BLOODBORNE
Bloodborne’s Yharnam is captivating – a delirious hellscape, it crafts a haunting, mysterious, ephemeral world that begs you to explore it. Not that you have much of a choice, since you must make your way stumbling through the expanses of each area before you can find a way to the next one – but so much of the game is hidden and optional. Entire areas such as Cainhurst Castle (arguably the best designed area in the game) can be entirely missed by the player. Not just skipped, but missed, as in the player literally wouldn’t know about them unless they explored and found them. It’s a marvel of exploration, as Bloodborne takes FromSoftware’s brutal approach to combat, and applies it to exploration too – exploration is not an option, and it is going to be an outright challenge. But if you persevere, then you’re going to be rewarded massively.
