Bloodborne Customization Details, New Trailer, Interview

There’s some new information on Bloodborne, From Software’s latest action-RPG, available on the official PlayStation blog just ahead of the title’s release this Tuesday.

First of all, there’s a new trailer, titled “Cut You Down”, available for the title. Questionable music choice aside, it does a good job at giving us a glimpse of the variety of locations, enemies and weapons the game will offer:

A blog post covers the customization options available for the game. While there apparently will be less weapons and stats in the game, there will be new avenues for customization, such as bloodgems that modify a weapon’s function, and Caryll runes that will alter a character’s abilities:

The main currency in Bloodborne is called Blood Echoes, which you can earn by hunting beasts and more. Use Blood Echoes to purchase items from the shop in the Hunter’s Dream, or even repair and strengthen your weapons. In your adventures, you’ll soon come across special items called Blood Gems, which can be attached to weapons in order to increase their attack power and even add special characteristics to your weapons.

In the Hunter’s Dream, you can also interact with the Memory Altar in order to memorize special Caryll Runes to upgrade your character. Some runes may allow you to carry more items in your inventory, or boost the amount of Blood Echoes you receive from each beast you hunt down, allowing you to customize your hunter however you see fit.

Finally, a promotional interview with game director Hidetaka Miyazaki is also available. An excerpt:

Does it bother you that people are so fixated on your games’ perceived high level of difficulty, rather than other aspects of the experience?

Hidetaka Miyazaki: It’s not something I find frustrating. I do understand why people ask about it a lot, but I’m happy that people are fascinated by it in that respect I don’t mind being repeatedly asked about difficulty. It’s something that I find enjoyable to discuss.

As a game creator or a creator of anything for people to be fascinated and ask questions and be curious about what I’m making, that’s something that can’t be taken for granted and I’m very grateful for that.

…

There’s been a little consternation among Souls fans on the web at the suggestion that Bloodborne won’t feature quite so many weapons as in the Souls games. Can you clarify exactly how the weapon system works in Bloodborne?

Hidetaka Miyazaki: In terms of how many physical weapons there are, the amount is less than in a Souls game, but that’s to some extent a decision made due to the game design.

The weapons transform so one weapon will have various uses and strategies that you can implement. You can also customise your weapon with Blood Gems. There are different types and you can slot in up to three at a time. One gem might have you use less stamina per swing, for example.

You can have many different combinations so actually the amount of weapons in Souls is absorbed in Bloodborne by this customisation element and how someone can tailor a weapon to how they want to use it. In a way, the variety is still there, but it’s absorbed down on a customisation level, rather than in the quantity of actual weapons, much more than in Souls.