It seems that almost since the day FromSoftware’s Bloodborne launched in 2015, fans of the Gothic action RPG have been clamoring for a follow-up game. But with the developer undoubtedly hard at work on the dark fantasy title Elden Ring for the past few years, a Bloodborne sequel, if there ever is one, will likely not be in gamers’ eager hands for years to come.
To satiate the need for more Bloodborne content, some gamers have used their skills to create it themselves. One such fan, going by the Twitter handle Lilymeister, has been “demaking” a version of the game for the original PlayStation and sharing clips of her progress on social media. In her posts, game developer Lilith Walther details the steps necessary to transform a high-res game into a low-poly deconstruction that will run on technology that’s 20 years old.
Dubbed Bloodborne PSX, Walther’s version of the game is being developed using Unreal Engine. The Hunter, the player character in Bloodborne, is immediately recognizable even in 32-bit graphics, dual wielding a firearm and melee weapon. The demake includes a loading screen, blood splatter effects, various levels, and Walther is also working on a save and load system. And of course one of the most important elements of the game has already been completed—the death animation.
Describing Bloodborne's visceral attacks as one of the most difficult mechanics to recreate thus far, Walther shares the process of animating and implementing them. Visceral attacks deal a set amount of damage and heal the character to their maximum Rally potential, with a large R1 button prompt appearing onscreen to alert the player when one is available. While in previous builds viscerals were guaranteed to result in death, they are now survivable and can also occur by performing a charge attack on enemies from behind.
Walther is not the first Bloodborne fan to create a low-res version of the game. Last year, indie developer Max Mraz released Yarntown, a free 16-bit demake of the PS4 title. While Walther’s version will include recreations of multiple Bloodborne levels, Mraz focused on the Central Yharnam area. Players begin Yarntown in a 2D version of Hunter’s Dream, navigate through Central Yharnam, and finish by taking on the Cleric Beast and Father Gascoigne. Bloodborne fans can download Mraz’s rendition of the game for PC from itch.io.
For players who would instead like to see an upgraded version of Bloodborne, YouTuber SnazzyAI has taken footage from the game and upscaled it to 4K resolution and 60 fps. Using machine learning and AI video interpolation, SnazzyAI’s work shows what a PS5 remaster of Bloodborne might look like.
Bloodborne is available on PS4.