Borne Again

I’ve been really itching to run a tabletop roleplaying game as of late. It has been a long time since I last ran a game, but it’s a hobby I deeply enjoy. I miss it! So one day a couple of weeks ago I started poking around online looking for new systems to read. Specifically I was looking for something that would hit a similar note as Shadow of the Colossus, a video game I didn’t particularly enjoy but which I found deeply inspirational in terms of serving as the basic concept for a TTRPG campaign. During my search I stumbled upon a Reddit thread in which someone recommended Hollows for a game with high quality giant boss fights. I had never heard of Hollows, so I did some poking around. And while it turns out that Hollows does have giant boss fights, they are less flavored like Shadow of the Colossus and more explicitly inspired by a different game I have a weird relationship with: Bloodborne.

I’ve told the story a dozen times at this point, I think. I originally played Bloodborne to test the waters on whether or not I would like Elden Ring. But due to a number of factors I ultimately found the game wanting and put it down entirely. To me it fell far short of Hollow Knight, a similarly-challenging game with a similar dark aesthetic but executed more beautifully and accessibly. And once I tried Elden Ring, I never looked back. I played the hell out of that game and still am. I had never imagined that I would want to revisit Bloodborne, but it did strike me as a pretty cool concept for a tabletop game and I knew it wouldn’t be too hard to get some folks excited about trying it out.

As I read through the Hollows quickstart guide and began to do prep for the game, I found myself thinking about the video game from which it took its inspiration. Some time had passed since I last played Bloodborne and while I remembered the general vibe, a lot of specific details had drifted from my mind. Hollows is designed such that the boss fights are very structured and have lots of solid rules to guide them, but the in-between stuff is a lot more loose and undefined. I wanted some inspiration for how to structure those portions of my one-shot, the parts of the game where the hunters would be exploring. It occurred to me that if I really wanted to remember how those parts of Bloodborne felt, the most logical thing to do would be to play it again.

Late one evening I downloaded Bloodborne and once again entered the land of Yharnam. I debated briefly about just jumping back in with my old character or starting over and decided that a fresh start would probably be a good idea. Specifically, I wanted to change builds from a skill build to a strength build, as Bloodborne has a lot more weapons for character types who focus on strength. I made a buff lady with black hair and red eyes, gave her a violent past, and jumped into the game. I chose the axe as my starting melee weapon; the only thing I kept the same compared to my first run was keeping the pistol as my firearm of choice instead of the blunderbuss. I never use the goofy thing either way so it wouldn’t make a significant difference. Finally, I pumped up the brightness to maximum so my terrible vision could at least sort of process what was happening.

Jumping back into Bloodborne took some serious adjustment. I immediately noticed so many things that were driving me crazy. Not having a jump was an adjustment but didn’t bother me that much, but not having stealth – ugh. The inability to sneak up behind opponents or sneak past them is something I utilize a lot in Elden Ring, even with my greatsword character. Losing stamina when you run even when out of combat slows the game down, and generally weapon swings cost way more stamina than they do in Elden Ring. This was something I hadn’t noticed when I originally changed between them, but my time with each game was further apart then than it is now. And it’s deeply frustrating to have to restock on healing consumables between runs since the blood vials don’t refill automatically like the flasks in Elden Ring. And even with the brightness up, I find the actual art direction of Bloodborne’s world design to be so samey and drab that I still have similar problems to what I did before. Everything blends together in a way that I don’t find particularly attractive.

…but I’m actually having a lot of fun.

The core of what Bloodborne is and how it works is still a pretty solid experience in spite of all the parts that don’t work for me. The combat feels good to execute, and now that I’ve got a lot more Soulsborne experience under my belt I’m making meaningful progress faster and in a more satisfying way. I’m less frustrated at losses – even big ones – and I have a better understanding of myself in terms of knowing when to pump the brakes so I don’t end up in a situation where I want to throw my PS5 off the balcony. Hell, I even streamed the game and actually had a good time navigating Old Yharnam and chatting with folks, laughing at my mistakes along the way.

Now that I am no longer playing Bloodborne as a test subject for a different game, I can face it on its own terms and appreciate the unique things it brings to the table. I may like Elden Ring’s visuals and aesthetic better but in terms of world structure, FromSoft does really well at constructing interesting spaces that connect in satisfying ways. A lot of the principles of good dungeon design that we see from tabletop designers like Jennell Jaquays is effectively incorporated into the regions of Bloodborne, connecting segments of the world in interesting ways. It feels great to find a shortcut; you get a sense of accomplishment that you’ve now carved enough of a bloody swath through a particular area that you can jump straight to the next segment of the journey. Some of this comes through in Elden Ring’s big locations like Stormveil Castle but I think it is realized to a much greater degree in Bloodborne.

One thing that has also helped my appreciation of the game has been changing up my approach to a degree. The first time I played Bloodborne I wanted to fully immerse myself in it. I played with game sound and headphones on, minimal distractions, as I carved my way through Yharnam. But because a decent chunk of time in the game is spent just grinding corridors to try to reach the next checkpoint and I’m not particularly invested in the game’s lore, this time I’ve been using the non-boss sections of the game as opportunities to watch challenge runs, speedruns, or streams. I’ll pick a video I want to check out and then listen to it in the background while I’m fighting monsters and searching paths for goodies, then switch my headphones from the laptop to the controller when it’s time to fight a boss. This makes sections of the game where I am just grinding for blood vials less of a pain because I’m not as invested in getting past them quickly. It’s also good for level grinding; Elden Ring’s rune distribution is really boss focused while the blood echoes in Bloodborne seem to come primarily from the exploration sections, so I’ve had a few times where I’ve just run through an area I have already cleared to murder everything again so I can buy a new weapon or get an extra point of strength or vigor.

The biggest thing I’m appreciating about this playthrough compared to my last one is the weapons. I ran the same weapon the entire game during my first time with Bloodborne and I am recognizing now how big of a mistake that was. Weapons in Elden Ring are a lot more plentiful and are easier to find, but the weapons in Bloodborne are a lot more satisfying in terms of design and execution. If you’ve never played Bloodborne, one unique feature about its weapons is that they all have two forms. For example, my starting axe was a one-handed weapon with a medium-speed swing that could be elongated into a two-handed greataxe with slow, heavy blows. The weapon I’m currently running is the kirkhammer and I’ve been loving it. The one-handed form is a classic straight sword – light swings that come out quickly and don’t take as much stamina. But the two-handed form is a massive fuck-off hammer that deals incredibly slow but powerful hits. Against a lot of medium-sized enemies, the hammer form is perfect for breaking their poise so they don’t get counterattacks against you, allowing for an aggressive strategy during exploration. Then against bosses, I switch over to the sword to stay light and floaty, getting in swings during short openings between the boss’s attacks. And since you can carry a second melee weapon to switch to, that’s two more form factors to work with and two more combat styles to bring to the table for unique situations. It’s a really fun system and I’m glad to be experimenting with it more this time around.

So despite my initial fallout with Bloodborne and the fact that it still has a lot of factors I’m not particularly fond of, I think I’ve found a way to engage with it where I can find the fun. Adjusting my play style to focus more on the aspects of the game that really work for me is helping me to have a more positive experience, and having a motivation that is tied more to actually experiencing Bloodborne on its own terms is a healthier mindset to bring to the table. I’m excited to take what I am learning and try to recreate it at the table with Hollows, but even once that’s over I am hoping to finally see Bloodborne through to the end.