FROM Software, the gaming company,  has a history of making games to challenge a player to be skilled. You learn from your mistakes and deaths in order to master the system presented to you. Previously, the company has released Demon Soul, Dark Souls, and Dark Souls 2, all of which I love. These medieval, fantasy themed games are full of Knights, Dragons, and Zombies.

The games have gone from a cult following to a real phenomena in the gaming community at large. Chances are you’ve heard of at least Dark Souls or Dark Souls 2 at this point. Bloodborne is not for the faint of heart and the white of undies. You will die, you will cry, but you will also develop an odd fetish for this game’s new and inventive ways of killing you. Welcome to Yharnam bitch.

So the game takes place in the Gothic city of Yharnam, which has been cursed with a plague that slowly transforms humans into “Beasts” (werewolves, hunchbacks, and all other horrors of the night.) Which, while we’re on it, the “Night of the Hunt” will not cease until “the plague has been quelled.” No one quite knows what that means, but regardless you take up the role of a foreigner becoming a “Hunter,” You will stalk the streets of the city slaying beasts in order to hold off the spread of the plague. All the while, you gather “Blood Echoes” from slain enemies that can be used to increase your character’s statistics and powers by means of the living “Plain Doll” or to purchase helpful weapons and items from “The Messengers”.

I know I just threw a lot of terms at you, but what this all equates to is a bloody mess of an adventure game. The game follows your character in a third person overhead perspective. You wield an array of Gothic “Trick Weapons” and Firearms to slay hostile enemies and rescue survivors trapped in their homes. The Bosses are huge and the battles with them will challenge your reflexes and skill. The story is vague, but if you dig even a little bit you will find so much was subtly left in order to tell a dark and tragic tale. Each character you encounter has an arc and a purpose, even if you can’t find it at first.

Graphically, the game is a vision. Bloodborne is a Playstation 4 exclusive title and the computing power on the machine is pushed for this game’s level of detail. The soundtrack is creepy and beautiful all at the same time and the voice acting is amazing. This game has blown my socks off in the first few times playing it. I’ve waited a long time for this one to drop, and it was well worth the wait.

I should bring up a major point here, this game is HARD. There’s no way to alter the difficulty to make it easier either. Either you can handle it or you can’t. From Software’s “Souls Series” difficulty has always been its bread and butter, and Bloodborne is no exception. Between fast, unrelenting enemies and surprises around every turn, the game doesn’t baby you. Not to mention the multiplayer. As with all “Souls Games,” other players that are online can “invade” your game to kill you. In this case it is for your Blood Echoes. That being said, you can also spend “Insight,” to summon another player to help you. This not only puts you on constant alert, as another player can show up at anytime to slay you, but also creates a tight community online of players who want to either help one another, or hunt one another.

In case you can’t tell, I’m giving Bloodborne 5 Stars. The game is fun, fast paced, well written and designed and just overall solid. If you’re up to the challenge, then Bloodborne will put you to the test. Happy hunting folks.