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!

Metal... Gears?

 You don't even know what The Philosopher's legacy is, do you?

In but a manner of less than a few days one of the most hyped games that I've ever fallen for will descend upon this earth, and at that time what happens is literally anyone's guess. Perhaps the game will be the next big thing to shake this industry to her bitter core, or just another disappointment like the rest of this year. Either way, on that day there will be nothing left to be excited over, to talk about, to live for. Everything will return to it's base stat of meaninglessness and sad folk like me will drift through the days like phantoms waiting for a car to hit them or something to spice thing up at the very least. Luckily, it would appear that a new contender hasn't even waited for that void to present itself, because already rumours are being drummed up about something new to pine after. Something truly unexpected by every measure. Something near and dear to my heart. And something so deadly and volatile that it can either be the best thing to ever happen, or a horrendous curse to the name so terrible that it burns all those involved irreparably. I'm talking about a Metal Gear Solid remake.

No, the rumours don't touch on a remake of my favourite game of all time, (which would be 'Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater') but rather on the progenitor of the 'Solid' sub franchise which changed video game storytelling for ever. MGS bought movie level cinematography and spectacle to gaming like never before, and that's a legacy that is very much still alive to this very day. Just look at Uncharted, Last of Us or God of War; all games renowned for their cinematic quality, all can trace their inspirations in some way back to this original game. So when it comes to remaking such a gem, it's far beyond touching up some graphics and throwing in a new camera; you're touching video game history and that has some serious weight to it, which is why it's my duty to impart my gut reaction to this news; this is probably a terrible idea that might blow up in everyone's face. And yet I understand why they did it.

Metal Gear Solid 1 isn't a game that has been immune to tampering and people wanting to throw their own take on things, heck, it isn't even a game that hasn't had a remake before! 2004's 'Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes' for Gamecube was a full remake of the title that threw in completely reworked cutscenes that most people likely think of immediately whenever they picture MGS in their head. (The memory of the original has been a little bit supplanted.) And there have been talks of a movie adaptation for a while now, but I can't help but hope that's just hot steam because there's seriously no sense to bringing a game that's brilliant for being a game to the silver screen. Yes, Metal Gear was inspired by movies, but the elements through which it surpassed that static medium is what makes the game special, such as through the revolutionary stealth gameplay, (Stealth action being something notoriously hard to sell in movies) the great level design and the iconic Psycho Mantis fight, which makes the game unadaptable. (At least in any manner which will sufficiently capture the sprit of the original.) So by comparison, a remake of the game doesn't sound so bad, no?

Of course I still wasn't initially behind the project. The owners of the franchise, Konami, have demonstrated time and again their flagrant disregard for the gaming medium and Metal Gear fans through their heartless and repeated attempts to transmute our love into their own literal money reserves. Metal Gear Solid V was sabotaged by their efforts, resulting in a lop-sided storyline which felt unfinished and a main questline that tapered off after the third chapter and repeated itself. And Metal Gear Survive, the first game to be made without Kojima's involvement whatsoever, was a steaming mess of hot garbage that torpedoed all which people loved about the franchise in order to be a cynical monetised disaster that couldn't even nail it's crappy zombie-base builder premise. Isn't this evidence enough that Metal Gear needs to be left alone? Who in their right mind would take on a project as asinine as a Metal Gear Solid remake? Whoever signed up that would have to have a proven track record for this sort of work, be respected by the community and have the talent on hand to create the impossible. So who is the studio that the rumours have said would be behind this remake? Bluepoint!? Oh...

Bluepoint have made a name for themselves in recent years for, what else, remaking seemingly unremakable games. Who would have imagined that the storied 'Shadows of the Colossus' could be treated to a modern visual update which touched on a few thematic choices, gave the protagonist a face, and still left with a good taste in people's mouths. And how about a remake of the spiritual predecessor to the remarkable Dark Souls franchise, Demon Souls? There was an experimental title that popped on the PS3 back in the day, yet Bluepoint worked their magic and not only improved the title, but turned it into a launch title unit-shifter for the PS5! That's literally incredible work on Bluepoint's part. I wouldn't usually ever look upon a remake of Metal Gear as a good idea, but I have to admit, Bluepoint has the receipts to justify this job. I can't in good faith discredit their talent.

All that being said, this doesn't mean a Metal Gear Solid remake is a good idea, nor that it will be anywhere near as good as Demon Souls, because there's a lot about MGS which I think people tend to forget. Firstly, Metal Gear Solid is a relatively short game by the series' standards, most people can finish it up in just under 5 hours with new players probably clocking in at twice that. Then there is the level design which, whilst legendary for the time, is a bit straightforward and played out by todays standards. Even the story perhaps lacks a lot of the ingenuity and mind bending melodrama which makes the franchise great. (Not saying it's absent at all, just lacking.) Given that Bluepoint are renowned for remaking this games almost to a T, one has to wonder whether that'll be enough this time around for people to flock to Metal Gear like they very much should do.

But if this does go through, who knows what it could lead to? I mean, I don't want to be the person who lights the fire, but if Metal Gear Solid gets a remake, I don't see any decent reason why her sequels should be left out of the fun... Look, I'm just still blue-balled by the way we saw all those great remade MGS 3 scenes out of Konami all those years back only for it to turn out to be for a stupid Pachinko machine; where's our justice? I mean, some might go so far as to call this a prelude to renewed interest in the MGS franchise but I'll be honest, without Kojima or another visionary to guide the way, I have no faith in Konami mounting a new franchise revival. It just isn't in the cards for them in terms of on-hand talent nor the trust of the series fans.

I know that I can't be the old man screaming at windmills forever. Resident Evil 4 Remake is a terrible idea that I hoped would never come about, but it's happening. Even the Demon Souls Remake made me furrow my brow, but I was proven wrong. We live in an age where going back can be as fruitful as going forward, and that's a lot more than can be said about the movie world. (I mean just look at the remake of 'She's all that' which is so bad it literally risked lives! Look that story up for a sad laugh.) Some part of me will always be sad that the MGS franchise is over and nothing great will shock me from it again, but maybe reliving it will be good enough to set the old nostalgia cauldron churning down in my cold old heart chambers... Let this Metal Gear super fan grant you, Bluepoint, my personal seal of confidence. (I know it means a lot to ya.)

Demon's Souls: The remake we need right now

 But maybe not the remake we deserve

The 'Souls Game' genre is an interesting proposition. They are a series of games that promise to put you through as much trail and tribulation as they can manage to attempt at skirting the edge of fair play and balance that'll bring you unreasonably close to caving in at any given moment. That being said, the tradeoff is that after setting your blood pressure rising off the charts and putting you in constant life-or-death situations, you'll be all that more relieved once you hit the otherside and pull out a win. (if you hit the otherside) It's a type of game that highlights being unforgiving, but not unfair, and needs to constantly strike a balancing point between the two ideals that often feels a thin as a needle's point. But when they do, and if we're talking about the mainline Souls game which spawned the franchise, then they always do, it heightens that sense of victory to unbelievable vistas. (Take it from the guy who spent 30 Human Effigies last night in order to first reach, then kill 'Darklurker')

This is a formula that has since been perfected, but it started with a little PS3 exclusive game from a while back called Demon's Souls. (And yes, Demon's Souls is the first Souls-Like and not King's Field. Do you have to recollect your experience points upon dying in King's Field? No. But I will concede that there are some similarities between the two games which could imply that one influenced the other.) Now in today's age a great many folk have played and are intimately familiar with the 'prepare to die' antics of Dark Souls, but not so many people have the context of where the franchise started with Demon's Souls, even though back when it came out the game was quite the interesting concept. "A title that was brutal, vague and let other people join your game and try to kill you? How very new and exciting!" This would grow into some success in popularity and, I can only assume, sales, which spearheaded the efforts for the spiritual successor Dark Souls and birthed a new genre unto gaming. (The Miracle of life) But given the original launched 11 years ago, isn't it crazy to think that in 2020 this cult classic is literally the shining spearhead of the next-gen launch title lineup?

And I mean that honestly, no other game which has launched on either console has managed to pop and stand out nearly as gloriously as Demon's Souls. When you look at the other games there is Assassin's Creed Valhalla, a decent game that also launched on last gen, COD, same situation, Spiderman Miles Morales, a seriously gorgeous game but also nothing strictly new in terms of concept, whilst the Xbox gets... wow, nothing interesting at all... (Seriously, Mircosoft, this is embarrassing) Demon's Souls is a game that was made for PS5, and though it's a remake/remaster of a game that already existed, it's also a title that a good number of folk never played before and thus gleans with that inexplicable aura of 'brand new' despite itself. And that has allowed the truly mind-blowing spectacle of the game to just grab audiences and blow them away; Demon's Souls is a next gen system seller right now! Do you think FromSoftware ever pictured that back in 2009?

So as far as most can tell, in terms of gameplay Demon's Souls is a one-to-one with the original, keeping all the brutal punishment of the first game whilst simultaneously maintaining some of the jank. (I.e. Occasionally questionable level design and a goddamn puzzle boss. I don't know if he's as bad as The Bed of Chaos, but I shudder to think) The only addition appears to be a random and currently unopenable door which, as of the writing of this article, hasn't been figured out and makes me personally expect something in the way of surprise DLC. But even then, I doubt many could take a look at this game and struggle to call it a 'remake' considering how much this game evolves in pure spectacle alone. (This ain't no, 'slightly sharper colours in Dishonoured's remaster' scenario) This is a whole different ballgame.

Bluepoint have rebuilt the entirety of the game in a manner that resembles the original, but which takes advantage of all the hardware afforded with the PS5 to evolve the art style. An ominous bare walk towards a far away tower becomes a musky hall sprawled in shrubs and forestry, a spacious but barren temple-space becomes a dark foreboding horror scape, and as I've mentioned in past blogs, the PS3 era fire depths evolve into something mindblowingly vibrant. (I'm a sucker for good fire effects.) It really stands out to me because I've never really thought of the Souls games as titles that were particularly memorable for their graphical fidelity. I mean the games still hold up for the most part, just because of the prevailing artistic intent, but Bluepoint have gone that extra step to make Demon's Souls literally one of the prettiest games on consoles to date, if not the prettiest.

Of course, there have been some deviations from the original when it comes to pure design decisions, but myself and the thousands of others who never played the original would never notice them anyway. Some people have argued that there's an almost steampunk/Lovecraftian element to some of the creatures in the original that gets lost in this new, more uniform, art direction, with a few bosses being entirely redesigned this way. For a purist I can imagine that this could come across as startling or even a bit disappointing, Souls games are renowned for their world building and the manner in which small design choices can spell out huge implications for the story. I can't say if this was true all the way back in Demon's Souls too, I actually have no idea what that game is even about, but I understand those who do find those deviations concerning.

The one aspect about Demon's Souls which really sells the next gen, however, is the one thing that can't be seen or interpreted by those without access to this new hardware, so all we have to go off is the word of those that do. (If that's worth anything to you.) I'm talking about the new haptic feedback mechanics built into the PS5 controller itself which, according to folk who've tried it, is subtle enough not to seem gimmicky yet impactful enough to transform the experience. Reports say that the direction of the character's swing will correspond with the direction of the feedback, with hard collisions rattling on your arm as well. And even something I really don't understand about how missed arrows can be heard from the controller as they whizz past your head. (Are they talking about something similar to how the Wii remote made sounds now and then really inconsistently? Because I'm not gonna lie, I found that rather annoying myself.)

All these come together to make a Demon's Souls remake that looks like a brand new entry to the Souls pantheon for those that never played the original, although I've heard some veterans ponder whether the prevailing similarities tarnish the package. I mean that puzzle boss I mentioned earlier was a big issue for a lot of the original players because he just wasn't very fun or interesting, and he's here completely intact yet again. No one wanted a complete remake of the sort of game that folk in this industry regard as sacred, but maybe a few improvement here and there (more than just the quality of life stuff) could have gone a long way. It's the same way in which we currently hope that the Mass Effect Legendary pack evolves Mass Effect 1 a bit, because just because it was a great game back in the day doesn't mean absolutely everything holds up in the here and now. Still, it makes me smile to think that in today's age it isn't the generic shooters or gimmick-strewn Ubisoft games that are defining this generation but an artistic masterpiece which stuns today as much as it did in the late 2000's. 

Dark Demon's Souls

Time and time again

So remakes, eh? They seem to really be a hot-button issue with the gaming world right now, as though studios are reaching the Disney point of the life cycle wherein they need to capitalize upon nostalgia in order to sell their big franchise. So far I maintain that there's more purity in the videogame remake than the movie remake, just plainly in the fact that game developers need to meet modern day design standards, quality assurance and keep the heart of the original in order to get away with it, and most have managed that deftly. (The System Shock 2 remake didn't officially release so I get to not count that.) That's in opposition to the movies which, sometimes, just update the graphics and some actors whilst leaving the important stuff, the story, identical. (Looking at you "Live action" Lion King) As such, when I hear that a developer as beloved to me as FromSoftware are looking into retreading their ancestral routes I get excited at the potential, because that's what I see Demon Souls as.

Now of course, FromSoftware aren't actually the one's behind the wheel for this particular remake, that goes to Bluepoint games, (the professional remastering company, it feels like) and with that comes some hard to swallow truths I need to come to terms with. Firstly, it's very unlikely that there will be anything actually new in this Demon's Souls remake, in fact, I've already read one apparent expert on the game who said that everything he's seen so far is literally exactly the same as the base game. (Save one tutorial about wall hopping which was absent) Now whilst that should be serviceable as those who played it sing Demon's Souls' praises, FromSoftware's craft has really be finely tuned and improved upon through the years of Dark Souls games, Bloodbourne and Sekiro; it's a little disappointing to have to go back. Although in that same vein it is also a little interesting to see where all this genre-creating genius spawned from, so I'm a little of two minds about this.

Not so long back we got ourselves a little bit of a deeper dive into the gameplay of Demon's Souls thanks to the PS5 conference. That's right, no more trailers and pretty screens; actual honest to goodness gameplay! Of course, this was gameplay from someone who apparently likes to turn their HUD off for some reason, and who keeps the camera in an odd drifty angle, (then again, maybe the camera is supposed to be like that, I don't know) but it's all gameplay none-the-the-less. Watching it all I must admit that whilst the graphical fidelity look gorgeous and the thematic tonality seems to practically ooze off the screen; they could have chosen a more exciting segment to demo. What they showed off was literally the tutorial segment on the lead-up to the first boss of the game, Vanguard, who they lose too! We didn't even get to see the Dragon God in action (right after that boss) and see the origin of where FromSoftware got their 'lose in a cutscene' bone from. (Sekiro thanks you, I guess.)

Also, I'm not the only one pointing this out but it did ring a little hollow (badum-tish) in the way that they played through the demo with some sort of 'one hit kill' godmode on. This is a Souls game, right? Save your heroic demo theatrics for the impressive 'Spiderman: Miles Morales' walkthrough, these games were literally built on the bones of concepts like struggling, hardship and overwhelming failure. And sure, they went the distance and died stupidly against the first boss, "there's your 'Souls'" but it still just rubbed me the wrong way, is all. I mean I know I'm harping on about this, but Souls isn't just defined by hard bosses but the mobs along the way who can be overwhelming or whom whittle you down on the bitter path. Reducing them to briefly glanced sword fodder speaks to an inherent misunderstanding of the source material... but now I know I'm reading into this too much, I should get back on topic.

One of the natural consequences of a remake that occurs so long after the original is that technology has progressed to such a point that sometimes straight adaptations won't do, meaning it can be interesting to see the way themes mould and shift to meet different standards. The side-by-side screens we have seen tease some environmental details that lean more into explicit Gothic than perhaps their predecessor's did, which seems more in keeping with FromSoftware's later titles. Big impressive lighting structures where before there was pitch black, dramatic weather effects where before there  was but a foreboding sky and a slight redesign of Vanguard that seems to make him look more like the Asylum Demon than the large toothed creature of the original whom I've read one call almost Lovecraftian.

It's tempting, as a veteran of the franchise, to merely discard the idea of this remake and wait until the next FromSoftware title Elden Ring, (Whenever that is) but those who have never touched it may be interested to look into some of the unique, arguably even unburnished, quirks of the spiritual predecessor. There are some systems which, in the right circumstances, has the potential to make the game harder if you die, a shifting world state the reacts to the actions you take (As exciting as that sounds, I doubt there's much nuance to those actions beyond "kill this innocent NPC for no reason" and the world state itself just adds more phantoms) and cryptic almost nonsensical dialogue. (Oh wait, that's in every Souls game. Apart from Dark Souls 3, I'd argue, those NPCs seemed to be oddly straightforward. Or maybe I just got used to them.)

In truth, the only issue I have with Demon's Souls remake comes down to policy because, yet again, this is a horse pulling Playstation's exclusivity-intoxication bandwagon. All we have to look forward to is a potential PC release that was revealed in the trailer and then vehemently denied by Sony. They called it a 'human error', which says to me that they've literally just bare-faced lied to all of us and there is a PC release coming that they are intentionally misleading folk about in order to pigeon-hole them into a PS5. (Afterall, they did the exact same thing for Death Stranding) And this is why I hate exclusivity, it's not about winning people over with better policies, substantial quality of life incentives and clever marketing, it's about forcing people and, sometimes, literally lying to them. It's a practice I hate being heavily pushed by a company who I really want to respect, but who have been making that very tough these past few months. (And Demon's Souls impressive remake is caught up in it.)

As someone who has never played Demon's Souls I will admit that this new game does intrigue me, but even with the graphical updates that allure is more to check out a relic of history than to latch onto some new content. What I mean to say is, the improvements to the look of the game hasn't hidden the way that Demon's Souls feels like a predecessor, and unless the game is ready to blow my socks off with interesting and imaginative enemies down the line I can't see this title hitting me as profoundly as a new FromSoftware game would. Honestly, it looks like a really high-budget genre-rider title, which is silly to think about considering I'm literally looking at the genre's genesis. At the end of the day, however, I still want to play it and it sucks that I probably won't get to until a year or two after launch. (Thanks for nothing, Sony)