Many players complain that FromSoftware makes their games too hard, and while some enjoy getting hundreds of death screens, others just want to enjoy the game with a moderate challenge.

Well, guess what? The claims are true, but to what level? How hard is Bloodborne?

Keep reading to see our full breakdown!

5. Bloodborne is confusing.

Central Yharnam Area in Bloodborne

Bloodborne, like other Souls games, rarely provides you with directions or tutorials.

There’s no minimap, no compass, and no objective markers, and the only hints available are given vaguely by NPCs. If you’re used to being spoon-fed in games, you’re in for a lot of walking around.

And it’s not just the gameplay; the story is vague too! You won’t know anything about anything. Does Bloodborne even have a story? It does, and it’s brilliantly written.

Why is it made this way, then? Because it’s satisfying to put effort into the game, by the time you beat it, you’ll know the story and levels by heart. This teaches you to pay attention to small details.

FromSoftware aims for exploration and replayability, which is why their games require patience. Trust me, Bloodborne rewards you for the hours of confusion.

Talk about an immersing experience, huh?

4. Bloodborne's enemies are brutal.

Bloodthirsty villagers in Central Yharnam

It can’t be a FromSoftware game if the enemies don’t make you shed tears.

Bloodborne has a diverse set of enemies with different sizes and abilities; some can parry you, some can deal status damage (poison or frenzy), and some can even teleport!

New players find it nearly impossible to get through levels in Bloodborne because even the weakest enemies are deadly.

Enemies are also strategically placed in areas that are close to lanterns (the game’s checkpoints), so you can’t just run through areas untouched. You have to earn checkpoints.

Keep in mind that enemies attack all at once, so jumping headfirst into an enemy group is confirmed death.

The solution is parrying; it’s extremely rewarding if you time your parries right, because not only do you stop an oncoming attack, you also deal a ton of damage. Your pistol is your friend.

To survive Bloodborne’s levels, you have to plan your approach and make every dodge, attack, and parry count in order not to waste heals before even making it to the boss arena.

3. Mistakes make Bloodborne harder.

The Infamous death screen in Bloodborne.

Bloodborne likes teaching lessons the hard way. The game’s mechanics are very simple yet so unforgiving. Mastering the mechanics is necessary.

If you die once, you drop all your echoes (the game currency used for leveling up); if you die again without recovering them, you lose them forever. Dying more means suffering more.

See why these games have a reputation for driving people mad?

Resources are very valuable since they have an exact number of drops per level per playthrough, and if you die or fail a boss attempt after you consume them, they don’t reset when you respawn.

You have to save your buffs and heals for harder enemies.

There’s no taking shortcuts in Bloodborne; you’re either careful or dead. You don't just run around areas spamming heals and buffs, hoping you have enough for the next boss.

Bloodborne, while unforgiving, is very fair. If you manage resources and know when to fight and when to flee, you can get through the game with one broken controller instead of twelve.

2. Bosses are the real challenge.

Cleric Beast boss fight.

You can’t argue that people play FromSoftware games like Bloodborne for the bosses.

Bloodborne has some of the most entertaining bosses in the series. Except for the part where you're 10 minutes into the fight and the boss hasn't been scratched, and you're out of heals and patience.

Bosses in Bloodborne feel like they’re cheating; you deal little to no damage while they kill you with one hit, and some can even parry your attacks and heal!

Bloodborne has a total of 43 bosses, and they all have unique attack patterns and weaknesses.

This is where observation skills come in; you need to study the boss, not fight it. Every boss in Bloodborne has certain flaws that you have to discover through dozens of deaths. Only then can you punish the boss and eventually beat it.

Also, most bosses are far from lanterns, so opening a shortcut path is necessary. These shortcuts are tricky to find and open.

The bosses in this game require a lot of skill and practice; it’s all about trial and error.

1. There are no difficulty settings and no pause button.

Bloodborne UI and pause screen.

We’ve reached the end of our list, and number one goes to two key features in Bloodborne:

Unlike other popular games, Bloodborne can’t be paused. This feature keeps the game tense and prevents you from thinking comfortably. As if Bloodborne wasn’t hard enough already.

When you pause Bloodborne, the boss or enemy simply sends you back to the last checkpoint with 0 echoes in your pocket. You either play the game at full speed or quit. If you quit, however, you spawn right where you left off.

Bloodborne also doesn’t have difficulty settings; it’s the same for everybody. If a boss is giving you a hard time, I’m afraid you can’t just cheat your way through easy difficulty. See what makes these games both fair and unfair?

Wanna end the list with a not-so-fun fact?

In addition to the original difficulty, every New Game+ playthrough makes the game harder, and both enemies and bosses hit even harder. No. It never gets better with FromSoftware; it gets worse.

When stuck, fear not, Hunter; practice makes perfect. Some players were able to complete all seven Souls games without taking damage. If it seems impossible to beat Bloodborne, take a look at your mistakes and keep trying!

There you have it, five reasons why Bloodborne is harder than most games.

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