I’ve been itching to replay Bloodborne for a very long time. I originally played the acclaimed action RPG at launch in 2015, and immediately after rolling credits, I was eager to return to the mean streets of Yarham. However, life got in the way, and once I upgraded to the PS5 in 2020, I decided to wait for the inevitable Bloodborne remaster that was surely due any day now….
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Flash forward another four years, and Bloodborne remains very much unremastered. But after finally beating Dark Souls earlier this year, and tearing through Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree last month, my itch to return to the world of Bloodborne became a burning one, and my resolve crumbled. Screw the 30 fps cap and occasionally jagged visuals, it was time to rejoin the hunt.
I’m now almost 10 hours into my second Bloodborne playthrough (Shadow of Yarham has just felt my fury and serrated cleaver), and I’ve found the 30 fps far from a dealbreaker. In fact, after a slightly painful adjustment period of around 45 minutes, the frame rate has barely troubled me, especially as the game maintains a locked 30 on PS5 (back on PS4 the game would struggle to even hold 30 fps during some of the larger scale encounters).
One thing has quickly become clear, Bloodborne remains a masterpiece even almost a decade on. It’s arguably FromSoftware’s best-ever game and a strong candidate for the best game of the 21st century. However, while flaws are almost non-existent, the "blood vials" system is a frustrating blemish on what is otherwise a nearly perfect video game.
The problem with blood vials
For those out of the loop, blood vials are the basic healing item in Bloodborne. They are found throughout the world and standard enemies drop them fairly frequently. Players can carry up to 20 at once (even more if you equip certain runes), but crucially they don’t replenish upon death. Use 10 in a single life, and you won’t get them back when you respawn at a shimmering lantern.
This can lead to situations where the player is greatly disadvantaged during some of the game’s toughest moments. For example, a few hours into my playthrough I stumbled upon an optional area called Hypogean Gaol that I missed my first time through Bloodborne. I was a bit under-leveled but persisted and fought my way through to the location’s hulking boss, Darkbeast Paarl.
This towering electrified beast kicked my butt several times over and quickly depleted my stock of blood vials. This left me in a position where further attempts at the boss were futile without an adequate stock of healing items, and so I was forced to give up while swearing to return once I'd gotten a little bit stronger. This didn’t feel especially satisfying, as the decision to walk away had been taken out of my hands.
This had a knock-on effect on what I did next, too. Tail between my legs, I returned to Old Yharnam in the hopes of accruing some "Blood Echos" (the game's form of XP) to level up my Hunter, and maybe upgrade my weapon for good measure. However, my motivation to fully explore every dark corner was diminished because my stock of healing items was in the single digits. Suddenly risky exploration didn’t feel wise when my resources were limited. So, I played safe by sticking to the critical path and avoiding encounters with the fiercest-looking foes.
Of course, grinding for blood vials is a viable strategy. You can run through the starting area several times over and come away with pockets stuffed with vials, but having to pause my progression to farm for healing items periodically isn’t a massively appealing prospect.
Alternatively, you can buy blood vials from the crystal pool in the Hunter’s Dream hub area, which is an appreciated feature. But in the early game, your blood echos are a particularly precious resource, so spending them on healing items rather than leveling is again fairly suboptimal.
FromSoftware already fixed this issue
What frustrates me most about the blood vial system is developer FromSoftware already fixed this issue once before. Demon’s Souls had a virtually identical grass consumable for healing. However, in the follow-up, Dark Souls, players were introduced to the "Estus Flask", a jar of nectar-yellow substance now synonymous with the series.
A drink from the Estus Flask heals a portion of the player’s heal, but it cannot be used with reckless abandon. You only have a limited number of charges per life, but crucially, these charges replenish when you die (or rest at a bonfire checkpoint). Plus, these charges can be upgraded further as you progress through the world. It is the perfect healing system.
From’s reason for returning to the Demon’s Souls-style healing system with Bloodborne appears to be to encourage players to engage with the “rally” mechanic, which allows you to strike back after taking damage and regain a bit of lost health. While I understand the intention, it’s a trade-off that simply isn’t worth the downsides to the player experience.
Bloodborne is already a very challenging game, forcing players to effectively pause their progression to farm more healing items is an added layer of aggravation that is unneeded. Fortunately, as you get deeper into the nightmare, your blood vial stocks should swell (so long as you’re not rushing through levels), and buying them becomes more affordable.
Bloodborne is still a 10/10
I feel it’s important to cap off all my complaining above by noting that for as much as I dislike the blood vial system and wish From had instead retained its genius Estus Flask solution (fortunately, they did just that in Elden Ring), Bloodborne is still a generation-defining experience.
Its faster, more aggressive, combat style is exhilarating, and its dark gothic world is From’s most intriguing, repulsive and visually consistent setting yet. Playing it again in 2024 is a treat, and if the much-desired and often rumored remaster (or speculated full-on PS6 remake) does come to fruition, you better believe I’ll be jumping in for a third playthrough.
Oh, and one final note, for those curious, after gaining a few levels, swapping to bolt-resistant gear, and infusing my weapon with a couple more blood gems, I returned to Darkbeast Paarl’s lair and this time I brutalized the hideous monster without breaking a sweat. Ironically, on this successful attempt, I defeated him without using a single blood vial…
