The forbidden remake

 

Anticipation is a potent spell. This magic is known well to any marketing executive across the planet- it's their very reason for being- to deftly place the pellets that lead an audience to "ohh" and "ahh", ideally over a promise not spoken. Otherwise I consider marketers little more than glorified showgirls, putting up lavish displays of actual achievements. No, it's those that conjure tapestries from mist and rumour from direction which earn my respect. Anyone can make a great looking game shine if they have enough pool, only a talented marketer can sell the essence of a game on whispers and hype. Of course at some point the world become receptive to their techniques and then the conversation changes. No longer do we assume the unspoken is unbidden- because now what is unsaid must be charged! Why not speak of a much requested product. Because you make it in secret of course!

And this way of thinking doesn't stem from nothing, mind you- we have precedent. Hollow Knight Silksong fans have been led by the neck for years on the promise of a sequel that seemingly will never be made. Each passing day expanding the gulf between anticipation and deliverance. Then we have the Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic Remake which entered horrific production troubles but all behind the scenes away from any official word. Just recently we heard that whoever caught the hot-potato of development responsibilities promises with their pinky out that it's still being worked on- trust! And let us not forget about Beyond Good and Evil 2- a game delayed so horrifically long that every interesting idea it once presented has been outstripped by various other titles across the two console generators since. We used to dangled promises from the abyss.

Which is why I can presume there is an inexplicably movement out there utterly convinced of the single most unbelievable production ever- the secret development of a Bloodborne Remake/Remaster from the Sony devs. Now of course, Bloodborne is a much beloved Souls game that is considered to be among the best by those who had the fortune enough to play it during that original release for the PS4. But seeing as the game has never once been ported to newer platforms, nor to PC, nor patched to run above 30 frames per second- it might seem as though the franchise has been abandoned by any and all. But don't tell that to the faithful. They'll call you a liar and forge forward with the belief of madmen- emboldened by the viscous, saccharine syrup called 'Anticipation'.

It doesn't matter that Sony have rather aggressively avoided maintaining anything related to Bloodborne as part of their image unless they're really pulling for scraps, such as for Astrobot. It doesn't matter that the literal creators of the game themselves, FromSoft, claim to not have any control over the franchise and what happens to it. It doesn't matter that Sony's goto remake developing studio, Bluepoint Games, are currently wrapped up on what they insist is an original title; (and they aren't really of the size to be multi-tasking) people will accuse them of making Bloodborne 2 if it'll aid the anticipation! (Which is utter nonsense; who would be insane enough to make a sequel to a FromSoft game without Fromsoft? Madness!)

At this point people are willing to conjure any reality imaginable, just so long as within that fantasy space they have a semi-modern release of Bloodborne to keep them busy- but Playstation's hold of the franchise in a limbo state seems less like 'playing with anticipation' and more like 'fumbling the bag.' What I think truly has Playstation's nuts in a vice is their simply insatiable thirst to ruin the playability of their ports in order to squeeze out pointless subscriber numbers that they can flaunt for investors. So why haven't we got a Bloodborne port yet? Because Playstation are on a totally different wave than we think they are right now.

You'd think this is all a business and it's about making money- so just give us our port and make that bread- but whilst that makes sense to literally anyone else within this spinning globe of ours- Sony want something else. They're not just putting out games to make a buck, they're putting out investments on PC to spruce up their numbers. Forcing players to sign up to PSN for literally no benefit- sometimes even lying about 'moderation' or 'user experience' to secure their bag and then making off with your information. In some places that makes these products straight up impossible to buy because of no PSN coverage- in England that means that Sony are literally scoping for our damn Passports so that for their next hack our country can see a handy spike in identity thefts- thanks for that one! And for everyone else this adds an 'always online' functionality to otherwise entirely single player games that Sony have no right messing with.

Bloodborne, on the otherhand, is this antiquated little niche title that didn't even sell gangbusters when it originally released and would struggle under the weight of forced online requirements. (Even though all FromSoft games have some form of optional online anyway.) It just doesn't slide in neatly enough with Sony's image to warrant doing. Does it matter that they've been hassled about it forever at this point? How about the fact that Souls-Like's have ballooned into big business? Well... maybe they would have considered changing their view if the Demon Souls remake had taken off- but whether due to poor PS5 sales or just general disinterest; that didn't pan out too well either. More and more, as they rise, the bottom line is really starting to form the heart of Sony.

It's just a shame how Sony grew from this allusion to player first attitudes into this voracious beast that everyone has to struggle against in order to get the basic most morsel of food. That's what happens when you give a studio no competitors, allowing their greed instincts to take over. And Bloodborne fans join the ranks of us Silksong clowns, beating our head against our computer screens every big event praying for an impossibility out of the cold husks we call companies. It's a self defeating circle of embarrassment. 

   

What's the deal with menu screens?

 Press any button to start

Oh, is he going to write an entire blog just talking about Main menus? Yes, yes I am; because the art of the menu screen goes so often unsung and unloved in the grand tapestry of game creation. I mean, who even stops to think about what the menu that stands between you and the gameplay actually looks and feels like? Despite the fact it is most usually the first thing that you'll see everytime you load the game and it should be the last thing too, but I'm pretty sure there's not a living person on this planet that doesn't skip past the 'exit to menu' option whenever they're playing a game. When I want out, I'm getting out; ain't nobody getting in the way of me and the desktop! Oh, and I'm talking pure visuals here; not about the options provided within those menus. As cool as being able to edit all the graphical options I want is; I don't care that much.

I've actually had this topic bouncing around in my head ever since I played Prototype 2 back in the day. For anyone who has played that game, they'll probably know exactly why that game's menu stood out to me. The menu is actually very simple the first time you log in, just your bare basic options; it in the proceeding visits where the menu gets interesting. Whenever you log into the game the next time around, the background of the menu screen will be a shot of the ambient world going about relative to where you last were when you logged out. Which could mean you'll see citizens going about their day in the non-violent city, or maybe a war between infected monsters and military helicopters firing rockets in the war-torn part of the city, depending on where you quite out last time. The really interesting part, however, comes when you press 'continue'. Then that very same scene in the background pans back a little to reveal the player character, waiting there, and the game immediately starts. That's right, the menu screen loads you into the gameplay before you've even started; how cool is that? That always stuck with me and I think back about it's wizardry all these years later, even if my tastes in cool visuals and presentation have 'matured' in the time since.

On it's face, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt has a very straightforward, if intensely atmospheric and cinematic, main menu. It's just Geralt of Rivia meditating in a field during the events directly before the game picks off, about to mount the search for Yennefer. It's direct, it bring you into the moment and world immediately and it allows us to see CDPR's lovingly rendered Geralt model, which deserves showing off. But when you get the DLC, the menu changes accordingly. Hearts of Stone has Geralt meditating just outside the grounds of the Von Everec estate, a location intensely linked to the narrative of that expansion. But my favourite, Blood and Wine, has Geralt meditating on the outskirts of Toussaint outside of a dilapidated farm-house within which a shadow of a woman can be seen fleeting in and out of view, softly singing 'Lullaby of woes'. A reference to the best Witcher 3 advertisement featuring the very same concept; hauntingly marvellous and memorable.

For such an evocative franchise, the various games of FromSoftware's Souls series menus are surprisingly tame and to-the-point. Typically they're formatted exactly the same to one another, with Bloodborne perhaps being the loudest, featuring the visage of 'The Hunter' in it's background. What I think stands out as memorable for the Souls games is actually the use of music employed in their, otherwise stark, menu displays. Any familiarity with the franchise will impart that music has something of an important storytelling role in this franchise, and the creators grew more synergistic with their music as another arm of the narrative as their craft evolved. Still, Dark Souls 1's main menu theme is perhaps my favourite in it's iconic peacefulness. Utilising everything from harmonising choirs to ringing bells and harps, it sounds like the relief-stricken notes you'd expect from Resident Evil's safe zones. It's almost deceptively peaceful given the relentless nature of the game it vanguards, but this is intentionally so as it represents the peace before the storm of enduring the depressive and decomposing world of Dark Souls once again. 

Spec Ops The Line is a famous example from a game that I haven't played myself, but have heard more than enough about over the years. The way that Spec Ops' menu works is simple, you'll overlook a sniper perched over the desert tomb of the game's setting and he'll be your stop-in point throughout the process of the game. As you return the Sniper will change his routine, maybe he'll go back in for the night, or take out his binoculars to go sight-seeing during the day, but you'll remain at the same vantage looking over the same land everytime you log in. Later on in the game you'll see the towers in the background start to catch aflame, matching the progression of the story and then, suddenly, you'll find the sniper's dead body being picked on by crows. The final shot is a washed out scene of the same perch, a fallen and tattered American flag and the desiccated husks of skyscrapers behind that. A mirror to the moral and emotional degradation of the game behind the menu screen.

Going back to something a bit more simple, the Main Menu for Metal Gear Solid 3 Snake Eater is actually very straightforward but oddly featured, in a manner fitting Kojima's design style. On it's face it's just a silhouette of Naked Snake performing one of signature CQC takedown throwns on an enemy solider in slow motion as a camo print rolls like a filter over the scene. But for some utterly inane reason, the analog sticks on your controller can be fiddled around with in order to change the colour of the camo pattern or the type of camo being scrolled. It's an utterly bizarre functionality that absolutely didn't need to be considered and ultimately adds nothing to the core game itself, but that's just the way that the big man makes his games. He and his team pursue any odd fancy they think of and if they can make it, it typically stays in the final product! 

And finally, the game which made me revisit this idea I had so very long ago; there is the Persona 5 menu screen. (Yes, I've finally gotten my hands on the game after falling for it seven years ago. Thank you ATLUS for torturing me.) For a game dripping in style and passion, it only makes sense for the menu screen to be slick and jazzy, and of course it absolutely is. We see the Phantom Thieves dotted around the streets of Tokyo in their three-scale white, red and black colour schemes, all posing like this is a Jojo poster. As you flitter between options, you'll dart around to different perch's across the city square and the Thieves will relocate appropriately. It's dynamic as well, meaning that whichever option you approach a certain option from (above or below) the animation of the Thieves relocating dynamically changes; a simple switch of shoulder will become a full cartwheel. Now that is the definition of putting way too much effort into a aesthetic, but I love the overachieving all the same.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with going the bare basic route for a menu screen that really effects nothing of the game's overall experience; but at the same time, wouldn't you want to go that extra step to put the most amount of effort in everything you can? With all the work that goes into nailing the intricacies of gameplay design and visual flair, what's wrong with doing something a bit more interesting and pretty with your menu designs? Even if it's ultimately insignificant, people do come away thinking about the menus whether they expect to or not; and I consider menu reveals for new games to be their own kind of special. Isn't it that last special mark of a masterpiece to ensure that every last inch of the product sparkles to it's utmost? At least that's the way I look at menus, don't know how you see it...

"We've got Bloodborne at home!"

 You're doing god's work

Even now, in this brightened age of ports and withdrawn exclusivity, a few lingering shadows billow then darken more and more. And in that bubbling, pustulating darkness writhes a gem most brilliant, most incandescent, stolen and hidden away from our wider world. Bloodborne, they call it. A game, a masterpiece so say, but one jealously hoarded by the drakes of Sony Entertainment. People cried, hers and ours, to set the jewel free for the masses, to grant that brilliant warmth to lay rest upon us all, but it was a vain hope, crushed with uncaring silence time after time. But perhaps their something of a hope, as lowly and forgotten as it may be, for those of the Desktop persuasion to capture the faintest glimpse of their lost swansong, a peering through the looking glass of the world that could, or should, be. Such was not granted by FromSoftware, nor by Sony, but by an indiscernible talent known just as LWMedia.

Yes, my experience with Bloodborne is so non-existent that I can't even do a decent parody of it's intro and have to settle for a half hearted Souls-spoof. (More of a spoof in language than structure. Hmm? What do you mean I'm rambling? Oh, right.) So people like me, unflinching fans of Miyazaki's work, (the director and the game developer, incidentally) have had to watch by the side lines as again and again Bloodborne is awarded with the 'greatest Souls game' award and praised as 'A masterpiece'. Well, I'm sick of it! It's been nearly seven years now, when will those ghouls at Sony just okay a PC port? And I guess I'm not the only one, because someone whole boat-loads more talented than me decided to pull together and make his own port of the game. Straight up! Only it's less of an actual 'port' and more an artistic reimaging born of a trend that no one could have expected would peak like this.

Going retro has always been a big appeal for developers in the game development space, it allows for a tuning into that ever profitable market of nostalgia. Who doesn't like dreamily thinking back to simpler times where your past self seemed happier and more put-together, and what symbolise freedom from responsibility more than gaming? It's the reason why 2D platformers remain popular despite the development zeitgeist firmly leaving it behind, why 16-bit graphics are a popular visual style even today, and why some genres actively try as hard as they can to invoke the feelings of their progenitors. (Just look at CRPGs) It's this appeal that I think first led to the PS1 style of horror game to become popularized, and it is a popular trend among the more talent visual artists out there. That style of blockish featureless faces and firmly square geometric spaces invokes both warm nostalgia and a feeling of some far-removed distant past full of long dormant secrets. The perfect fertile ground for indie horror.

I think that perhaps the lingering fascination with bizarre PS1 games like 'LSD Dream Emulator' might have played a part in this trend. As if somehow these developers were trying to capture certain shades of that kaleidoscopic experience piece and filter into something concentrated and evocative. And when using a familiar yet strange palette like the PS1 design suite offers, it feels easier to slip into the player's sense of childhood and manipulate their emotions from the inside. That's all my hypothesis on why the trend took off, how we got to a state where someone felt the need to transfer that to demaking games in this style, let alone Bloodborne specifically, is a tad beyond me. Although I suppose Souls games in general, and Bloodborne in particular, do flirt with the atmosphere of horror and horror-like concepts, so perhaps Bloodborne makes a better fit for the demake space than it ever did in it's original state.

The project to de-evolve Bloodborne has been active for quite a while, and there was a time when I tuned into every single update just to see the clever ways that the developer tried to evoke the spirit of Playstation 1's limitations stretched across a Modern-ish FromSoftware frame. The limited character customisation with unintuitive arrow selection menus, the loading screen transitions indicative of much stricter memory limitations, the strangled gasps this dev called the Cleric Beast's scream, compressed into oblivion to match a Playstation's audio capabilities. There's many funny examples of intentional backwards steps in design to capture a feeling of the past, and the purity of this project in general is that it's not driven by some rosy-tinted perception that all in the past was better and that this game would be infinitely more effective in it's mood with this visual flair, but rather just the desire to bring this beloved game back to this period in game development because it means something to some people out there. It's niche, it'll age, but for the moment it's special, and there's something eerily transcendental about that.

Much to my surprise, and you've likely been made aware, this project did not limit itself to the Youtube space and right now you can download this single developer's concept piece and play it for yourself. I've done just that, and can confirm that some incredibly talented work was put into making this feel like a FromSoftware game, as if it's from an alternative universe where King's Field games were 3rd person. And better. Oh and thankfully our Dev was kind enough to ensure this thing runs on modern resolutions full screen, because there's nothing more annoying then having your entire screen smooch itself just to play an old game. Bloodborne de-made is surprisingly faithful, (from what I've seen of the Bloodborne intro, having never played it myself) stupidly well animated to capture the feel of the game-in-motion to a tee (it feels like your just running an PS1 emulator render over the original game, the thing's fidelity is that close) and the analog sticks are disabled so you can only use arrow buttons. That part I hated, god I can't stand D-pad movement.

One thought that kept kicking about as I played though intro moments was "Wow, I think this might be one of the greatest retroactive PS1 titles I've played" because LWMedia went through pains to ensure the pure Bloodborne experience was intact. Heavy attacks and bullet parries, (that was cool to pull off for the first time ever) revenge health-back system, and even Father Gascoigne's fight is here (According to the screenshots, I haven't reached him myself). But of course there comes the limitations, such as the cumbersome menu navigation, and the quick bar menu, crowned off with the necessity to use the back bumpers are camera adjustment controls. It all works, it's just cumbersome; fitting the aesthetic. I also ran into some choppy frames in the larger sections, betraying the range of the engine in use here, but again that's to be expected.

This project is so faithful to the original that I got stuck on how to progress and looked up a Youtube walkthrough on traditional Bloodborne in order to guide me through, that's some dedication to the bit. I think it's incredible that games like this are being made and very fortuitous that none of this has been shut down by Sony or FromSoftware yet. (fingers crossed they can just admire in something incre#dible too.) I know that the creator is also hoping to bring out a jokey Bloodborne Kart spin off sometimes soon, so that's going to be fun, and I think that after a stunt like this just about anything that LWMedia is going to turn his head to next is going to draw some well-earned attention. What more can I say than play the game right now, there really is no good excuse not to.

Is Bloodborne 2 an inevitablity?

 Ah, you ignorant Slaves. Finally taken notice, have you? Of the PC platform-

It's an exciting age for Souls fans in the here and now, because we're on the verge of a whole new depressingly frustrating venture that feels so close we can almost taste the bitten-lips and crushed dreams from here. But what if I said there was another something on the Souls horizon to get people excited, and I'm not talking about the Salt and Sanctuary sequel around the corner, no this is a little something something from the series' progenitors. Would you be excited, or would you just point towards the title of this blog and say "Why are you pretending to be coy, you already gave the whole thing away" Well I'm nothing if not performative and full of hot air, you know that Mason. But stay tuned because if you've not heard the rumours yet then there's a special little something about this potential upcoming release that will definitely take some by surprise.

Bloodborne is beloved, many call it the greatest Soulsborne game ever made, and that's not just because it's a Playstation exclusive so loyalists stick to it. Indeed, the fact that Bloodborne was, and as of yet remains, a Sony exclusive is the sole reason that I haven't played the thing. Yes, that is indeed a part of the reason I call them 'Souls' games and not 'Soulsborne' like everyone else; I haven't touched the Borne part of the franchise. And though that makes me a godless heathen worthy of nothing more but the sternest of rebuttals, I still recognise this game as a source of high praise for many and can only assume it's for good reason. Also, I know that it's a game with many cool Lovecraftian leanings weaved into it's world and that's just worth excitement all on it's own. The more games that go towards recreating Victorian horror the absolute better. 

But in all this time we have heard absolutely jack whenever questions have raised about a potential sequel. FromSoftware games by-and-large don't generally lend themselves to naturally continuing sequels purely through merit of what they are and how they tell their narratives. They start, progress and finish, oftentime without the majority of folk having any clue what is going on, at least not for the very first playthrough. As such, no one really assumed Bloodborne 2 was going to be an inevitability, more often those folk just wanted a PC version of Bloodborne so that it might actually run at 60fps someday. And that's actually something folk are still worked up on because Sony have proven to be finally getting around to PC ports of their damned exclusives, but even now they insist on drip feeding them like kibble in a pen of wild dogs. They won't dump the whole bucket lest we rip each other to pieces in the mad scramble. (Which might be a fair excuse, to be honest. We've been waiting for these damn ports for way too long.)

The silence has broken however, although maybe that's a little too declarative, isn't it? The silence may have, possibly, broken if we're to believe some, allegedly, leaked material. In fact, we don't only just know the existence of this (alleged) game, but we may also know how it can even exist when the entirety of FromSoftware are supposed to busy trying to reinvent the wheel for Elden Ring. (And borrowing quite a lot of their old animations and assets in the mad scramble to do so) The answer might just shock you. Possibly. Not likely. Because Bluepoint are said to be attached to the project and if that's true then this might be one of the greatest, and well earned, promotions-in-operation ever demonstrated in the industry. Going from remastering several classics to creating a straight sequel to another? That's the sort of thing cheesy inspirational Lifetime sports movies are designed about.

Bluepoint have made a real name for themselves over the past few years as they've zipped around Playstation studios and snatched up some of the most impressive remaster jobs across the industry. They compiled the Metal Gear Solid HD collection, (thank you personally for that job, guys.) helped put together Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection, gave a glorious glow-up paint job to Shadow of the Colossus, and most famously, and recently, of all completely rejuvenated Demon Souls into being a title fully worthy of the next gen. One of the only titles capable of claiming such a glorious bounty in many people's eyes, mind included. Theirs is a company that have worked with giants and performed great job after great job, leading up to a damn near miracle, and to think that after all this talent on display their only developed-from-scratch game is 2006's 'Blast Factor' (No, I've never heard of it either) is a crime.

Or rather, it was a crime. Sure, even with this news it seems like Bluepoint aren't yet at the point of mounting their own fresh IP, but if the alternative is heading a sequel to a genuinely legendary studio's apparent greatest game, I'd call that a pretty decent consolation prize. At the very least, it demonstrates an extreme trust in this team's talents that I'm sure the everyone there are just buzzing and bubbling to justify as soon as possible. And just to be clear with everyone; when I call their works 'remasters', I'm using a very reductive label if we're talking about their last two projects. Demon Souls in particular was a full blown remake that attempted, and succeeded, to replicate the levels and feel of the original game whilst adapting and translating them into a visually sumptuous modern day title, right there they essentially designed a new game adapted from a classic. I understand how From could look at that and go "Yeah, these are the guys to give the keys to the kingdom to."

In fact, a lot of us were hoping that Bluepoint would be leading the Knights of the Old Republic Remake back when that was just rumour and heresay. Alas there was no dice there... however we may have ourselves something of a sweet consolation in the fact that Bloodborne 2 is going to be accompanied by a PS5 remaster of Bloodborne 1, and if we're very good for Christmas, who knows, maybe that remaster might make it's way onto the PC markets after all of this time so that the rest of the world can play this stupid game. That would be nice, Sony, you tight-fisted shrews! But right now that last part if mere speculation fuelled by an entirely separate leak related to the remaster, but considering that this sequel is supposed to be linked to that remaster, one might wonder of the validity of a leak that somehow missed as big of news as a full-blown sequel next to PC news.

Unfortunately this is all still speculation, unless Sony want to come and throw all of this down in their very next State of Play. I think that might be the biggest raised eyebrow I give to all of this, because I can't understand why Sony aren't pimping out a game which can't be more than a year away, unless they've recognised how crappy their supply lines are and aren't leaning as heavily into upcoming inventory as they used to... Nah, Sony doesn't think that far ahead- so why are they being silent? My best, and most optimistic, guess (because I do want to believe all of this is legitimate) is that FromSoftware are asking for the project to be hushed up in order to not take steam out of Elden Ring's release; which, if Bloodborne 2 boosts the amount of sheer graphical fidelity that Demon Souls did, would most certainly happen. As far as speculation and supposed leaks go- I like this one. Hope it holds actual water!