Bloodborne

Did You Know?

• The game's combat includes a Rally system that allows the player to regain a portion of recently lost health by quickly striking an enemy after taking damage.
• Many melee weapons in Bloodborne are trick weapons that can transform between two forms with different attacks.
• In April 2026, Sony Pictures announced an adult animated feature film based on the game, with YouTuber Jacksepticeye on board as producer.

Synopsis

Bloodborne takes place in Yharnam, a crumbling Gothic city where blood ministration—a medical system relying on blood's curative powers—is central. Before the story begins, scholars at the College of Byrgenwerth uncover the eldritch Great Ones and a material called the old blood. The Healing Church, formed after a split from Byrgenwerth's research, promotes blood ministration across Yharnam. This practice is linked to a plague that turns people into beasts, prompting Hunters to be sent out to slay the infected.

Over time, the Healing Church's leadership falls into internal conflict. The player controls an unnamed Hunter who moves between Yharnam and the Hunter's Dream, a strange domain ruled by an old Hunter named Gehrman. The Hunter comes to Yharnam searching for "Paleblood" and undergoes a blood transfusion. Afterward, they wake up during a night of the Hunt, when both citizens and Hunters are killing those afflicted by the plague.

Trapped in the Hunter's Dream, the Hunter is directed to the Healing Church's main cathedral, where a vision leads them toward Byrgenwerth. There, they defeat Rom, a spider-like creature whose death exposes the blood moon and the Great Ones' presence. The Hunter then finds clues about Queen Yharnam, her child Mergo, and the Nightmare of Mensis. In the hidden village of Yahar'gul, they kill the One Reborn and enter the Nightmare of Mensis.

Inside, they defeat Micolash, the School of Mensis's leader, and Mergo's Wet Nurse, which ends the nightmare. After this, the Hunter returns to the Hunter's Dream, where Gehrman offers to free them. If the Hunter agrees, Gehrman kills them, and they wake up in Yharnam at dawn. If they refuse, they defeat Gehrman, but the Moon Presence, the Dream's true master, forces them to take Gehrman's place.

If the Hunter has eaten three umbilical cords tied to the Great Ones before refusing, they can resist and kill the Moon Presence, then are reborn as a baby Great One. In The Old Hunters, the Hunter enters the Hunter's Nightmare, a prison for hunters driven mad by bloodlust. They travel through the nightmare, fighting hunters who have turned into beasts, and eventually reach a clock tower guarded by Lady Maria, a former student of Gehrman.

Development

Bloodborne began when Japan Studio, a Sony subsidiary, asked FromSoftware to collaborate on a project. Director Hidetaka Miyazaki then proposed making a game for eighth-generation consoles, and the core idea grew from that request. The game shares no direct story or world connections with FromSoftware's earlier work, though Miyazaki acknowledged it inherits the "DNA" of Demon's Souls, particularly its precise level design. Development of Bloodborne happened at the same time as Dark Souls II.

The Victorian Gothic look of the game drew partly from the novel Dracula and from real architecture in Romania and the Czech Republic. Miyazaki also admired H. P. Lovecraft's Cthulhu Mythos stories and wove similar surreal horror themes into the game. He had long wanted to set a game in that kind of era but insisted on extreme detail, which he believed was only achievable on eighth-generation hardware. The PlayStation 4 was the first such console presented to the company, and that, combined with the hardware demands, led to Bloodborne being a PS4 exclusive rather than a cross-generation release. The developers targeted a frame rate of 30 frames per second, a choice driven by their design decisions.

The story contains more explicit details than the Dark Souls games, but the team balanced this by embedding a larger central mystery. The narrative unfolds in the same style as Miyazaki's other games: through item descriptions, NPC interactions, visual storytelling, and the player's own interpretation. The team deliberately avoided making the game harder than their previous titles, believing that would make it "pretty much unplayable for anyone." Instead, they designed a more aggressive combat system that blends action with strategy. They also changed the death penalties from the Souls series to avoid being labeled a game only for hardcore players. One of the toughest choices was whether to include guns as weapons. Because guns fit the setting and would logically be less accurate than modern firearms, the team decided to include them, replacing the shields found in earlier Souls titles.

Release

Bloodborne first appeared at E3 2014 with a trailer. By January 2015, readers of Game Informer had voted it their most anticipated game of the year. Its original release date of February 6, 2015, was pushed back, with the game launching on March 24 in North America, March 25 in Europe, Australia, and New Zealand, March 26 in Japan, and March 27 in the United Kingdom and Ireland. A downloadable expansion called The Old Hunters arrived on November 24, 2015, set in a realm where past hunters are trapped, adding new weapons, outfits, and items.

A limited collector's edition came with the game, featuring a SteelBook case, a hardcover art book, and a digital copy of the soundtrack. The soundtrack was released on its own on April 21, 2015. Europe got an exclusive Nightmare Edition that included a quill and ink set along with everything from the collector's edition. An Asian edition came with a letter opener shaped like the in-game Kirkhammer weapon, and a PlayStation 4 bundle was also offered in Asian regions. A promotional song for the game, "Hunt You Down," was recorded by the Hit House featuring Ruby Friedman, written by Scott Miller and William Hunt, and recorded by Wyn Davis in Los Angeles and at Word of Mouth Recording Studios in New Orleans.

Sony Denmark partnered with the Danish organization GivBlod to encourage blood donations: anyone who donated blood on March 23, 2015, could win a copy of Bloodborne. An officially licensed card game based on the game's Chalice Dungeons was published by CoolMiniOrNot and released in November 2016. In February 2018, a tie-in comic book series written by Ales Kot and published by Titan Comics began, running for four volumes, each a standalone story. A fifth volume, written by Cullen Bunn, launched in July 2022.

For years, players wanted a remake of Bloodborne for modern consoles to address the original release's technical issues. Bluepoint Games, a Sony first-party studio that had remade Demon's Souls in 2020, looked into doing the same for Bloodborne. After a live service God of War game was canceled in 2025, Bluepoint pitched a Bloodborne remake but was told that FromSoftware was not interested in pursuing it.

Reception

Bloodborne was met with widespread critical praise, as reflected by its "universal acclaim" rating on Metacritic. Game Informer's Daniel Tack highlighted the game's unsettling atmosphere and striking visuals, calling them a true embodiment of horror. He commended the challenging, fast-paced combat that feels deliberate and rewarding, comparing it to the Dark Souls series, along with the sparse yet intimate storytelling, high replay value, and satisfying weapon customization.

Tack also noted the well-crafted boss battles, unique enemy designs, and soundtrack, as well as the multiplayer features that extend the game's longevity, and how the game encourages players to learn and adapt. He concluded that while it stays close to the Souls formula, it is a magical work that instills both terror and triumph. Edge magazine described it as a dazzling work of dark horror that cements director Hidetaka Miyazaki among the all-time greats.

Electronic Gaming Monthly observed that while built on the same core as the Souls games, Bloodborne represents the largest departure from the status quo, with faster, more aggressive gameplay that may not suit everyone but could become a new favorite for those who embrace it. GameSpot's Kevin VanOrd praised the Lovecraftian horror storyline, energetic boss battles, and precise combat that makes enemy encounters fun, along with the unique artistry and varied environments.

He also lauded the sound design, the difficulty comparable to Dark Souls II, and the melee weapons that can transform during battle, noting that the survival horror elements successfully disturb players and that the interconnected world makes discovery rewarding. GamesRadar's Ben Griffin praised the detailed Gothic visuals, rich combat, fresh challenges, randomized Chalice Dungeons that extend playtime, and the rewarding character upgrade system, along with a sense of progression that motivates players and a narrative intertwined with the geography of Yharnam.