Looking Back at Bloodborne and Dark Souls 3

While Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice is coming up, potentially adding to the Soulsborne roster (though it seems just different enough to look like it's better evaluated as a separate thing,) the current console generation has two native games of this meta-series, Bloodborne and Dark Souls 3.

Bloodborne is theoretically not a Dark Souls game, but it shares so much of the DNA that it might as well count as one. It has a stripped-down stat system and far less in the way of magic. Dark Souls, uniquely bleak world that it is, is still based on the classic western medieval fantasy genre. So you have knights in armor, swords, and magic. Bloodborne, of course, is a mix of Gothic and Cosmic horror. Its aesthetic is very 19th century (with a bit of 18th mixed in, like the ubiquitous tricornes) and focuses both on the use of firearms (something you don't tend to see in Dark Souls) and also the outlandish trick weapons the Hunters use.

So how do they compare?

Well, I will say that, having beaten every boss (not counting the Chalice Dungeons) in Bloodborne, I'm inclined to lean toward it. I'm also inclined to really like the way that Bloodborne shifts genres - starting out as an admittedly extreme gothic werewolf game and then going way down the rabbit hole of Lovecraftian terror.

That being said, Dark Souls is no Tokien-rip-off take on medieval fantasy. The lore of Dark Souls is vast and deep, and Bloodborne, while fascinating, has fewer things going on - largely due to the fact that it doesn't have two prior games to develop the lore around. Both games traffic in ambiguity, but there is a bit more clarity to what the stakes are in Dark Souls, even if the "right" decisions are very much up in the air.

I go back and forth a bit on the character stats. Leveling up in either game is subject to serious exponential growth, meaning that you need to pick your stats wisely. The fact that Bloodborne boils down to just six stats - one governing health, one governing stamina, and four kind of "throughput" stats - makes it a lot easier to say "ah yes, this is the build I've made." In Dark Souls, between Faith, Intelligence, Strength, and Dexterity and then also things like Vitality and even Luck... it's easy to feel like you've messed up your build.

I will say that Dark Souls probably has the better music. Don't get me wrong: Bloodborne has some amazing pieces, like the Cleric Beast theme (which you get to hear twice, thanks to Vicar Amelia,) or one of the most goosebump-raising musical moments in all of gaming when Ludwig the Accursed's theme transitions into Ludwig, the Holy Blade. But in terms of the sheer number of epic themes, I think Dark Souls has the edge here. The music is so intense that I'm actually hesitant to use it in my D&D games for combat music in case the fights aren't intense enough.

I think one of the interesting things about Bloodborne is that the fact that it's simpler than Dark Souls means you have a narrower path to walk. You can't build a shield-based character because there are only two shields in the game and one is basically a joke item that is there to remind you that you're not supposed to use shields. But because you have to play as a fast-dodging character, you adapt to that. In Dark Souls, there's always this question of what approach you should be taking to the latest boss, which is fun but also makes you feel like you need to totally change your equipment every time you die. I can't tell you how many different strategies I've tried to survive the Lothric boss fight and still haven't succeeded.

And I think that really shows you that both of these games are good - your preference will be based on personal taste. I love how Dark Souls 3 builds on the lore of the first game (and kind of the second) and would love to see Bloodborne get a sequel to see what exactly follows from the existing game.