Elden Ring has gained numerous fans and is a huge success. But what if you want more? As part of FYNG (Find Your Next Game), MeinMMO introduces you to two games by the same developers: Sekiro and Bloodborne.
The success of Elden Ring is likely to bring many new players who have never held a FromSoftware game before.
Those who are now hooked and might have already completed Elden Ring could be looking for more content.
We have the two ideal candidates for you that you should definitely check out if this applies to you. They are all representatives of the Soulslike genre.
The level design is often nested, offering many different areas and interconnected large game worlds. This creates a pull factor and an urge to explore that makes the games so popular. In addition to Demon’s Souls and the Dark Souls series, the new Elden Ring, Bloodborne, and Sekiro also belong to these “Soulslikes.” Leading all these games (with the exception of Dark Souls 2) is development legend Hidetaka Miyazaki.
By now, there are also numerous other games that are based on the so-called “Dark Souls formula.”
Here’s a quick overview:
- Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice was the last game from FromSoftware before Elden Ring. It stands out the most from all the games and tells a much more straightforward story.
- The setting is based on Japan during the Sengoku period, at the end of the 15th century, albeit with a hefty fantasy influence.
- Bloodborne was created in collaboration with Sony and is a PlayStation exclusive. It takes the typical Soulslike elements and incorporates them into a unique setting that blends werewolf horror with H. P. Lovecraft.
- You fight your way through a terribly beautiful and very bloody world reminiscent of Victorian London in the 19th century.
Both games offer enough similarities to Elden Ring to appeal to its fans, but also enough elements that set them apart from the open-world giant.
Why aren’t we comparing here with Dark Souls and Demon’s Souls?
We consciously decided against it, as Dark Souls has by far the greatest parallels to Elden Ring.
Therefore, one can give a recommendation here without much explanation: If you want more Elden Ring, Dark Souls 1-3 are very well suited. Demon’s Souls is also highly recommended. Especially if you could buy a PS5 and can play the remake, which graphically even puts the newer Elden Ring to shame.
But since Elden Ring is essentially a larger, better Dark Souls with many more features, we focused here on the two games that still offer enough of their own elements to stand out more from the open-world game.
We begin here with the probably more similar title: Bloodborne.
Bloodborne is regarded as a challenging horror masterpiece – unfortunately only on PlayStation
What kind of game is this?
- Bloodborne is played from a third-person perspective.
- The gameplay is comparable to games like Dark Souls or Elden Ring, but the pace is faster.
- The game rewards high risk-taking and demands aggressive tactics; you cannot hide behind heavy armor and shields.
- For that, you have plenty of so-called trick weapons available. These can switch between two different forms, essentially allowing you to have multiple weapons in one.
- Typical of FromSoftware games, there is also a mysterious story with bizarre characters.
The big catch: Unfortunately, the game has only been released for PlayStation consoles so far. There have been rumors about a PC port, but there are no real clues yet. Thus, PC and Xbox players unfortunately have to pass unless you have a PS4 or PS5 at home.
Here’s what it’s about: You find yourself in the game as a hunter in a dream. This “dream” brings you to Yharnam, a vast city.
This city has been overrun by beasts; death, blood, and chaos reign everywhere. People transform into monsters, monsters into people, and so on. You must navigate and survive as a hunter in this world.
Along the way, you collect better equipment and grow stronger. As you continue to fight forward, you also learn more about the story, which revolves around these strange events.
Notably, aggressive gameplay is rewarded. If you take hits and strike back immediately, you can regain a part of the lost health points. This further incentivizes risk.
Bloodborne primarily differentiates itself from other FromSoftware games through its horror setting. If you’re a fan of H. P. Lovecraft, you should definitely enjoy the incredibly beautiful and sometimes grotesque design of the enemies.
Differences and similarities to Elden Ring
Here are the gameplay differences to Elden Ring:
- Smaller, more compact game world.
- Fewer weapons, but with trick features.
- Overall, around 40 hours significantly shorter playtime for a single playthrough.
- Setting is much darker and bloodier.
- More horror elements.
- Multiplayer is present, but not very active.
- Aggressive gameplay thanks to “HP refund”.
- Faster gameplay thanks to shorter dodge animations.
- Chalice dungeons can be procedurally generated and offer extra content with good loot and lore.
Here are the similarities to Elden Ring:
- Level design corresponds to the legacy dungeons in Elden Ring.
- RPG mechanics, classes, and leveling work almost the same.
- The way the story is presented is very similar.
- Multiplayer works on the same summoning principle.
- Gameplay feels similar, apart from the faster pace.
- Similar structure in main story and side quests.
- Mysterious, dark story with equally bizarre characters.
- A playthrough can take over 100 hours depending on play style.
By the way: If you’re now interested in Bloodborne, you can get the game for free on PS5 through the PS+ Essentials.
If you enjoyed Elden Ring for its nested level design, RPG mechanics, dark story, and unique setting, you’ll be very pleased with Bloodborne.
Bloodborne received high praise from critics and players
This is how it’s rated: On Metacritic, Bloodborne received a very good score of 92 from critics. The community ranks it similarly well with a score of 8.9 from players. Bloodborne is repeatedly referred to by fans as the best game from FromSoftware even after the release of Elden Ring.
Our colleagues at GamePro rated it 88 out of 100 points at the time of their review. Dimi Halley wrote in the review:
For a game tester, Bloodborne is the final boss among games. You have way too little time and must bring all your skills to get through the hell known as Yharnam without help. But maybe that’s why it was such an intense experience. I felt like the pioneer, the first person to walk the dark streets with a torch in hand and unravel the mystery behind the Victorian town.
And thanks to the faster battles, it was also a sweaty experience for a Souls veteran like me. Already after two to three hours, I no longer missed the shield because the quick dodging has a charm of its own – after every victory, I feel like a gamepad professional. Overall, Bloodborne can easily keep up with the Souls games, but I’m very curious how the multiplayer will play out in comparison.
The associated DLC, The Old Hunter, also received very good reviews. This could achieve a critic score of 87 on Metacritic, while the community gives it an 8.8 this time.
If you’re looking for an even greater challenge or even bigger differences from Elden Ring, you should definitely check out FromSoftware’s last game before Elden Ring: Sekiro.
Continue on the next page.
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