The Problem With: Bloodborne

First things first!

Let me just say first of all that Bloodborne is a fantastic game.

I love the new direction the developers have taken with the combat system and the other mechanics that promote the faster pace of play. But there are just some aspects of the game (all unintentional, I hope) that don’t give players the familiar, satisfying sensation that other From Software games have given in the past. Looking at you, Souls.

Farming for Blood Vials/QS Bullets

If you had just started Bloodborne or you’ve been playing it for a while but not for too long, you’ll notice that at times, Blood Vials just run short. The only way for you to get them without spending your hard-earned blood echoes is by farming them at certain locations – one of the popular ones being the particular area in Central Yharnam. 

Yeah, you know which area I’m talking about. 

This just creates a break in immersion.

Instead of just having your previous blood vial count restored after you die from a boss, players are forced to go to the same area, kill all the monsters that yield the loot they want, go back to hunter’s dream, teleport back to the same place, then rinse and repeat. 

Running back to boss fights 

Yes, I know this is not a problem for some gamers out there, and you say that you’re fine with it. But let’s be honest here, it would be a lot more convenient if there was a lantern outside the boss fight, or if the game would maybe just let us redo the boss fight from beginning without having to sprint past all the enemies to get there. Chances are you’re going to avoid the enemies when you sprint to the boss fight anyways right? So why not make it more convenient for players and spawn us nearer to the boss fight? This just makes the game more annoying than anything. 

Chances are you’re going to avoid the enemies when you sprint to the boss fight anyways, right? Why not make it more convenient for players and spawn us nearer to the boss fight? This just makes the game more annoying than anything. 

Co-op makes the game too easy 

I have to give props to From Software for their work with the Bloodborne multiplayer. The mechanic behind it is solid – with the bell ringing and whatnot, I usually get connected to other worlds in less than a minute. And, when I do connect, it’s just fun to help out other hunters or try kill them in PVP. 

However, if you’re looking for a real challenge in a game that has “challenge” as their main selling point, then I’d advise skipping co-op during boss fights (even though that’s sort of what the co-op is there for).

A party of 3 in a boss fight, the game becomes FAR TOO EASY.

Especially when your party members all have better equipment than you and know the ins and outs of the boss fight. 

I say this because this is exactly what happened during my fight with the Shadow of Yharnam. Without spoiling anything, let’s just say this boss was supposed to be a tough one because there are 3 bosses to fight at once.

However, having 2 other people join my game helped me finish the boss in less than 2 minutes. It took out all the fun and adrenaline pumping action that entails a Bloodborne boss fight.  

I still love this game

I’m not saying that Bloodborne is bad. Far from it, I think that this game is one of the best titles out there for PS4. Bloodborne is a good entry point to games with similar mechanics, but it could do without all the annoyances mentioned above. 

What do you think? Were there any other problems that were missed here?