Bloodborne

Bloodborne is an action role-playing game played from a third-person perspective which features elements similar to those found in the Dark Souls series, also made by FromSoftware.^[1] The player makes their way through different locations within the decrepit Gothic city of Yharnam while battling enemies and bosses,^[2] collecting different types of items and interacting with non-player characters^[3].

At the beginning of the game, the player creates their character, the Hunter, and determines their basic details; such as gender, name and visual appearance. The player also chooses a starting class, known as an "Origin", which provides a basic backstory for the Hunter and sets the player's starting attributes.^[4][5] 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 Yharnam and the world beyond.^[6][7]

Yharnam is an interconnected map with non-linear progression and optional areas unlocked through exploration.^[8][9] The player can return to the hub world, known as the "Hunter's Dream", by interacting with lanterns spread throughout the Yharnam. 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 allows players to purchase items such as weapons, clothing and consumables, level up their character, upgrade their weapons, or teleport to different areas.^[10][11][12]

Combat involves strafing, dodging enemy attacks and hitting them with different weapons. The new Rally system allows the player to recover portions of lost health by striking an enemy within a small window of time after taking damage.^[13] Director Hidetaka Miyazaki explained that this represents the player's increased will to continue after successfully striking an enemy.^[14] A New Game Plus mode allows the player to retain most of their equipment and upgrades on new playthroughs, and the game is more challenging than the previous playthrough.^[15][16] The player may only wield one of two melee weapons equipped to the right hand and one of two secondary weapons equipped to the left hand at any one time, weapons can be switched during gameplay.

Many melee weapons are Trick Weapons, which can swap into two forms with different moves. Certain weapons are wielded in both hands after transforming, meaning the left hand secondary weapon cannot be used.^[17][18] The player's main secondary weapon is a firearm, which can be used to shoot enemies or parry an incoming attack and stun the enemy. 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 weapons provide different functions or methods of combat. The player can carry other support weapons, such as Molotov cocktails, throwing knives, and pebbles.^[17][19]

Similarly to the Dark Souls games, slaying enemies grants the player "Blood Echoes," used to level stats and upgrade weapons. Should the player die, their Blood Echoes will be dropped at the location of their death. If they can reach that point again, they can regain them. However, should the player die before retrieving their dropped Blood Echoes, they will be lost forever. Sometimes, the player's Blood Echoes may be captured by an enemy, typically identified by glowing blue eyes; defeating this enemy will return the lost Blood Echoes.^[20][21] Insight is a secondary form of currency; obtained through boss interactions, story events and multiplayer modes. it can be spent to purchase items, or to summon the help of non-playable characters to help fighting bosses. Accumulating Insight allows for unique interactions with non-playable characters and enemies, such as new dialogue and the appearance of previously unseen foes.^[22][23]

Multiplayer mode is present, allowing players to cooperate against enemies and bosses or invade each other's worlds and fight against one another.^[24][25][26] Players may also leave notes in certain spots of the game world, available for others to read. Other players may rate a message as 'Fine' or 'Foul', indicating whether the note is helpful or malicious to future readers. When a player rates a message as 'Fine', the player who wrote the note will have their health restored.^[27][28]

Chalice Dungeons are specialized dungeons that become available to the player through the use of special items and materials. Each dungeon can be generated as a fixed version with preset layouts, items, and enemies as well as a "root" version that randomly generates new configurations of the dungeon through procedural generation.^{[29][30][31][32]}

Setting and characters

Main article: Yharnam

Bloodborne takes place in the decrepit gothic city of Yharnam. Long ago, ruins of an ancient civilization were found underneath the city, prompting an investigation by the College of Byrgenwerth that uncovered the existence of beings dubbed Great Ones and a substance known as Old Blood, which could cure any illness. Eventually, this led the college to split off into two new institutions: the School of Mensis—to establish contact with the Great Ones—and the Healing Church—to share the Blood's healing properties.^[33]

Over time, it was revealed that the Old Blood was, in fact, slowly turning the imbibers into beasts.^[34] To avoid mass panic, the Church secretly founded the Hunter's Workshop, a group composed of warriors called Hunters, to deal with them covertly. However, the beasts eventually became common knowledge, prompting the Church to shut down the Workshop and form a pubic militia. Afterward, the founder of the Hunter's Workshop, Gehrman, sought contact with the Great Ones, and one of them, the Moon Presence, answered. It then made him caretaker of a dream realm, the "Hunter's Dream", where he would assist other hunters chosen by the Great One to complete tasks at its behest, who cannot die until said tasks are completed.

Plot

Bloodborne

The player character, a Hunter, receives a blood transfusion to sign a contract, mentioning something only known as "Paleblood".^[33] After warning the Hunter that the upcoming journey may look like a bad dream, the Hunter blacks out and is transported to a spectral realm known as the Hunter's Dream. To find Paleblood and escape the dream, the Hunter must slay the beasts ravaging Yharnam and end the plague. In Central Yharnam, the Hunter is instructed to find the Healing Church, which is connected to the source of the plague. There, the Hunter has a vision telling them to visit the College of Byrgenwerth, where they find and defeat a Great One named Rom.

Rom's death allows the Hunter to perceive a vision of Queen Yharnam, her child 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.^[35] At this point, three different endings are possible, depending on the player's actions:

• Accepting Gehrman's offer results in the Yharnam Sunrise ending: Gehrman kills the Hunter, after which they awaken in Yharnam as the sun rises.
• Declining Gehrman's offer results in the Honoring Wishes ending: Gehrman fights the Hunter to prevent them from being trapped in the dream, but is defeated. The Moon Presence then arrives and embraces the Hunter, after which the Hunter replaces Gehrman as the Dream's caretaker.
• If, in addition to declining Gehrman's offer, the Hunter also consumed three umbilical cords formed from Great Ones trying to reproduce with humans, the Childhood's Beginning ending is unlocked: After defeating Gehrman, the Hunter resists the Moon Presence and kills it, after which they are transformed into an infant Great One.

The Old Hunters

While traversing Yharnam, the Hunter learns about another dream realm called the "Hunter’s Nightmare". Entering the realm, they discover it is a prison for hunters who succumb to bloodlust. Traveling through the Nightmare's layers, the Hunter fights their way through hunters who have been transformed into beasts. They eventually reach a clock tower and encounter a woman named Maria, one of Gehrman's original hunters who guards the Nightmare's innermost reaches.

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’ postmortem-born child. After defeating the creature, its spirit returns to its mother's side, ending the Hunter's Nightmare.^[36]

Japan Studio, a subsidiary of Sony Interactive Entertainment, approached FromSoftware concerning cooperative development on a title, and director Hidetaka Miyazaki asked about the possibility of developing a game for eighth-generation consoles. The concept of Bloodborne developed from there. There were no connections to FromSoftware's previous titles, even though Miyazaki conceded that it "carries the DNA of Demon's Souls and its very specific level design".^[37] Development ran parallel to that of Dark Souls II.^[38]

The game's Victorian Gothic setting was partly inspired by the novel Dracula,^[39] and the architecture of locations in Romania and the Czech Republic.^[40] Miyazaki also enjoyed H. P. Lovecraft's Cthulhu Mythos series of surreal horror stories, and applied similar themes into the game.^[41] 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.^[42] The developers' target frame rate for the title was 30 frames per second, due to their design choices made for the title.^[39]

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.^[43] 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.^[40] 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.^[39] 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.^[43]

Bloodborne's 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.^{[44][45][46][47]} The development of the soundtrack lasted for around two and a half years.^[44]

Screenshots and a gameplay trailer of the game were leaked on the Internet weeks before the official reveal, under the title of Project Beast.^[48] Many believed at the time that the leak could be connected to Demon's Souls.^[49] 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.^[50]

Bloodborne was announced at E3 2014, where a trailer was shown. In January 2015, Bloodborne became Game Informer's readers' most anticipated game of 2015.^[51][52] The game was originally planned to be released on February 6, 2015, but was delayed to March 24, 2015, in North America, March 25, 2015, in Europe, Australia and New Zealand, March 26, 2015, in Japan, and March 27, 2015, in the United Kingdom and Ireland.^[53][54] A downloadable content expansion, The Old Hunters, was released on November 24, 2015. It takes place within a world where hunters of the past are trapped, and features new weapons, outfits, and items.^[55][56]

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.^[57] The soundtrack was released separately on April 21, 2015.^[45][46] 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.^[58] A song to promote Bloodborne was recorded by the Hit House featuring Ruby Friedman for a trailer and TV spot of the game,^[59] titled "Hunt You Down", written by Scott Miller and William Hunt, and recorded by Wyn Davis^[60] in Los Angeles and at Word of Mouth Recording Studios in New Orleans.^[61]

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.^[62][63] An officially licensed card game, based on the game's Chalice Dungeons, was published by CoolMiniOrNot and released in November 2016.^[64][65] In February 2018, a tie-in comic book series written by Ales Kot and published by Titan Comics was released.^[66] It ran for four volumes, with each volume being a standalone story. A fifth volume launched in July 2022, written by Cullen Bunn.^[67]

Bloodborne had long been a title that players sought a remake for modern consoles and to fix some of the technical issues with the game's original release. Bluepoint Games, a Sony first-party studio, had previously done a Demon's Souls remake in 2020, and had looked into doing one for Bloodborne. Following the cancellation of a live service God of War game in 2025, Bluepoint pitched the Bloodborne remake, but were told that FromSoftware was not interested in pursuing it.^[68]

Bloodborne received "universal acclaim" from critics, according to review aggregator Metacritic.^[69] Daniel Tack of Game Informer praised the game's unsettling atmosphere and the aesthetic visuals, which he stated, "had brought horror to life". He also praised its challenging gameplay, which he compared to the Dark Souls series, as well as its intimately-realized story, high replay value, deliberate, rewarding and fast-paced combat, sparse storytelling and satisfying weapon customization. He was also impressed by the well-crafted boss battles, unique enemy design, and soundtrack. He also praised the multiplayer for extending the longevity of the game, and the game for allowing players to learn and adapt throughout a playthrough. He summarized the review by saying that "While this new IP doesn't stray far from the established Souls franchise, it is a magical, wondrous work that admirably instills both terror and triumph in those brave enough to delve into it."^[75]

Edge wrote that it was a "dazzling work of dark, abject horror that cements Miyazaki as one of the all-time greats."^[73] 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 FromSoftware canon."^[74] 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.^[77] 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.^[78]

Destructoid's 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."^[72] IGN's 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."^[79]

Game Revolution's 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."^[76] 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.^[80] 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."^[81] The Guardian also gave it a full five-star rating, stating that "elegance, precision, humor, and challenge make Bloodborne irresistible."^[82] 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".^[83] At launch, one of the more criticized points of the game was its long loading times, which were later mitigated via post-release patches.^[84][85]

Sales

Bloodborne sold 152,567 physical retail units within the first week of release in Japan,^[86] ranking first place within the Japanese software sales charts for that particular week.^[87] Bloodborne debuted at number two in the United Kingdom software retail chart, behind Battlefield Hardline by 22,500 units.^[88] In the United States, Bloodborne was the second best-selling software in March, despite being released at the end of the month.^[89]

By April 2015, Bloodborne had sold over one million units,^[90] and by September 2015, the game had over two million units sold.^[91] Soon after release, Sony stated that the game's sales exceeded their expectations.^[92] By February 2022, the game had sold 7.46 million units.^[93] By November 2025, the game sold 9.3 million units.^[94]

Awards

Bloodborne was awarded the 2015 Game of the Year by several video game review sites, including GameTrailers,^[95] Eurogamer,^[96] Destructoid,^[97] and Edge,^[98] along with being awarded the "2015 PlayStation 4 Game of the Year" by IGN.^[99] In 2015, Edge rated it the fourth greatest video game of all time.^[100] A 2023 poll conducted by GQ which surveyed a team of video game journalists across the industry ranked Bloodborne as the fourth best video game of all time.^[101]

More information Year, Award ...

Year	Award	Category	Result	Ref.
2015	Golden Joystick Awards	Game of the Year	Nominated	[102]
		Best Original Game	Won
		Best Storytelling	Nominated
		Best Visual Design	Nominated
		Best Audio	Nominated
		Best Multiplayer Game	Nominated
		Best Gaming Moment	Nominated
		PlayStation Game of the Year	Won
	The Game Awards 2015	Game of the Year	Nominated	[103]
		Best Role Playing Game	Nominated
		Best Art Direction	Nominated
2016	19th Annual D.I.C.E. Awards	Game of the Year	Nominated	[104]
		Role-Playing/Massively Multiplayer Game of the Year	Nominated
	Game Developers Choice Awards	Game of the Year	Nominated	[105]
		Best Design	Nominated
		Best Visual Art	Nominated
	12th British Academy Games Awards	Game Design	Won	[106]

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