Bloodborne, one of From Software’s most unique creations in the Souls-like genre, is still incredibly popular even though it's already over five years old at this point. In fact, alongside the Demon’s Souls remake done by Bluepoint, fans have been consistently asking for a current-gen/PS5 version of Bloodborne as well and looking out for any rumors or leaks.
And, the more that this becomes a possibility, the more people seem to want to go back and try out the original version of the game. So, for anyone willing to give the game a try, here are some common misconceptions about Bloodborne that shouldn't be taken at face value.
8 It's As Methodical As Dark Souls
For some reason, a lot of people seem to think that all of From Software’s games are “slow” like the Dark Souls games are (in particular DS1), and that just isn’t true. The first DS was intentionally designed to feel a bit slow in terms of combat so that players really had to “decide” when to attack and were punished for choosing poorly. Basically, they had to be methodical in their decisions, a design choice that still impacts new games, even to this day.
But, DS2 and DS3 are a lot faster by design, while Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice and Bloodborne are entirely different beasts altogether. Bloodborne, in particular, was designed to incentivize players toward the opposite sort of playstyle from DS1. For example, if a player gets hit by an enemy, they lose health, but they can regain that lost health hit any nearby enemy enough times before the “temp health” bar fully degrades. As a result, Bloodborne feels a lot faster than Dark Souls, but also a lot more “responsive” too.
7 All The Story Is In The Item Descriptions
Again, because this is a FromSoft game, everyone expected Bloodborne’s story to be told primarily through one or two cutscenes and a lot of item descriptions. And, to be fair, there is a huge chunk of the “lore” of Yharnam that’s found in item descriptions. But, as far as the actual “story” of the game is concerned, a lot of it is actually either shown to the player through cutscenes, told through NPC dialog (most of which is through Gehrman), and experienced during boss fights.
And, Sekiro is even less obtuse than Bloodborne in a lot of ways, implying that FromSoft may be taking some huge steps away from this storytelling method in Elden Ring.
6 How Is Anyone Supposed To Understand This Plot?
And, while on the topic of Bloodborne’s story, a lot of people seem to mistakenly think it's impossible to understand. Sure, there are elements of Bloodborne’s story that are hard for people to wrap their heads around, like Mensis, the Old Blood, or the concepts of “dreams” and “nightmares” in this setting, but the main story itself is honestly pretty basic. The player character is a hunter that can either try and end the nightmare, escape the nightmare, or ascend to being Kin, transcending humanity completely.
That’s about it! Sure, that's dumbing down a lot of the game's more complicated concepts, but for those that just want to understand what's happening in the cutscenes, it should make things a bit easier to understand.
5 Don't Even Bother With Chalice Dungeons
The Chalice Dungeons in Bloodborne are unique to this game and are likely not a system that From Software is going to try and “re-do” in any of their future titles. It was their attempt at integrating roguelike elements into a Souls-like game, and while it worked, the attempt was mostly ignored by Bloodborne’s more casual player base.
That said, the Chalice Dungeons do actually have a lot to offer, and those who don’t at the very least try to complete them are actually missing out on a fair chunk of unique content. There are quite a few bosses that are only encountered in the Chalice Dungeons, a lot of gameplay elements, entire dungeon designs, and tons and tons of materials to be gained.
4 There Are Literal Aliens In This Game
Thanks to a very specific enemy, the Celestial Minion to be more precise, being spread around online usually accompanied with a hearty “ayy lmao” (an old Tumblr joke from back in the day that always accompanied images of "aliens") a lot of people think that Bloodborne suddenly becomes about alien invaders or something.
While the Old Ones and Kin live in a different plane of existence and have a lot of visual and mechanical parallels to the concept of outer space, they aren’t aliens. Frankly, Bloodborne is more “Cthulhu” than it is “Space Invaders”, and that keeps up through the entirety of the game.
3 Gehrman Kills The Hunter As A Mercy Killing
No, Gehrman, The First Hunter, is not “killing” the player character in the first of Bloodborne’s three possible endings. Well, he sort of is, but not “literally” killing them. By killing them in the Hunter’s Dream (of their own volition) it allows the Hunter to wake up from the dream, free of the eternal night and nightmare of Yharnam.
But, a lot of people thought and still think this ending is just the Hunter “giving up” and accepting their actual death. But, in actuality, they’re giving up on being a Hunter or learning the truth about Yharnam and the Old Ones, and are being forcefully kicked from the dream/nightmare.
2 Get Rid Of The Starter Weapon ASAP
Early on in Bloodborne, players are faced with three initial weapon options, The Saw Cleaver, The Hunter’s Axe, and The Threaded Cane.
And, oddly enough, outside of the more dedicated player base and the Bloodborne speedrunning community, there are still a ton of players who somehow think that these weapons are “bad” or are meant to be switched out early on. But, that couldn’t be farther from the truth.
- The Saw Cleaver is, without a doubt, the most efficient and best weapon in the game with its balance of speed, damage, and range. Speedrunners use this as their main weapon more often than not.
- The Hunter’s Axe is a fantastic strength weapon, and its extended spin-attack completely breaks the AI of a lot of BB’s enemies.
- And, The Threaded Cane, while initially pretty weak in terms of damage, is one of the faster dexterity options out there, and can safely poke down enemies all throughout the campaign.
1 Bloodborne Has Button-Spamming Combat
Lastly, let’s cap things off with one more misconception about Bloodborne’s combat, and that’s the fact that so many people seem to think that the combat in this game is focused on “button-mashing” or “spamming”, and that's why the game might seem easier to some.
While Bloodborne does reward players for being aggressive, it rewards them the most for being intelligent about their offense. Many of the bosses in the game won’t just let the Hunter keep swinging at them uninterrupted, and players who just dash in to spam their light attack instead of utilizing the Trick Weapon mechanics, consumables, and more, will quickly find themselves waking up back in the Hunter's Dream.
Bloodborne was released on March 24, 2015, and is available on PlayStation 4 only.