All this emphasis on creating a truly excellent combat system has its own response by the game’s difficulty. If there was ever even a glimmer of worry Bloodborne was going to be easier in order to welcome a new public,  those doubts faded away hastily. Besides the new combat features and the focus on speed, a unique cohort of enemies and bosses help Bloodborne brand its mark upon the world. Many enemies in Yharnam have what one might call “finishing moves”, which are rather special moves that, if landed, can kill a player quicker than you can say “watch this.” Every fight counts, and regardless of your character’s level, even the first enemy you encounter in Yharnam can still kill you with nothing more than a wry look.

In a similar way, bosses in Bloodborne are extremely formidable, implacable, and resourceful. These epic battles have been taken several notches forward from the expected norm by From Software, especially because these rather unique foes have a never-seen-before amount of skills and moves. This does not however make Bloodborne intentionally obtuse. It instead serves to inspire the player. After all, the tougher the battle, the more ecstatic the victory is finally achieved. Nonetheless, my personal experience forces me to warn you: there will probably be rage quits. Keep anything breakable at distance. Yep, even the dog.

While having the cuddly properties of an angry cactus, Bloodborne is also notably accessible. Its learning curve is sincerely steep, but also rewarding and every death is a lesson. If you don’t get cocky, you’ll soon be ready for tougher challenges. The best part of it all is that you actually earn everything the game gives you. More importantly, there’s nothing comparable to the feeling you get when that pain in the ass boss that’s been owning you finally falls to the floor; a sweet and incomparable adrenaline rush that leaves your heart pounding and face twisted into a semi-maniacal grin.

Bloodborne is a lot more than just a glorified combat system though. All of the features above, added to the way Blood Echoes – which act as both experience points and currency – can be lost when you die make players feel a familiar yet unique sense of dread. I promise you that during your adventures in Yharnam you’ll feel a triad of fears: fear of death, fear of loss, and fear of the unknown. While this may sound terrible, it’s what has made every From Software title stand out and in Bloodborne‘s own special way, it injects an even greater sense of terror into an already pulse-pounding landscape. Every corner has its own secrets and dangers, but you’re always being pushed forward, even as the whole city reeks of death and despair.

This overall ambiance is explained in the most subtle of ways. This may not be everybody’s cup of tea, but Bloodborne has kept the extremely cryptic and rationed narrative technique From Software thrives upon. Even though it may be  annoying at times, or just confusing, it’s actually a stellar feature. Players get to put the pieces of the story together by paying attention to location names, item descriptions, notes and whatever they can get from the city’s citizens, sheltered behind locked doors. The Souls series has shown us how vast this hidden lore can be and Yharnam’s story, as well as the hunters’ mission, become clearer if you keep your eyes open. Luckily, everything stated above is enough to entertain gamers who don’t want to go the extra mile and play the additional role of archaeologist in a cursed city.

While it’s true that the base grounds for a story are laid in front of players right from the start, it’s but a husk waiting to be filled with content. You are a hunter, yes, but what does that mean? Why are there beasts there? And more often than you’d like, new questions arise as you keep moving forward. What happened in the Cathedral? Whose tomb is this? It’s a delightful puzzle that will only partially solve itself. Pretty much like with everything else in the game, if you want all the answers you’ll have to earn them.

As the night of the hunt progresses, you will know there are other hunters. Whether on your side or not is something you will have to see for yourself. However, that’s exactly where the multiplayer aspects of Bloodborne come into place. Using two items in the game will either allow summoning players into your world (Beckoning Bell) or joining someone else’s (Small Resonating Bell). These multiplayer sessions are cooperative and can be used to get past bosses or other difficult parts of the game. Additionally, there’s also a one-versus-one PvP mode in certain areas, as well as the much-talked-about Chalice Dungeons. The latter, which are randomly generated, are dungeons that players create by performing rituals on the Hunters’ Dream. Once created, they can be saved and shared, which allows for extra challenges and rewards. Chalice dungeons can be especially tough and are best suited for co-op situations, but definitely add a huge replay value to Bloodborne.

Despite all these great features, From Software’s latest game isn’t utterly perfect, at least technically. Despite getting a pretty big performance-related update on the very launch day, there are still some technical issues. In addition to some glitches and an occasional wall clipping, there are a few heavier issues which should be addressed: First of all, loading times are a lot longer than expected. Every time you die, which happens more often than you’ll ever admit, there’s a period of over 20 seconds until you actually respawn. You may think this isn’t a lot, but it does matter when a boss is getting all medieval on your ass. Secondly, even though the game does look gorgeous, there’s a frequent case of texture pop in, which certainly ruins a great deal of the game’s immersion.

One additional letdown is how little thought differing play-styles have been afforded. While theSouls series allowed players to choose whether they wanted to focus on heavy, agile, or even magical characters, Bloodborne seems to push everyone towards the same speed-based style. No one will deny it works perfectly, but it may not be suited to every player.

To be honest, minor little warts and all, Bloodborne was a lot more than I expected. It definitely builds upon the Souls games on the things it should, while still becoming a completely new thing. The changes on pace, as well as the new features are incredibly welcome and the game is a huge lot of fun. Believe it or not, From Software has managed to up their game a lot with this release, and I sincerely hope this is the beginning of a new legendary series.

There is no proper way to stress how good Bloodborne actually is. The sum of its features produces a complex yet accessible gameplay experience that is amazing pretty much in every aspect. The best part of it all though, is that Bloodborne turned out to be one of the few true exclusives, and probably the best out there today. It’s definitely laying a path to be followed by developers on the delivery of a true quality current-gen product.