The Art of Bloodborne

It's finally here. The Gothic-horror hack n' slashing action-RPG Bloodborne is finally here. The spiritual successor to Hidetaka Miyazaki's previous franchise, the Souls series (Demons Souls and Dark Souls),  Bloodborne thrusts you into the role of a demon hunter ensnared within the towering monoliths and choked alleyways of ancient city besieged by a mysterious disease that transforms the weak of will and mind into monstrous abominations.

One of the most highly-anticipated titles to come out on the PS4 this year, the pre-release reviews for the game have joined together in almost unanimous choir of praise for the relentlessness and depth of its combat and the gorgeous creepiness of its art-style, owed entirely to the part of From Software's in-house roster of talented concept artists.

From Software is a very mysterious company, trying to find a list of credits of concept art and direction contributors to their latest gaming opus has been about as perilous as contending with the fell-beasts of Yharnam. We were able to track down the names of four artists attached to Bloodborne's macabre aesthetic; Lead Environment Artist Hikaru Wada, Senior Environment artist Marcos Domenech, Character Artist Max Puliero, and Senior Technical Character Artist Eduardo Mosena.

We'll try to hunt down more names to properly give these guys the due credit that they deserve, but in the mean-time check out our selection of concept images released throughout the game's development below the break. Enjoy!

Bloodborne Gameplay Trailer is Dark, Dreary and Full Of Terrors

Bloodborne is a game I've been eyeing with covetous anticipation ever since it was announced at this year's E3. The unruly brain-child of Hidetaka Miyazaki (Armored Core, Dark Souls), Bloodborne is another third-person action-RPG in the same vein as the Souls series, this time set within the walls of a labyrinthine city gripped by a demonic disease that transforms its victims into nightmarish abominations. You, a traveling demon-slayer, must plunge into the dark heart of Y'harnam and find a cure for the disease that eats away at your own life. But can you make it out alive?

Something that is starkly apparent in this trailer is the radical shift in game-play pacing between this game and the aforementioned Souls series. Whereas Demon's and Dark Souls relied on lumbering, tension-soaked hack-and-slash chipping away at a monster's enormous health bar, Bloodborne appears just as brutal though with a greater emphasis on faster feedback between you and your opponents.

It's almost like a more horror-centric take on Devil May Cry meets Vampire Hunter D meets, of course, Dark Souls. I'm sure this won't be the last time From Software wets our appetite for information before the game's March 24th release next year, so stay tuned!

Enjoy A 10-Minute Preview of The Metroidvania/Dark Souls Inspired Ghost Song

Hot damn has the game got me amped. Back in August developer Matt White Kickstarted his metroidvania/Dark Souls fused action platformer and met success with funding almost 4 times the initial goal. With promises of a deep and engaging combat and an explorable world much like the games of Metroid, the game got me hooked upon first viewing (and apparently thousands of other contributors as well).

With the little snippets of gameplay first provided for the Kickstarter, it's awesome to finally get a glimpse at the work Matt White has put into the game. It may be a bit light on actual gameplay mechanics, but the atmosphere it sets is absolutely topnotch. 

The metroidvania style mechanics are noted almost immediately, starting players in front of their crashed spaceship before traversing the unknown planet (very reminiscent of nearly every Metroid entry). What surprised me the most was how quickly The Dark Souls influence made present, not only with the game's dark tones and combat but the inclusions of NPCs and their almost hopeless dialogue.

Ghost Song is definitely looking like a deep engaging experience with a lot of soul and a whole lot of ambiance. No set release date has been announced for the game, but if you'd like to offer additional help for the game's development you can pre-order it from the website here. 

"Dark Souls II - Rogue Warrior" Is Pretty Damn Clever

Youtube animator Veselekov just recently uploaded this awesome little parody of Dark Souls, poking fun at the butchering of many IP's back in the 80's and 90's in order to create cash grab/merchandising vehicle cartoon tie ins for various companies. Shows like Captain N: The Game Master for Nintendo, the hilarious Capcom endorsed Street Fighter: The Adventure Begins and Darkstalkers come to mind, which butchered or straight out disregarded the source material so badly that it was kind of hilarious.

This particular take on Dark Souls features guns, cyborg eyes and plenty of VHS tinged visual goodness. It nearly feels like the illegitimate half child of Farcry 3: Blood Dragon, and that's not necessarily a bad thing.

Wind Waker meets Dark Souls in Cornerstone

I'd like to set the foundation of this post with this, why the f*ck isn't this funded yet? Take one part Windwaker, another part Dark Souls and mix them together and you'll get something along the lines of Cornerstone: The Song of Tyrim (like I said, why isn't this funded?). The game may be very early in development (pre-alpha mind you), but the overall concept has more than perked my interest.

With an open and explorable world on the scale of Windwaker, mixing in the combat of Dark Souls is truly the icing on the cake. There have been very few games that have captured my attention like the Windwaker, and the thought of another studio tackling that level of exploration is all I need set sail on this Kickstarter ship.

If you're like me, you probably prefer a little bit more hands-on time with something you're spending money on and lucky for you the team at Ascension Games have provided a playable demo (which you can find on the Kickstarter page). While the demo is really only touching the surface of what this game is planned to be, it was more than enough to suck me in. As of now only two days remain for the Kickstarter with $10,000 still needing to be raised. Do you think we can do it? Head over to the Kickstarter page here to place your bets.

Worth Checking Out- 'Blood Alloy' An Insanely Difficult Metroidvania-like Game

While combat in most Metroidvania inspired games is relatively solid, nothing looks to give as smooth of an experience as Blood Alloy. Mixing the combat mechanics of Dark Souls and movement speed of Vanquish, Blood Alloy is an indie title with a lot of flash and even more substance. Judging from the gameplay trailer above, the game looks ridiculously hard, but in the sense that when you f*ck up it's your fault, not the game's.

 

Much like all indie games being released, Blood Alloy is need of a little support over on Kickstarter. The folks over at Suppressive Fire Games LLC have put together an awesome looking concept and this definitely I would love to see get a little more backing. I'm always on the lookout for challenging games and this definitely looks like something right up my alley.

Dark Souls x Evangelion = Pure Bliss

People make mashups all the time, but rarely do they work as well as this amazing Dark Souls and Evangelion mashup, combining two rather disturbing IP's into a seamless, smooth blend. This creation comes courtesy of NicoNico Douga (Japan's Youtube equivalent) user Tamura, who hand painted the Evangelion intro frame by frame to showcase the madness of Dark Souls through the eyes of the Crestfallen warrior: Death traps, madness, dark tendency, abominations and more. Praise the sun!