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‘Bloodborne’ Has a Much Darker Soul Than ‘Dark Souls’
I’m hereby declaring next week to be the Week of Bloodborne. In case you couldn’t tell by the sudden spike in Bloodborne-related headlines this past week, only a few days remain between us and the arrival of what may very well end up being the best reason to get a PlayStation 4. March 24 really cannot come soon enough.
The team that’s behind this game is the same one that gifted us Demon’s Souls and the Dark Souls series. Bloodborne serves as a spiritual successor to those games, with a Gothic horror twist. I never questioned their decision to create a spooky spin-off of what was already a sufficiently terrifying series — mostly because I was too distracted by the childlike glee it filled me with — but director Hidetaka Miyazaki’s explanation for it makes sense.
“There are several reasons why you need a sense of horror in the world, especially with Bloodborne, which has a more chilling world view than Souls,” Miyazaki said in an interview with the PlayStation Blog. “It’s not like horror is something we specifically go for, but it’s important to have that sense of fear and terror because it directly ties into the player overcoming that and enhancing their sense of achievement.”
Scarier enemies and more chilling environments might be the things that immediately stand out, but it goes deeper than that. This is a much darker game, and here’s why.
“My personal view is that the world we live in can be a harsh and unkind place. To create a game world that is always kind to players – that’s not how I see the real world. Whether it be nature or society, it’s often a harsh and unkind environment – so that translates into my games.”
Apparently, Bloodborne will have less weapons than the Souls games. Now, before you get up-in-arms about it, there’s a reason for that, too.
“The weapons transform,” Miyazaki explains. “So one weapon will have various uses and strategies that you can implement. You can also customize your weapon with Blood Gems. You can have many different combinations–so actually the amount of weapons in Souls is absorbed in Bloodborne by this customization 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 customization level, rather than in the quantity of actual weapons, much more than in Souls.”
We have an exclusive first look at A Man in the Woods With an Axe, a blood-soaked, genre-twisting homage to 1980s slasher films.
Spanning four decades, A Man in the Woods With an Axe begins in the summer of 1987 before pushing into the modern era, weaving together timelines and perspectives in a way that builds both dread and intrigue.
Drawing inspiration from genre standouts like Tucker and Dale vs. Evil, Hatchet, and The Cabin in the Woods, the film blends visceral horror with moments of dark humor, creating a uniquely balanced experience that honors tradition while carving its own identity.
Writer-director Dillon Brown (Primal Darkness) aims to deliver everything fans crave from a slasher while boldly subverting expectations with a mid-film twist that redefines the story.
“This is an unapologetic love letter to the films that made me fall in love with horror,” Brown tells Bloody Disgusting. “But I didn’t just want to recreate that feeling; I wanted to challenge it. About halfway through, the film takes a turn that completely changes how you view not only this story, but the genre itself.”
Brown describes the vintage-inspired production as “far and away the bloodiest film I’ve ever made,” with practical effects helmed by Cody Ruch (The Mill, Pig Hill), an instructor at Tom Savini’s Special Make-Up Effects Program.
From Horror Dadz Productions, A Man in the Woods With an Axe is currently in production and targeting an early 2027 release.
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