New Bloodborne environments, characters and weapons unveiled

Hello, PlayStation fans. I am excited to be able to share some brand new details for Bloodborne, our PS4-exclusive collaboration between Sony Japan Studio and From Software. We’ll have much more to share in a few weeks, but in the meantime here’s a sneak peek at some of the beautiful and nightmarish stages, enemies and weapons you’ll get to see in the game, straight from the dark and twisted imaginations of the masterful team at From Software.

We revealed a number of new areas of the game back at Tokyo Game Show, including the forbidden forest and an old, abandoned part of Yharnam. You may also remember the Hemwick graveyard we first revealed at Gamescom, located on the outskirts of Yharnam.

Despite the warm coloured sky and beautiful clouds, this graveyard is home to some very twisted residents, like the deformed gravekeeper hags with their horrifying shrieks and long reach attacks. When you make your way through the depths of the Hemwick graveyard, you’ll come upon an old manor inhabited by a powerful eyeball-collecting old witch, among other things. You may want to bring a fellow player or two along when you’re ready to meet her face to face.

 
Also at TGS, we already revealed Gascoigne, a stylishly dressed priest who also wields a giant axe and does double duty as a Hunter in Yharnam, as well as a mysterious hunter with twin blades and a cape of bird feathers. Now I would like to introduce Gyula, an old veteran hunter who is said to possess amazing skill. No one has seen him in many years, since he ventured into the old part of Yharnam, deserted and burned to the ground after the plague of the beast took its toll there long ago. You just may run into Gyula when you venture into the old part of the city.

Another place you’ll travel to in your quest to find the truth in Bloodborne is the Cainhurst castle. Seemingly abandoned and frozen over, the noble family that once lived here disappeared without a trace. Its grand stature is visible from afar even through the thick fog of the lake, but getting here won’t be easy. What happened to the family that ruled this castle for many generations? What secrets, and what dangers, await you here?

Moving away from a fantasy medieval setting into a slightly more modern gothic and fearful setting has allowed the team at FromSoftware to bring a whole new vision to life on the PS4, not only in terms of stage design and the kinds of enemies you’ll face, but also the kinds of weapons you’ll have at your disposal to deal with these nightmarish creatures.

From shotguns, transforming saw blades, and axes, to nimble twin blades and even a steel sword that becomes the hilt of a massive block hammer, there’s a wide selection to find and choose from. Each weapon offers players a unique play style and strategy to leverage Bloodborne’s more pro-active combat style, light/heavy and short/long range combo system, and Regain System for earning back health during intense combat.

Here’s one more weapon you’ll be able to wield: the transforming cane. In its standard form, it’s a melee weapon for short range attacks. Like many of the other weapons in Bloodborne, however, this weapon can also transform into a deadly heavy or long range weapon as well, making it a devastating bladed whip.

Last but not least, I have one more exclusive screenshot to share that’s a teaser for things to come. Deep under the city of Yharnam lies an expansive network of multi-levelled ruins, seemingly much older than Yharnam itself and crafted by something other than human hands. What’s more, these ruins appear differently to each hunter brave enough to enter. We’re all very excited to talk more about what that means in just a few weeks.