, which he compared to Dark Souls II, and the melee-based weapons featured in the game for allowing transformation during battle. Regarding the survival horror portion of the game, he stated that it succeeded in making players feel disturbed. The interconnected design of the game world is also praised for making discovery rewarding. Writing for GamesRadar, Ben Griffin praised the game's detailed environments, Gothic-styled visuals, rich combat, fresh challenges, the randomized Chalice Dungeons for extending the game's length and the rewarding character upgrade system. He also praised the game for delivering a sense of progression and offering players motivation to finish the game, as well as the narrative for "intertwining with the geography of Yharnam". However, he criticized the game's non-divergent class system, as well as the specialization, as he stated that "lack of magic, miracles, pyromancy, archery, heavy, medium, and light options discourages experimentation." He also criticized the game for always forcing players to upgrade and stock weapons only in certain sections of the game.
Destructoids Chris Carter called it "the most stable Souls game to date", he praised the game's emphasis on melee combat and raw skill, as well as the game's interesting NPCs, sidequests and interactions. He criticized the limited competitive multiplayer, low replay value, as well as the occasionally blocked area in the game, which he stated "feel less sprawling and less replayable" than previous FromSoftware games. He summarized the review by saying that " Bloodborne is an interesting mix of everything FromSoftware has learned throughout its storied developmental career. FromSoftware is still one of the only developers left that makes you work for your satisfaction, and Bloodborne is damn satisfying." IGNs Brandin Tyrrel wrote that Bloodborne was "an amazing, exacting, and exhausting pilgrimage through a gorgeous land that imposes the feeling of approaching the bottom of a descent into madness. Though extended load times and minor frame-rate hitches have an effect on the pacing, it's otherwise an intensely challenging and rewarding game. There's an incredible power to unlocking its mysteries, and in succeeding, despite its demand for a pound of your flesh."
Game Revolutions Nick Tan was more critical than most but still quite positive, criticizing the restrictive builds and the unreliable firearms. He also noted that the game suffered from lock-on and camera issues. He summarized the review by saying that "Though not as refined and freeform as some of its predecessors, it continues in the longstanding Souls tradition of lending credence to challenging games and making the seemingly Sisyphean task of conquering ruthless, malformed monstrosities possible and downright commendable." Michael McWhertor of Polygon thought that the story was "intriguing", saying the guns were unlike any other he had used in another game, in that the Visceral attacks give the player "one of the best feelings in any game", praised the game's difficulty for providing satisfying encounters, and thought the cryptic mysteries did a good job at encouraging the player to progress through the game. He also praised the game's environments, enemies, and weapons, as he thought they were well-designed and offered the player freedom and variety. McWhertor's main criticisms were concerning the load times and technical issues. He found that the game performed noticeably worse when playing with another player, saying that the frame rate "takes a hit". He also found some mechanics and items confusing, and disliked the fact that there are many loading screens in quick succession. New York Daily News stated that it was "the perfect marriage, blending mechanics that seem easy to learn with gameplay and challenge that demands mastery and ingenuity." The Guardian also gave it a full five-star rating, stating that "elegance, precision, humor, and challenge make Bloodborne irresistible." The Telegraph wrote that it was the "digital edition of a round-the-world trip to foreign continents, each turning of a corner providing equal helpings of excitement and trepidation". At launch, one of the more criticized points of the game was its long loading times, which were later mitigated via post-release patches.
By April 2015, Bloodborne had sold over one million units, and by September 2015, the game had over two million units sold.Makuch, Eddie (September 15, 2015). "PS4's Bloodborne Sells 2 Million" . GameSpot. Retrieved September 16, 2015. Soon after release, Sony stated that the game's sales exceeded their expectations. By February 2022, the game had sold 7.46 million units.
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